Dillon's Pit Bar-B-Q-Closed

Dillon's Pit Bar-B-Q
2232 D St
Ste 101
La Verne
909-596-0777

BBQ in and around the Pomona Valley isn't very good, now that Phillips BBQ in Chino has closed. I willing to give Dillon's a try, but I knew before walking in, I should have save me money.

BBQ, real BBQ, isn't about cooking meats at high heat on a grill. It's about cooking meats at low heat and for long periods of time. When I walked up to Dillon's I was them GRILLING chicken, you can see the grill in the picture above. I should have turned around and gone somewhere else.



I got the half rack of spare ribs, $13.05. The ribs were very fatty and mushy, they were overcooked because the meat should not be mushy. They were fatty because they were grilled and not BBQ. If they were really BBQ'd they fat would have rendered off and added flavor to the meat. The ribs lacked seasoning and weren't good at all.

There are two BBQ sauces on the tables, a Texas sauce-tomato based that is sweet with some hint of heat, and a Carolina sauce-mustard base-very tasty and not for me.

Service is good. The people there are nice and friendly.

I wish Dillon's Pit Bar-B-Q the best, but I won't be going back there again.

Colicchio & Sons

Colicchio & Sons
85 10th Ave
New York
212-400-6699

Colicchio & Sons is owned by Tom Colicchio, who is a judge on Top Chef. If you watch Top Chef, he is all about SEASONING!! If a contestant doesn't season his or her dish, he will rip them to shreds at judge's table. He can be tough on contestants but if a contestant earns Tom's respect, he isn't that tough of a judge. For example in the last season, he actually asked Paul-who won Top Chef, if his fish was undercooked!! WTF was that? Though Paul didn't win the challenge, it was clear Paul had earned Tom's respect and Tom was going easy on Paul.

Anyways, I was invited to a private dinner at Colicchio & Sons. The three course dinner gave us two choices for an appetizer, entree, and dessert. I didn't have to pay so I didn't know the price of the dinner. But from looking at the menu, the sirlion was $46 but for some reason the seared tuna wasn't on the menu.


Seared tuna, yukon gold potatoes, and a leek vinaigrette. This was very fresh, but the tuna could have been seared a little longer. There is a difference between seared tuna and sashimi. The menu said seared tuna. I don't expect seared tuna to be like sashimi, I want the tuna to be seared and provide some texture. The potatoes were small potato chips, where were crunchy and pretty good. The vinaigrette added a nice balance to the dish.

30 day, dry-aged sirloin, butterball potatoes, spring onion and roasted mushrooms. I asked for this steak to be medium rare but this steak was rare. I expect a restaurant that is owned by Tom Colicchio to be able to cook a steak to the customer's desired doneness. Now, maybe I got the wrong plate, most people at this dinner ordered the steak. But, that doesn't get the restaurant off the hook. They screwed up, somewhere. The steak was good, but not great and not worth the menu price of $46. If I had paid for this steak, I would have been very unhappy!!

Service was very good. The servers were nice and friendly. But, the fact that my steak was either undercooked or I was given the wrong steak didn't sit well with me.

I'm not big on celebrity chefs and I rarely go to their restaurants, I had no choice for this dinner. I didn't get a good impression of Colicchio & Sons and if I was a judge on Top Chef, this restaurant would have been eliminated.

Churrascaria Riodizio Tribeca

Churrascaria Riodizio Tribeca
221 W Broadway
New York
212-925-6969

So, I'm in New York City and dinner is being taken care of for me. I have no idea how much the meat at this all you can eat Brazilian Churrascaria maybe. But, I've enjoyed my limited experiences at Brazilian Churrascaria in LA. My favorite churrascaria in LA has to be Fogo De Chao, with it's prime cuts of meats. So I'm looking forward to see how this Brazilian Churrascaria in the Tribeca area of New York City stacks up to Fogo De Chao.

A restaurant is huge and can get very busy, very quickly. The set up is the same as other churrascarias, they have a salad bar set up, then they have carvers coming around with all sorts of meats.

I like Brazilian Churrascaria, but after awhile the meats all taste the same and most of the meats can be very salty.

The salad bar was filled with fresh veggies, shrimp and seafood cocktails, and other Brazilian dishes. The salad I made was very good, with huge fresh tomatoes that were great, very juicy and sweet. The salad bar was well stocked, clean and refilled quickly.


Bacon wrapped filet and sirloin steak. The bacon wrapped filet was very good, but the bacon wasn't fully cooked. The filet was well seasoned, not salty, tender and flavorful.

The sirloin was a bit too rare for me, but still tender and flavorful.


Bacon wrapped turkey. The turkey was dry and the bacon was undercooked. This was too salty for me tastes.


Sausage-The outside of the sausage was overcooked, almost charred. The inside had a nice flavor and spice combination. This could have been a good sausage if the outside wasn't overcooked.


Prime rib-a bit too rare for my tastes, but a fantastic cut of meat. Well seasoned, moist, tender and flavorful!!


Egg plant wrapped chicken. An interesting combination, that I've never seen before. But, the chicken was breast meat and a bit dry, not as dry as the turkey but still dry.


Parmesan breaded pork loin. Another meat I've haven't seen before. I didn't care for this, it was a bit too salty and the breading didn't work well with pork. Parmesan shouldn't be used as a breading.


Flank steak- This was a bit overcooked for me, but for a very tough cut of meat, this was tender and flavorful. Maybe my second favorite meat, after the filet.


Spare ribs-the ribs were so dry and very very salty. I didn't like these ribs at all.


Mango mousse: I normally don't get dessert but it was included and I picked the mango mousse, and what a treat. A very light, smooth mousse that was bursting with mango flavor.

Service was good. The carvers came around very quickly and were helpful. We had a large group and it seemed like every time the guy with the flank steak came by, he would be out of flank steak. So I asked one of the carvers I wanted flank steak and within 30 seconds the flank steak arrives. The servers were very good; they were attentive, drinks were refilled, and friendly.

Overall I was impressed with the beef at Churrascaria Riodizio Tribeca. While some of the meats were a bit too rare for my tastes, they were well seasoned, not salty, moist and tender. But, the other meats- spare ribs, turkey, and chicken were too dry. Though not as good as Fogo De Chao, I would go back to Churrascaria Riodizio Tribeca again.

Grimaldi's

Grimaldi's
1 Front St
Brooklyn
718-858-4300

So I'm in New York City and want to try another pizza place besides Crosby Pizza Stop, which I love. So Grimaldi's comes highly recommended. So I go on the subway to Brooklyn and walk a couple blocks to Grimaldi's. Grimaldi's is located in an old bank building just under the Brooklyn Bridge. It's on the border of Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn. I was hoping to see a Sweathog but no such luck.

I got to Grimaldi's right before a huge line started to form. Since it was such a beautiful day I didn't want to be stuck inside and ordered a pizza a pizza to go. I figured I would find a park bench and enjoy the great view of the New York City skyline while enjoying the pizza.



I got the large sausage and mushroom pizza, $19 and change. I actually ordered just a sausage pizza, paid for it, then added mushrooms to the order. The pizza was good, no question about it. But, it didn't blow me away and it certainly didn't meet the hype. The crust was good, but I've had better crust in LA. The toppings was fresh and tasty; I liked the sausage-good seasoning and good quality meat, the cheese was super fresh. But, I've had just as good.

Service was good. The lady who took my order was nice and friendly. When I added the mushrooms, she was nice about it and saw it was more money for the business, not a pain to deal with. I added the mushrooms about 2-3 minutes after placing the order, so it's not something that should be that big of a deal.

I don't want to give the impression that Grimaldi's is bad. Quite the contrary, it is very good. I just wasn't so good that I have to rush back to New York City. I still think Crosby's Pizza Stop is the best pizza in New York City.

Big Nick's Burger & Pizza Joint

Big Nick's Burger & Pizza Joint
2175 Broadway
New York
212-362-9238

So I'm in New York City walking around on the Upper West Side. I'm hungry and I pass by Big Nick's Burger and Pizza Joint. I have been here before and decided to stop in and get something to eat. The menu at Big Nicks is huge. They have everything from burgers to pizza to pasta, to sandwiches and everything in between. This is a diner in the middle of the concrete jungle.




I decided to just stick to the burgers and ordered a bacon cheeseburger, $9.75. The burger doesn't come with anything, unless you ask for it. No lettuce, tomatoes, or any condiments. Weird. Anyways. The burger arrives and it's lukewarm. I expected the burger to be hotter. The burger is average, nothing special or remarkable about it. You can get this same burger at any Denny's. The bacon was good and added a saltiness to the burger that was missing, because the meat wasn't seasoned that well.

With the burger came one piece of waffle fry. WTF is that all about?

Service sucked!! The other server who seated me was very nice and friendly. The server was served me was a total bitch!! She was rude, didn't say more than five words to me and should not be working in customer service. Such a total bitch!!

I would never go back to this crappy worthless restaurant again.

Baek Ha Chong

Baek Ha Chong
3929 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles
323-935-5554

With the 20th anniversary of the LA Riots in the news recently, I realized it's been awhile since I've been to Koreatown. If you don't know, Koreatown was one of the hardest hit areas during the riots. Many Korean owned businesses were looted and set on fire. There were many reasons why Koreatown and Korean owned businesses were targeted during the riots. The rude treatment of blacks by the Korean store owners, the shooting death of a black teenager by a Korean store owner, then in a miscarriage of justice, that Korean store owner only getting probation for shooting that black teenager. But, something that the media rarely, if ever, talked about was the number of Korean store owners killed by blacks during robberies. In the aftermath of the riots, both communities opened lines of communications and there seems to be a peaceful truce so far. Though, I'm not sure if the relationship between blacks and Koreans have improved dramatically in those 20 years.

Anyways, Baek Ha Chong has been on my list of places to try because their BBQ pork ribs were suppose to be great. So, I get to Baek Ha Chong on a Saturday evening around 6pm. The place is almost empty. I was very surprised. Our server told me it gets much more crowded later on at night. It was a good thing there weren't many people, because I was hungry!! Baek Ha Chong is a small restaurant, it may set about 30 people at one time. It's kind of a hole in the wall and has no signage in English.

I'm not into the side dishes at Korean restaurants. Most of that stuff I don't touch. So I'm just going to review the entrees.

Squid in chili sauce, $20.95, seemed like a good thing to order. This dish had zucchini, onions, and green onions mixed in with the squid. The chili sauce was very good. A mild to medium spiciness with a hint of sweetness, I bet they put honey into the sauce.

The squid was very tough and chewy, not really that fresh, but combined with the chili, I liked this dish a lot. I wrap the squid with some chili sauce in a leaf of lettuce or put it on top of rice and made for a filling meal.

So, a lot of people rave about the BBQ Pork ribs, $18,95, at Baek Ha Chong. I wasn't impressed. The ribs are cut up spare ribs, but the portion is small, there is a lot of fat and gristle, and the meat isn't tender. The marinate was sweet, but this tasted a lot like Thai satay marinate. I can get an order of satay for under $10 at most Thai restaurants and there would be more meat when ordering satay, why would I pay almost double that amount, for these BBQ pork ribs?

Service was good. The ladies are friendly and helpful. They did forget to bring rice to our table. But when we asked for it and they were apologetic about forgetting, and brought us rice quickly.

I wouldn't come back to Baek Ha Chong, even though I liked the squid with chili sauce. The prices are a bit high and the quality of the food doesn't justify the high prices.

Pepz Pizza and Eatery

Pepz Pizza and Eatery
726 S State College Blvd
714-991-9900

I have known about Pepz Pizza and Eatery for a few years but never made an effort to give them a try, mostly because they are behind the Orange Curtain. But, I was in the mood for some broasted chicken and decided to give Pepz a try.

If the building for Pepz Pizza and Eatery looks familiar, it should, it used to be Zito's Pizza, which I reviewed in 2006.

Pepz Pizza and Eatery was started by two brothers and the name, Pepz, is a combination of pepperoni, pep, and pizza. There are six location, all behind the Orange Curtain. They have a pretty extensive menu, including pizza, pasta, sandwiches, salads, and broasted chicken.

A friend had a coupon for eight pieces of chicken, 3/4 lb of potatoes, and a medium one topping pizza for $26.12 with tax. Not a bad deal. So we got a half pepperoni and half sausage pizza.



The menu price of a one topping pizza is $12.49 + $1.25 per topping. The This was one of the best sausage pizzas I've had in a long time. Full of flavor, with good quality meats and spices the sausage was the highlight of this pizza. The crust was pretty good, a medium thickness, crust that held up to the large amount of cheese and toppings on the pizza.

The cheese was piled high and was gooey, a bit greasy, but overall pretty good.

The pepperoni was standard pepperoni. Nothing outstanding or bad about it.




Regular price for broasted chicken with 3/4 lb. of potatoes is $14.49. The chicken, I only had the breast piece, was dry on the inside. But, the skin was much different than skin from broasted chicken I've had before. It tasted more like regular deep fried chicken. I was looking forward to broasted chicken but I got either a bad example or regular fried chicken.

Service is good. The people there are nice and friendly.

I would go back to Pepz Pizza and Eatery for the sausage pizza, but I wouldn't order broasted chicken again.