Southern California… At Least the Weather’s Nice…
In this edition of The Continuing Adventures of Doctor Popeye, I’ll review several of my dining experiences from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Camarillo. I would like to start off by saying that I’ve never been a huge fan of Southern California. Everything’s too expensive, the traffic’s bad, the air’s toxic, and the people are just weird… but not in the good way like the people in Austin or San Francisco. There are only two good things about Southern California as far as I can tell:
1) The weather’s nice.
2) Package liquor costs about half what it does in Texas. This paradox is probably what allows the people who live there to tolerate it.
When they aren’t treating their “glaucoma,” getting stuck in traffic, or engaging in a race riot, the people of “SoCal” enjoy perhaps the broadest variety of food to be found anywhere in the world.
Santa Barbara Shellfish Company – 230 Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
This place is a little bit touristy. It’s on the wharf and it’s expensive, but I’ll be damned if the food isn’t delicious. Eating local crab and drinking Anchor Steam next to the Pacific on a sunny day is a treat for sure. The service was good, the portions were huge, and the food was all well-prepared, if not memorable. One deviation from the standard American seafood menu is the California Spiny Lobster, which is available seasonally. Some guy at the table behind me kept reading the headlines from “People” magazine, but I suppose this isn’t really the restaurant’s fault.
7/10.
Steamed Local Crab
Anchor Steam Beer
Los Arroyos Mexican Restaurant – 740 E. Ventura Boulevard, Camarillo, CA 93010
Over priced. I paid $35 for lunch for two. What I got was essentially fast food Mexican.
4/10.
Fajitas at Los Arroyos
Yoshinoya Beef Bowl – 11090 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Worst restaurant ever? The only thing “Beverly Hills” about this place are the prices. This fluorescent hell was staffed by inept mongoloids. The food was entirely inedible. I threw my whole portion away after one bite. Clientele included two adult cinema producer types and several strung-out junkies. If you ever find yourself at Yoshinoya Beef Bowl, sigh and wonder where your life went wrong.
0/10.
The Brewhouse – 229 W. Montecito Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Sublime food, interesting entertainment, and delicious beer brewed in-house typify the experience at The Brewhouse. The jerked chicken was delicious, spicy and sweet, although it was served at room temperature. Other than this chicken mishap, my experiences at The Brewhouse were entirely positive. I also experienced the Brewhouse Enchiladas made with filet mignon pieces, wild mushrooms, ancho-lime cream and pepper jack cheese served with black beans and a “Corn Cake”. This was truly a great dining experience. Two bars.
8.5/10.
Enchiladas
