tortilla jo's

anaheim, ca

website

what does one do after graduating medical school? go to disneyland, of course. we left pasadena and drove down to our anaheim hotel (which took FOREVER, by the way, i don't know how angelenos survive in this metropolis of freeways and gridlock). that evening, we decided to check out downtown disney (an outdoor mall right outside the main gates) to prep for the next day's disneyland adventure (the niece needed a new minnie mouse dress and a snow white lego set).

lots of food options in the mall, but all of them were extremely crowded. i left my cell phone number with tortilla jo's and received a text about a half hour later when a table became available. honestly, i wasn't expecting much for a restaurant that's clearly geared toward tourists, but the food was pretty good. fresh chips, excellent spicy salsa. i can't remember what i ordered - possibly the chile relleno and an enchilada - but i remember being pleasantly surprised with the quality.

porto alegre brazilian steakhouse

pasadena, ca

website

my brother had just had his medical school graduation ceremony at the pasadena civic auditorium. mom, dad, aunt tina, amanda, cindy, my niece, and i were all waiting outside, pondering where to take the newly minted doctor out for a celebratory lunch. well, my niece was doing less pondering and more singing and dancing. i really wanted to go to koreatown for my favorite korean bbq but it was too far and there were too many of us to make that happen.

glancing across the street, we noticed that the shopping mall had a churrascaria on the top floor. a quick check on yelp confirmed that it was decent and my sister called to make lunch reservations. i really don't know how we survived before iphones. anyway, to cut to the chase, the buffet portion of the churrascaria wasn't great. the gougeres were okay, but everything else was boring. what was great, however, was the meat - the sirloin and skirt steak were my favorites. perfectly cooked with just the right amount of char. the photographed piece doesn't look very good, but i forgot to take a picture of the good stuff. sorry.

bread winners

dallas, tx

website

derek and i were in dallas for two days to celebrate c+j's wedding. took the opportunity to see some friends who were nearby - eric, tony, and kate. tony and kate recommended bread winners for sunday brunch and eric graciously headed there early to wait for a table. clearly a very popular spot - there was a crowd waiting outside and an intercom system announcing seatings.

man, i love eating in texas. i didn't take a picture of everything we ordered but trust me, everything was texas-sized. to start, the table shared a giant cinnamon roll and a sticky caramel pecan roll. for my entree, i ordered biscuits and gravy with a side of sausages. heavy, but good. pictured is derek's chicken fried steak topped with sausage gravy. the brunch cocktails were a little too sweet for my tastes (i ordered the frozen cherry limeade), but the food was excellent.

bi-rite creamery

san francisco, ca

website

jinny and i drove by the beach at half moon bay but it looked too chilly to get out of the car. instead, we drove up to san francisco for ice cream. probably not the smartest decision, but it made sense at the time. san francisco was freezing and jinny and i were shivering as we waited in the long line outside the bi-rite creamery near delores park. thankfully when we made it to the front of the line, a table had opened up inside and we could eat our ice cream in relative warmth.

bi-rite is famous for its ice cream sundaes and is frequently featured on those various what-to-eat-in-sf shows on the food network and travel channel. jinny and i shared a sam's sundae (chocolate ice cream with bergamot olive oil, maldon sea salt and whipped cream) and a sundae with honey and strawberries (if i remember correctly). both were pretty good, but probably not worth waiting in line for when it's cold and windy in san francisco. i think i'll stick with rick's down here in the south bay, where it's warm.

half moon bay bakery

half moon bay, ca

link to yelp

hello again. so work has been busy. it's still busy, but i'm going to take my lunch hour today to try to catch up on some posts. the fabulous jinny was visiting the bay area about a month or two or three ago. when jinny and i hang out, we generally go wherever the wind blows us. on a whim, we decided to head up to half moon bay, famous day-trip destination for bay area residents.

we had no itinerary but followed the signs from 101-north toward half moon bay, then decided followed the signs to "downtown" and "main street." ended up parking on main street and finding a cute bakery, aptly named "half moon bay bakery." i can't remember what my baked good was called, but it was basically a holeless donut, filled with custard and topped with chocolate. amazing. jinny and i sat on the bench outside while we devoured our treats - pretty sure about 3 people walking by saw us eating and decided to check out the bakery.