De Soto Pharmacy-Closed

De Soto Pharmacy
20914 Roscoe Boulevard
Canoga Park, CA 91304
818-341-9515

After having terrible pizza at Barone’s The Pizzeria Express, I went to DeSoto Pharmacy/Jerry's Soda Shop for some ice cream!  As the name suggests, this is a pharmacy with a soda shop.

The soda shop is has a small counter with about ten stools and a couple tables. 

Two scoop strawberry sundae, with cherry vanilla and toasted almond, $8.20 with tax.  They use Fosselman's Ice Cream which is good stuff.  The ice cream I picked was great, much better than the flavor I had my first time at Fosselman's, and the toppings were good.

Service was good.

If I lived in the Valley, I would go to De Soto Pharmacy.  But, since they use Fosselman's Ice Cream, there is no need to drive all the way out to the Valley.  I  can just go to Alhambra and get the samething!

Barone’s The Pizzeria Express

Barone’s The Pizzeria Express
22435 Ventura Blvd Ste D
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
818-703-1700

I am working my way through the 2016 16 best places to get a slice pizza according to Eater.  The link goes to the 2017 17 best places to get a slice of pizza.  They took out Slicetruck from 2016, added Delicious Pizza and NY & C Pizza-which maybe closed now!  Gjelina Take Away is the last pizza I need to try from the 2016 list.  Debating if I should go to Delicious.

While I order a whole freshly baked pie, it should be good right? I haven't been to six places from that list before, so I went and loved all of them;  Pie Life Pizza in Pasadena, Pizzanista, Pellicola-which is now closed, Joe's Pizza, The Coop, and Prime Pizza. The other places on the list I've been to before I saw the list are; Abbott's Pizza Company, Lamonica's New York Pizza, D'Amore's Pizza, Vito's, Village Pizzeria, Town Pizza, Tomato Pie, and Mulberry Street Pizza.

I reviewed Barone's Famous Italian Restaurant back in 2011 and thought it was the same.  But apparently that Barone's is the original and eventually they owners split up and opened Barone’s The Pizzeria Express, which also delivers.

Located on Ventura Blvd. Barone’s The Pizzeria Express is a small restaurant with a few tables inside and a nice covered, if dirty patio.  The seats and tables had leaves from the covering.  They need to do a better job of keeping the patio area clean.

Medium mushrooms and jalapenos, $18.56 with tax.  This pizza was flat out terrible!  What a waste of money!  The crust was cracker thin and bad.  The pizza was a bit too well done.  The sauce was just bland.  The toppings weren't that plenitful, not many mushrooms on there.

Service was good.

I would never go back to Barone’s The Pizzeria Express, the pizza is terrible and not even worth the price!!  This is the first place on the list by Eater that I feel should not be on the list!!

The Brew & Meatball Co-Closed

The Brew & Meatball Co
325 N Citrus Ave
Covina, CA 91723
626-938-7090

The Brew & Meatball Co. is a fairly new gastropub in Covina.  Everything I read they offer some very good food, some that you wouldn't expect from a bar.  They are known for their meatballs.  You choose what kind of meatballs you want-beef, pork, beef and pork, veggie, or turkey.  Then you choose what kind of "bed' spaghetti, veggies, mashed potatoes, and then the kind of sauce you want.

It's a good sized bar with plenty of seating inside and a nice shaded seating outside.  It wasn't that busy for lunch when we went.  But, there was a steady flow of people, including my take out orders.

Tater tots, $5.95.  I almost always order tater tots if I see them on the menu.  Today was no exception.  They were great because they just came out of the fryer!  They weren't greasy at all, well seasoned.  Of course they are frozen, premade tater tots, but they were great!

Veggie meatballs, on steamed veggies, and marinara sauce, $8.95, lunch price price.  Regular price is $10.59.

The marinara sauce was very good.  Rich, hearty, full of flavor.  The veggies included broccoli and carrots, which I ate.  They also included zucchini and squash, which I hate and never eat!

Now the veggie meatball.  Another veggie I hate is beets!!  I just hate them.  But once I cut into the veggie meatball it was clear this was made with beets.  They were ok, but since I hate beets, it isn't my favorite.  I wouldn't order this again.  My friend had the beef meatballs and he really liked them.

Service was very good.

If you like beets, you'll love the veggie meatballs.  If you eat meat, you'll love the meatballs. I just don't happen to like beets and I don't eat meat, so their veggie meatballs weren't my cup of tea.  But, I think The Brew & Meatball Co. do a very good job and I would go back just for the tater tots!!

California Donuts

California Donuts
3540 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
213-385-3318

I knew about the fresh strawberry and peach donuts from Donut Man in Glendora.  But, until recently I never knew about the snickers donut at California Donut!!  So, I made a trip down to Koreatown and see what this snickers donut was all about.

California Donuts is open 24 hours and located in a very busy strip mall.  Parking is terrible here.  There is usually a line but the line moves quickly!

Bear claw- $1.95.  This was ok.  They had the apple and raisins inside.  Nothing special and I wouldn't order this again.

Snickers donut, $3. I thought the snickers donut was just a donut with peanuts, carmel, and chocolate with the donut replacing the nougat!  But, instead there is an entire snickers bar inside the donut!!  I'll repeat that, there is an entire snickers bar inside the donut!  This is an awesome donut.  Not as sweet as you might expect.  But, just wonderful!!

Service is good.  Nice people and the line moves quickly!

I would go back to California just for the snickers donut.  But, they have other donuts like the fruity peebles, thin mints, samoa, and a panda donut made with Oreo cookies!! I'll be back soon!!

PizzaRev

PizzaRev
17490 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
626-854-0006

After Pieology, I forgot about Pizza Rev, another contender that are striving to be the "Subway" of pizza along with Project Pie, and Blaze.  Located in a very busy strip mall, that has a sandwich shop, a seafood grill, and a burger restaurant, Pizza Rev is a medium sized restaurant.  You enter the line and tell what kind of dough and then toppings you want.  You then go pay.  The pizza takes about five minutes to bake.

Tuesday special, $6.53. Regular price $8.45.  I got spinach, jalapeno, mushrooms, and red onions.  The crust was too thin for my tastes.  It wasn't crispy, just sorta there. They had some kind of cornmeal on the outer edges that was weird.  The toppings were all fresh, but they slice the spinach into small strips.  The person who added my toppings could have added more toppings, but there weren't that many jalapenos, and could have spread them out better!

Service was good.

Ok, so what is my favorite?  I'll stick with Pieology. 

Pieology Pizzeria

Pieology Pizzeria
505 N Grand Ave
Walnut, CA 91789
909-594-3988

If this Pieology location looks familiar it should, this used to be Bella Napoli Trattoria & Pizza and has been open for about four years. After going to Project Pie, I noticed I have never reviewed Pieology, so I corrected that! Pieology and Blaze, are chains that are striving to be the "Subway" of pizza.

This is a busy shopping center with a Starbucks and about 4-6 other chain restaurants.  So parking can be tough to find during lunch and dinner time.  The restaurant itself is about medium sized but there is plenty of seating outside.

Whole wheat crust with mushrooms, jalapenos, and spinach, $9.23.  I love the crust and the option of having whole wheat!  The crust was firm but not cracker like,  yet chewy and good flavor.  The toppings were fresh and the sauce was good.

Service is good.

How would I rank the three contenders?  Pieology is clearly the best.  Project Pie would be second.  I really liked Blaze when I tried it, and would be a close second.  But when I found out that LaFRAUD James is a huge investor in Blaze, it quickly made it my third favorite, and I vow never to go to Blaze again.   

Kwon’s Restaurant

Kwon’s Restaurant
1625 W Holt Ave
Pomona, CA 91768
909-629-6888

I was driving on Holt Ave when I finally noticed the Kwon's Restaurant sign that is so infamous.  David Allen reviewed Kwon's back in 2009.  I decided to give them a try.

Located in a shopping center that is in great need of a facelift, Kwon's sign says it was established in 1983.  The people working the register are Latino, whether they are the owners or not, I'm not 100% sure.

There are about ten tables and booths in the small restaurant.  Many people came in to pick up their orders. 

 Shrimp chow mein, $8.25. Shrimp, broccoli, baby corn, carrots.  The first thing you'll notice is the massive amount of food!!  The amount of food is well worth the price.  As for quality, it's lacking!  While the noodles and veggies (which were cut into huge pieces) were well cooked, and there were about a dozen well cooked small sized shrimp.  This had to be one of the blandest dishes I've ever had!  Now Kwon's fans will say you got to put the hot sauce on the dish.  No, they have to season the damn dish so it will taste good without the hot sauce. 

Vegetable fried rice, $7.30 green onions, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, bean sprouts, and baby corn.  This was terrible.  Hard overcooked rice, way too much green onions, I took out about 70% of the green onions you see in that picture.  And the most bland Chinese food you'll ever have!

Service was good.  They are nice friendly people.

I will not go back to Kwon's.  The food is just not good!