Nikki's Cafe (R.I.P.)

This morning while viewing my Facebook news feed, an article by the Daily Press immediately caught my eye. The article stated that today would be the last day that Nikki's Cafe would be open for business (here's the article). Nikki's Cafe had been in business since 1983, any business that lasts that long deserves praise for their efforts. If you lived in Apple Valley, or any part of the HD for that matter, you most likely visited Nikki's at least once for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. When you find out that a place that's been around for over 20 years is shutting down, it feels like a piece of your hometown has died. I felt that it was only fitting for my Wife and I to pay Nikki's our respects and visit them for one last meal.

Every time that I went to Nikki's I usually ordered the Triple Nikki, the Triple Nikki is a simple turkey club sandwich with added avocado at request (I always added avocado). There's really not much that's special about this sandwich, it tastes great, but there's nothing that separates it from the crowd other than the fact that it will be the same sandwich every time you visit. The Triple Nikki has tasted the same ever since I first ordered it when I was 12 years old, the bread is the same toasted white loaf, the bacon is always crunchy, the turkey is always juicy, and the lettuce/tomato is always fresh. While there might not be much glam or glitter to this sandwich, I at least knew it would taste good and be served the same way EVERY TIME that I ordered it.
My Wife went ahead and ordered the cheese omelet with hash browns, the omelet was decent and the hash browns were properly cooked. This meal also offers nothing out of the ordinary other than the fact that it's cooked properly and is well seasoned. The breakfast at Nikki's is usually pretty good and never changed over the years, it's pretty hard to find a place nowadays that doesn't change with the trends.

While Nikki's might not have offered over the top food, the food was consistently decent and never tasted bad. I always knew that if I went to Nikki's I would not get burnt food, overly greasy food, or food that came out of a microwave. The down home country kitchen decor and knick knacks for sale at the front register was always extremely inviting. The food was always at a great price, and the portions were always big. Our meal today was just under $20 for 2 large plates of food.

The environment during our final meal at Nikki's was something I will never forget, in the background we were able to hear people talking about their first visits to Nikki's, parents telling their kids about how they used to eat here every sunday, and families reminiscing about previous visits together.

Over the years I can remember Nikki's being somewhere my parents and I would come for dinner if we were in the area, as I got older it eventually became a place where friends and I would gather in the morning to soften the blow from the previous night's hangover, towards the end it was still a place where my parents would sometimes take my Wife and I for dinner. With Nikki's leaving, it feels like a piece of the HD is leaving. Although we can't fight the uncontrollable, all we can do is hope the best for the owner and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors and thank them for running a great restaurant since 1983.

Sushiaru

In the HD sushi scene, it's extremely difficult for a restaurant to separate themselves from the pack unless they offer some sort of discount or daily special. Most places are starting to offer "All you Can Eat" specials and "Happy Hour" promotions to get people through the doors, Sushiaru offers both. On this particular night, we decided we would get together with friends and give Sushiaru's Happy Hour a go!

The menu showcased a pretty decent selection of rolls, sushi, and appetizers. The main perk to the happy hour looked to be the 2 for 1 specials on large beers and large sake.
The first item to come out was my baked mussels appetizer, keep in mind that the serving came with 3 mussels, I forgot to take a picture until there was only one mussel left. The mussel was topped with a creamy-mayo mixture and masago. The mixture was decent and the masago added great texture, but they accidentally left it underneath the broiler a little bit too long thus leaving some burnt strips on top of the mussel. My main gripe was that the mussel itself had a very strong fish aftertaste, i've never had a mussel before that had a strong fishy aftertaste like this one did. Unfortunately the strong aftertaste overshadowed the sauce and masago that topped the mussel. With a fresh mussel, this dish would've gone toe-to-toe with the baked mussels at Yoshi's, but unfortunately the quality of the mussel took the dish out of contention.
Our friend and fellow blogger Monique (A Profound Muse Poetry) ordered the veggie tempura roll (not on the happy hour menu). This roll was extremely tasty and included pieces of veggie tempura rolled just like a sushi roll. The roll was crunchy from the tempura, sweet from the carrots, salty from the teriyaki glaze on top, and tender from the rice. I would easily order this roll on a return visit to Sushiaru!
My first roll to come out was the Oceanite roll, the roll consisted of a california roll topped with baby lobster, served hot out of the broiler. The play of textures and temperatures is what made this roll incredibly fun to eat. The outside of the roll is hot, moist, tender, and covered in baby lobster with a spicy mayo sauce while the inside consisted of a cold california roll. The 2 opposing temperatures played well together and created a unique flavor and texture combination. The spicy mayo and baby lobster brought a quick flash of heat to the pallet while the cool and refreshing california roll extinguished the heat with cool flavors of crab and avocado. The Oceanite roll should not be passed up on any visit to Sushiaru.Coming in at $1 a piece, I figured it was a crime to not order a couple pieces of Albacore off of the menu. The albacore came in a light-garlic vinaigrette and topped with a small dab of sriracha (Japanese hot sauce made with chili paste). The albacore tasted fresh and the vinaigrette was sweet, the icing on the cake was the dab of sriracha on top! It added a nice spicy kick and a huge flavor boost to the albacore!
I decided I would try something new on this trip so I went ahead and ordered the "Snowballs" off of the menu. I had no clue what they were and didn't even bother to ask the waitress, when the plate arrived it had 3 tempura balls soaked in oil. The suspense was already killing me so I immediately broke one open and discovered that they were just balls of crab meat that were battered in tempura and deep fried. I guess it's safe to say that I was a little disappointed due to the hopes of receiving something different, something more unique than tempura fried crab crakes soaked in oil. The dish itself didn't taste bad, it was just a little too greasy for my liking, it's a good lesson learned on my part to always ask the waitress what's in a dish if i've never tried it before.
For dessert my Wife and Monique ordered Mochi Green Tea Ice Cream. Mochi is basically an ice cream ball with a gelatinous outer shell which is made from rice starch and a Japanese ice milk. The Mochi balls were cut into 4 pieces and served with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. The Mochi itself didn't have much flavor and had a gelatin consistency which played well with the creamy green tea ice cream. The dish was very tasty and easily earned a re-order in future visits.

While Sushiaru provided very good deals on food, the prices on beer and sake were a little bit on the inflated side which made the 2 for 1 deal not as good as it could've been. The service at the restaurant was ok, but numerous mistakes made it questionable at times. The environment is fun and inviting, and the happy hour is definitely worth checking out! At certain times during happy hour they even invite guests to come to the sushi bar to do a round of sake bombs half filled beer with a shot of sake dropped into it) with the sushi chefs! The above items, plus a Large Beer (2 for 1), Large Sake (2 for 1), and an extra roll came out to $52. Sushiaru is located at 15683 Roy Rogers Dr. in the Home Depot shopping center in Victorville.

Ala' Al-Deen

Culinary Diversity is something that I feel everyone in the HD should implement into their everyday eating experiences. The ability to try something new will open many new doors into a thousand new worlds that you never would've experienced otherwise. Middle Eastern food is something that doesn't really sound glamorous compared to Thai, Italian, Chinese, and French cuisine. The scary part about trying something new is finding where to go to get it, Middle Eastern cuisine isn't something that's on every street corner in the HD. This type of cuisine requires effort and a little bit of investigating in order to find a joint that serves the food the way it is meant to be served. Ala' Al-Deen sits on the outer part of 7th street in Victorville, overshadowed by Bakers and the almighty Los Robertos Mexican Restaurant. It's outside appearance is mediocre at best, but the gold-mine of culinary treats inside are undeniably the HD's best kept secret!

After getting over the dull outside of the building, stepping inside of Ala' Al-Deen is actually pretty inviting. Beautiful floor tile, clean tables/chairs, and a huge menu equipped with large pictures make your new culinary experience a whole lot easier to get used to. The last thing anyone wants to worry about is questioning the cleanliness of an establishment, Ala' Al-Deen immediately wipes those thoughts from your head, allowing you to concentrate on what meal you'll be sampling on your culinary adventure into a new world of food!
The lady at the counter recommended I try the "Large Meal Sampler" to get a feel of what the restaurant and the Middle East have to offer. Understanding what you're eating is usually the best way to get someone to try something new, I will go plate by plate in the picture and explain each item so you guys understand Middle Eastern Cuisine a little more before you go out there and dive head first into the culture.

The top left Item is a paste known as "Baba Ghanoush", a Lebanese originated paste made of cooked/blended eggplant, olive oil, and various spices. This dish is eaten with Pita bread, just dip the bread into the Ghanoush and enjoy! I thought that this dish was addicting and fun to eat, the pita bread acts as a soft vehicle for the pasty goodness of eggplant and dark spices. If you're a fan of Hummus, you'll most likely love Baba Ghanoush.

The next item in the picture is the green dish known as "Tabbouleh", Tabbouleh consists of Bulger (wheat cereal bits), Tomato, Onion, Cucumber, chopped mint, chopped parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. This dish is also eaten with pita bread. The Tabbouleh tasted like an Italian version of pico de gallo. The parsley added a darker kick to the dish that helped my taste buds absorb the bright flavors of the tomato, lemon juice, and mint. The taste of the bulger wasn't strong in the dish, it mainly added a soft texture to offset the crunch of the cucumber and onion. The whole dish came together perfectly and was even better when combined with the Baba Ghanoush, it gave the Baba Ghanoush a well needed crunch!

The third dish on the plate is called "Hummus", Hummus is another type of paste made from boiled chickpeas, Tahini (sesame paste), garlic, olive oil, salt, and lemon juice. Hummus comes in many different varieties and can be found at your local grocery store, flavored Hummus is starting to become extremely popular in almost all grocery store aisles. The Hummus at Ala's had a strong lemon and garlic flavor to it, it was extremely addicting and forced me to order another pack to pita bread so I could keep enjoying the flavorful paste!

Overall the 3 starting dips were amazing! The large amounts of lemon in all of the dishes did an excellent job in cleansing the pallet and providing a light appetizer to prepare me for my main course! I could easily see Hummus replacing salsa at any party in the near future, that's how good it is!

The next dish in the sampler was the "Arabic Salad", the salad consisted of romaine lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber in a parsley accented vinaigrette. The salad was a little on the oily side, but the freshness of the cucumber and tomato helped overshadow that with huge garden-picked flavor! I liked the pita concept so much that I even used pita bread over a fork to eat my salad!
The main course was a huge sampling of Chicken, Steak, and Kefta. Kefta is typically made with lamb or ground beef, heavily seasoned, formed into a meatball or cylinder, and grilled. All of the meat on the plate came in bite-size portions to allow the diner to use the pita bread as your main dining tool of destruction! The meat was accompanied by a grilled onion, tomato, and a savory/buttery rice. The first thing I tried was the chicken, it immediately melted in my mouth and left behind a huge explosion of flavors. The meat had numerous seasonings on it that provided layer upon layer of huge flavors, all finished off with a perfect char from the grill! The steak was seasoned similar to the chicken and was cooked to a perfect medium temperature. The steak also melted in my mouth similar to a steak that's been marinated for over 24 hours! The Kefta had a very distinct taste to it that kept it's flavors on the fence between an italian meatball and a polish sausage. It had light and dark flavors that had my taste buds constantly confused, but begging for more! The buttery rice added as a flavor enhancer and added great texture to accompany the pita bread.
The glory of this huge offering of food was that it allowed me to combine different items to create different flavors and combinations. The huge flavors and seasonings in every dish left me feeling like this food had a ton of care and preparation in it. Every dish felt like it was perfected and executed just how the cook intended. The staff was also very helpful in explaining each dish and even offered me a sample of Falafel (deep fried chickpea mash/hummus), the taste was very similar to a hush puppy (but way better than a hush puppy) and left me knowing exactly what I would be ordering on my next visit! Ala' Al-Deen is easily some of the most flavorful food in the HD and has opened a gateway to a new world of culinary experimentation. If you've never tried Middle Eastern cuisine before, I highly recommend you take a chance and immediately head over to Ala' Al-Deen's, they are most likely going to be your new favorite restaurant! The "Large Meal Platter" easily feeds 2 and could be stretched to feed 4 people and came in at just over $30 with 2 soft drinks (I also ordered an extra pack of pita bread). Ala' Al-Deen is located at 14303 Seventh St. in Victorville.

Mama Carpino's

In all of the HD, Apple Valley houses 2 of the HD's top Italian restaurants. DiNapoli's and Mama Carpino's are arguably the top spots for Italian in the HD. Both restaurants are elegant, family oriented, and NOT Olive Garden. After reviewing DiNapoli's, it was only a matter of time before I headed to the crosstown rival for a meal fit for review.

As soon as you walk through the door of Mama Carpino's you'll immediately notice the dessert fridge and all of the decadent treats and pastries behind the glass. All dessert items are made in-house and can be purchased to-go if desired.

Mama Carpino's also offers a full deli equipped with various Italian meats and cheeses.

Immediately after we were seated our waitress brought us fresh baked bread accompanied by a plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The bread was warm, fluffy, and had a crunchy outer shell which had a strong flavor of italian herbs and seasonings.

We decided to start off with the Bruschetta appetizer. Bruschetta is what I like to call "Italian chips and salsa"! The Bruschetta consisted of bread slices baked to a hard crunch and a blend of tomatoes, oil, basil, and onions covered in parmesan cheese. If you're a garlic lover then this dish is screaming your name, the dish had a mild spiciness from the garlic and a strong garlic aftertaste to accompany the fresh tomato and basil undertones. The crunch from the crouton-like bread slices served as a perfect carrier for the soft garlic filled tomato mixture. If you order this appetizer while on a dinner date, make sure you bring some mints in your back pocket, that is unless your date loves the smell of garlic!
Our meals came with starter salads, I opted for the homemade raspberry vinaigrette dressing on my salad. The dressing was sweet and sugary, the olive oil in the dressing perfectly balanced out the sweet flavors to make the dressing taste like a sweet vinaigrette and not a dessert sauce. The salad was light and cleansed the pallet, properly preparing us for the main course.
Above is the Crab Manicotti, they basically just made one huge manicotti packed with crab chunks and various cheeses, the dish was drenched in a cream based italian sauce. The dish itself looked more like a large burrito than it did a manicotti dish! The lasagna sheet they used to wrap the crab mixture was a little undercooked towards the middle of the dish and was almost unmanageable to cut and eat at times. The crab portions in the mixture were very generous but some pieces tasted incredibly fishy compared to other chunks in the filling. The ricotta and other cheeses in the filling were very tasty but also tasted fishy in certain areas of the dish. The cream based sauce had way too much cream that easily took away from the other spices and ingredients in the sauce. The idea of the dish is great, but unfortunately it wasn't properly executed, I even questioned the freshness of the crab while eating the dish due to the overly fishy taste in certain chunks of the filling. I think a properly cooked pasta shell would've gotten this dish off to a better start too.
My wife opted for the normal Manicotti dish, her Manicotti tasted excellent. The pasta shells were perfectly cooked and the cheeses were warm and gooey. My only gripe with this dish is the sauce, it tasted more like a pizza marinara sauce than a pasta sauce. It worked with the dish, and that's essentially what matters, but it could've been better with a little more elbow grease in the making of the sauce.
Our friend Mike ordered the Chicken Alfredo, this dish was easily the best of our entrees. The noodles were soft, the chicken had great texture, and the sauce was creamy and had tremendous amounts of flavor. The Alfredo sauce easily stood out as the shining star in the dish!
Our friend and fellow blogger Monique (A Profound Muse Poetry) ordered the cheese ravioli. The cheese blend in the ravioli tasted great and the shell was warm and soft. Unfortunately the sauce was once again the only dull spot to the dish. While tasting Monique's ravioli and my Wife's manicotti all I kept thinking about was how the sauce tasted like the marinara dipping sauce that comes with fried cheese sticks. It just seems like the seasoning was off in the red sauce, maybe it was just an off day....
Pictured above is the garlic cheese bread side dish, this is also another pick for the garlic lover in the group! The bread was crunchy and held up great to the large amounts of garlic, butter, italian seasoning, and mozzarella cheese! This bread is a perfect accompaniment to any italian dish and adds an extra splash of flavor when teamed up with any sauce or pasta!

Overall Mama Carpino's offered a very pleasant dining experience with friendly service, a beautiful dining room, and a vast selection of meal choices. The execution of the dishes seemed to be lacking with undercooked pasta, under seasoned tomato sauce, and questionable crab meat. Despite the hiccups, Mama Carpino's is still a decent Italian restaurant that just seemed to be having an off-day. However, the Chicken Alfredo dish alone is more than enough reason to make a stop at Mama Carpino's! For our appetizer, 2 entrees, and 2 soft drinks the bill came in at just under $40. Mama Carpino's is located at 22010 Highway 18 in Apple Valley.

HDeats Exclusive: Paulina's/Hollad Burger off menu items!

Even though these places have already been reviewed on the blog, I feel that my recent off-menu discoveries were something that needed to be shared to people in the HD that wanted to try something new other than what's on the existing menu. Enjoy and don't be afraid to ever ask an HD establishment what their specials or off-menu items might be!

First off is Emma Jean's Holland Burger! If you ever go to Holland Burger with a small party, do yourself a favor and grab yourself a bar seat instead of a regular table. By doing this you'll be able to have a full view of the grill and an opportunity to watch Brian work his magic! You'll also be able to catch off-menu items being made that are usually requested by the locals/return visitors that frequent the Holland Burger. The "Slap Your Momma" burger was introduced to me by a friend that caught Brian crafting the burger on the grill, when he asked Brian what it was that he was creating, he replied "The Slap Your Momma Burger". The burger consists of a half pound beef patty, cheese, salsa, tri-tip, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, all on "Brian Bread" (thick sourdough with parmesan cheese and butter cooked into the crust, similar to texas toast). This burger will knock your socks off! The tri-tip is tender, the burger is juicy, and the home made salsa will finish off the entire dish with a spicy kick to the back of your tongue! Keep in mind that you can substitute any sandwich's bread for "Brian Bread" in your order, trust me, it kicks your burger/sandwich up to something beyond your wildest dreams! I also ordered chili cheese fries in the same visit, the whole been chili, melted cheddar, and thick fries equal a tasty and extraordinary side to any burger on or off the menu!
At my recent visit to Paulina's I found myself confused on what to order, I brushed through the menu numerous times and felt completely stumped on what to try this time around. I asked the waiter if they had any specials, he informed me of their current special of the month. The dish is a papaya and panko crusted tilapia filet with fresh pico de gallo. The dish included my choice of sides, soup, and tortillas. The tilapia was perfectly cooked and the fresh citrus/lime filled pico de gallo made this dish into more than breaded fish! The subtle aftertaste of papaya in the breading added a festive and upbeat taste to the flaky and tender tilapia filet. Halfway through the dish I decided to take the tortillas and turn the dish into fish tacos, filling them with beans, fish, pico, and salsa!

KC BBQ

Recently my work sent me to a training class in the Overland Park area of Kansas for 2 weeks. Upon landing at Missouri International Airport I told myself that I would not leave the state until I had some renowned KC BBQ in my belly. From the moment I stepped off of the plane onto KC soil is the moment that my culinary mission began. I understand that the subject of KC BBQ is irrelevant to this blog considering that the key subject of this site is HD establishments. However, I feel that if my readers are anything like myself, they wouldn't have a problem with me posting more pictures and descriptions of tasty food to hold them over until I get the chance to try out some new HDeats!

The first place I visited was in Olathe, KS. The establishment is called Oklahoma Joe's, the moment we walked in we were slapped in the face with a wall of trophies, plaques, awards, and ribbons of the owner's numerous competition victories. The air in the restaurant was smokey with a subtle undertone of hickory and paprika. The above picture is the ordering booth, at Oklahoma Joe's. You simply walk up to the counter, order your food, watch them pull your meat out of the smoker, cut it up, and pay at the register at the end of the booth. This process guarantees that your meat is fresh out of the smoker and hot on your plate!
I went a little bit overboard on my visit and let my eyes become much bigger than my stomach. My order consisted of a pulled pork sandwich, Brisket, half rack of ribs, texas toast, and an order of spicy slaw. Do yourself a favor and click on the image to get a full screen view, the food tasted exactly how it looked on the picture, AMAZING! The brisket melted in my mouth, the ribs pulled off the bone with a snap of the wrist, and the pulled pork tasted so good it didn't even need sauce! The spicy slaw tasted like cole slaw with chili powder, and the buttery texas toast was a nice change to the normal slice of white bread that almost all bbq joints out here include with a bbq meal. There were 3 sauces on the table: A vinegar base sauce, a tomato base sauce, and a spicy tomato base sauce. All three sauces tasted great and accented the dry rub tastes that were highly detectible in the meat. The vinegar base sauce seemed to accent the smoke flavor of the meat even more and created a dining experience that puts any California bbq joint to shame!
Next stop on the trip was the famous Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City Missouri. This joint was a little more of a "hole in the wall" than Oklahoma Joe's. The entire restaurant was a brick structure and the smell of smoke lingered in the air over a block away from the establishment! The first thing we noticed as we walked in was that there were pictures everywhere of presidents and celebrity visits to the restaurant. The inside looked a little more like a cafeteria with customers getting there food on trays with butcher paper and sitting down on plane white tables with fold out chairs. The ordering booth was the same as Oklahoma Joe's: order, watch it get pulled out of the smoker, pay, eat.
I went ahead and ordered a full rack of ribs with the hopes of anything close to the ribs I saw on the billboard! I wasn't disappointed, the ribs were easily the best ribs i've ever had in my life! The dry rub was caked on thick and the meat melted in my mouth while still leaving a crunchy crust from the dry rub. Arthur Bryant's also offered sauces on the table which I didn't feel the need to use on these ribs, they were perfect as is.
We also ordered a pulled pork sandwich, the "sandwich" consisted of a piece of white bread with well over a pound of sauced pulled pork completely covering it, and a piece of white bread on the side. The difference between this pork and Joe's pork is that the pork at Arthur Bryant's came mixed with the sauce already. The process of watching them pull the pork out of the smoker, cut it up with huge butcher knives, and mix with the sauce left my mouth watering. The pork was awesome, the sauce was a combination of spicy vinegar/sweet tomato with a hint of brown sugar. My bbq visits in California usually consist of either Famous Dave's or Lucille's in Ontario/Rancho, I always thought that those places must come pretty close to other BBQ town's products. I was terribly wrong, Oklahoma Joe's and Arthur Bryant's provided me with experiences that I doubt can ever be duplicated by any California establishments. They showed me that BBQ is truly an art form and that prep, love, and a good spice rub can take your food to a higher level than what you've ever had before.

DiNapoli's Firehouse

Good Italian food is slowly becoming easier to find in the HD, slowly more and more restaurants are popping up and more of them are starting to bring better quality to the table. DiNapoli's is a firehouse themed Italian restaurant that started out in Barstow and eventually gained enough success to open another location in Apple Valley. DiNapoli's offers a great family atmosphere, homestyle italian cooking, and a beautiful dining area to keep your eyes busy while you wait for your food.

In my visit to the Apple Valley DiNapoli's, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the dining area is. As soon as you walk through the door the first thing you see is an old model firetruck and tons of firehouse/NYFD memorabilia, the dining area is a New York themed room made to look like a street corner of New York (paintings of buildings, trees, etc..). I started my dinner off with a side salad, the waitress recommended the "house italian" for my dressing. When I received my salad I was a bit surprised at the bright red Italian sauce that was drenched on the salad. After my first bite I was absolutely stunned at how good this Italian dressing tasted, it tasted like a lightly-oiled dressing with marinara sauce in it, it was easily one of the best dressings that i've ever had. The shredded mozzarella bits and homemade croutons in the salad also kicked the flavors into high gear and made this side-salad pretty much the perfect opening for any italian dinner! For those of you that love getting salads as a main course, DiNapoli's house Italian dressing will easily make your dinner salad a wonderful treat.
Considering that DiNapoli's is a New York themed Italian establishment, it was only fitting that we try the cheese pizza! A lot of italian places are easily reviewed solely on the quality of their pizza pie. This particular pie came thin crust with a shiny coat of mozzarella and a healthy helping of marinara sauce. The crust on the pizza was thin, but still had a fluffy and steamy consistency to it while maintaining a strong crunch on the outsides of the crust. The sauce was hearty, slightly spicy, and had large chunks of tomato. The cheese was perfectly melted, and full of flavor from the parsley and olive oil dredged on top of it. With these culinary elements combined, the pizza came together perfectly and made me want to travel to New York to see how the real thing compared! The size pictured above is a medium and easily fed 2 people, while still leaving slices to take home.
When I looked at the menu, I couldn't help but notice that DiNapoli's offered mainly cliche italian items (fettuchini alfredo, chicken parm, spaghetti, etc..). I wanted to try something different, something that I feel could separate this joint from other Italian stops, something that could put this in the same league as the almighty Mama Carpino's a couple miles down Hwy 18. My eyes got big as I looked at the description for the Stromboli Mastacholli(Need a spell check on this one, sorry!). The menu item was described as a rolled up pizza crust filled with meatballs, marinara sauce, penne pasta, mozzarella, Ricotta, Parmesan, and spices. I couldn't help but order it, I was worried that it would be a rip-off of a basic calzone, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this blows the calzone fresh out of the water!
The picture above is the inside of the stromboli, this thing is no joke! The many cheeses combined with the tasty sauce, flavorful meatballs, fluffy pizza crust, and perfectly cooked pasta made this dish something special that I have yet to see successfully recreated in the HD. This dish alone gives more than enough reason to return for multiple visits to DiNapoli's. This dish has also sprung interest in trying the meatball sub that DiNapoli's offers. Overall the experience at DiNapoli's was pleasant and the food was great, The service was also very prompt and respectful. The check came in at just under $30 for pizza, stromboli, and drinks. DiNapoli's also offers a great selection of Chiantis and wine for anyone that would like to add an extra touch of party to their meal. DiNapoli's has 2 locations in the HD, the original location is in Barstow at 1358 East Main Street. The 2nd location (location in this review) is located in Apple Valley at 17856 Outer Highway 18 South.

Paulina's Mexican Grill

Paulina's Mexican Grill is a small "hole in the wall" in the newly built shopping center next to the Victor Bowl. When driving in the area, it's impossible to see Paulina's or to even know that there's a shopping center nearby. We found out about Paulina's through recommendation from friends, and from a coupon that was sent to us in the mail. With a coupon in hand, it was now time to go ahead and give Paulina's Mexican Grill a try!

When my wife and I first walked into Paulina's, we were pleasantly surprised not to see sombrero's on the wall, loudly blasted mariachi music, or cheesy bright green and red walls. Paulina's is decorated like an elegant 5-star restaurant, equipped with beautiful pictures, elegantly painted walls, and beautiful table settings and colors that played perfectly with romantically dim-lit room. The restaurant is very small, but it makes for an extremely romantic and personal dining experience. This place would be perfect for a date, important event, or just to hang around in for the sake of stress relief. The first thing presented to us were the chips and salsa (sorry about not having a picture), the first thing to be pointed out is that these were homemade chips fresh out of the deep fryer, they were perfectly fried and had little to no grease! The salsa was also homemade and tasted amazing! It was more on the spicy side, but the ingredients tasted super fresh and had a perfect crunch from the onions which played well with the soft juicy tomatoes in the salsa. I was ready to cancel my order and eat just chips and salsa(just kidding, but they really were that good)! My meal came with a choice of soup or salad, I decided to give the Tomato Bisque a try (pictured above). Most tomato bisque's honestly just end up tasting Campbell's tomato soup, not this bisque! There was a mild tomato taste when the soup first hit my tongue, but immediately I tasted numerous spices (mainly basil) and a sweet/almost sugary aftertaste that made this soup an addictive and pleasurable appetizer!
My wife ordered the Cheese Enchilada dinner with refried beans and mexican rice. I went ahead and sampled some of her food. It's always easy to judge certain Mexican restaurants by their red sauce and by their rice and beans, this particular red sauce had an amazing taste that immediately reminded me of my Grandmother's Mexican cooking! The sauce tasted authentic, and tasted nothing like any other red sauce in the HD. It's hard to describe, the best way to put it is if you took a normal red sauce, added numerous spices, love, and served it fresh out of the pot. The enchilada itself was cooked perfectly, the tortilla had texture and wasn't mushy, the cheese was melted to perfection! The Mexican rice tasted great and the beans were extraordinary! The beans also reminded me of my Grandmother's back-home Mexican style cooking, this was authentic food with a modern twist!
I ordered the Chipotle Chicken for my entree, I ordered the fried green beans and poblano rice for my sides. The dish also came with a choice of corn or flower tortillas that are acquired from a local business that makes the tortillas in house. The chipotle chicken is a chicken breast cooked with garlic and shallots, drenched in a chipotle based cream sauce, garnished with chipotle pepper slivers. Words can't describe how good this dish was, but i'll do my best to describe it the best that I can! The chicken itself was perfectly cooked and pretty much melted in my mouth the second it hit my tongue. I was a little bit worried that the sauce would be over powered with a strong taste from the chipotle's smoky adobo sauce, but the cream offset the strong flavor and made for a PERFECT sauce that accented the chipotle's smoky flavor without letting it overpower the entire dish. The consistency of the sauce was perfect and the chipotle slivers on top were perfect for bites where I wanted a little extra kick of heat and flavor. The poblano rice was also excellent, it had a buttery/milky taste and a light poblano pepper aftertaste. The fried green beans were also a treat, they were fried to perfection and had great flavor!

When I was growing up I was raised on a steady diet of authentic homemade mexican food from my Mother and my Grandmother, they cooked recipes that were handed down from generations past. They made food that held deep roots in Mexico, and deep roots in my heart. When my Grandmother passed, some of those recipes passed with her, recipes that my Mother hadn't learned yet, flavors that I thought I would never taste again in my lifetime. Those flavors and love for cooking is something that Paulina's holds over any other Mexican establishment in the HD, at certain times in the dining experience the smells from the kitchen, the taste of certain ingredients, and the love in the food reminded me of my Grandmother and the tastes that made her cooking so good. I never thought I would ever experience those flavors ever again in my life, Paulina's proved me wrong, they made my dining experience heartfelt and personal, and that's something that some people never get to experience in their lifetime at a culinary establishment. The atmosphere was perfect and made me feel like I was dining at a nice restaurant in Los Angeles. The waitress Paulina was very friendly and was extremely knowledgable of every item on the menu, she also told us that her Mother (the head chef) makes just about everything on the menu from scratch. Paulina's does a great job of staying authentic, while still adding a modern twist to the dining experience. Paulina's also serves %100 USDA Certified beef at the restaurant, that way you know every cut of beef in your food is of great quality. Without our coupon, the price of our meal would've come in at just over $30. Paulina's is located at 14845 Monarch Blvd, Suite G, in Victorville next to the Victor Bowl.

The Legend Of Barstow Del Taco

If you've lived in the HD all of your life, you'll know about how popular Del Taco is in the area. Del Taco is the go-to fast food joint for residents of all ages, being that they're open 24/7, it's a quick and cheap fix for your late night post-bar adventures. Originally established in Yermo, Del Taco now has locations all over California and parts of Nevada. While they eventually became franchised establishments, the Barstow locations remained privately owned and operated. Thus began the legend of the Barstow Del Tacos. They were said to have fresher ingredients, larger portions, and menu items that can't be found at other franchised Del Tacos.

When you finally make it past the huge line and finally get a clear glimpse at the menu, the first thing you'll notice is that the tacos aren't called "taco", they're called "Barstow Taco", same with the soft tacos. Also notice that the menu has "Bun Taco"'s and Tostadas, these items used to be exclusive to Barstow, but are now available at select locations in California. Although the picture looks similar to the taco pictures on the menu of your local Del Taco, the flavor and size isn't. I decided to go with a Barstow Taco, 1/2 Pound Green Burrito, Fries, and a drink. My wife went with the 2 taco combo with one of those tacos ordered as a "Barstow Soft Taco". It was time to turn the legend into reality.

One other cool thing about the Barstow Del Taco is that the condiment packets are nicely arranged in a basket and easily accessible at your table, removing the problem of having to get up for more sauce during your meal (lazy, i know).
The first item I cracked open was the Barstow Taco, the first thing I noticed was that this beast was the size of 2 standard size tacos from any other Del Taco. The taco was loaded with meat, cheese, lettuce, and a tomato slice on top. The first bite definitely surprised me because the taco didn't taste anything like a normal taco from Del Taco. The meat was tender and had no burnt pieces, the lettuce wasn't soaking wet, and the cheese had the consistency of a freshly grated pile of cheese (no huge clumps of stuck-together/super-cold cheese). The tomato on top tasted extremely fresh and was better than chopped tomato's in my opinion. The shell was crispy and wasn't soaking in grease, mainly because the meat wasn't super greasy. This tasted similar to a restaurant style taco and was packed with flavor up until the last bite.
Next up was the Green Burrito, the first thing to take notice of is the sheer size of the Burrito while in the wrapper, notice that it runs the entire length of the tray. I also ordered french fries, the french fries are the same as the ones served in any other Del Taco, but they were perfectly fried and weren't dripping with grease or overly soggy.
The beans in the burrito were piping hot and the cheese was evenly distributed throughout the entire burrito (it wasn't just clumped on top). The beans tasted fresh cooked and had a slightly more authentic taste than beans from a normal Del Taco. The green sauce tasted the same as a franchise Del Taco, but was evenly distributed and wasn't just in one spot of the burrito. At this point it became clear to me that the main difference between Barstow and any other Del Taco is that the food is made with CARE. Attention to detail seems to be a priority in every item, and no particular item looked thrown together with withered effort, this was not an average fast food restaurant, nor was it a normal Del Taco.
Here's a picture of the "Barstow Soft Taco" that my wife ordered, the tortilla could barely hold the large amount of fillings inside. Take note that the wrapper doesn't have any grease on it, it's perfectly clean! After visiting one of the 3 Barstow Del Tacos, it's clear to me that it's not even worth it to eat at a normal Del Taco, I would just be cheating myself due to the fact that the same food is made 10x better in Barstow. The food is made with care, and the ingredients are fresh, also notable are the gigantic portions and great service. If you're going to eat at a Del Taco, don't even waste your time with your local location, make the drive to Barstow and sample what Del Taco is supposed to taste like. For my food and my wife's combo, the bill came in at just above $13. The location I visited was the Lenwood location just outside of the Tanger Outlets. On your pass through Barstow on the way to Vegas, forget about going to In-N-Out, Tommy's, Chipotle, or Chilis. The real gold mine is Del Taco. Barstow's Del Tacos are located at 401 N. 1st Ave, 1310 E. Mountain View St., and 2871 Lenwood Rd.

Original Roadhouse Grill

The Original Roadhouse Grill is one of several restaurants in Victorville's "Restaurant Row". When driving down restaurant row, drivers will pass Chilis, Sonic, El Pollo Loco, Applebees, Freddys, Mimis Cafe, and Roadhouse. With all of those choices, it's time to see how Roadhouse separates themselves from the other heavy hitters on Restaurant Row.

Roadhouse is a country themed restaurant with a southern BBQ feel to it, The restaurant greets diners at their seats with a bucket of peanuts, and advises diners to throw the shells on the floor. The restaurant offers a perfect family atmosphere with loud music and plenty of seating. The Roadhouse also caters to the bar/sporting event crowd with a spacious bar and plenty of flat screens showing numerous sporting events. After the bucket of peanuts, the waitress eventually brought out some dinner rolls for us to snack on before our entrees arrived. The dinner rolls had a sweet taste to them similar to hawaiian bread sold in grocery stores, they were served fresh out of the oven and were as addictive as chips and salsa. The butter that accompanied the rolls was a sweet honey-butter that perfectly complimented the sweet dinner rolls. It's definitely possible to fill up on dinner rolls and peanuts when eating at the Roadhouse, that's just how good the rolls are!

Next out was our Buffalo Wing Appetizer, The wings were fried and drenched with a spicy, vinegar based buffalo sauce. The wings were tender and had a slight crunch to them, the sauce was great and had a perfect heat to vinegar ratio (not too pungent, not too spicy). They came with chips and celery which were perfect for soaking up the leftover sauce and ranch dressing after the wings were gone. The Roadhouse's wings also come in a bbq sauce upon request, the wings themselves were pretty big and had plenty of meat on them with very little fat. These wings are definitely worth ordering again during future visits.
I decided to substitute my french fries for a dinner salad in my meal, the picture above is the side salad. I was pretty impressed that the salad came with pieces of real bacon (not bacon bits), diced tomato, and a ton of cheddar/jack cheese. The salad was pretty tasty and very refreshing after eating a ton of peanuts, bread, and buffalo wings.
One thing that separates Roadhouse from other establishments is the fact that they serve Bison meat. Bison is lower in fat and cholesterol than normal ground beef, but still maintains a great flavor without any taste or quality compromise. I ordered the Garlic Mushroom Burger with bison meat. The size of the patty was gigantic, it hung over the bun and was cooked to a perfect medium temperature(the meat is cooked to the diner's request). The patty was juicy and tasted similar to normal beef but was a lot juicier, the only noticeable difference to ground beef is that the bison patty was a little less firm than a beef patty and had a tendency to fall apart at times. The burger itself came with jack cheese, grilled mushrooms, and pan fried garlic cloves. The garlic cloves weren't overpowering and added great flavor to the already impressive bison patty. The cheese was melted to perfection, and the mushrooms added a great grilled flavor to compliment the garlic and cheese. The burger was overall a great decision and was the perfect entree to go with the rest of the great bar food that Roadhouse has to offer. Next time I will definitely be sure to try one of their steak or bbq items on the menu. My entire meal came in at just under $20 with a soda. The Original Roadhouse Grill is located in Victorville's Restaurant Row at 11940 Amargosa Rd.