50/50 is 100% Delicious

When I heard there was a place you could get a burger that was half ground beef and half ground bacon, I set a course for Anaheim Hills. Slater's 50/50 is a very nice bar and the fact that all the wait staff are very good looking doesn't hurt. Eye candy makes a great appetizer. The burger comes with a dizzying number of choices from fresh made pesto to alvacado mash. It may not be the best burger I ever had but it was very good with bacon taste in every bite. It was young and hip and I felt like an old tourist in the land of LOL. But it was fun to soak up the youthful vibe before grabbing my walker to go home to the 20th century from which I hail. Back when I was young, before technology, we made burgers from beef alone, and liked it. Then walked to school in the snow uphill both ways.

Singing the praises of St Juliana's Choir

Saw a great Easter concert of The Weeping Tree at St Julie's tonight. What an amazing choir headed by Todd Helms (music director for FCLO). It was 10 pc orchestra and 40 voice chorus harmonizing to perfection. And it was free. This choir and EV Free both in the same city. Awesome. Add to that the many choruses, barbershop quartets and acappella group and we are vocally very blessed! Praise the lord!

Original Pancake House may have the best breakfast ever!

Anaheim's flapjack headquarters has the best pancakes ever to flip onto a plate. But if you go make sure you go with a group so you can try them all. Must haves:
The Dutch Baby - a thin German pancake served with lemon and powdered sugar is heaven.
The apple pancake- is basically just an upside down apple pies on a plate, sub pancake for pie crust. It is the best non- pie apple pie ever!
49er- thin brown flapjacks

The omelettes are also amazing!

If heaven is a pancake house it already exists in Anaheim!

Good soup that makes you laugh

I just had great pho (Vietnamese noodle soup)at Pho Ha in Brea. Good food. Clean place. And you can't say the name without a chuckle. Ha!

Upcoming Cool Stuff In April

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change will be presented at the Muckenthaler April 21, a very cool musical I saw last year and had to bring to NOC:

http://themuck.org/i-love-you-youre-perfect-now-change-2/

Fishtank Ensemble- A Gypsy band with some trad jazz and Punk thrown in!  THe coolest show I saw last year will be coming to the Muck on April 28:

http://themuck.org/performances/current-performances/

Also check out their youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SW2OCUJrKg


Both Muck events are $20/$16/$12/$10 Tickets depended on type.

On April 30 & May , check out Romance of the Ranchos at the Homestead Museum

homesteadmuseum.org

Piece Meals

As a foodie I have to say that with many restaurants the key is to order the right thing at the right place. To that end I am planning to take a group from the Muckenthaler on a Food & History Tour of Downtown Fullerton.  But there are many places in North Orange COunty that have an amazing or signature dish.  Here are a few of my faves:

Tony's Special Chicago Stuffed Pizza (get the "Pan") at

Tony's Little Italy Pizza 

1808 N Placentia Ave

Unit B
Placentia, CA 92870

(714) 528-2159

www.tonyslittleitaly.com

The tasty tacos with the homemade fresh corn tortillas at

La Ranchera Taqueria

911 E La Habra Blvd
La Habra, CA 90631

(562) 691-0252

The Chorizo tacos at

El Camino Real

303 N Euclid St
Fullerton, CA 92832

(714) 447-3962

The Homemade flat noodle chow main and Sesame Seed-Leek Bread at

Mas' Chinese Islamic Restaurant

601 E Orangethorpe Ave
Anaheim, CA 92801

(714) 446-9553

(Everything is great here!)

The Stuffy Lunch with Chili Verde or the Santa Fe ENchilladas with Chili Aravado at

Anita's New Mexico Style Mexican Food

600 S Harbor Blvd
Fullerton, CA 92832

(714) 525-0977

anitasfullerton.com

And now for Downtown:

The New England Clam Chowder at

The Olde Ship

709 N Harbor Blvd
Fullerton, CA 92832

(714) 871-7447

www.theoldeship.com

The Chicken enchiladas or the steak sandwich at

Cafe Hidalgo

305 N Harbor Blvd
Fullerton, CA 92832

(714) 447-3202

www.cafehidalgofullerton.com/

(Where everyone who is anyone goes to meet and be met)

The Lasagna at

Florentine's Tuscany Club

100 N Harbor Blvd
Fullerton, CA 92832

(714) 879-7570

www.florentinesgrill.com

The sweet potato fries at

Matador Cantina

111 N Harbor Blvd
Fullerton, CA 92832

(714) 871-8226

www.thematador.com/

 The sampler platter with crawfish, shrimp, chicken and such with an amazing dipping sauce at:

Cajun Swamp

114 W Commonwealth Ave
Fullerton, CA 92832

(714) 870-1266

www.cajunswampsoco.com

And the best gelato this side of Italy:

Frati Gelato

122 W Commonwealth Ave
Fullerton, CA 92832

(714) 871-1413

www.fratigelatocafe.com

 Stick with these and you can't go wrong!

Fields of Flowers

Muckenthaler's Center Circle Guild took us on a tour of the "Fields of Flowers" in Calabasas. It was quite beautiful seeing the eye-popping colors going on for miles to the sea.

To see the fantastic pictures my wife, Monette, took go to:

https://picasaweb.google.com/monettebv/FlowerFields?authkey=Gv1sRgCPy13e2Hvqe2lQE#

An LA Tour of the 1920s

Wednesday we took a tour of the Arts & Crafts Period in Batchelder Tile and Judson Art Glass.  The Muckenthaler has 3 rooms done in Batchelder Tile, a glorious tile of the 1920s reminiscent of English castles. Last Wednesday we took a tour to Batchelder's house, a beautiful craftsman cottage on the arroyo in Pasadena. It is owned by Dr. Robert Winter, who literally wrote the book on Batchelder and we visited his amazing collection. Afterwards we toured Judson Art Glass factory in Highland Park.  Started in the turn of the last century and now in iots 5th generation, the family still makes stained glass windows the old fashioned way.  We left there to lunch at San Antonio WInery, another gem of the 1910's in its 5th generation.  They survived prohibition by making alter wines. It was a great lunch and tour I highly recommend to all. After lunch we did a walking tour of LA gems, "The Dutch Chocolate Shoppe." Batchelder's first commission, and The Fine Arts Building Lobby, Batchelder's largest commissioned work. The former is a historic landmark in bad need of renovation but amazing non the less.  The later is the best example of historic preservation in, in my view, the most amazing commercial lobby in Southern California. We left feeling a great appreciation for Batchelder and the craftsman movement.

$15 Time Machine!

Sunday I was able to take a time machine ride for $15 with OCTOS- The Orange County Theatre Organ Society at the beautiful 1930 Plummer Auditorium.  Many of you may know the Plummer for its great architecture and Broadway shows, but its also a movie palace.  I entered and soon a Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ slowly rose from the orchestra pit.  We think our generation invented surround sound and IMAX.  But as far back as the 1910s people were watching silent movies on 60 mm screens to pipe organs where one second the drums are coming at you from the balcony to the right and the trumpets to the left and the bass is behind you, seemingly coming out of your seat.  If you have never seen a silent film in a movie palace with a live Mighty Wurlitzer, you have never seen a silent film. The organ, the audience and the experience all heighten the action and the comedy.  You will have a new appreciation for the medium and what was lost when sound came along.  We saw a Harold Lloyd movie which still stands up with funny premises and amazing stunts.  Do yourself a favor and don't miss another OCTOS event at the Plummer!

My two faves in Fullerton

If you read this blog you will quickly find out that I love cheap whole-in-the-wall places with gourmet quality food.

Two of my faves of this genre are:

Anita's New Mexican Food one block south of Valencia on Harbor.  Get the Stuffy Dinner with Chile Verde or the Santa Fe Enchilladas with an over easy egg and carne adavado.  Awesome!

Mas Islamic Chinese Food on Orangethorpe between Raymond and Lemon. Get the fat noodles they make from scratch or the islamic sesame-leek bread.  Everything there is great and fresh.

New Find- Hole-In-The-Wall Restaurant

El Molcajete Tacotento

2790 E Lincoln Ave
Ste C
Anaheim, CA 92806

(714) 238-1253

This place is a super-small place (6 tables) next to a 7-11.  It looks like nothing special.  But they make amazing Mexican food, great salsa, great specials, and very clean.

I got a special  that had all these meats simmered with sausage, onions and peppers and it was fantastic. 

Its one block from the freeway at Lincoln and the 57. Check it out! 

Chinese Lobster Rocks!

Every now and then I like to go on a Foodie adventure discovering new restaraunts.  I found a great one last night.  If you take Fullerton Road up to Colima Rd. in Rowland Heights and make a left one block on the right you will find Newport Seafood in a Chinese strip mall.  The wait is long but worth it.  This clean "A" rated establishment has a "House Special Lobster" that is AMAZING! Its not cheap at $15/pound (but cheap for fresh lobster that was just swimming), but what a sauce! The sauce is made from lobster shells and roe with garlic, spices and green onion.  It's more delicious than the meat! A great find.

What I love about Fullerton

In this blog I will be praising the great town we live in and show you why its so great.  Each post will focus on one thing that is a building block to making such a great place.  I will comment on the great restaurants, city management, historic buildings, parks, service clubs, pioneer spirit, shows, festivals, attractions, and more that make Fullerton and the surrounding communities the best place to be!

Welcome To My Blog

Everything great about living in Fullerton and North OC, the best community on earth!