Kaminski’s BBQ & Sports Lounge

Kaminski’s Sport Lounge and BBQ is one of my favorite places to eat in Poway! I went all out and ordered one of their “Amazing Melt Sandwiches”. Choice of brisket, pork, salmon or chicken, topped with 3 cheese mac & cheese, caramelized onions on grilled sourdough with melted cheddar! Comes with your choice of side. I got the fries which you can get garlic style. I highly recommend those! They also have beans, tater salad, chips, slaw and what not.

Brisket was slightly dry, although still tasty with a good chew. Mac was decent, fries were hot & fresh. Garlic is a must! All this in sandwich form is something to behold. Kind of a hot mess but really delicious.

This place is super top shelf, modern, clean, etc. Outstanding, professional service too. Worth a visit if you’re ever in the Poway area.

The Boat Sushi & Thai Cuisine

Kind of a sketchy Thai restaurant in El Segundo with a tight parking lot, but really good crab fried rice!

Cheers of Ramona

Outstanding hot dogs now at Cheers of Ramona, made with Hebrew National all-beef franks. Base price is only $1.50 each and you can stack it with pretty much anything they have in their kitchen (except the sink) for a nominal extra fee. Here’s mine adorned with grilled onions, chopped jalapeño, bacon and shredded cheese. Just excellent, that I can tell you!

Cheers of Ramona

The best deal in town right now has to be Taco Tuesday at Cheers of Ramona! Tried their tacos for the first time recently and I’m so glad I did. Only $1 each. Hard to believe, I know. These were bigger than I was expecting for only a buck. Made with a generous amount of mildly taco seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese, lettuce and pico de gallo. The nice thing is you can specify the doneness of the tortilla from soft to medium to crunchy. I opted for medium and it was the perfect consistency, texture and mouth feel.

These are not necessarily the most authentic style tacos. Not like what you might get at one of our area taquerias, but for a local bar on Taco Tuesday, and only $1 each, pretty hard to beat in my book. They’re all skillfully made to order and super tasty with just the right amount of greasiness. Outstanding value!

I could have easily eaten two more tacos but opted instead for one of their new loaded hot dogs that I’ve recently seen featured on their FB page. Stay tuned for that post tomorrow.

Grub Burger Bar

Outstanding Cheesy Bacon Front Porch at Grub Burger Bar in Carmel Mountain Ranch!

Outback Steakhouse

Colossal Bloomin Onion thing at Outback. Unfortunately the steak was dry and overlooked. This dish was really an abomination. No need to mess with a straight up bloomin onion.

The Par Lounge

I’ve been eating calamari at The Par Lounge for years. I’ve ridden the roller coaster of varying qualities they’ve put out. Sometimes excellent, sometimes it seemed like a bowling alley snack bar. The new menu at Par/OG features the outstanding appetizer “S&P Calamari”. By far, their best yet! $14 ($2 off during happy hour).

Super delicious and artfully presented, I easily and happily ate the whole thing. It’s adorned with beautifully blistered shishito peppers, roasted peanuts, fresh lime, etc. Includes sides of a tasty, sweet chili sauce and a savory peanut sauce. A very nice Asian inspired spin on calamari that’s not over the top.

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Without a doubt, Freddy’s is my new favorite fast food restaurant! My first time out I tried their Original Double Patty Melt! Two outstanding steak burger patties, Swiss cheese & grilled onions on toasted rye bread. I think the biggest standout for me are their remarkably thin patties. It makes for the perfect charred surface area to meat ratio.

Rock & Brews

The chicken wings are on point at Rock & Brews in El Segundo, CA!

Lunch at 43,000 feet

More in-flight dining. This time a remarkably good (and huge) Chicken Caesar salad. Also an exquisite crab & corn chowder. Simply outstanding.