Nano’s Deli-Closed

 Nano’s Deli
2250 S Archibald Ave Ste C
Ontario, CA 91761
909-923-3354

 Nano’s Deli has been opened for about two months.  Between a martial arts studio and a Lebanese restaurant, it's a good sized space.  The counter and prep area is to the right as you enter.  In front of the deli cases are different varieties of potato chips, some I've never heard of before.  There are about 10 tables and chairs and the drink dispenser on the left part of the space.

They use Boar's Head meats, and that is made known by the signs and the sticker that is on the paper wrapped around your sandwich. 

Veggie sandwich, $6.99- choice of bread and two cheeses, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and sprouts. I asked for no onions and mustard, with squaw bread.  This was a good filling sandwich.  The bread was soft, good texture, and the veggies were fresh.  Two slices of both cheeses. Everything was fresh. 

Service is good.

This is such a great option for sandwiches in Ontario!  I saw about ten people who work at Niagara Water, so that must be close by.  I may give Alina's, the Lebanese restaurant next door, since David Allen gave it a good review!

Yeast N’ Flour Pizza-Closed

Yeast N’ Flour Pizza
231 N Euclid Ave
Ontario, CA 91762
909-391-6525

David Allen reviewed Yeast N’ Flour Pizza back in 2016.  I didn't realize Ontario had an interesting downtown, with historic buildings, so I decided to go and get some pizza!! 

Yeast N’ Flour Pizza is on Euclid right in the heart of downtown Ontario.  It's a huge building with high ceilings and TV's all over.  There are tables in the front, and the back wall is the counter and kitchen.  This is fast casual pizza, where you order at the counter and the pizza is taken to your table.

12in build your own pizza, $8.45, with spinach, mushrooms, red onions, and half the pizza with jalapenos.

The crust is outstanding!  Firm and crispy but yet very good texture!  The toppings were fresh and they piled on the cheese!!  An outstanding pizza and better than the other fast casual pizza I've had at Pizza Rev, Blaze, Pieology and Project Pie.

I would go back to  Yeast N’ Flour Pizza, anytime!  They even have a 16in., 12 slices pizza!  Maybe the next time I go here!!

The Luxe Buffet

The Luxe Buffet
701 N Milliken Ave Unit D
Ontario, CA 91764
909-948-6886

Luxe Buffet is a huge buffet.  One side of the restaurant is the buffet!  Most be about 30ft.  They have lots of seafood items, including sushi, snow crab legs, lobster claws, cooked shrimp and fish dishes, squid, and clams.  There were also dumplings, fried rice and chow mein, beef, chicken, and a Mongolian BBQ

Weeknight dinner buffet, $23.95.

Crab and shrimp nigri sushi, shrimp cocktail, and fried shrimp.  Both sushi was good.  Some sushi restaurants could take lessons from Luxe about how to make good sushi.  The fried shrimp was too salty!  A frozen piece of butterflied shrimp with too much batter.  Either they put too much salt before being frozen, or after being fried.

Shrimp and asparagus, shrimp and cauliflower, fried squid and green beans.  Both shrimp dishes were very salty.  The shrimp were cooked well, but they just put too much salt.  The fried squid was horrible!  Very tough as if on the steam table too long or overcooked.  The only good item on this plate was the green beans-cooked perfectly with some garlic with added good flavor but not overpowering. 

Mongolian BBQ-with shrimp noodles, mushrooms, broccoli, and onions.  While waiting for this to be cooked, I noticed they put either butter or margarine. This made it very salty along with too much soy sauce.  Everything was well cooked but too salty.

Snow crabs.  Overall good, but some legs were just too salty.  Other legs were good, with good flavor.

Lobster claws.  This was dry and very salty.  There was some type of gravy but it didn't coat the loster claws.  All the claws were dry, tough and very salty.

Caramel and chocolate ice cream- I would really like to know where they get their ice cream!  Light, yet very creamy, and full of flavor.  The caramel has caramel flavor throughout.  It wasn't only caramel syrup on ice cream.  The chocolate had so much chocolate flavor!  Wish they had ice cream cones, but otherwise, a great way to end dinner!

Service is friendly but needs improvement.  Drinks took a long time to be refilled and plates stacked up on the table before being cleared off.

I wouldn't go back to Luxe Buffet, while it's a good value, most of the cooked items are just too salty.

5 Star Pizza

5 Star Pizza
951 N Haven Ave Ste C & D
Ontario, CA 91764
909-466-0808

I'm trying pizza places nearby and Ontario was next up on my list.  I did some search and found 5 Star Pizza.  I think I told David Allen about 5 Star and he actually went there before I did!  Here is David Allen's review of 5 Star Pizza.  Located in a small shopping center next to a coffee house, 5 Star Pizza takes up two spaces.  One space is the kitchen and counter a few tables, the other is a huge dining room, filled with sports items on the wall.  The owner must have gone to Cal Poly Pomona, because there was a Cal Poly Pomona pennant and jersey on the wall, not something you see, even in Pomona!

Medium mushrooms and jalapenos, $12.65. The crust was on the thin side, much thicker than New York style but not as thick as some other pizza places.  A good texture, slightly chewy but not tough.  The sauce was pretty bland.  The jalapenos were plentiful and huge!!  While there could have been a bit more mushrooms, the mushrooms were fresh.  This pizza is pretty much run of the mill pizza.  But, Ontario isn't exactly filled with lots of pizza options.

Service is poor! I walked in and wasn't greeted and stood at the counter for about 2-3 minutes before they acknowledged I was there.  Not much interaction other than the norm.  Not friendly or welcoming.  There were maybe 10 people, who filled 3-4 tables, so not busy with dine in customers and I didn't see one person come in to pick up an order the entire time I was there, maybe 25 minutes.

I wouldn't go back to 5 Star Pizza.  If I had to give them stars it would be 2.5 stars.  Other than a few places, Sal's Pizza in Alta Loma, Fratello’s Pizza and Pasta, and San Biagio's Pizza, it's a pizza wasteland once you get east of La Verne!

Beola’s Southern Cuisine

Beola’s Southern Cuisine
1845 E Holt Blvd
Ontario, CA 91761
909-390-3663

Beola’s Southern Cuisine opened about six weeks ago near Ontario Airport.  It's a large spacious space, and on the Sunday I went they have live entertainment-a woman, who had a wonderful voice, singing songs.  The volume was more background music, than having to SHOUT at your dining companion!

The owners of Beola’s Southern Cuisine used to be partners in the Maple House restaurant that replaced Sal's & Sons Pizza & Pasta.  Beola's is the name of owner's grandmother.

Eight medium shrimp with two sides-mac and cheese and red beans and rice, $16.  The shrimp were jumbo shrimp, not medium sized shrimp.  They were deep fried in cornmeal.  A good dish, maybe a bit pricey, but made up somewhat by the size of the shrimp.  Mac and cheese-a bit greasy but good flavor.  I didn't eat the red beans and rice because there was sausage in the dish.  Most red beans and rice do not come with sausage.

Service was great!  I walked in and while nobody was at the host stand, within a couple minutes I was greeted by one of the servers.  She took my order and I waited for my food. All food is cooked to order and takes time!  I sat in the lobby and every time somebody new came to the front, I was asked if I had already been helped!  There have been restaurants that I reviewed where I wasn't greeted, not even a Hi, when I was right in front of the host!  But at Beola's I was greeted EVERY TIME!!! A couple minor complaints- they should tell people that the red beans and rice contains meat, and when taking to go orders-that they do cook items as ordered so it takes time, up to 20 minutes if ordering fried chicken!

I really enjoyed my experience at Beola's and I will be back. 

Sal & Sons Pizza & Pasta-Closed

Sal & Sons Pizza & Pasta
1520 N Mountain Ave
Ste A-101
Ontario
(909) 984-2300

Yes, another review of a pizza place with Sal or Sal's in it's name!  This time it is Sal and Sons Pizza & Pasta in Ontario.  The other pizza places with Sal or Sal's in their name are, Two Sal's in Montebello-which is now closed, Sal's Pizza and Bagelry in La Verne, and Sal's Pizza in Alta Loma. I found out about Sal & Sons Pizza and Pasta from a review by David Allen.

Sal & Sons Pizza & Pasta is located in a very diverse shopping center just south of the 10 Freeway and Mountain Ave. exit.  There is also a Chinese, Mexican, and an American restaurant (A wings place called Wing Nuts.  I reviewed their Costa Mesa location, but have not been to this location) in that same shopping center.  There could be other restaurants, but those three I noticed.  Sal & Sons is a large sized, casual restaurant.  You order at the counter and they will bring your food to your table.  I was surprised how busy they were at about 3pm on a Sunday afternoon.

 

Sicilian two topping- mushrooms and jalapenos, $24.46.  This pizza had 16 slices, with lots of cheese and a mild tasting sauce.  There was a decent amount of toppings and the toppings were pretty fresh.  But, the crust was the worst part of the pizza.  The crust was too crispy for the slices from the sides and the slices from the middle were soggy.  

Service was good.  The lady was friendly and helpful.  But, one interesting thing about Sal & Sons is they consider toppings like broccoli and spinach as two toppings.  Not sure why because mushrooms are more expensive at the supermarket than broccoli and spinach!  

Standing on a soapbox now:  This is something I don't understand about the pricing at pizza places.  If you order a veggie pizza, the veggies are what the restaurant decides-most have mushrooms, bell peppers, olives and tomatoes.  Well, if most toppings are priced the same, why can't a customer substitute any of the toppings?  Say instead of olives, you want jalapenos?  I mean if you delete a topping they still charge you the same price.  So why not allow the customers to substitute a different veggie topping on a veggie pizza?

I thought Sal & Sons was ok.  Maybe their regular pizza is better, but I don't think I'll be back any time soon.

Donahoo's Golden Chicken-Ontario

Donahoo's Golden Chicken
1117 N Grove Ave
Ontario
909-983-4319

Yes, I did review Donahoo's Golden Chicken in Ontario, on the original The New Diner. I had not been to Donahoo's since I did my review 2005. While I'm not planning to review every restaurant again on The New Diner 2, I figured I would review a few restaurants again. This week I was in the area twice and went in both times to try Donahoo's again.

This Donahoo's is has been in business for over 40 years and the owners continue to follow the way Donahoo's taught all franchisees. The main lession being; to cook the chicken to order!! Not having them sit in stupid warmers for hours on end. At the Ontario location your chicken is in the refrigerator, not a freezer, until you order it. Then the a trip into the batter, then the fryer, and in your hands are golden brown fried chicken. The 15 minute wait is worth it, to get freshly cooked chicken. Why anybody would complain about the wait, is beyond me but what do you expect from a bunch of stupid yelpers!! If you don't want to wait, you can always call in your order!!




I ordered two breast pieces, $5.92. The first time I went there the chicken was cooked perfectly!! Tender, flavorful, well seasoned and juicy. This was quite a welcomed change from the last time I went to Donahoo's, when the chicken was undercooked.

But, when I went back a coupled days later to take the pictures you see above, the chicken was salty and very dry. Now the chicken is overcooked!!

Both times the wait time was about the same and the same person was cooking the chicken. So I'm not sure the reason for the inconsistency. The interesting thing I noticed was, both times, the lady would take her tongs and pierce through the chicken breast. Not sure why, maybe to check if it is fully cooked?

Service both times was good. The first time the lady charged my $5.38 for two breast pieces. The second time I was charged the correct amount, $5.92. When the young lady gave me the total I was surprised, but then I looked at the menu price and it was $2.75 each. On my second trip I found out the lady who took my first order was a fairly new hire. I'm not complaining about being charged less. I didn't look at the menu price the first time I went in, so it's not a big deal.

I like the fact that Donahoo's in Ontario cooks their chicken to order. And while I liked my first visit this week better than my past visits or the second visit this week, the inconsistency will keep me from coming back often.