Fresh Freeze

Follow the arrows to YUM!

Fresh Freeze
3023 F Street
Eureka, CA

I love, love, love a good diner when I’m travelling.  How can you go wrong with a burger and a malt?  You can’t.

I stuck to all-American cuisine during a recent visit to Humboldt County since the week leading up to my trip was full of Asian and Mexican food.  I love both, but needed a break; and when I happened upon an old-fashioned diner that could have been plucked right out of the 1950s, I knew I was in luck.

Clue #1: Big sign out front.  HUGE, in fact.  And lit with neon!  I treasured my parking spot right next to it.

Clue #2: Lots of locals in line, many of whom called in their orders.  These people could be trusted.

Clue #3: Both kids and adults with sky-high dipped cones.  The kind you stare at if only to catch a glimpse of that first bite which could easily turn into a disappointing battle against gravity.

I ordered my Cheeseburger, Onion Rings and Rocky Road Malt (WHAT!) and got comfy in a booth.  Stomach growling, the wait was a little painful, but surely rewarding.

“Cheeseburger” was a misnomer.  More appropriates names would be “Giant Cheeseburger”, “Colossal Cheeseburger”, “You Won’t Have Room for Onion Rings after Eating This Cheeseburger” or “No, Seriously… You Won’t Have Room for Onion Rings after Eating This Cheeseburger”.  Although full, I was shamed into finishing off those crunchy rings.

I always seem to have room for dessert, so that Rocky Road Malt?  No problemo.  Heavy on the malt powder, thick, sweet and crunchy from peanuts (an unexpected, delicious choice), it provided a tasty dip for my last onion ring.  Besides, you should never let a perfectly good vegetable go to waste…

Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant

Look familiar?

Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant
24505 West Dorris Avenue

Coalinga, CA

You see them for miles before catching your first glimpse of the restaurant: cows.  Lots of cows.  I’m talking thousands upon thousands of cows.

Let’s face it: travelling up and down Interstate 5 can become a little boring at times.  Harris Ranch is a nice break from boring.

Harris Ranch supplies grocery stores and restaurants with some of the tastiest beef around.  You can try it for yourself here at the Harris Ranch Restaurant, pick out your own steaks inside of the Country Store, or grab a few on your next visit to your grocer.

I made the unfortunate mistake of scarfing down a huge breakfast before hopping on the 5 this particular morning, so my digestive track was still in full effect as I pulled up to the ranch to stretch my legs.  Lucky for me, however, I’m never too full for sweets, and I located a bakery case in the Country Store chock full of fresh-baked cookies.

Life often presents difficult decisions: White Chocolate Macadamia or Toffee?  Snickerdoodles or Macaroons?  I pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and realized I didn’t have to choose!  I bought them all!  I figured I’d munch on one now and save the rest for the long drive home.

Well, you can guess how that turned out.  Fresh-baked cookies are almost always amazing.  These were tender, chewy, and not at all skimpy on the ingredients.  Thirty minutes later all four cookies had vanished.  I figured it was my reward for sparing a cow that day.

Rio City Cafe

Even better than it looks!

Rio City Cafe

1110 Front Street

Sacramento, CA

With a sepia-toned Instagram filter, any photo taken in Old Sacramento may very well trick the casual observer into thinking it was taken during the height of the gold rush - so long as Round Table Pizza isn't in the background.

In Old Sacramento you can buy taffy out of barrels, take horse-drawn carriage rides, and enjoy events like the annual Jazz Festival.  Plenty of scrumptious cuisine is also available, and I chose Rio City Cafe for a recent Sunday brunch with some pals.

We came for bottomless mimosas and bellinis, but stayed for the gorgeous weather.  Dining riverside in Sacramento can be a treat, and the view from the restaurant's cafe this particular morning was spectacular.  Sunlight bounced off the water and onto the H Street bridge, glistening in all its glory and capturing our attention until we noticed a boater violently bludgeoning something inside his boat.  We crossed our fingers and hoped it was a fish as our waitress approached.

Even that little episode couldn't deter me from my goal: a meal of gargantuan proportions.  I looked down and stared at my Crab Cakes Benedict with just the right amount on hollandaise sauce atop two crispy cakes.  English muffins sopped up the sauce, lightly garnished with tomato and green onion, and all the while my home fried potatoes and onions were largely neglected until then.  A side of fruit was completely ignored.  Sorry, melon slices!  I had to save precious stomach room for more bellinis.

Soon enough, I felt borderline comatose and the bludgeoning boater was nowhere to be found.  The next order of business was to stroll around Old Sac to work off some of the calories…or to find some taffy for dessert…

Splash Cafe

Here comes the lunch crowd (at 9:30am)...

Splash Cafe

197 Pomeroy Avenue

Pismo Beach, CA

Splash Café is located across the alley from another establishment that also serves clam chowder.

I feel sorry for the other place.

I’d read up on the café, and most articles suggested getting in line at breakfast time to enjoy hot chowder for lunch.

Although we’d just enjoyed a sugary carb bomb at Old West, we noticed a line starting to form around 9:30…and joined it.  Soon thereafter, while still waiting to order, the line grew, starting to snake around the building even before 10:00.

I ordered what 90% of the crowd was ordering: Chowder in a Bread Bowl.  An additional buck got me “extra seafood”, which proved to be a healthy portion of imitation crabmeat.  The steaming, creamy rich chowder arrived in a chewy bread bowl, and the “lid” of the bowl had been buttered and grilled to add a little crunch.  After a generous sprinkling of pepper, I gobbled it up as if I had just expended as many calories as the half-naked surfers in the room with me.

Finished and ready to explode, I proceeded out the door, vowing to eat nothing else for the rest of the day…and glad I’d worn loose clothing.

Al the Wop's

Old-school sign, old-school charm!

Al the Wop's
13943 Main Street
Locke, CA

Sometimes, I can’t believe what unfolds in front of my very eyes when I’m dining in a restaurant.

On the way back from the Isleton Crawdad Festival, my buddy and I stopped in Locke for a bite to eat.  Al the Wop’s had been on my list for a while for two reasons: providing an abbreviated menu of specialty steaks, burgers and pasta dishes that are raved about, as well as a questionable name I’m not sure should offend people.

One thing this restaurant is not is pretentious.  What you see is what you get.  What you see as you walk in is a typical locals’ bar with friendly bartenders who greet you as you walk in the door as they attend to boisterous bikers, locals and tourists.  What you get is a room toward the back where you can enjoy a nice little meal at an affordable price.

I guess I got the bonus plan on this particular visit.  In the middle of my juicy Al’s Burgers, grilled to perfection and piled high with tomato, lettuce and red onion, a couple walked in…and that’s when the show began.

They ordered salads and voiced their dissatisfaction with the types of dressing that were available.  They ordered pasta dishes, then complained yet again when those arrived.  They ordered an entire bottle of wine, then sent it back after two sips.  The manager was gracious enough to offer another bottle of their liking, and they balked after a few sips of the wine that they had picked out.

All the while, their server and her manager attempted to meet their every demand – with smiles on their faces.  No arguments, no eye-rolling.  The same server also made sure everything was going smoothly at our table, and I nodded happily as I shoved ketchup-laden French fries into my face.

Like I said, what you see is what you get.  A Michelin-rated restaurant this is not; but that’s fine.  Perfectly fine, in fact.  We left more than satisfied after wolfing down burgers, pasta and beer and tipped our server a little extra for her graciousness and to make up for the wine snobs who more than likely snubbed her.

Freeport Bar & Grill

My only suggestion?  Bigger spoons!

Freeport Bar & Grill
8259 Freeport Boulevard
Sacramento, CA

You hear about "hidden gems" all the time, and this is certainly one of them.  Off the beaten path, you either pass it unintentionally, or are brought here by locals who know where to find some of the best ribs in the area.

Dress up.  Or don't.  Anything goes.  I arrived wearing jeans and a hoodie, and was outdressed by only one lady at the bar in a beaded outfit, obviously enjoying the happy hour libation specials.

I was told "everything is good here".  Really?  I immediately challenged that by ordering a bowl of Clam Chowder, which arrived with a light sprinkling of shredded Parmesan and a dusting of chopped green onions.  Green onions?  Seriously?  I dove right in, discovering a generous helping of whole clams (no minced junk here) and a thick, complex soup with a myriad of flavors I could not immediately identify.  Additionally, I was convinced that ALL chowders should be topped with green onions.  What a delicious touch!

Soon thereafter came an embarrassingly large platter of St. Louis Ribs, slathered with barbecue sauce and topped with a large handful of fried shoestring onions.  As if that weren't enough, it was accompanied by a baked potato in GOLD foil and a side of sour cream, again topped with green onions.  Fancy!

It was love at first bite.  Was the giant knife on the platter meant to be used to hack into that baked potato?  Clearly, the ribs needed no assistance as the the pork delicately slipped off the bone upon each bite.  They were smoky, sticky and tender...much like the lady at the bar.

Half an hour later, I spent a portion of my food coma pontificating whether country music was the only option on this karaoke night.  I decided to call it a night and not find out.

Blue Point Coastal Cuisine

Oysters' reproductive organs contain both eggs
and sperm.  Bon appetit!

Blue Point Coastal Cuisine

565 5^th Street

San Diego, CA

A funny thing happened while I was planning my last trip to San Diego: my cousin asked, "There's a place in the Gaslamp Quarter with $1 oysters during happy hour.  Wanna go?"

I had to chuckle since my answer to that question will always be "HELL YES" followed by "stop asking dumb questions".

So there we were, butts atop barstools shoveling order after order of oysters and jumbo shrimp (oh yeah, those were a buck apiece, too) into our mouths as if we hadn't eaten huge pancake breakfasts and deep-fried lunches already.  Every now and then we'd mix it up with some bread, but those juicy bivalves were the highlight.  Truth be told, we wanted to wait for the rest of our party to arrive before starting, but our 90-minute window was quickly shrinking!  At least that's what we told ourselves as we slurped from dozens of shells.

If I received a buck for every time we uttered, "Another order, my good man!" to our server, I would have used them on more oysters.  Or, perhaps, a bigger tip for our server for acting so condescending.

Firewood Restaurant

Burgers: appetizers for pizza.

Firewood Restaurant

420 Main Street

Murphys, CA

Truth be told, I was a little leery of Firewood Restaurant on my first approach; I mean, the menu included everything from seafood pizzas to carnitas tacos to turkey burgers.  I thought, how could an establishment crank out Italian, American AND Mexican dishes with consistency in quality?  But after peeking in on what the diners were inhaling, I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed.

A buddy and I spent the previous couple of hours at beautiful Ironstone Vineyards, touring the grounds and taking in the beautiful scenery, and that kind of stuff always leaves me hungry.  I needed something carb-y, protein-y and substantial to keep me from dropping forty bucks on impulse purchases at the candy shop down the street.

My first choice had to be a huge slab of rare beef with loads of toppings, so their Bacon, Mushroom & Swiss Burger was an appropriate choice.  I noticed that pizzas with golded brown crusts were on nearly every table top, so we also chose the White & Green with fresh spinach, mozzarella, caramelized onions, and lots of roasted garlic in order to meet our daily requirement of vegetables (ha!).

At that point I was starving, so a wait of less than ten minutes seemed like an eternity.  When our order finally arrived, it was a feast for my eyes and my mouth.

Wood-fired pizza is special.  Its unique crust is crisp, chewy AND flavorful, reminding you that you’re not eating at Domino’s.  The fresh ingredients, specifically the roasted garlic and splash of lemon juice, took it over the top.  I inhaled a couple of slices before investing still-clean fingers in the juicy burger, dripping with melting cheese and tender, sliced mushrooms.  Crispy bacon?  Check.  Bloody beef as requested?  Yep.  I smirked at the fries that went largely ignored.

To-go boxes weren’t necessary.  I devoured half a burger along with half a pizza (less a slice or two – I swear!) and my buddy took care of the rest, saving our busser that much more trouble as he cleaned our table.  Aren’t we thoughtful?