Domino’s Pizza

Domino’s Pizza for dinner recently! Our new family favorite is made with a white alfredo sauce plus chicken and bacon. If you haven’t tried this combination before, I highly recommend it. It’s an outstanding flavor sensation. A nice departure from the traditional, ho-hum red sauce.

Last week we had a great alfredo/chicken/bacon pie from Ramona Lisa (despite the cheese spooge) and this weekend we put Domino’s to the test. I elected to get their homemade pan style pizza and it was outstanding. Two layers of cheese, toppings to the edge, then baked in a pan for a crust that comes out golden and crispy with a buttery taste. Shown here is a medium for $12.74.

I was shocked and appalled to find out that parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper envelopes are no longer available! You can however purchase a side of these pizza condiment staples for an extra dollar each. No thank you. Anyway, I did appreciate very much the online ordering from Domino’s website. I was able to track the progress in real time. I knew exactly when Alyssa was prepping, baking, quality checking, etc. 

For chain store pizza I’ve usually been fairly impressed with Domino’s. They do a respectable job and I hold them in just slightly higher esteem than Pizza Hut.

Nuevo Grill & Cantina

Recently had brunch at Nuevo Grill and Cantina. I ordered one of my favorite Mexican breakfast dishes, Chilaquiles. Fried corn tortilla pieces, scrambled eggs, cheese and homemade verde sauce, $7.25. Add carne asada for only $2 more.

I’ve eaten a lot of chilaquiles and this is the first time I’ve seen the egg separate like this. Turns out the breakfast cook left early and our dishes were made by the dinner crew. Oh well, at any rate it was still tasty but it would have been better prepared in the traditional fashion. Eggs were also somewhat overcooked. Adding carne asada was a good move. There was a liberal amount for only $2 extra. (Only one oral extraction). Best part of this dish had to be the outstanding homemade verde sauce! I’ve enjoyed it blanketing their chicken enchiladas for years so it was nice to have it featured in the chilaquiles.

Highlight from my Nuevo Girl brunch was the complimentary champagne. Not this watered down mimosa crap, but full-on champagne! Like they do at Oaks Grille. Gail got a good looking order of her favorite, eggs benedict. 

Jack in the Box

So, I checked out the new “Brunchfast” menu at Ramona JIB recently! They have a really good looking bacon & egg chicken sammich and brunch burger on croissant. This time though I went for the gusto and got the Southwest Scrambler Plate for $4.79.Comes with scrambled eggs & homefried taters mixed with sautéed peppers plus a side of bacon or sausage. The eggs were topped with a good amount of shredded cheese but tasted fairly institutional. Bacon was a generous four slices but was of obvious fast food quality. JIB needs to take a lesson from Wendy on bacon! Biggest surprise for me were the potatoes. Hot, crispy, tasty and well seasoned. 

Overall a big and satisfying meal, although not sure I would order it again. Definitely trying that croissant brunch burger thing next time! 

Grub Burger Bar

Outstanding “Harlem Chicken Tenders” at Grub Burger Bar!  Hand-cut, double battered & inspired by a recipe originating in Harlem, NY.  Served with skinny fries and an excellent Mississippi comeback sauce.  Only $8.25. 

Pei Wei Asian Diner

Outstanding fried rice bowls at Pei Wei!  Probably my favorite thing to order here, especially with beef.  Even the small size is a generous amount of food.  I always feel like laying down afterwards. 

Italian Cucina

Another outstanding meal at Italian Cucina at the Barona Casino!  This time I ordered the rigatoni with beef meatballs.  This huge portion came out hot, delicious and al dente!  Definitely the best Italian restaurant within any reasonable driving distance of Ramona. 

Ramona Lisa Pizza

Quick one today! We got two outstanding pizzas recently from Ramona Lisa. I’m pleased to report that the crust was a nice golden brown, not burnt. The order was 100% accurate and ready in the prescribed timeframe. 

Shown here is a medium white sauce (Alfredo) pizza with chicken and bacon. As you can see there an obscene amount of cheese. It was very good, but everyone agreed it was a little too salty. Also a large pepperoni/sausage that was outstanding.

Need to be very careful driving these pizzas home! Keep the box perfectly flat in the car; don’t brake too quickly; and take it slow around tight corners. There’s so much going on with all the toppings that the blanket of hot cheese easily becomes victim to centripetal force.

Bruski Burgers & Brew

Outstanding family owned restaurant in Scripps Ranch since 2011,  Bruski offers an impressive selection of draft beers.  Also tried their tasty mac & cheese Gouda bites served with an excellent chipotle aioli sauce.  So good, we ordered two servings! Everything was remarkable!  

Boll Weevil

Best value in Ramona!  Thursday night AYCE fish fry at the Weev!

The Par Lounge

So, for the next few posts I’m going to review some of the great appetizers at The Par Lounge. The appetizers here are easily a meal in themselves! Their happy hour is a generous 4 hours, Mon-Fri, 3-7pm. Why limit “happy” to only an hour, right? During HH it’s $2 off everything on the “Great Bites” section of the menu.

Here’s an outstanding order of onion rings, only $3 (HH price). I’ve reviewed this before during our onion ring series so I’ll just stick to the highlights. Despite being frozen, still probably in the top 3 onion ring orders in Ramona. A fair amount comes out hot & crispy in a faux newsprint lined basket. I noticed a new dipping sauce along the side that was so good! Some sort of a spicy ranch type dip.

Be sure to check your itemized ticket at the end. Sometimes there are keying errors and you don’t always get the happy hour pricing.

This place has a modern, top shelf atmosphere with numerous flat screen TVs, patio seating with great golf course views and outstanding service.