Grinder

One night after work, my buddy Chris and I tried to go to Figueroa Philly Cheesesteak. I was really excited to see how their chicken cheesesteak was, and I was excited to see if Chris liked this place too. On their website, it says that they are open until 9:00 pm, but when we got there it was closed and it said 7:00 pm on the door. We were so bummed out. This always seems to happen to me and Chris, that we have to go on a wild goose chase when we are in the mood for a cheesesteak, and it always happens when we are starving.

We had no idea where to go, and as we were driving by Grinder, Chris just pulled in the parking lot. It looked cute inside, just like a typical chain type diner.

We opened the menus, and lo and behold, there was a cheesesteak! I had to order it! I was pretty sure it wouldn't be great, but you never know...

The cheesesteak came with onions, bell pepper, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.

The presentation wasn't great, cheese was oozed out all over the plate. I think its hard to serve a sandwich like this on a baguette, it doesn't hold the contents very well.

I was right, the steak wasn't that great. However, I did appreciate how cheesy it was.

The onions and peppers were cooked nicely, for some reason I didn't really care for the mushrooms. The steak itself was a bit bland. The roll was lightly toasted, and it was good, but its not the type of roll that I prefer. The waffle fries were good, and I love how the waitress just brought me ranch dressing to dip them in. This is becoming more common nowadays.

I thought maybe the typical diner food would be a bit better. Chris got a cheeseburger, and he thought it was just ok, a little bland. He was starving, so he was fine with it, but it was not the best. Overall, I think this place is ok if you're in a pinch, but it would never be a first choice.

Grinder

525 W. 28th St.

Los Angeles, CA 90007

213-747-0782

LA County Fair Part 2

Did I say that there is always next year? I should have said next weekend.

My buddy Chris, my home girl Maria, and I went back to the fair. Actually, this was Chistopher's first time ever going to the fair. We went to walk around, see the sights, and most importantly, eat!

For the first round, we started out with sausages, different kinds of fries, and pasta. I got another one of the pomegranate Italian sodas from Eddie's Cucina Italiana, which is located normally in Rancho Cucamonga.

After that, we decided to take in a pirate show. We also did a lot of kiddy things, like spinning wheels to get our pirate names. Want to know what our names were? Well I'm gonna tell you anyway. I was Stub Lips Jack, Chris was Big Wreck Bart, and Maria was Blind Wreck Sam (they were related). Here's Maria and Chris acting corny:

Get it?

Then we moved on to some fried delicacies. You know I went straight for the fried Kool-Aid.

When I saw the sign, I also saw that they had a fried Klondike bar.

I didn't even hesitate...I ordered both! I made sure to tell the girl who took my order that everything had to be freshly made, I didn't want soggy fried Kool-Aid. The Kool-Aid was everything I had hoped it would be! Like little donut holes, and it kind of reminds me of apple cider donuts. But instead of being made with apple cider it is made with Kool-Aid, and instead of being sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, it is sprinkled with sugar and cherry Kool-Aid powder, which gives each bite a nice little burst of flavor.

We devoured that, just in time for the fried Klondike bar to come out of the fryer. Ok, this was good, but it was an insane amount of batter around it.

Almost too much. I wanted more of the ice cream in it, but I think all of the surrounding dough sopped it up. Chris also had a fried twinkie during this time, and this particular stand made them smaller, and he was a wee bit disappointed with it overall, but he did eat the whole thing. After he tried the Klondike, he said we didn't even need a funnel cake after that...

We continued our stroll, and we happened to stumble upon chocolate covered bacon!

I don't know why I imagined this to be hot, but they actually had it in the fridge. I took a bite, and at first thought it was really good, cause all I tasted was chocolate. Then when that wore off it was just bacon. And because it was refrigerated it had the texture of beef jerky. Maria hated it, and spit out her first and only bite. I thought it was ok, and Chris loved it!

After we gorged on all of that, what did I happen to see? Another cheesesteak stand!

This one was a lot different than the last. It was filled with meat, and huge chunks of peppers and onions.

Come on, cut that up a little bit!

The meat was in in really big chunks too.

They slopped the cheese wiz right on top. This of course bothers me, because it needs to be mixed in with everything. It also makes it more messy this way I think. The cheese didn't taste like normal wiz...it seemed like spicy nacho cheese that could only belong on nachos. The meat was seasoned...it didn't need any salt or pepper...but it was a bit odd to me. There was some kind of odd seasoning, and I couldn't really tell what it was...maybe taco seasoning? At least there was more meat than bread. I thought it wasn't that great, Chris thought it was ok, and Maria actually liked it! I wouldn't recommend this steak either.

This stand also had monster pretzels, and we saw this tiny girl with this crazy big pretzel:

I actually really wish we got one of these...next year for sure!

We walked around some more, shopped at some tents, and what did I see? A THIRD cheesesteak stand!

Now, I love you readers...but at this point, I just couldn't do it. I will save this for next year if it happens to be there. I had too much fried goodies in my belly, and I knew that there was a funnel cake in our future......THIS funnel cake:

Do I even need to tell you how awesome this was? We ate every last bite!

We strolled some more, and Christopher won me a giant stuffed husky:

On our way out of the fair, we decided to give it away to a cute little boy. His whole face lit up, he was so happy and excited.

I love the fair. Maria and I always have a blast when we go, and Christopher really enjoyed it too.

There are just too many exciting foods to try, and you can never get through all of them. So what is at the top of my list for next time? FRIED WATERMELON!!

LA County Fair

Last year, my good friend Leigha, my home girl Maria and I went to the LA County Fair. Basically we went to eat fried things. We had never had fried twinkies and oreos and things of that nature, and we were on a mission to try them! I thought we should eat something "real" before all of our junk food. I thought about the cheesesteak, but decided on a plate of fried zucchini. Then between the three of us, we had fried oreos, fried twinkies, fried snickers, and a funnel cake.

This year Maria, our buddy Emerald, and I went, and I knew I had to see if the cheesesteak was any good. As soon as we got there, I went straight for the cheesesteak stand, just where it was last year.

After I ordered, I went to the end of the stand, where a bunch of wrapped cheesesteaks were sitting in a bin on the grill, so I'm not sure how long it had been there.

I unwrapped my sandwich, and was pleased to see that the cheese was melty. But then I realized that there was almost no meat in there. There were onions and green bell pepper, which were actually cooked nicely.

Looks pretty empty, doesn't it?

The roll was so thick, I just can't get over it. Look at all that freakin' bread:

You know, the overall taste was better than I expected. The meat was seasoned ok, right amount of salty, but could have used a bit more pepper. The bread wasn't right...it was a bready Italian roll that seems more appropriate for a sausage or meatball sandwich. A man would have hated this sandwich. So many of my guy friends tell me as long as there is more meat than bread, they are happy. This of course was the complete opposite. I ate what I could, and this was all the leftover bread:

The verdict: Not worth $9, and I was still hungry. Sooo between me and the girls we had pasta, olives, garlic bread, Italian sodas, lemon cake:

and tiramisu:

Then we decided to enjoy some rides before our next round. We started off tame with the carousel, ferris wheel, and haunted mansion.

Each ride seemed to go by so fast, and it is not cheap! We went through a lot of tickets. I think each ride was probably about $5. We then decided our food had digested enough for something more daring. We picked G Force or something like that. Basically a ride that spins you all around and you feel like you're falling face first onto the pavement. And of course this was the longest ride ever:

After that, it was time for more food. Fried food!

I skipped the fried snickers this year, but went with the twinkie and oreos:

You know, they were not as good as last year, and I was a bit disappointed. They were a little soft and not hot enough, I think they need to be right out of the fryer so that they are a bit more crisp on the outside, and gooey on the inside.

We also had to have a funnel cake!

The Shack needs to take notes:

It was scrumptious! We actually did think it was a bit on the soft side, but was our favorite fried dessert that evening.

I wanted to try the fried kool-aid, but couldn't find it. And I wanted to try chocolate covered bacon since last year, and I even walked past the stand, but I forgot about it. So there's always next year...

The fair runs until October 2nd, and I think its worth checking out. Skip the cheesesteak, and fill up on the fried food!

LA County Fair

1101 W. McKinley Ave.

Pomona, CA 91768

Figueroa Philly Cheese Steak

My cool co-worker Ty and I decided to take a lunch break and check out Figueroa Philly Cheese Steak. We pulled into the parking lot, and I thought it looked so cute from the outside. There were some interesting characters eating outside when we walked up, like one guy who's boxers were hanging out of his pants, and his ass was hanging out of his boxers. Fortunately, by the time we were finished ordering, the tables outside had cleared.

As soon as we approached the counter, we were greeted by Mario. He is the one in the middle:

Mario was super informative and friendly. He let us know right away that they only use Amoroso's rolls, and they order their steaks from the Philadelphia Steak Company. I asked him how long they had been open, and he told me 4 months.

I ordered a cheesesteak with fried onions and American cheese. I ordered a side of fries, and Mario offered to mix in some of their sweet potato fries as well so that I could try them. Ty ordered his with provolone, onions and bell peppers, and a side of onion rings. We went outside to sit at one of the little benches, and before we knew it, Mario brought us our piping hot food. He offered us ranch for the onion rings and little cherry peppers, and we gladly accepted both. I love the little cherry peppers, I ate them with my cheesesteaks all the time back home.

I could tell right away by looking at it, that this steak was going to be good. I could see that the cheese was melted all the way through, and the meat was cut to a perfect size. The first bite confirmed it...delicious! My steak had the perfect amount of seasoning, the onions were cooked just how I like 'em, and the meat was cut and cooked perfectly, there were no dry bites. The roll was tasty, and the meat to bread ratio was balanced well.

Ty said that he enjoyed the roll because it was soft and fresh. He also said that the meat was flavorful and the onions and peppers were good. Then he said that he thinks this place is better than Philadelphia Sandwiches on Magnolia. Oh snap! We both agreed the service was great, Mario even came outside to refill Ty's soda.

Danny, the owner, came out to chat with us for a bit. He was born and raised in California, but has many friends back East, so he has learned a great deal about the cheesesteak.

Before we left, Mario made sure to give us each this flyer with 10% off for our next visit!

I will definitely go back to try the chicken cheesesteak, and whenever I'm downtown and craving a regular cheesesteak. It was one of the best that I've had since I've been out here, and again, everyone who worked there was awesome. This place is a really good find, and I hope it does well!

Figueroa Philly Cheese Steak

3844 S. Figueroa St.

Los Angeles, CA 90037

213-748-9073

www.figueroaphilly.com