Did any of you Southern California Foodbeasts out there stop by to check out the Santa Anita Food Truck Festival this weekend? We decided to swing by, enjoy some food and listen to some music. Mostly the food. The event was held at the Santa Anita Race Tracks this past Saturday 28th. Hosted by KROQ, the event hosted over 50 food trucks from all over the state. And when you put over 50 food trucks in one place, you can be sure people will come.

The day started off with the original Greasy Wiener from the Greasy Wiener truck. A wiener covered in mustard, grilled onions, peppers, a spear of dill pickle and their famous “truck-made” chili. We also ordered some Chili and Cheese fries which was also made from “truck-made” chili and “truck-made” cheese.

A major hit of the event was the Grilled Cheese Truck which boasted an enormous line the entire day. Hundreds of people throughout the day waited in line for their cheese fixes. I neither had the patience nor the stamina to wait in line to see what the fuss was about, but I did get to talk to some people.

“We’ve been waiting here for 30-50 minutes in line. We were sitting next to girls who had food from here and it looked so good,” said Nicole Luna, a resident of Anaheim who attended the event with her friend Christy Whitaker.

“They were raving about how good it was. They told us we should get in line before it gets even longer. We came to another food festival where the truck was there as well but the line was so long I didn’t try it. This time I said let’s do it. It’s a once in a lifetime thing,” Luna said.

Most of the people I talked to ordered the original Plain and Simple Melt.

Going back and forth through such a long line talking to people was pretty exhausting, especially in the heat. So we headed over to the Mustache Mike’s truck for some Italian Ice.

There, we ran into sisters Gaby Mendoza and Ivette Mendoza who heard of the event through Facebook and headed over from Chino to check it out. They both got the Big Daddy (cherry, orange, and pineapple swirl) and we tried the Juicy Rancher (watermelon, lemon, and sour apple swirl). Cooled and refreshed, the adventure continues:

The Slummin’ Gourmet truck served us a delicious Kuraboto Pork Belly Slider with a side of homemade potato chips. The slider was made with fresh tomatoes, a homemade slaw, their special BBQ sauce.

Lightning and DJ Omar from KROQ held contests and gave out prizes to fans throughout the day as they waited for Jeremy Dawson and Carah Faye of the band Shiny Toy Guns to perform a DJ set in between the horse races. Families sat on the grass, got tons of food, and enjoyed some great music.

The Santa Anita Food Truck Festival was a very enjoyable and exciting experience. The lines were pretty long and the heat was pretty intense, but man was the food delicious. All this for only a $5 entrance fee.

After a long day of balancing our checkbooks and making moves with our 401k’s, we decided to soak in some sun and checkout some of the local real estate in downtown Huntington Beach. (Hottie Alert) After scoping out the boardwalk for some good grub, we decided to grab some drinks at Fred’s Mexican Cafe & Cantina. Check it out!

Knowing us, we had to hit the bar before we got to our table! Dos Equis Ambers with chips and salsa was the perfect way to start off the meal.

Fred’s has a laid back kind of atmosphere, with seating both inside and out. Their second level patio seating overlooks the Huntington Beach Pier. On a beautiful day like this, of course that’s where we ended up sitting!

Carnea Asada Fries. Delicious is an understatement:

French fries piled high with Carne Asada, red onions, guacamole, cheese and a warm queso sauce! This makes me never want to go back to regular french fries again!

Shrimp Quesadilla with all the fixings!

Make sure to stop by one of Fred’s many locations and grub down with some Carna Asada Fries. Really though,  you can’t go wrong with that queso sauce!

I rarely head out to the Claremont area of California, but when I heard of the customizable egg sliders from Some Crust Bakery, I had to drive out there and see for myself. The bakery is divided into two sections. First there is the cafe, where diners can sit, relax, and enjoy their morning coffee. On the other side of the wall, there is the bakery itself where folks heading to work order their quick sugar, coffee, and pastry fixes.

“I found out about Some Crust by word of mouth,” said Maria Nogoy, a resident of the Claremont area. “I went to school in Claremont. People used to talk about how delicious their brownies and egg sliders were. I like it because it’s fresh and has a small town feel. They have delectable goodies.”

Customers who order the sliders fill out a sheet specifying what ingredients they want for their egg sandwiches. You get your choices of breads, two fillings, and one sauce for $2. Any additional add ons are a little extra (no more than $1 though!). For my first slider, I got Sourdough bread, sauteed mushrooms, spinach, and a pesto sauce. I also added applewood bacon for 75 cents. Cause, y’know, it’s bacon.

The second slider was made up of Rosemary bread, red onions, swiss cheese, with a garlic aioli, and avocado added on. Both of sandwich combinations were incredibly savory. Finally, I ended my breakfast adventure with a fresh Strawberry Cream Puff.

As I said earlier, I rarely head out to the Claremont area. So it was definitely an experience because I keep forgetting how eerily nice and friendly the locals are. Everyone says “Good Morning!” or goes out of their way to hold doors open for you. Not something I’m used to.

Some Crust Bakery is a just a little drive from the 10 freeway off Indian Hill and very much worth stopping by to try at least once.

Fresca’s Fresh Mexican Grill is one of my go-to-spots to grub down on some artery clogging fried chips with cholesterol-filled guacamole while waiting for my heart-healthy California Burrito. Oh the irony… never-the-less, Fresca’s is a great spot to grab some good beer and healthy Mexican food with some of your close amigos. Check it out as we scooped on some great eats at their Anaheim, CA location. For those not in the area, Fresca’s has locations spanning three states including Arizona, California and Oregon.

Some of their local beer on tap, accompanied by their extensive salsa bar is the best way to wait for your food!

My California shrimp burrito (below) obviously filled with shrimp…lettuce, tomatoes, corn, cheese and all the other fixings!

If you ever get the craving for some fresh Mexican food, make sure to check out one of Fresca’s locations, you won’t be disappointed!

If one were to describe the Bool Truck, it would be: “It’s kinda like Kogi, but you don’t have to wait as long.” So I was parked at the Rowland Heights Truck Fiesta waiting for the No Jodas Kitchen truck to show when I get a tweet saying they had car trouble and wouldn’t make it. Pissed and starving, I went to the first truck that was open: Bool Korean BBQ Tacos and Pastels.

The Pork Belly Tacos were made with lettuce, green onions, kimchi, and spicy pork belly. And you know you have a good taco when you can’t get the smell of the sauce out of your fingers. One definitely won’t be enough, so make sure to get at least two.

The Short Rib Burrito was heaven. The item a lot of people recommended, I had to be sure to pick one up and try it. Made with rice, kimchi, tomatoes, and Korean BBQ short ribs, this baby made my night.

The woman who took my order was very patient took the time to help me choose something off the menu I would enjoy. I didn’t feel like I was being rushed, which is always good when it comes to eating. I’m already coming up with a list of things I want to pick up for future visits. I definitely want to try their bowls. I one hundred percent recommend this truck for future visits. Very great food and very great atmosphere.

With locations dotting California, Nevada, and China, Capital Seafood is a family-run restaurant chain with some well-respected dim sum, fresh seafood and traditional Chinese dishes. I’ve heard great things about their food for quite some time, but it wasn’t until we were invited out to their most recent location opening in Irvine, CA that I got to taste what everyone else was talking about.

Along with some of our core FOODBEAST team, and a round table of some of OC’s eclectic food blogging illuminati, we joined Capital Seafood’s James Tea, the managing partner of the brand, for a voiced-over 11-course meal that showed off the best of restaurant’s awesome menu.

Here’s a look at what we tried, in order of how it came out:

James (above) was kind enough to spend the evening at our table, explaining what each dish was at it came out, making sure we knew the effort that went into the prep and quality of each ingredient and making sure we were…let’s face it, liquored up.

To the drinks’ credit, the reasonably priced signature cocktails were exquisite. Everything from the Asian Peartini (my personal favorite) to the C-Bar Martini, everything tasted great, and went down a bit too easily.

Seafood + Watermelon in a soup? I knew I was in for some interesting stuff for the evening, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get behind this particular dish. Sure enough, it was complex and delicious. The seafood melody with the sweetness of the melon really brought multiple levels to every sip of the soup. Game changer:

Roasted Peking Duck (pictured above, and in the two photos beneath this paragraph) is a definite winner. Imagine fresh duck, scallions, starch buns and hoisin sauce in every bite. There’s a bit of a sweet aftertaste, and the duck falls apart in your mouth. Everything works fabulously together, and there’s plenty of texture in the bun and the duck to help you enjoy this dish.

Let me jump in here. The picture above is the House Special Lobster, a fabulous dish made with lobster, scallions, spices, jalapenos, garlic and fresh noodles. Arguably one of the best dishes of the night, as well as my personal favorite, The Honey Glazed Walnut Shrimps, featuring shrimp, honey glazed walnuts, honey dew and cantaloupe (get all of them in one bite and you’re in for the treat of your life).

Did someone say Whiskey? Someone did. James was kind enough to bring out the Chivas for the table, and everyone proceeded to get extra toasty. For some reason the whiskey made the Almond Cream Souffle we had for dessert even tastier. The souffle was top-notch, a concoction of almonds, ginko nuts and diced water chestnuts. Winner:

Pictured below with James is Capital‘s executive chef Erik Soukaphay, the architect behind all the dishes we’ve shown here. He came out and had a drink with us before going back to his…architectural duties. Kudos on an awesome dinner:

Capital Seafood

85 Fortune Dr Suite #329, Irvine, CA 92618
Tel: (949) 788-9218

Photos by Marc Kharrat

If you’re a fan of uber-customization when it comes to your burgers and you haven’t been to The Counter in Los Angeles, California, then you’re missing out. Lucky for you, a few of us took to the streets of L.A., built up and appetite, then hit the Wilshire Ave and Fairfax location to build up some of our longtime burger dreams.

The Counter has many permutations on possible combinations (calculus son!) of customizable burger choices. From the ability to choose how big your patty is, to all of their fixings including Fried Eggs, Horseradish Cheddar, Spicy Sour Cream and of course, Bacon!  Here’s a look at what we built:

Spending the whole day at the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, (LACMA) definitely rubbed off on us. What you’re looking at are some sides of Ranch, BBQ Sauce and their delicious Horseradish Sauce! We started off our meal with some Sweet Potato Fries and thin Onion Rings. Salty sweet greatness.

The only solution to the spiciness of the Horseradish Sauce is with some Red Stripe Jamaican Lager. Am I right?

After messing around and finishing over a pound of Ho’douvers, we got down to the thick of things. Literally. Check out that 100% beef patty!

Our first burger started off with a regular bun on a ground beef patty, melted swiss cheese, bacon and buffalo wing sauce! The wing sauce was the x-factor, one of the best burgers I’ve ever created (#proud).

We decided to go healthy on the second burger (why?!). Utilizing a chicken patty, this sandwich was put together on a multi-grain bun, topped off with spinach, grilled red peppers, BBQ sauce and avocados. Healthy, but still so delicious!

If you’re ever in LA, make sure to stop by The Counter and give your artistic burger flair a spin. They also have locations across the country, with a full listing available on their website. Try ‘em out, you wont regret it!

If you’re ever craving meat and grease, and you’re in the downtown Whittier area, make sure to swing by the Golden Ox. Fellow Foodbeaster Brian Yamamoto and I decided to give it a try and we were very pleased. A small restaurant, with very friendly service, the Golden Ox was rumored to have some of the best carne asada burritos around. Frankly, they were pretty darn good:

The Carne Asada Burrito is both equal amounts of meat and flavor. The burrito is loaded with rice, beans, cheese, pico de gallo, and tons of carne asada. Just the right spice content and plenty of meat.

We also decided to try the Pastrami Quesadilla, which was about a foot in length. Pastrami, cheese, guacamole, and lettuce, wrapped around a giant tortilla. The Pastrami Quesadilla was so greasy, but oh so delicious.

Golden Ox is very much worth trying out. But I recommend never going two days in a row — if you respect your life.

Whittier Location

Looking for a hearty meal? If America knows one thing, it’s how to go big. Guasti Homestyle Café, located in Chino CA, definitely knows how to listen to America. Known for their Giant Pancakes, this family restaurant brings a warm, welcoming family vibe to your dining experiences.

These cakes come in servings of one to three. But I’ve yet to see someone make it through three cakes in one sitting. To better scale the size of this beastly thing, here is one next to my phone. And if you can’t finish what you order, they’ll give you a pizza box to pack it up in. Don’t you just love it when pancakes get stored away in pizza boxes?!

But the heartiness doesn’t stop at the pancakes. Guasti is known for their excessive portions, especially when it comes to their skillets. Below is the Hobo Skillet which consists of four eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, and cheese served on top of a bed of hash browns. It also comes with some of the best biscuits and gravy I have ever tasted.

It’s safe to say once you go to Guasti, you’ll be set on food for the next few days.

Also, bring cash.

CHINO
13526 Central Ave
Chino, CA 91710
(909) 627-5970

Founded by the creators of Kogi, “Chego!” serves as a sit down restaurant that fulfills the same dream. Focusing primarily on bowls, this Korean cuisine inspired establishment makes one delicious pork belly. A small “hole in the wall” eatery that was founded in mid 2010, Chego! stands on it’s own two feet against it’s predecessor.

Here’s a look at a recent trip we made:

The Steak in the Heart is a prime rib sandwich on grilled ciabatta served with wok-seared onions, roasted garlic Irish butter, cheese, green sauce.

Tiny’s Prime Rib Rice Plate is a chili-rubbed prime rib served with a fried egg, water spinach, creamed horseradish, roasted garlic serrano paste, and shallots.

And my personal favorite, the Chubby Pork Belly! Kochujang-Lacquered Kurobuta (pork belly), served pickled watermelon radishes, water spinach, cilantro, cotija, peanuts, and topped with a fried egg! And best of all, if your arteries are feeling particularly adventurous, you can upgrade anything on their menu with extra pork belly!