Pizza Di Marco

Pizza Di Marco
23758 Newhall Ave
Newhall, CA 91321
661-288-1626

I was going to a potluck out in Newhall and didn't have time to make anything.  A quick search led me to Pizza Di Marco.  A standard suburban pizza place in a strip mall.  There are about 8-10 tables and a TV, turned to a stupid kick ball game, instead of the NFL!! 

Two large, one topping pizza, $19.99.  I asked if I could get a cheese pizza and two toppings on the other pizza.  The lady who took my order said no problem.  I have yet to encounter a pizza place that will not allow customers to do this!! 

Since I only ate a slice or two of the cheese pizza, that's what is pictured and reviewed.  The crust was about twice as thick as thin crust pizza.  The sauce didn't have much flavor.  The cheese as fine.  There was nothing outstanding about this pizza.  It was fine for what it is.  Better than the chains, but nothing great.

Service was good.  The lady was nice and friendly. 

I only went to Pizza Di Marco because I needed something close by and this met the requirement.  The pizza was fine, but I'm not in a rush to go back.

Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen

Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen
4114 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
323-913-1488

A friend and I were trying to decide where to eat.  The two choices were My Vegan Gold and Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen.  Since I already went to My Vegan Gold, the choice was easy!.  Bulan Thai Vegetarian Kitchen is a small restaurant, tucked into a corner on Santa Monica Blvd, just south of Sunset Blvd.  Parking is terrible nearby!!  Many streets are permit only at night.  There is another Bulan on Melrose.

Hot wings, $8, veggie chicken wings deep-fried, flavored with special hot sauce, served with carrot sticks and ranch dressing.

This tasted just like chicken!!  The texture and flavor were perfect!  You could eat this and never miss the real thing!!

Chow mein, $9, broccoli, celery, carrots, and tofu in a garlic sauce.  Again, like My Vegan Gold, the garlic sauce in this chow mein dish was sweet.  The tofu were cut into thicker squares and were perfectly good.  The veggies were fresh.  I thought the portion was a bit small but otherwise this is a good dish!

Service is good.  The servers are nice and friendly, and the food comes out quickly.

I prefer My Vegan Gold, but Bulan is very good. 

My Vegan Gold-Updated Review-Closed

My Vegan Gold
4319 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
323-522-6500

My Vegan Gold is in the same shopping center as Agra Cafe and Garage Pizza, at the very busy corner of Fountain and Sunset.  The shopping center once housed the now closed, Tang's Donuts and Sandwiches, that served up a good sandwich for $5.  Much better than the crap at Subway.  In this shopping center there are Saito Sushi and Jay's Bar-which is suppose to have good food, that I could still try.

There is another vegan restaurant a few miles away, Sage, where the food is overpriced and the service is terrible. I went there once and will never go back!

Nacho cheese bomb fries, $4.95.  I'm guessing these are frozen fries, but they were cooked perfectly!!  Very crispy on the outside and soft inside.  The nacho cheese was pretty good, a thick sauce, not sure how it's made, but came close to nacho cheese.  I would order both the nacho cheese bomb fries or the regular fries again!!

Chow mein, $9.95, wheat yellow noodles, organic tofu, assorted veggies-cabbage, snap peas, carrots, onions, bean sprouts, and zucchini, in a garlic sauce.  This was outstanding!!  You won't miss the meat, because there is so much flavor in this dish.  The noodles were cooked perfectly, the veggies fresh and crisp, the tofu-fried perfectly.  Though the garlic sauce was a bit too sweet, it wasn't overpowering.

Service was ok.  Though when I first got there, I waited at the counter and saw a man, who I believe is the owner, look at a lady and asked her what she wanted to order.  Even though there were three other ladies in line ahead of her.  It turned out two of three ladies were together, but the third lady, who was in line ahead of the lady that owner helped, got screwed.  The owner should have asked who is next?  But, the young lady who took my order and brought my food was good.  Not overly friendly, but did her job.

I would go back to My Vegan Gold again.  I like their food and the prices are reasonable, which is something that you can't say about all vegan or vegetarian places.

Updated Review October 5, 2016

I went back to My Vegan Gold to try one of their burgers.  They have a portobello mushroom burger along with a plant based chicken burger.  

My Vegan Gold Burger, $8.95 with side salad.  If you're expecting a protein pattie, you'll be surprised.  This is more like 3-4 pieces of protein that is topped with their great cashew nacho cheese sauce!  There is lettuce, tomato, and a thousand island type dressing.  The burger is good but the texture is a bit weird.  The salad was mixed greens with a vinaigrette dressing.

Service was pretty good this time.

I like My Vegan Gold and will go back when I'm in the area.

Agra Cafe

Agra Cafe
4325 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
323-665-7890

Agra Cafe is tucked into a corner in the same retail center as Garage Pizza in Silver Lake.  The shopping center once housed the now closed, Tang's Donuts and Sandwiches.

It is a very nicely decorated restaurant, with lots of tables.  I got my order for take out.

Samosa, $3.95.  The outside was a bit overdone.  But, had a good crispy texture.  The inside was just too bland, no flavor at all.

Shrimp Saagwala, $13.95, shrimp with chopped spinach and spices.  I asked for medium spiciness.  Not what I expected, but this was a very good dish.  About eight medium sized shrimp were covered in a spinach stew.  The spinach was nicely flavored but, it wasn't even spicy!!  The shrimp were pretty fresh and pretty good.  I don't think this was worth the price tag, even if this dish had the right spiciness!

Service by the guy who took my order was good.  He was nice and helpful.  The lady who gave me my order, was terrible.  She didn't say anything, not even a Thank you!!  She needs to learn customer service skills!!

The lack of customer service by that lady wouldn't prevent me from going back to Agra Cafe, but the high prices and only pretty good food, would prevent me from going back!

Tender Greens

Tender Greens
621 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-405-1511

Having gone to Citrus Kitchen, I decided to go to the Tender Greens in Pasadena.  I had gone to the Tender Greens in Santa Monica and was impressed with the food.

Tender Greens is basically the chain version of Citrus Kitchen.  The Pasadena location is huge, while ample seating.  It's a cafeteria style order system.

Mac and cheese, $5.  Very good, but the macaroni was a bit undercooked.  The cheese sauce was great, nice and creamy.  It would have been a great dish if the macaroni was cooked properly!

Herb brushed albacore, butter lettuce salad with taragon dressing, yukon gold mashed potatoes, $11.50.  The salad was very fresh and tasty.  It was all green butter lettuce, not a mix of red butter lettuce, but it was good.  Taragon dressing had a slight tang to it, adding flavor but not overpowering the salad.

Yukon gold potatoes were perfect!  Nice and creamy and very good flavor.

The herb brushed albacore was cooked rare and seasoned very well.  Fresh fish and great flavor.

Service was good and bad.  The two people, one for food and the other for drinks, taking my order were nice, friendly and helpful.  The cashier was terrible!  She didn't bother saying thank you, she was too busy talking to her coworkers and being a robot-"You ordered the albacore, with mac and cheese.  Your total is $20."  After getting our food, I went to get silverware and they only had one fork left in the container.  I went back to the cashier and told them very nicely that there were no more forks.  She seemed to be bothered by the fact that she had to do more work!!  The cashier had little customer service skills!

Tender Greens has good food, but the prices are high for the portion size and aren't a good value. 

Smash Burger-Closed

Smash Burger
602 W Huntington Dr
Monrovia, CA 91016
626-408-0311

Smash Burger is a Colorado based burger chain, that has come into the crowded Southern California burger market.  I don't know their concept and don't want to google them either.

Smash Burger in Monrovia is located in a shopping center that is filled with other chain restaurants!   Smash Burger offers burgers made with beef, there are two sizes available, chicken, or a black bean.  You can create your own or order from their selection of burgers.

There is ample seating inside and a patio with about eight tables with umbrellas!  They need to put more trash cans!!  After we finished eating, I couldn't find any trash cans on the patio and had to walk to the left of the front counter to find a trash can.  I know it wasn't a long walk to the front counter but come on put a trash can on the patio or at least by the door!

Avocado Ranch Black Bean Burger, $6.39, fresh avocado, pepper jack, lettuce, tomato & ranch dressing on a multi-grain bun.  This was a great burger!!!  The black bean patty was thin, which is good, because it didn't fall apart like many bean burgers.  The texture was great and perfectly seasoned.  The toppings were fresh.  A very good and filling burger.

I also got an regular order of fries, $1.99.  I was surprised at how thinly sliced the fries were, but they were good.

Service was good.  The people are nice and friendly.

I would go back to Smash Burger again.  I black bean burger is a very good vegetarian option!!!

Citrus Kitchen

Citrus Kitchen
10431 Lemon Ave Suite H
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737
909-941-1444

David Allen reviewed Citrus Kitchen back in September 2014, and it's been on my bucket list of places to try.   I finally went to Citrus Kitchen and felt I was going Back to the Future!!  Why?  Because this restaurant used to be Chef Tim's and Gerald Willhite's Spices BBQ.  I understand after Chef Tim's the location was a Chinese restaurant and at one time used to be an Indian restaurant.  I found it interesting that there are two pizza places in this shopping center, a national chain and a mom and pop's.  On a side note, this is the second time this year I went Back to the Future!  The first time was Jay's Pizza, which used to be Joe's Pizza.

Citrus Kitchen is a small place, with a two tables and two sets of counter seating, one facing the window, another facing the prep area!!  It was fairly busy on a Saturday night.  

The ordering system at Citrus Kitchen is choice of protein, then one side with a snack portion, or two sides with a meal portion.  Then a choice of sauce.  Seafood and beef items are about 50 cents higher for the snack portion.  I got two snack portions and two different sides to get a variety.  I got my order to go.  While waiting for my order, a woman, who was dining in, asked for a plate.  The guy behind the counter said they do not have any plates!!  Now, I'm not sure if that means they ran out of plates or no longer serve food on plates!  In the pictures from David Allen's review, the food was served on plates.

Blackened salmon, $7.99.  Perfectly cooked, but lacked flavor!!  Very little spices and seasonings! 

Citrus shrimp, $7.99.  Very well cooked and seasoned!!  Didn't even need the limes!  I would order this again!

Vegan black beans.  A very good sided portion for a side!  Beans were cooked perfectly and they were full of flavor with a nice kick.  Though I'm not sure what spice they used to get that heat.

Mac and cheese.  As well cooked as the black beans were, the macaroni was undercooked!!  But, the cheese was great; lots of it, creamy and nice flavor.  If the macaroni was cooked properly this would have been great!!

Service was friendly.  The order took about ten minutes to prepare, which is fine.  But, I got my order to go, and they didn't put napkins or utensils in the bag!

I was disappointed in Citrus Kitchen.  I thought the food, especially the salmon, was going to be much better.