Evelyn's Big Italian - 704 Texas St, Fairfield, CA

I haven't written on this blog for many years, but have decided to pick it back up.  Today we decided to try to head out to Bolinas Beach in Marin County with the dogs.  My husband has had his second bladder cancer treatment and it is a really hot day in Northern California, (110F as of 4pm.)

We got as far as Vallejo and he wanted to turn around and head home.  So we did.  Traffic was a mess so we decided to cut through Suisun and Fairfield out to I-505.  We stopped in Fairfield and had lunch at Evelyn's Big Italian restaurant.  To be honest, we stopped primarily because they had outdoor seating and we had the 2 dogs.  It was still hot, 104F and they do not let dogs inside, (probably service dogs,) and that was ok.  The patio provided plenty of shade and we bought several bottles of water and had our own bowl for the dogs.  

My husband went in and ordered a 16" Sausage and olive pizza.  After a half hour, with not many people in there, we still did not have the pizza, so I went in and asked about it.  The cashier had accidentally put the tag in with the days receipts and had forgotten to get it to the cooks.  (That was not fun given how hot it was.)  She asked them to get this in urgently.  

About 20 minutes later, we had our pizza.  They were nice enough to bring another pizza pan to put on top of the pizza so flies wouldn't get to it.

It was thin crust (New York Style) and very, very cheesy.  The sausage was sliced and not ground, which we loved and the olives were nicely sliced and plentiful.  The sauce had a nice taste without being over bearing with oregano or basil.  Was just perfect.  It surprisingly was a little greasy on top, much like you get from pepperoni, but with a quick dab of the napkin, was all good.

It was honestly very delicious.  

We never went further than the order counter, where it looks like they have about 4 booths in the front, but through the window looks a bit spacious.  The counter area is very tiny.  The outdoor eating area easily seats 20 people.

I would highly suggesting stopping here next time you're in traffic between the bay area and Sacramento.  

Evelyn's Big Italian Facebook Page

Skipolini's Pizza and Pasta - Rocklin, CA

So the best new pizza place in the area belongs to Skipolini's Pizza and Pasta in Rocklin. The place is hoppin' most nights, with the weekend with a half hour wait or longer. And the wait is worth it.

The pizza is old style Italian. Thick end crust, thinner center. Fresh toppings are piled on. They are known for their Prego Pizza, called that after several very overdue pregnant women went in to labor around 24 hours after eating a Prego pizza.

The Prego comes with thirteen toppings, including extra onions and garlic, fresh veggies and six different types of meat. It's supposed to weigh around 4lbs alone!

My personal favorite is the veggie pizza with fresh artichoke hearts, my husband likes the combo (go figure!) and we both like the Chicken Pepperonado Pizza, which is a pesto base with chicken and yellow and red bellpeppers. Delish!

The salads come family style for around $10 bucks and feeds around 4-5 people. The single salad around $7 easily feeds two people.

The pasta is pretty good too. I've had both the lasagne, (like grandma made, and the Mediterranean Pasta with cappellini is tastey and satisfying.

Skipolini's is a family run place with four additional locations. Rocklin, Clayton, Antioch, Concord and Walnut Creek each have a slightly different menu, but all taste fantastic.

It is a bit pricey, but not too much out of line from Round Table. The taste though is great.

Enjoy!

Rocklin
Skipolini's
6600 Lonetree Blvd
Telephone: (916) 789-1818
Fax: (916) 789-1825
Sunday -Thursday 11:30am-10pm Friday&Saturday 11:30am-11pm

La Forneretta Sicilian Italian Pizzeria, Newcastle, Ca

La Fornaretta is simply scrumptious! Yes, I said Scrumptios. My husband, mother and I all went for my birthday last Thursday for the first time. It was a nice surprise to have such a great little restaurant in a surprising area.

Newcastle, CA is sandwiched between Auburn, CA and I-80 East towards Reno and CA-Hwy 193 in Lincoln. It is a very small little restaurant situated on top of the hill in the old town area. In fact La Fornaretta resides within an old fruit packing shed, so the outside of it is a bit deceiving.

The food is authentic. Don't expect to find a steak here unless its apart of a pasta special.

The three of us each tried a different meal. Hubby settled on the more traditional spaghetti and meatballs, (primarly because a lot of the dishes are seafood based and he doesn't like seafood.) Mom had the eggplant parmigania and I had the canneloni.

The red sauce, known as Suga Sauce is deliciously sweet, but not sickenly so. It was drapped over all three dishes. Hubby had two rather large meatballs with his dish, which was a decent portion. Mom's eggplant was amazing. It had about 8 large slices of eggplant and covered in mozzarella and parm cheeses. My canneloni was meat stuffed with cheese and artichoke hearts. I was so full from eating my side salad and the fresh made bread, which appears to also be the dough they use for the pizzas that our neighboring table had, that I could only eat one of the two in my dish.

While it was a great meal and the pizzas looked fantastic, its not a cheap place, nor like a Macaroni Grill, so plan on bringing some cash ($86 for the three of us and only 1 glass of red wine was included in that bill.)

I do highly recommend for date night. Dress is casual. Place only hold maybe 40 people inside at a time, thought it appears they may offer some outside seating.

http://lafornaretta.com/



Bon Appetito!

Weekend in San Francisco - Restaurants from all Cultures

My husband and I spent last weekend in San Francisco and visited several restaurants that we think you'll enjoy.

Hunan Homes Chinese. Located on Jackson Street in Chinatown and walkable to North Beach is a family tradition. Noticeable from the street by its blue and pink awning, Hunan Homes is Chinese with a Taiwan history. The restaurant is family owned and run. They also have a location in Los Altos, CA.

Hunan Homes has several specialities including their Hunan String beans, steamed and served with a dry crumbled pork, their Hunan Spicy Garlic Beef and of course you can order their Duck, (which requires the purchase of the whole duck.) Additionally, they are well known for the Honey Walnut Prawns, and as we looked around the restaurant just about every table had an order. My husband doesn't like seafood and I'm not a honey walnut fan myself, but every one I know who also goes there, loves them, (so I'll recommened them based on that.) Hunan Homes doesn't require reservations. They do have a banquet area, and my mom actually had her retirement party lunch from IBM there, which held 50 people comfortably and was reasonable in price. If you're looking for great Chinese, Hunan Homes is the place to be. (Located at 622 Jackson St, San Francisco.)
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Capannina Italian Ristorante

Hubby and I had a nice dinner at Capannina Ristorante. We booked our reservation via Opentable.com and easily found a time that worked for us. Yelp recommended, the place was definitely hoping. We had a 730pm reservation and didn't realize that the Union Street Faire was happening that day, making it a bit difficult to get to because the street was blocked off. Fortunately we took a car service from the hotel and were dropped off just two blocks away.

We were seated right away. The place appears to hold about 50 people max, (may be more,) but was definitely full. The specials included a mozarella over brocollini, a seafood special and Veal scallopine with truffles. We ordered fairly quickly and each of us ordered a glass of wine. Hubby had the Pinot Grigio and I had the Sangiovese. They brought several baskets of bread and served it with a pesto oil, which was nice. The food came quite quickly. We enjoyed the saffron risotto with the beef. We also had an appetizer of mozarella with proscuitto which was outstanding.

The folks next to us had a lovely rack of lamb, which they appeared to enjoy and the carpaccio appetizer.

The waiters were quick to bring wine and bread.

It was very loud however in there, which made it a bit difficult to hear. On the bright side, you can eat outside. We were a bit overdressed, (dress slacks for both,) but was a nice evening overall. If you're in Cow Hollow/The Marina Area, be sure to stop by.

AJ's Casual Eatery - Rocklin, CA

Tonight we decided to try AJ's Casual Eatery on Fairway Drive in Rocklin, CA. AJ's recently took over from Cool River Pizza. The setup is similar, but decorated nicely. When you first walk in, as we did for dinner tonight, you think you have to order buffet style, however for dinner it is waited seating.

We were sat right away by a nice teen. She brought the menus and asked if we preferred booth or table seating. We selected a booth, which was convenient as they have several big screen TVs throughout the restaurant and had both the SF Giants vs. ST Louis Cardinals baseball and Game 2 of the NBA Playoffs between Miami Heat and Dallas playing, which satisfied both my husbands love of basketball and mine of baseball.

The menu had several items available including appetizers, salad, sandwiches, burgers and a carvery. It also includes a small childrens menu. The options are plentiful.

My husband decided on the carvery and went with the Tri Tip (Cowboy version - which means the larger cut 10oz vs. smaller 5oz,) and he had his choice of two side dishes, which he selected mashed potato with gravy and coleslaw. I selected the sliced tri tip sandwich and asked to not have the garlic aioli that it comes with and swapped the red onion for grilled mushrooms instead. My options was regular fries or I could upgrade to either sweet potato or garlic fries. I chose the garlic. I also added a side salad, and we decided to try a side of Mac-n-cheese, which came a few minutes ahead of the meal, so was more like an appetizer of Mac-N-Cheese.

So for the meal itself, the meat was fantastic for both meals. My husbands came with three generous slices of tri tip and mine was nicely sliced and some still rare. The meat and the side salad were the best parts.

The mashed potato was nice, but the gravy reminded me of mom's- lumpy and not much taste. The garlic fries were not too bad. It was more parmesean tasting than garlic, but not all together a turn off. The side salad came with chopped tomato, ice burg lettuce and sliced carrots. I opted for the ranch dressing, which was a 'red ranch,' and was rather tastey. Hubby's coleslaw was just okay as well. It was good it wasn't dripping in dressing, but it didn't look like it had any at all. He said he was a bit disappointed, but not the worst he's had.

The Mac-N-Cheese however, I suggest skipping. It's not your mom's, nor your grandma's, hell its not even Kraft in a box. It is noodles with cheese wiz is what it tasted like. If I were in Philly getting a cheesesteak sandwich, I even skip the 'Wiz' and go for provolone, so I wasn't that thrilled with the Wiz Mac.

Overall, the next time I think I'll ask for either regular fries or the seasonal sauteed veggies as a side. It was good enough however for another visit. I think next time I'll try the burger.

Until then,

Happy Eating!

Janey

Lunch time at Mr Pickles Sandwich Shops

Mr. Pickles Sandwich Shops is the 2010's answer to the 1980's Togo's. You can find Mr. Pickles all over the Greater Sacramento Valley. Their sandwiches are made fresh at the counter on fresh baked bread. The typical sandwich size is about 8"-9" and packed full of goodies depending on your order.

Each location offers a slightly different sandwich as they are all franchises so I won't specifically call out the 'Name' of the sandwich, but suffice to say one of my favorites is the turkey and avacado with jack cheese. I'll have to take a picture to show it justice. When I say packed, I mean PACKED full of meat and produce. Normal sandwiches come with mayo, mustard, garlic oil sauce, salt, pepper and a plethora of produce. I personally get the produce and no sauces, because I like the taste of the fresh bread and produce, but my colleagues all swear by the garlic sauce.

There is usually a special of the day, which yesterday was a Turkey and Cranberry - holiday like special with a drink and a bag of chips.

Each Mr. Pickles is on the small size, which cuts down on their retail space costs, but also keeps the lines moving. It usually seats up to about 20 people depending on location, but most of the time has an outdoor location, so as summer is on the verge here in the Valley, it'll be a nice way to have lunch.

Upon paying your cashier will offer you a chocolate chip cookie (for free,) take it! It's the best freakin' chocolate chip cookie outside of the old San Francisco Blue Chip cookie company and Mrs Fields. It's soft ans tastey and makes you think of your mom or grandma's cooking.

If you're on a diet, eat half your sandwich now, which will be plenty filling for even those not on a diet, and save the other half for later, they are THAT large!

Hope you visit one soon, I know I will.

Slante!

Janey!

Lincoln, CA ~ Lincoln Chinese, Casa Ramos Mexican Restaurant and others...

Lincoln, California is a small suburban town outside of Sacramento, running parallel to Interstate-80 towards Reno and right off Hwy 65, which heads to Marysville, Yuba City and on its way to Chico, California.

Lincoln grew in leaps in bounds in the early 2000's with a housing boom, but when the recession hit and jobs were leaving Sacramento faster than a tsunami, Lincoln was equally affected. Foreclosures and short sales abound in this town of what was approximately 33,000 people, taking with it restaurants and cute little stores. A bypass is going in, which while alleviating traffic in its small little downtown area while heading into Wheatland and Marysville, it will take with it likely the remaining open stores and peoples livelihoods.

Having said all that, there are some great little restaurants here, which is why in this blog, I can just write about one.

We'll start with the fact that Lincoln has three Chinese restaurants in town, and depending on your favorite 'type' of Chinese there's something here for everyone. My personal favorite and those of my family is the aptly named, Lincoln Chinese.

Having grown up in the Silicon Valley, very near San Francisco and the world renowned Chinatown, I now excellent Chinese food, and I will say, outside of Chinatown, Lincoln Chinese is the best.

Lincoln Chinese is located at 489 F St, Lincoln, CA 95648 (Corner of 5th and F) and can be reached at (916) 645-9829. My entire family, (mother, sister - her husband and kids and my husband,) have been going to Lincoln Chinese since we relocated here from the Bay Area in 2006. The ladies who work here are so sweet. My young niece and nephew (now 5 and 7,) are always coddled to by the ladies. They just adore them. We always come as a large group, because we like to be able to each select an item off the menu and share it. We do this by ordering from the restaurants family option meals of Dinner B, which allows you to select from both Dinner A and B. Typically that means we order the following with some minor variations: Sesame Chicken (oh so delicious,) Mongolian Beef, Beef with Snow Peas or Orange Peel Beef, Lemon Chicken or Schewan Shrimp, Chicken Chown Mein, Potstickers, and extra fried prawns for the kids, who call them shrimpy chicken because for years they thought they were chicken nuggets! LOL.

The Dinner B combo comes with a set of appetizers, starting with egg drop soup. My niece just loves the soup there. There's now 5 years old and eats her father and brothers share, because they would rather fill up on everything else than soup. She'll have 2-3 cups of the soup and a couple of shrimp and she's a happy camper. My sister who refuses to eat beef, loves the sesame chicken. She'll eat everything but the beef. My husband, brother-in-law, mother and I all will eat everything else.

They offer seasonal options like asparagus, fresh fishes, etcetera. Just depends on what's the freshest available.

Lincoln Chinese is always packed. It's soo good, that my aunt and uncle who have relocated to Redding from San Jose and my cousin who lives in San Francisco always want to go to Lincoln Chinese when in town.



Casa Ramos Mexican Restaurant

Our next restaurant is Casa Ramos Mexican Restaurant. Lincoln has a strong hispanic community and therefor has its fair share of excellent taquerias. Casa Ramos is a family style restaurant which thankfully, took over the old Applebee's building which went out of business in 2009. Casa Ramos is a very popular location in Lincoln. Not only does it have a wonderful hispanic community, Lincoln's master plan included Sun City an over 55 community and Lincoln Crossing, a single-family community with new schools for young kids. As such, Casa Ramos has a variety of patrons that flood the place. On weekends the place is very busy. Thursday nights they bring in a live Mariachi band to play for its patrons, and on Cinco de Mayo, its THE PLACE to be! They open the patio up for appetizers and margaritas, hooray!!

Casa Ramos is actually a franchise location, with restaurants in Redding and Sacramento to name a few. The menu is vast and so far everything we've tried we really love. Specifically my husband LOVES their beef fajitas! The restaurant has a daily special and recently started a special item menu of 2 meals for $20 and includes an option of 4 different appetizers to start. My hubby and I like that menu a lot, not just for the price, (its a bonus in our minds!) but because of the options available on it. I personally love getting the cheese enchilada (sauce is light and not too sweet and the cheese plentiful,) with the shredded beef taco. The shredded beef is well seasoned but not overpowering. The plate comes with your choice of either spanish rice or white rice (peas and corn in the rice) and your choice of either refriend beans or cholesterol free rancho (pinto) beans. I love their white rice, so I go for that option. The fajitas are also on this menu, so my hubby is in love. For an appetizer, I highly suggest their tacquitos! They are cut into 6 decent sized pieces and comes with sour cream and guacamole.

The chips and salsa are free flowing, and the staff is outstanding. We have rarely waited longer than 10-15 minutes for our plate to come. I think even on their business night, its been pretty expedient!

Casa Ramos is located at 925 S State Highway 65, Lincoln, CA and by phone (916) 409-0766. Their website is available for your review as well as finding reviews for them all over the web: Foodspotting, UrbanSpoon, Google, Yelp, etc. Casa Ramos:

Until next time - Bon Appetito!