Taco Factory - Walnut

Taco Factory
368 N Lemon Ave
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 595-8331
Type: Mexican food / restaurant
Website
Map

I went here with my girl to eat a quick bite. We thought we were gonna eat somewhere else for a full meal later, but we didn't. I should've ordered more here. Anyways, Taco Factory in Walnut used to be located somewhere else-- but in the same plaza. Now it's a lot bigger and nicer than the old spot. It's located on the corner of La Puente and Lemon in the same plaza as Vons and Blockbuster.



bigger and nicer than before


All we got was one mahi mahi burrito ($5.73). It comes unwrapped so you can put your sauces and stuff in there from the salsa bar. Then you ask them to wrap it for you when you're all done. The burrito was decent sized, although I don't think it was humongous. I shoulda put my hand next to it in the picture for a comparison. Anyways, the burrito was good. Fresh-tasting.

boring picture of a burrito


I would go here again another time. It's just that there's so many Mexican restaurants around, I have to be in the area to come back here. The spot for me right now is still Osuna's with their lobster burritos.

Venni Mac's M&M Soul Food Restaurant - Lakewood

Venni Mac's M&M Soul Food Restaurant
2500 Carson St
Lakewood, CA 90712
(562) 496-2077
Type: Soul food
Website
Map

Hours:
Mon-Sun 8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

I don't eat soul food that often. I'm still not exactly sure what it is. I thought this was the first place I tried soul food, but then I heard Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles also fit that category-- and I've eaten there a few times back in the day. Anyways, my co-worker introduced me to Venni Mac's M&M Soul Food Restaurant also known as just M&Ms for short. She brought some in for lunch one day. I wasn't interested in the chicken she got, although that's one of their main dishes. She let me try the sides her meal came with. There was some cornbread, "greens", and yams. I tried all three and all three were bomb. I never liked cornbread before, but this was nice. The collard greens are cooked with chicken, so I didn't try much of it. The yams were sweet, which I imagined would go great with some fried/salty entree.

After that day, I was fiending for some soul food from that place. I finally couldn't stand it, and I told my girl, "We're gonna eat some soul food after work." We ordered the red snapper meal and some fried oysters. I thought it was bomb. I was glad I had some leftovers. My girl thought it was good at first, but after she said it was too salty. She always does that. Kind of a good thing though, cuz she let me have all the leftovers for the next day.

The next time I had M&M's, my co-worker got a new job and she wanted to celebrate by buying me some food there. I was like, "I was gonna pay for it, but aight." I got the same damn meal. Some fried red snapper for me please. They have some lunch special where you get one entree and 2 sides for $9.99. It comes with cornbread and a drink already. For the sides, I got some yams and mac n' cheese. Bomb. As always, they give you a good amount, so..... I'm trying to remember if I finished it. If I didn't finish it, there surely wasn't much left.

makes your soul happy, but not necessarily your body. all good though.


I would definitely go back here. I love their sides. The main entrees were always bomb. My co-worker said she likes it better than Roscoe's. As long as I'm working nearby, I'm hitting this place up again.

The Buffet at the Wynn - Las Vegas, NV

The Buffet (at the Wynn)
3131 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 770-9966
Type: American dining / buffet
Website
Map



I'll finish off my Vegas trip reviews here. The last place we ate was The Buffet at the Wynn. We wouldn't have eaten here if they weren't having a gambling special. The deal was you get a player's card, and when you get 50 points on the card, you get two complimentary buffets at The Buffet. I think if you gamble 3 dollars, you get one point. Something like that. The price per person might have been $35 - $50 since it was a holiday weekend.

So we were like, "Tight. Let's do this. " My girl got us our points quickly and we made our way there. When we got there, there was an hour and a half wait to get seated. You can't just put your name down either, and come back later. You gotta wait in line for this bitch like you do at Knott's Berry Farm to ride the log ride or something (that's one of my favorite rides for some reason).

So after the long ass wait, there was a little complication with the player's cards, and we had to go back to the card center and get the redemptions there. We got to cut in line at least when we got back.

After we got our seats, we made our way straight to the crab legs. What do we have here? Another freakin line! Probably 15 - 20 people waiting for the crabs. I ain't about to wait right now. I need to eat. So I skip the crabs for now. I get some other stuff which I don't remember. All I remember was everything was pretty good. My girl liked all her stuff, and I liked all mine. We eventually waited in line for the crabs when we weren't starving anymore.



I forgot to take a picture of Crab Leg Mountain til I was done.


The Buffet at the Wynn is waaaay better than Mandalay Bay's in every aspect besides price. For me, I'll spend the money to eat here. I wouldn't mind going back here with friends, but I personally wouldn't request it if I had the choice. I think I'm kind of done with buffets. I'll try the Green Valley Ranch one, but after that, I stick to regular places.

Bayside at the Mandalay Bay - Las Vegas, NV

Bayside - Mandalay Bay
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89119
(877) 632-7800
Type: buffet / American food
Website
Map



Freakin lazy man! I got a backlog of about 25 restaurants I still have to review and it's hard to get myself to do one a week! It's not like I'm a super busy guy either. Alright. Time to man up and do this. I'll make these quick cuz I wanna mention some restauraunts that I've been wanting to put up.

So I was still in Vegas and it was getting late again. After Sumo Sushi, standards are pretty damn high. I wanted to go to the Green Valley Ranch Buffet in Henderson, but we called and they said they charge for crab legs. What the hell is that? I think we called the wrong place cuz I told my friends who recommended it, and they're like, "What the eff? Nah. Wrong place." Supposedly that place got the bombest crab legs. We were kind of at the south end of the strip, so we called Mandalay Bay to see if they had a buffet with crab legs. They did, so we went. No shopping around that time cuz things were closing and we were hungry.

The place was inside next to the casino. Since it was a holiday that weekend, the price per head was $26.99. I got two, but they don't count the one down below (the bigger one). haha. Now that I said that you know it ain't big. So anyways, I'm not gonna build any suspense and I'm just gonna say this place was wack for me. If you're vegetarian or you just eat seafood, forget this place. There's just not much you can get, and whatever you can get, ain't that great. My family thought it was okay, but not great.

some freakin rice, salmon, and a slice of meat. It's been a while and I don't know the name of meats anymore.


freakin white rice and some steak


freakin crab legs already cut in half


some freakin shrimp cocktail


custom made pasta. The pasta chef was on something or something. He just started talking to us about people stealing food, then he said he's seen a lot of things, then some other stuff, and more random stuff. We didn't know how to politely escape, so we stood there trying to listen to him for about 10 minutes. It was some Asian-looking guy. He wasn't that fat, but not fit. If you read this, and you know who you are.... WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT????!!!!!!!


looks like this was mine. some corn (gotta have the corn for me), mac n cheese, some fish, and maybe there's fried oysters there. The fried oysters were alright. I think that thing in the back is fish.


broccoli and cheese soup?


dry ass steamed crab legs. maybe it was cuz it was late. ....but still


I've eaten here before and that's when I was pure vegetarian. This post is my reminder to myself not to eat here again. Give it for free and of course I'll go. When I say free, I don't mean that somebody else pays for it, cuz that's just a waste of gambling money. Comps, that cool.

Sumo Sushi Bar - Henderson, NV

Sumo Sushi Bar
2861 N Green Valley Pkwy
Henderson, NV 89014
(702) 451-7866
Type: Japanese food / sushi / restaurant
Map



Second day in Vegas and you know I gotta have some sushi. I tried calling my good friend who lives there to see what's some good spots, but he didn't answer his phone. So I had to take matters into my own hands and use the slow ass internet on my slow ass phone. After some researching and debating, I decide the family should go to Sumo. It's in a city called Henderson which is next to Vegas. I think the drive was maybe 10 to 15 miles from the strip. This better be worth it.



I read that this place was where many of the locals go. If that's the case, it should be decent. Sumo is located in a shopping plaza with a Stater Bros. or some kind of large grocery store. It looks like any run of the mill sushi bar in a strip mall. For those in the know though, there's a little bit more to it than that.

The inside of the place has a little bit of a Japanese theme to it. Japanese partitions and those lights with the Japanese characters are scattered here and there. Actually, I might just be imagining things cuz I'm not totally sure how the place was decorated. I know there was an aquarium for sure.

Their menu is what I remember. This place is a sushi roll lover's dream. There's soooo many special rolls that I just took pictures of some of the menu items instead of having to describe them. Fortunately and unfortunately, I didn't pay so I don't know the prices of the items. They didn't have them on the picture menus. I'm not gonna go into too much detail about the food we ordered. All I'm gonna say is that 95% of the stuff we got was really good.

The Cherry Blossom was good. There was crunchy soft shell crab inside the ball of avocados. I probably wouldn't order it again though. I thought it was a roll, but it's one of those special appetizers.



Cherry Blossom


This next item looks like a rainbow roll with a ponzu sauce or something. I think it was good too.

rainbow roll?


My sister ordered the Tuna Karai sashimi. This was really good. It's like the hawaiian poke, but this one's spicy. My sister liked it so much that she ordered another one.

Tuna Karai sashimi(2)


This looks like a volcano roll. Sorry. I was just too busy grubbing that I didn't even want to take notes. I took notes at the end after I was full and sleepy from all the bomb food.

Volcano Roll?




I don't think we ordered this


this one was eh


I think this last one was the stuffed tomato. It's raw salmon wrapped around some crab meat and scallops. It was spicy but very good. It was one of the first things to arrive at the table, and the first to be finished. We couldn't help it.

stuffed tomato without the tomato




we ordered this, but it never came. all good. we were full anyways


My mom also got the teriyaki salmon meal cuz she's not really into all these rolls. I tried some of the dish, and it was good fish. I was also hungry at the time. After all the food arrived and I started getting full, the food was still tasty. That's when you know something is really good. If you don't need anymore but it still "forces" you to keep eating. Holy crap. I just realized how much stuff we ordered, but we didn't need any doggy bags. Fat asses!

The next time I'm in Vegas, I'm likely to hit up this spot if we can't think of anything else. Sumo, in my humble opinion was a very great find. We got lucky and hit gold here. I wish I had that luck at the Bingo games we went to. Oh shut up. Bingo is cheap gambling, okay.

Terrace Pointe Cafe - Las Vegas

Terrace Pointe Cafe (at the Wynn)
3131 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 770-9966
Type: American dining / restaurant
Website
Map


Open 24 Hours/7 days a week





Took a Vegas trip for my birthday with my family and girl. There's pretty much one main reason why I like going to Vegas: the food. The gambling and all the other stuff is cool too, but Vegas is known for the top chefs they recruit from around the world. My dad got a free room at the Wynn for that weekend. The regular rooms were cool, but I was expecting more from them. I like the rooms at the Rio cuz I heard they're all suites and they're pretty big.

So we got to Vegas pretty late on Friday night. Even though it's Vegas, many of the stores and restuarants are closed by 12 midnight, so we had to find a place to eat that still had the stoves burning. We were all pretty tired and lazy from the drive there, so we found a place inside the Wynn itself. The place is called Terrace Pointe Cafe. It's open 24 hours. Even at 1 in the morning, we still had to wait a few minutes to get our table. The decor inside the place is I'm guessing French or Italian-themed. I have no idea. I just know there was a lot of detail put everywhere, there were high ceilings, big spaces, and it was nice.

From 10pm - 6am, they serve a limited menu. The prices aren't that cheap either. This ain't no Denny's for sure. I'm guessing this place would be 2 or 3 dollar signs at Citysearch. Then again, this is the Wynn. There's a Ferrari/Maserati dealership inside the hotel!

After deciding what we wanted, we ordered our food. Our waitress was cool, but the food took pretty damn long to arrive. We're patient people, so when we have to ask about the status of our meals, you know you done effed up.

So anyways, my dad didn't know what he wanted, so the waitress told him to get the pasta penne ($14). This came in a bowl with some large shrimps and pesto sauce. It was really good. So good, the next day we ordered the same dish.

pasta penne in pesto sauce with shrimps


Once I saw my menu item, I knew I was ordering it. I got the teriyaki glazed Scottish salmon at a whopping $23! I didn't know what to expect. Even though it's the Wynn, it's a 24 hour joint. How good can it be? ...pretty damn good! It's a very close second to the salmon I got at Alpenrose in Mammoth Lakes. Now I know why they took so long. You can't rush some great foods. The fish was cooked nicely, the teriyaki sauce was perfect. The rice was, rice. The veggies were a nice touch. I'd get that again if I won some money at the slot machine.

second to one teriyaki glazed Scottish Salmon


My girlfriend for some reason didn't eat much. All she wanted was the French onion soup ($9). This thing was so thick full of cheese. She liked it. It was all gooey and everything. It was good she said. I don't know what French onion soup is really supposed to taste like, but that was pretty good. I myself wouldn't really get that if I had the choice though.

cheesy French onion soup


I didn't get a picture of the N.Y. Steak ($30) my mom ordered. I also didn't taste it. She said it was good, so it must have been okay. I think she knows steak pretty well so she got some credibility.

If it's late, late night, and you're looking for some fine dining, Terrace Pointe Cafe may be the right spot for you. The quality of all the food we got was very good. Even if it's not late night, this may still be a good place to eat. I personally would only want to go here at night cuz there's so much more out there in the day time. For some of us, it might be helpful to get lucky at the craps table right before you go so you can eat whatever your heart desires. Good luck!

Taquisa - West Covina

Taquisa
1001 E. Amar Rd.
West Covina, CA 91792
626-336-7987
Type: Mexican food
Map



I went to Taquisa because it just opened up near my house. It's about 5 minutes walking distance but my lazy ass drove. Taquisa is a Mexican food place. The inside is about as bare you can get in terms of design. There's maybe a painting or a few pictures up on the walls excluding their menu. My girlfriend and I didn't order much from there cuz we were gonna go eat somewhere else in a couple hours. We just wanted something to snack on.

they also serve juice here


As a semi-vegetarian, I couldn't find many things on the menu for me. There's fish tacos (which are $0.99 on Tuesdays-- I believe), cheese enchiladas, huevos rancheros, and possibly a veggie burrito. We ended up ordering a fish taco and a cheese quesadilla. I don't remember what each cost, but the total was $5.56; the bulk of the price belonging to the quesadilla. Prices aren't that bad here. Nothing special though.

The cheese quesadilla was a good size. As you can see, they weren't sheisty with the guacamole. They also put some pico de gallo or some kind of salsa on top. It was also sprinkled with a few tortilla chips. The taste was okay. Like the prices, nothing special. Not horrible, but not great. I probably wouldn't get that again if I came here.

looks like Perez Hilton tampered with my food


The fish taco also came with more than enough guacamole. Chips and salsa were on the side. I remember commenting that they tasted different from most of the fish tacos I've tasted. It wasn't that bad. Remember, they have a special for dollar fish tacos on Tuesday. Call them to make sure-- if that's why you wanna eat there.

fish taco


Taquisa will likely get my business again just for proximity's sake. It's so close that I'll eventually go there some time. There's another Mexican restaurant in the same plaza called Osuna's (not to be confused with the Osuna's in Walnut which is far superior IMO). I've been there a couple times, and I just don't wanna go there again. I only tried their cheese enchiladas, so that's where my judgement is coming from. So Taquisa, if you stay open for business for a while, you'll see me again. Lucky mothers.

***Updated 5/18/08
I went here again and ordered a fish burrito ($4.95?) and a cheese quesadilla. I'm not ordering the quesadilla again, but the fish burrito was a sort of pleasant surprise. It was pretty damn big. The taste was cool, but the size was the big plus here. I'll definitely get the fish burrito again. I don't know if that's how their other burritos are though.

JJ Cafe - Monterey Park

JJ Cafe
447 W Garvey Ave # 102
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 280-3833
Type: Chinese food / restaurant
Map



Finally back staying in West Covina, in the San Gabriel Valley. The SGV isn't SGV without Monterey Park. I don't know too much about the city, but I do know there's a lot of Asian businesses-- specifically Chinese. For some reason, it seems like the Chinese areas have many restaurants that stay open til late night. I know Rowland Heights has some places, along with El Monte, Alhambra, and of course, Monterey Park. Maybe they know that the youth stay out late partying all the time and they wanna make sure they got somewhere to balance out their alcohol-filled stomachs.

JJ Cafe is one of these restaurants. They're open from 7am - 4am 7 days a week. I think it was a Thursday night when my friends and I decided to hit this place up. I've never been, so I wanted to try it. We aren't exactly the youth in this country (we're mostly in our mid twenties) but we ain't old either. Although most of JJ Cafe's late night customers I would presume, are party/club-goers, we just came from home hanging out, fixing my friend's car.

We got there at about 12 something at night, just before the after-club rush. If you don't want to deal with drunk, rowdy, and sometimes hostile fools, I'd suggest you come earlier than 12 midnight. The place wasn't packed, but there was a good amount of people there already. Maybe those guys got kicked out of the clubs or something. The restaurant is bright with somewhat modern design. The place has a "C" rating on their window. I don't really care. I'm hungry. And I don't usually care even if I wasn't.

Looking at their menu, it reminded me of Maxim Cafe's in Rowland Heights. Once I noticed the similarities, I already knew I was getting the fish porridge. Yeah, yeah. Say what you want. I know fish porridge isn't the coolest thing to order, but it's nice, simple, and filling. My friends were clowning on me once they heard me tell the waiter what I wanted. After everyone ordered their food we were served some free vegetable soup. I don't think I ate it all.

free soup is always cool even if it ain't great.


One of my friends ordered the Sizzling Seafood Udon ($8.00). She ordered that cuz she said it was technically Friday already and she couldn't eat meat. My other friends didn't go by that rule. The seafood udon came in a sizzling hot plate like the ones they have at Korean BBQ places. They gave a good amount of food. She said it was alright.

technically it's Friday, so sizzling seafood udon


Ah yes. My porridge came quickly. This one seemed a little smaller than the one at Maxim. What can you do? So I get to pouring the soy sauce and tasting, and pouring and tasting til it's perfect. I wouldn't say it's perfect at all. There was probably some ingredient that was different from this one, from Maxim's. Maxim's is better.

average fish porridge.


My other friends ordered some deep fried wontons. I think they liked it.

deep fried wontons


Most of my friends ordered the Mix Grill ($11.00). Maybe this is what most people in general order here. It just comes with all these meats. I'm guessing there's pork chops, steak, chicken, and bacon. along with steamed veggies. You can choose what sauce you want. I think there's mushroom sauce, some kind of garlic sauce, and I don't know the other one. My friends really liked it. One of the sauces tasted better though. I don't think it was the one with mushroom though.

Mix Grill plate. One way trip to Heart Attack with a stop-over in Obese City.


I would not go out of my way to go here from West Covina just to eat. For people who live around there, JJ Cafe might be a good spot, but I suspect there's a lot better places you can choose from when everything else is open. JJ Cafe does have very decent food for a place open til 4 in the morning. I'd go after a long night of wall-flowering at the local clubs any time.

Mosun (Club M) - Laguna Beach

Mosun / Club M
680 S Pacific Coast Hwy
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Phone: (949) 497-5646
Type: Japanese food / sushi / restaurant / club
Website
Map



This particular night was kind of my last night for a while in the land of Botox and Breast augmentations (I saw a lot of ads in the local papers). So I wanted to eat something pretty darn good. We researched some possible spots for some good sushi-- preferably with a happy hour or specials. The two we decided between was Mosun in Laguna Beach, and Mahe in Sunset Beach (or Seal Beach). Mosun had a deal where on Wednesdays O.C. locals get 50% off all menu items. Mahe on the other hand has something on Wednesdays where it's all you can eat for $25. Hmmm... Those are some pretty damn good deals. I think Mosun was closer, so we decided on that.

Mosun is on PCH, and it's very easy to miss if you don't know what it looks like. It looks just like a regular place with no fancy decorations outside. Parking is a mother too. They don't have their own parking lot that I know of. Make sure you come kind of early if you don't wanna search for a spot.

Inside is like a night club/lounge. It's dark with nice decorations. They had some house-type clubbing music playing. We got seated quickly. The place isn't that intimate cuz there's a lot of people and there's a bar where a lot of people just hang out.

The prices of the items aren't cheap, but it's not that expensive for a sushi place either. I would've probably gone to a place like this even without the deal, but the half off thing really helps. By the way, you O.C. locals gotta show your driver's license to get the deal-- and the person paying is the only one that has to be from O.C.

Note: The prices I mention here are before the 50% discount.

So we started with some appetizers. The crispy lobster wonton ($11.75) sounded good. When it came, it looked nice, but the taste was whatevers. Only 5 pieces?! When something is $12 and it comes with only 5 pieces, it better be pretty bomb. Not this one. It was just okay.

crispy lobster wonton for about $2.40 each.


Next up was the Albacore Special with crispy onions and ponzu sauce ($12.50). In my relatively short endeavor into the sushi/rolls world, I've become a little wary of ponzu sauce. I don't like the tanginess. This one was a breath of fresh air. I was expecting the sauce to make my taste buds cringe once it touched my tongue, but they became instant friends. I would definitely order that again.

Albacore Special with (thank god) not too tangy ponzu sauce


For the neutralizers, we got the salmon sashimi ($9) and the yellowtail sashimi ($10). Bomb. The taste was fresh and the pieces were thinly sliced.

salmon & yellowtail sashimi


Hand rolls (HR) are a beautiful thing (when they taste good) cuz you're not stuck with 6-8 pieces of a roll. If it doesn't taste good, oh well, it was only a few bucks. To me, they're like samplers. If you like them and you're still hungry, get the cut roll version, or another hand roll. We decided to try the Crunchy HR($4), Spicy Scallop HR ($5), and Soft Shell Crab HR ($6). Those are relatively expensive for hand rolls, but not in actuality on Wednesdays! All of them were good. No complaints about any of em. They were good enough that we ordered two more. I think it was the... I forgot.

Crunchy HR, Spicy Scallop HR, and Soft Shell Crab HR


Then came our special cut rolls. First thing was the Kamikaze Roll ($11.75). It has crab meat and spicy tuna topped with seared salmon and limes. *sigh* I was hoping it was gonna be good, but I wasn't feeling it at all. My first bite, I ate it with the lime (even the skin) and I knew we made a mistake in ordering it. It reminded me of Mexican food. I love Mexican food, but this thing just wasn't right. There was too much rice and stuff, and I just wasn't having it. We barely finished it.

Kamikaze Roll. I'll pass next time.


Last up was the Hurricane Roll ($11.75). It was good. It had some raw salmon on top with crunchy flakes and some sweet sauce.

Hurricane Roll. cool


I think the best thing that night was the Albacore Special. Mostly everything was good. There's other things I wanna try next time. I would definitely come back here-- on a Wednesday. The service was cool. Best part: Total bill $103.65; bill after discount: $51.81. Cha-ching!!!