Beleaf Burgers-Closed

Beleaf Burgers
4024 Grand Ave
Chino, CA 91710
909-517-3907

Beleaf Burgers is in the Cravings building, that used to be a Food 4 Less.  They maybe the first vegan burger restaurant in Chino.  They use the Impossible burger.

Cravings is owned by 99 Ranch Market.  This building is split into two- a shopping area and a food court.  There are about 15 or so food stands.  But, everytime I've been there, it's not crowded at all.

Bedder Burger Classic Double-$12.75. Two impossible patties, lettuce, diced onions, pickles, carmelized onions, tomatoes, American cheese, on a toasted bun.

This was pretty good.  The burger was very hot, with the cheese nicely melted.  It was fine, but it really tasted like something anybody could make at home.  There was nothing

Service is good.  But, I called to ask where they are located, I didn't know they were inside Cravings, and they told me they were closer to a chain restaurant in the shopping center.  I tried looking around there, but couldn't find it.  So, I called again, and they finally told me it was inside Cravings.  They should have told me it was inside Cravings in the first place!

Anyways, there are better vegan burgers, including the chain, Fat Burger, so I won't be back to Beleaf! 

House of Fortune Vegetarian

House of Fortune Vegetarian
13788 Roswell Ave Ste 101
Chino, CA 91710
909-517-2988

Having gone to Happy Family, a vegetarian Chinese restaurant in Rowland Heights, earlier this week, I found out about House of Fortune, a vegetarian Chinese restaurant in Chino!   It's a smallish restaurant with benches along the right wall, and tables in the rest of the space.  It's a nice clean restaurant.

Their signs says there are vegan friendly, but most items are vegetarian.

Fried noodles, $7.25.  Cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, and veggie ham.  This was an excellent dish.  The veggie ham, which can be ordered as a fried rice dish, was great.  It tasted very much like regular ham.  The noodles were well cooked and seasoned.  A good sized portion, it's a steal for the price!

Sauteed green beans, $8.95. Very well cooked green beans, with some type of veggie meat crumble.  Well seasoned, flavorful, and a huge portion.

Veggie beef and broccoli with some carrots.  $10.95.  The broccoli was cooked perfectly!  Not too mushy, and not too raw.  The beef was good, with a nice savory sauce.  I think I prefer the Happy Family veggie beef and broccoli better, but this is a very good dish.

Service is good.

I would go back to either House of Fortune or Happy Family anytime.  If I had to choose, I would go to House of Fortune.  But, you can't go wrong picking either one!

Tamarind Restaurant & Catering

Tamarind Restaurant & Catering
4047 Grand Ave
Chino, CA 91710
909-364-9141

Next door to Pizzita Circle, a restaurant I reviewed back in 2015, is Tamarind Restaurant & Catering-an Indian and Pakistani restaurant.  They have a lunch $10.95, and dinner buffet $13.95 which includes a drink.

As you walk in the buffet is set up to the right.  They have a ton of chicken dishes, including Chicken Tikka Masala and Tandoori, I didn't touch any of them.  For vegetarians they have lentils, mixed vegetables in herbs and spices, a cauliflower and potato dish, and cold salad.  They do not have samosa on the buffet.

The lentils were the most bland lentils I've ever had. No flavor, not taste nothing.

The rice was fluffy and flavorful.

The mixed vegetables is just frozen veggies in herbs and spices.  It was ok, but nothing overwhelming.

Service is good.

A friend paid for lunch, since she owed me for flaking on lunch a couple weeks before.  I'm glad because if I had to pay for it, I would not be happy.

Tummy Stuffer-Closed

Tummy Stuffer
5530 Schaefer Ave
Chino, CA 91710
909-628-6882

I was in Chino and found Tummy Stuffer by doing a search.  After eating there, I noticed that David Allen reviewed Tummy Stuffer about five years ago.  There are over 101 sandwiches on the menu.  It's a bit deceiving because for roast beef, they have 3-5 different options-with cheese, with other meats like ham, etc.  Plus soups and salads, pasta dishes, fish and chips, and burgers!

I got the provolone, Swiss, pepper and American cheese, #59 on the menu, $6.99, on wheat roll, with mayo, lettuce and tomatoes.  The sandwich was fine, but nothing outstanding.  There were the slices of  cheese on the bottom, both pieces of bread had mayo, and a good amount of lettuce and tomatoes.  All the ingredients were fresh.

Service was ok.  The people are nice.  But, it took forever to make my sandwich,  Maybe they had a big to go order; but whatever the reason my sandwich took about 15 minutes and there were only two other people who came in after me.  I was charged tax for the sandwich.  When I go to almost every sandwich shop, I do not get charged for a cold sandwich.

If you're like me and don't want to support a national chain, Tummy Stuffer, is a good alternative.  But, really you're getting chain quality sandwiches. 

Flo’s No 2

Flo’s No 2
5650 Riverside Dr
Chino, CA 91710
909-628-0818

I found out about Flo’s No 2 when David Allen talked about the home made pies at Flo's Cafe near the Chino Airport.  Flo's has three locations, including two with a few miles of each other.

Since today is Pie Day, 3-14, I figured I would give Flo's Cafe a try.  I went to Flo's Cafe first and something just seemed off.  The young man who helped me was nice but I wanted a couple slices of pie and while there were some whole pies, he said he couldn't cut them.  He also said all slices were $3.50, when the David Allen's story said the pie of the month was $1.75.  Anyways I just passed and figured I was go to  Mariscos El Puerto. But, on my way there I passed by Flo's No 2 and I decided to give them a try.  And yes, get a slice of pie!

Flo's No 2 is a stand alone restaurant, with a counter to the right as you enter and tons of tables straight ahead.  A nice warm, cozy place.  The sign says this location opened in 1986!

Fish and chips, $7.45.  Fish was cod and they were frozen.  But the fish to batter ratio was about 70 to 30, which is pretty good.  Not overwhelming, but worth the price.

Blueberry crumb pie, regular price $3.50.  Pie of the month slice, $1.75!  This was a running, sloppy mess.  No sweetness in the crumb or the blueberries!  Not impressed!  I will have to try the apple or cherry pie.  But, I'll pass on the blueberries.

Service is good.  The lady who helped me was very nice and helpful.

I would go back to Flo's to have breakfast, many breakfast items look good. 

Yum Buffet & Grill-Closed

Yum Buffet & Grill
3920 Grand Ave
Chino, CA 91710
909-517-1588

Yum Buffet & Grill replaced the Hometown Buffet in Chino.  They really gave the space a huge upgrade.  They put tile on the walls and it's a much nicer place to have dinner.

There is a huge buffet line along the back wall, with the Mongolian BBQ at the far left!

The buffet on a Sunday night is $16.99.  

Chow mein, with coconut shrimp and shrimp from the seafood delight entree.The chow mein was mainly noodles.  There were some celery and cabbage, but 98% yellow noodles.  Pretty standard.

The coconut shrimp was way too sweet.  The shrimp was coated in a thick batter and then deep fried, then a sweet coconut sauce.  Not a good dish.

The shrimp from the seafood delight entree was well cooked and seasoned.

Sauteed mushrooms and greenbeans!  The mushrooms were great, well seasoned, good flavor and not overcooked.  They have steak at the Mongolian BBQ, so the mushrooms would make a good addition to the steak.

The greenbeans were cooked with some garlic and this was a good dish. 

Mongolian BBQ- shrimp, mushrooms, green onions, red and brown onions, and jalapenos!  This is cooked to order. This was great!  Fresh veggies, and shrimp and loved the fact they had some jalapenos, which added a nice heat to the dish!

Shrimp cocktail and fried shrimp.  Shrimp cocktail was small sized shrimp that was chilled and well cooked.  The cocktail sauce, I think I got the medium heat, was good, even for something that I suspect is from a bottle.

The fried shrimp was your standard frozen shrimp dropped into the fryer.  Some pieces were good depending how how long the shrimp was on the steam tray.  I got some pieces that just came from the fryer and tasted good.  Others had been on the steam tray for too long.  Just the way things go at a buffet. 

Snow crab clusters.  A bit salty, but meaty and plentiful.  They restocked the crab legs frequently and the new batch were quickly taken.

Service was pretty good.  But, one of the servers just stood there staring at the 2-3 tables, waiting to take away any used dishes.  It was like you were being watched by the lunch aides during elementary school lunch.

Overall Yum Buffet and Grill was a good value.  I would go back there. 

Mariscos El Puerto

Mariscos El Puerto
5599 Riverside Dr
Chino, CA 91710
909-628-2903

Today, David Allen review Mariscos El Puerto in Chino.  Last night I was craving fish tacos but didn't have time to go for a fish taco.  So, when I saw David's review I figured I should go to Mariscos El Puerto.

As you can see Mariscos El Puerto used to be a gas station in it's past life.  It's counter service and they have a bar, if you want to wash down your fish tacos with a beer.  I was surprised that the dining area was pretty large.  There are about 15-20 tables. 

Fish taco-$1.75 and Shrimp taco-$2.29

The first thing about these tacos is that the tortilla is made from corn.  I actually like corn tortillas better because they are firmer and hold up the toppings better than flour tortilla.  When I asked what the fish tacos were made from, I was give the answer a "white fish, sea bass." I'm pretty sure this is swai fish.  It was well cooked,  crunchy,  but there is a bit too much batter.  The shrimp didn't have as much batter as the fish, and there were about 3-4 medium sized shrimp in this taco.  All the toppings were fresh.  Overall I like the fish taco, really like the shrimp taco. 

I understand the fish tacos are $1 on Tuesdays.

Service is friendly and pretty good.  BUT, there was a group of three women in front of me when I arrived.  The must have taken 10 minutes to order their damn food!  I mean, how do they handle what I assume is a busy $1 fish taco lunch rush?  The lady taking the order was nice and friendly, but she didn't have a clue about what fish they use or didn't want to tell me!  She also took forever taking the orders of the 3 ladies in front of me.  The tacos came out quickly. 

I would go back to Mariscos El Puerto, I like the nostalgia of an old gas station turned into a restaurant.  I will go back on a Tuesday and see how busy they are and how quickly they get through the line!

Shi Foo-Chino

Shi Foo
12198 Central Ave
Chino, CA 91710
909-590-3618

David Allen gave a great review of Shi Foo in Chino on Thursday.  I happened to go by during lunch time and decided to drop in.  The Chino location is their second location, opened for about six months.  The original location in Chino Hills has been open for about three years.  Their motto is “Chinese Food Remastered.” They use no GMO ingredients and no corn syrup.

As David Allen mentioned, this used to be Happy Wok restaurant.  While Shi Foo has the steam table, the way to go is making your own entree or noodle dish.  You can pick a protein-beef, chicken, fish, tofu, and shrimp.  Then pick a sauce-kung pao, Thai sweet chili, ginger and onions, curry spicy, Mongolian spicy, black bean, brown sauce and white sauce, and pick a side-white rice, brown rice, or chow mein noodles.

Create your own noodles-$9.95.  Tofu, chow mein noodles, with garlic and soy sauce.  Now, the prices listed for beef and chicken is $8.50, shrimp, fish or the house trio- beef, chicken, & shrimp is $8.95.  So, why is tofu, a much less expensive ingredient a dollar more??  Anyways, the noodles were well cooked, but the tofu were overcooked.  Very tough on the outside.  It also lacked seasoning!!  A very bland, flavorless dish.

Create your own entree- shrimp, with ginger and onion sauce and brown rice.  There were a lot of shrimp, I counted 14, just like David Allen got with his order.  While the shrimp are small, they do not cheat you on the number of shrimp.  This was more flavorful than the noodles, but not a great dish.  The brown rice as well cooked.

Service is good.  The two ladies there are nice and friendly.  They even asked if I wanted to sample their famous orange chicken.

Maybe I ordered the work combo, but I wasn't that impressed with Shi Foo.  I like the idea of creating your own order.  But, they need to add more flavor to some of their dishes. 

Pizzita Circle

Pizzita Circle
4047 Grand Ave Ste E
Chino, CA 91710
909-590-0404

Much like Giuseppe's Pizza, Pizzita is a combination pizza and Middle Eastern place.  Pizzita is a fast casual restaurant, located in the very busy restaurant corner of the Wal Mart shopping center in Chino, with good size dining area with tasteful decor.

Veggie Pizza, $7.95. Mushrooms, spinach, green peppers, onion, olives.  Comes with broccoli but I asked for no broccoli.  The crust is just too crispy for me.  Some people may like it, but it's not my cup of team.  The sauce is a bit bland.  The toppings are, for the most part, plentiful, except it was hard finding any spinach on the pizza.  I wouldn't order the pizza again. 

Falafel-$3.  Loved the falafel!  This had lots of flavor and was fried perfectly.   This may also be the largest falafel I've had, huge!  Well worth the price.

Service is good and friendly.

While I didn't like the pizza, the falafel was great and I would go back for the falafel wrap or just another order of falafel.  I have heard the hummus, which comes in three or four flavors, is great!  I'll be ordering some hummus on my next trip!

New York Pizzeria

New York Pizzeria
12431 Central Ave
Chino
909-627-8883

I've always passed by New York Pizzeria but have never stopped in.   But, after reading David Allen's Review of New York Pizzeria, I decided to give them a try.  Located in the Superior Market shopping center, New York Pizzeria is a huge restaurant.  You enter and place your order at the long counter, while trying to ignore all the yankee SCUM memorabilia, like the seats from The House that George Renovated that are pictured in David Allen's review.  The dining area is in back has picnic tables with red and white checker table clothes, and a huge screen TV.  They were showing ESPN the time I went.

I got one of their everyday special; two medium two topping pizzas for $18.99, $21.27 if you use a credit card and you pay the 75 cent service fee-which I believe isn't allowed by the credit card companies.   Anyways, David gave a good review about the toppings but felt the crust was too thin to support the toppings.  New York Pizzeria must read David's reviews because the crust I had, on both pizzas, held up very well.

Pepperoni and sausage.  The pepperoni and sausage were very good.  The sausage was huge and well seasoned.  They were the size of meatballs, hell, they were bigger than some meatballs I've had.  The cheese is good quality and there is a lot of it on the pizza.  I thought the sauce was bland and barely noticed it was on the pizza.  

Salami and mushrooms.  I think the mushrooms are fresh, not canned, and were spread throughout the pizza.  I didn't care for the salami, which was too bland and generic.

Service was good.  The people are nice and friendly.  The guy who brought us the pizzas to the table, was very nice.  When he came out earlier to take pizza to another table, he hold me my pizzas would be out in a few minutes.  This is very good customer service and something that is lacking at many restaurants!  They could take notes from New York Pizzeria.

Overall, I liked the pizza, though the sauce could be better and I wouldn't get the salami, and service is good.   I would go back to New York Pizzeria if I was in the area.