“Hey Yoshinoya, Nice To Know Ya!” Such was the familiar greeting I often heard in college… because my last name happened to nearly coincide with this Beef Bowl chain’s name. I didn’t mind too much though, because I liked their food and still do.

Something that a lot of people (including me) are surprised about is that the Yoshinoya Beef Bowl chain is not endemic to the U.S. It’s actually straight from Japan and is quite respected over there (would you believe it was actually established back in 1899!) I was always under the impression that it was a “Panda Express” phenomenon - a sort of ethnic food “created” to please the western palate.

But actually, Yoshinoya is such a huge institution in Japan that when they were forced to stop selling their signature beef bowl product in 2004 due to “crazy cow” import restrictions, people lined up around the block to get a last taste of their favorite fast food. Recently, they’ve brought it back over there, but I think they only sell the Beef bowl one day of the week?

The first one in the U.S. was started up in Torrance, CA in 1979. I haven’t been to that one, but there happens to be another one pretty close to my house.

If you haven’t had their beef before, it can take some getting used to. Their main product is a thinly sliced, extremely fatty beef cooked in onions with sauce. They throw that on top of sticky rice and call it a Beef Bowl (Gyu-Don in Japan). They also sell other meals that have teriyaki chicken and cooked vegetables. I’ve also gotten their fried chicken wings which are decent. Below is a picture of a combo bowl that has beef, veggies and chicken on top of rice.

Continue reading “Yoshinoya Beef Bowl” …

This one has been kicking around in the Cheap Eats drafts for nearly 4 months now. It’s the El Pollo Loco Dollar Menu which was recommended by more than a few readers, including Cybele from CandyBlog. I’m pretty familiar with El Pollo Loco and in the past have frequented their chicken joints as much as three times a month.

El Pollo Loco is interesting in that although it probably qualifies as fast food (and there’s a drive-thru), I think of it more as a normal sit-down restaurant but with fast-food prices. Their flame-grilled chicken is a welcome change if you get tired of Church’s, Popeyes or KFC. They occasionally have pretty good deals on bulk family chicken - one current special that I like for parties is the 11 pieces of legs and thighs for $7.99.

A side note: I find their commercials with that smarmy guy a bit on the racially insensitive side… but I’ll not get into that now.

Anyhow, for some reason, I never ventured into Loco Dollar Land. Their lineup is a bit more interesting than the usual fast food joint 99 cent Jack In The Box menu. They’ve got a Taco al Carbon (Chicken Taco), BRC Burrito (Bean, Rice Cheese), Cheese Quesadilla, Chicken Taquito with Avocado Salsa, Loco Salad with Creamy Cilantro Dressing, Two Churros (dessert) and a choice of either a flame grilled Chicken Leg or Thigh (note: the pic I took from the site months back included the choice of thighs but the more recent pic does not. Too bad, because I felt that was one of the better value items.)

Continue reading “El Pollo Loco Dollar Menu” …

Whoops, I nearly forgot… today being July 11 it is 7-11 day all around the nation. Yes, time will indeed stop for you while you head out of the office at lunch to pick up yer free Slurpee drink. Just remember that the sizes they give away are the tiny ones, the 7.11 ounce slurpees. I’m going to be passing on this one although there is a 7-11 within walking distance (too much brain freeze lately), so let me know how it goes…

A quickie post for today regarding a culinary tidbit I saw on A Hamburger Today. Well, depending on your gastronomical fortitude, you may or may not be happy with me posting this news. The Original Tommy’s, whose hamburgers are a guilty pleasure of many an insomniacal Southlander, officially turns 60 years old today.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, they’re offering 60 Cent Burgers all day May 15, 2006, which happens to be today. Getting this news too late in the day? Never fear, the offer is good from noon until midnight today.

Actually, the offer is even more generous than just a standard hamburger for 60 cents. It is actually good for a cheeseburger topped with their heart-shuddering chili AND a soda.

The catch: the 60 cent deal is only good at one location:

Tommy’s at Beverly and Rampart
2575 W. Beverly Blvd.
(213) 389-9060

If you’re in the area, head over there now and get your chili burger fix for the next year or so. I can’t guarantee you’ll see me there, but please feel to eat one on my behalf. Tommy’s has been a favorite high school hamburger hangout since near forever…

Anybody up for a Cabbage Burrito?

Because that’s pretty much what I got when I ordered the Del Taco Crispy Fish Burrito the other day. We haven’t had too much luck with Del Taco items here at Cheap Eats. If you recall, their Four dollar combo meals were somewhat of a bust. But I’m always willing to hand over my quarters and dimes in the name of cheap eats experimentation. So I decided to give them another try in the form of their fish burrito.

Sorry, I know that this promotion is pretty much history. I have a ton of old pictures (maybe 40-50) of cheap eats food items that I just haven’t got to. This is one of them. You might recall the “Secret Fishing Spot” ad where their geeky rain-slickered spokesperson pulls up at a DT drivethrough in a boat to order the fish burrito. I saw that commercial so many times that I decided to try it out. Look Ma - advertising to dummies works!

Anyhow, the first inkling of trouble came when I was handed my order at the drivethrough window. I always take a quick peek in the bag to make sure they’ve got it right. Many times, I’ve been gyped for an item or given someone else’s order. Somehow, they never seem to ADD any extra items. =)

Anyhow, to my surprise, I pulled out something in a foil wrapper that said “Macho Bacon and Egg Burrito” among other things. I was about to hand it back when I saw the TINY sticker on it that said “Crispy Fish Burrito”.

Now, I KNOW that every restaurant has multiple-use wrappers. But there was such a huge push in advertising this item that I would have thought they’d give it a different special wrapper, or at least a bigger sticker! I had to look all over the foil in order to find it. Something seemed fishy, and it wasn’t the burrito.

My fears were realized when I got home and unwrapped the burrito. Where’s the Beef … er, Fish?!

I had to search a bit inside before the first piece of fried fish was revealed. I pulled it out of hiding and took the main picture at the top of this post. It’s like the fish was shy or something, preferring to nestle in an underwater cave of cabbage. I realize that this is fairly common with specialty items, but geez, I expected a little more of the main ingredient. At least with a Filet-o-Fish, the fish isn’t hiding.

Continue reading “Del Taco Crispy Fish Burrito” …

Man, but do I like Fried Chicken.

From diners to fast food joints, I’ll almost always opt for fried chicken over other choices. I’m not even that picky with the Crunch Factor™ or which piece I get (though if pressed, my fave pieces go in this order: Thigh, Wing, Breast, Drumstick).

It’s a bit amazing I’ve never actually had Popeye’s until about 1 month ago. No, not the sailor man. I mean Popeye’s Chicken.

The first thing you’ll notice about the picture is that it was extremely dark. Well, it was a late night decision to try a chicken meal there. Also, for the life of me I can’t remember how much I paid for the meal. I believe it was a bit over 6 dollars which was sort of a sticker shocker. I mean, it’s fast food after all. I still can’t get used to food inflation.

Anyhow, I was getting ticked off at not being able to take a good picture. Food Bloggies know what I’m talking about… it’s hell on wheels when you’re starving but trying to get a good photo of your food! I finally gave up and picked up the fork.

Continue reading “Popeye’s Chicken Meal” …

As a kid, I had more than my fair share of Happy Stars and Western Bacon Cheeseburgers at Carl’s Jr. restaurants so I was somewhat surprised that we actually haven’t talked about Carl’s here on Cheap Eats yet.

I think part of the problem is that while they are definitely pushing their 99 cent items nowadays in order to compete with Burger King and McDonald’s, Carl’s Junior has always seemed more of a “high end” burger fast food place to me. In fact, my mom would always take us there when we were at the mall back in the day, because they just seemed to have “healthier” options. Like Fried Zucchini and numerous Chicken Club sandwiches. These, of course, weren’t exactly the cheapest things on the menu. I must say that I rarely got sick from eating burgers at Carl’s Junior, while McDonald’s was Russian Stomach Roulette.

Fast forward to today, and they’re right up there offering cheaper items with the best of them. I haven’t been to the fast food joint in awhile (they closed down the nearest one to my house) but I am continually getting Carl’s Junior coupons in the mail trying to get me to eat their Six Dollar Burger. You’re usually left sitting there wondering which fry cook was drunk this time in the kitchen.

Unlike the Six Million Dollar Man, the Six Dollar burger doesn’t look like a million bucks in person. Oh sure, you see the commercials of them dropping one of these bad boys from a height of a foot or so and it sure seems to plop down well, fat and juicy and full of goodies. In real life, not only does the 6 dollar burger cost like $4.00 alone (which in my opinion is not cheap enough to make a big deal about the $2 you save) but usually comes looking like a hurricane hit an In-n-Out burger joint.

There’s no semblance to the nice, expensive looking burgers in their commercials. Then again, when has a burger in person ever looked like the one from a commercial? I do applaud them in their adventurous choice of materials to make these so-called restaurant burgers. The Portabello Mushroom burger was at least interesting. Now they’re offering up a “Jalapeno Burger” (sorry, I’m to lazy to grab the tilde “N”).

Continue reading “Carl’s Junior Coupons” …