Beach House Tacos

Beach House Tacos

668 Harbor Blvd.

Ventura Pier

Ventura, CA

It occurred to me that this blog is supposed to be about "Rick's Ventura," and I haven't written anything about Ventura since Lala's Panderia back in the second week of February. So since the wife and I headed to Beach House Tacos today on the Ventura Pier, I thought I'd get back to the originally stated mission of my blog-to talk about decent places to eat in Ventura.

Lunch

Beach House Tacos is run by the same people who run Eric Ericssons on the Pier. It shares the same casual, beachy vibe, and really, it isn't bad. Not great, mind you, but not bad. The food is more expensive then the real Mexican food that you'd find over on the Ventura Avenues or in Oxnard, and it isn't really Mexican like anyone in my family would make anyway. But it isn't overly expensive, either, and the view is pretty darn good.


I had the calamari burrito, which was calamari, rice, beans, lettuce and a mild salsa. My wife got the calamari taco and the Old California fish taco. The calamari taco came with green cabbage, avocado and a mild salsa, while the Old California had red cabbage, cherry tomatoes and a corn salsa. I also ordered some chips and salsa, and a couple of sodas, which came out to about $22.

Looking toward the ocean

Since it was a beautiful Sunday, warm and sunny with a mild breeze, the line was long and we were lucky to get a seat at one of the tables in the sunshine outside of their main, covered dining area. Beach House isn't the place to go if you're in a big rush, taking 20 minutes in line and over half an hour before our number was called. On the other hand, there are far worse places to wait for your meal than at the foot of the Ventura pier on a sunny day, which I reminded myself as my stomach grumbled.

The dining area

Beach House serves local microbrews and wine, and the patio looked like it could be an excellent place to knock back a couple of brews with a taco or two. The stand even has a sign with suggested micro brew and taco pairings, which I might have tried if I didn't have things to do after lunch. They also validate in the nearby parking garage, a definite plus when trying to find beach parking. I might come some Saturday or Sunday morning and try their breakfast, which is only served on the weekend, at some point in the future.

Again, if I want good, cheap Mexican food, their are several places on the Avenues that are better and cheaper. But none are on the beach, and that's what makes this place so special. Not bad, not too expensive, great views, and validated parking means that I'll be back.

Tito's Tacos

Tito's Tacos

11222 Washington Place

Culver City, CA 90230

I went to UCLA, and I after that I had a girlfriend who lived in Culver City, and why I never found Tito's Tacos back then confuses me a bit. Usually, if I was eating in that area, I would head to the Apple Pan, another place that I never found when I was at UCLA, but did find when I worked at the Nordstrom across the street. It wasn't until a few years back, when the parents of one of my water polo players raved about the place did I become curious, and not until this last summer that I went and found it.

First, it's cheap. Second, the portions are generous. Third, it's pretty good. 

Not great, mind you. Tacos are the crispy sort, with shredded beef, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce and a mild salsa. Burritos have beans, chili con carne and cheese. Everything comes with crispy chips and they throw it all into a box. It is good, though, and again, it is cheap. The red salsa is sweet tomatoes, the green salsa is a little spicier, with pickled chilies and I find that when I'm there I'll dip my chips into both. The restaurant is clean and always crowded with college kids, old folks and people from the neighborhood.

As a rule, I prefer street tacos, smaller with just meat, onions and cilantro on soft, corn tortillas. However, about a half dozen times in the last six months, I've been driving by and pulled in for a taco and burrito. With a soda, the whole thing comes out under $10, and I'm full for the drive back to Ventura.

 Tito's isn't a chain and has been around since the 50's. It's right off the 405, so if you're out on the Westside, it's as convenient as traffic allows. And I'm sure that I'll go back again.

Chris & Pitts, 9243 Lakewood Blvd Downey, CA 90240 (562) 869-9069

Corner of Gallatin and Lakewood

50 is just around the corner for me, and as it looms closer, I find that I have a need to go look at things that I remember from my youth.

I lived in Downey from roughly 1977 to 1985, and while my family lived there, I thought we had really made it. We moved a few weeks after I started at Downey High School, moving from the very run down city of Bell, and the contrast was like night and day. I had spent a great deal of time in Downey before my family moved there, swimming on the Downey Dolphins swim club, but moving there was different. For one thing, I very rarely heard sirens. And another was there were some cool places to eat.

Onion Flower

One of the eating places I remember was Chris & Pitts. I don't remember going there often-I think the Sizzler was a cheaper, similar style place-but I do remember going. I also remember that we had their sauce at home most of the time, even if we didn't go often. I think it was just a bit expensive for us-or it could be that my Dad didn't like it, or possible a combination of both.

Cole Slaw and Salad

I thought they were all gone, and I hadn't even seen the sauce in some time. Then, about a year ago, I saw the sauce at the 99 Cent store. And when I was in Downey earlier this year, I saw the restaurant still where I remember it. Back in the 70's, they were all over the LA basin, but at this point, there are only three remaining, and all in old LA neighborhoods off the 605 Fwy-Bellflower and Whittier are the other places.

Chicken Soup

A brief Chris & Pitts history, according to the restaurant website, the sauce website and a framed article from the OC Register that was in the dining room. The restaurant opened in Lynwood in the 40's. The sauce proved popular, and the recipe was sold to another company, which continues to manufacture it. The restaurant expanded, but with the changing times shrunk back down to it's current three locations. Though the company that manufactures the sauce and the restaurant aren't directly connected, the restaurant still buys and uses from the manufacturer. Chris Pelonis, the original "Chris" of Chris & Pitts, still oversees the three remaining restaurants.

BBQ Baked Beans

So for the second time this school year, I was watching my team in Downey, this time Futbal in the CIF Finals. And as a bribe to my two older children who came with me, we went to lunch. Dark, wood panelling, naugahyde booths, and the smell of barbecue greeted us as we walked in, reminding me of restaurants I would see when watching 50's era Disney documentaries.

We were just a bit ahead of the lunch rush, but the restaurant slowly filled as we waited.

The menu was awesome! Like the rest of the place, like something straight out of the 50's, with big, color pictures of the food. Take a minute to follow the link to the website, the menu pictures are posted there.

Tiny, but tasty steak

Steak makes my son happy, so that's what he ordered. My daughter and I went with the Texas special sandwich, all of which came off the lunch special menu for $8.95, and including two sides. We also ordered the onion flower, a deep fried flower shaped sliced onion.

Great BBQ Sandwich

For what we paid, the steak was the right size, meaning pretty small. The sandwiches, however, were amazing! Large, with big chunks of beef and pork, and lots of Chris & Pitts sauce. The sides that we ordered were all good. I had the baked beans, which had a bit of a smokey flavor, and the cole slaw, which was crisp and fresh. My kids had the green salad, just ice burg lettuce and dressing, but it wasn't bad. My son also had the chicken, vegetable and rice soup, which was good. The onion flower was also good, served with C & P sauce and ranch dressing. Sometimes a deep fried onion type thing can be a bit oily, but this wasn't.

The service was nothing special, but with good food at a reasonable price, it didn't have to be. My daughter brought some of her sandwich home, which my wife has been picking at all day, so that means it was pretty good. I'd certainly go there again.

Fu Wing Low Restaurant, Fountain Valley

Fu Wing Low Chinese Restaurant

16545 Brookhurst St.

Fountain Valley, CA

(714) 839-4481

(Mile Square Plaza)

Unassuming Storefront at Night

Traditional Chinese Menu

 A family funeral and a high school soccer game brought me south last week, and hunger and a desire for Chinese had me combing the streets of Fountain Valley, looking for something off the beaten path. I pulled into Mile Square Plaza because there were a bunch of different restaurants. I parked and looked in all the windows, and Fu Wing Low had a big crowd in the small dining room and prices that I could afford.

Good Fortune Symbols

It seems that family owned Chinese restaurants have a look. They always seem to have red naugahyde booths, red table clothes and red menus. Red is the fire color in Chinese, and the color of good fortune, so small Chinese businesses, like restaurants, always have a lot of red. Goldfish, another common element in Chinese restaurants, also symbolize good fortune, and they brought the only contrasting color to an otherwise plain room.

Small, crowded room.

Chinese restaurants also seem to have a similar smell, warm and comfortable, the smell of cooking oil, soy sauce and rice. The smell of Chinese comfort food enveloped me as I walked out of the cold night air and into the dining room.

The owner, an older Chinese gentleman, immediately welcomed me and took me to a booth. A red menu similar to ones I've seen in most family owned Chines restaurant was quickly handed to me, and water and tea were at my table before I asked, brought by other family members.

There were only 14 tables in the place, and just about all were full. The owner seemed to know most people in the restaurant, inquiring about family, talking about a special meal and generally making everyone feel at home. It was Friday in Lent, so I was looking for some seafood, and had settled on Shrimp Chop Suey and Won ton Soup. I placed my order when the owner came back to my table and refilled me water glass.

The owner is in the blue shirt

"No, let me get you No. 2 dinner. It's only 50 cents more, and comes with soup, fried rice and an egg roll. You'll like that better. I'll add chop suey. Otherwise, the chop suey would be a la carte." On the menu, it had said that No. 2 was for groups of 2 or more, which is why I hadn't really looked at it.

The addition of fried rice and an egg roll sounded good to me, so I readily agreed. I settled in, continuing to listen to the owner and patrons as they chatted in a familiar fashion. It was almost 8, and the place was still crowded, with customers coming in all through the time I was there. At a table next to mine, a patron was asking a question about an item, and the owner responded that they'll probably like it, but if they didn't he would take it back and they can order something else, no charge.

Soup, egg roll and won ton

My soup, egg roll and fried won ton arrived shortly after, along with more water. The soup had a good cabbage base and flavorful broth, and both the egg role and fried won ton were crisp and warm, but not oily. Before I could finish, the rest of my meal arrived. All throughout, I had various members of the staff checking on me and filling my water glass.

Dinner

The chop suey was delicious. Fat, juicy shrimp, and crisp vegetables. Often, when having chop suey, the vegetables will be soggy or overcooked, but that certainly wasn't the case here. The bean sprouts, mushrooms and water chestnuts were all firm and flavorful. Sometimes, too, the sauce will be overpowering, but this added flavor but didn't overpower.

A fortune cookie and and almond cookie arrived just as I was finishing, and though I ate them both, I strangely didn't look at my fortune. I didn't even realize that I hadn't looked at my fortune until I was back in my car.

I paid the bill, which came out to $11.73 before the tip, and then headed to the restroom before my long drive from Fountain Valley to Ventura. Ordinarily, I don't think much of the bathroom, but this one had a bottle of Calvin Klein Man as an air freshener. I almost put some on, and then opted not to.

On my way out, the owner asked where I was from while shaking my hand and thanking me for coming. I said that I was from Ventura, to which he responded that I should come back again next week. I said that was a touch far, but that I very much enjoyed the meal. He said that I should come back anyway and bring the family, to which I agreed.

I'm not sure when I'll be back that way, but Fu Wing Low would certainly be on the short list of places to go.

Netflix's House of Cards and Streaming TV

I never watched "30 Rock" during it's normal weekly time slot. I discovered "30 Rock" after watching Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin, both (Fey and Palin) of which I think are totally hot. Netflix  had the show streaming, and it allowed me the opportunity to start watching "30 Rock" from the beginning.

Then someone at work was talking about "Spartacus," which was first shown on Starz. It sounded interesting, and was also streaming on Netflix. "Spartacus" was visually stunning, softcore porn with lots of violence, (and Lucy Lawless), and it appealed to me on many different levels. The amount of nudity, sex and violence was such that I could only watch after my children went to bed, and I'd sit through two or three episodes, usually on a worknight, and
end up dragging the next day. Still, I'd be waiting the next
night for the kids to go to bed so I could finish the series. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn't stream Starz anymore, so if you want to see "Spartacus," you either need to get Starz or use Netflix to rent the discs.

I tried watching a few episodes of "Weeds" this way, but I couldn't get into it. Then, I noticed that my absolute favorite show, "Mad Men," was on Netflix, and I took the opportunity to watch every episode over again. Somewhere down deep, I very much want to look like Jon Hamm and dress like Don Draper. I don't smoke, and don't drink anywhere near the level that everyone seems to in "Mad Men," but really want to. It's too bad that smoking and drinking that way would either kill me or make me fat. And on a side note, I think Tina Fey and Jon Hamm are the two best looking people on television, so when Jon Hamm did his guest staring bit on "30 Rock," I was stoked.

When I was a kid, I loved watching "Dragnet." Joe Friday's droll introduction, "This is the city, Los Angeles, California. A city hopes and dreams. Sometimes those dream turn into nightmares. When they do, that's where I come in. I carry a badge," or some such comment, then the horns. "Da da dum dum. Da da dum dum dum," and then, "The story your about to see is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." I don't know if it was because I lived in Los Angeles or what, but I always enjoyed that show, and felt it talked about someplace that I knew. It's on Netflix, too, and watching the 60's version with Harry Morgan, I never realized how anti-hippy and amazingly conservative the show was. Though the program takes great pains to show that it isn't racist, it does seem very against the counter-culture of the 60's. My 11 year old and I watch now, knocking back a few episodes every couple of nights, and the same actors show up again and again in different roles, but playing the same type. 

Another side note, as I grow older. When I watched "Dragnet" back in the 70's, I thought Jack Webb was an old man. And even the most recent time I watched on broadcast TV, probably sometime in the 90's, I still thought Jack Webb was old. Watching now, he still looks old to me though in the series he is actually my current age. I asked my daughter if I looked as old as Friday, and she said only when I smile. Kids.

The original 50's version of "Dragnet," is on Netflix also, and that is much more like the radio show, very dark and Joe Friday roughs people up when they deserve it. It very much has a film noir style that isn't in the 60's version. Also, the Miranda Rights didn't exist, so were never read. I'd never seen the B & W version before I watched some episodes on Netflix. I like it, too, but it is very different and without the accidental comedy of the 60's version.

"House of Cards" was released on Netflix only, and it is far and away the most interesting thing I've watched this year. I've enjoyed Kevin Spacey's work since "LA Confidential," and when Netflix announced the show with Spacey as the lead, I thought it looked interesting. I wasn't familiar with the source material at all, but I thought the picture was intriguing.  The first episode was enough to draw me in. Spacey's technique of breaking the fourth wall and addressing the camera directly allows the viewer to know exactly what Congressman Underwood is thinking, and though that matches his actions, in later episodes it shows how much control he really doesn't have. His power isn't as absolute or as far reaching as he thinks.

I majored in history, and I've read enough books and watched enough television to the point where almost every story is predictable. "House of Cards," however, was able to throw a few curves when I didn't expect them. All through the 13 episodes, which I watched over the space of 4 days, I was constantly wondering what would happen. The characters of Underwood and his wife, Claire are both strong and ambitious. Both of them realize that they work best together, but both know that they can be successful alone, and sometimes being connected has a negative aspect. It really is good drama. It helps too, that Robin Wright and Kate Mara are both very easy on the eyes. Wright looks almost handsome, a very fit and put together 40 something, while Mara is all college girl sexy because she's still young and messy, and they make a good contrast on the screen.

Now I'm curious about the British show that this is based on. Actually, I think I'll go watch now. It's on Netflix streaming, too.

Panaderia Lala's

Panaderia Lala's

827 Ventura Ave.

Ventura, CA

I like donuts, and will never turn one down, but about 10 years ago, I noticed that they seemed a bit heavy, and a little greasy on my tongue. That didn't stop me from powering down a 1/2 dozen every time I went to Krispy Kreme when there was one in Oxnard and the donuts were fresh and hot. 

My family would sometimes get pan dulce, but it always seemed stale. I'd eat it, of course, but it wasn't as good as a donut. Then, when I was working in San Gabriel, I used to drive by a panaderia, and on a whim, stopped in. The pan dulce was fresh from the oven, light, sweet and very tasty, and it became a regular stop. Fresh, pan dulce is soft and sweet and isn't greasy the way a donut can be. Plus, pan dulce is generally cheaper.

The Avenues, the area parallel to Highway 33 on the way to Ojai, is where the Mexican population (not white Mexicans, such as myself, but real Mexicans) live. When I need a taste of East LA, I head to the Avenues. Last week, I had some stale pan dulce in Carpenteria, and thought I'd try some better stuff this weekend. 

First, I went to Panaderia Herrera, where I've been a few times before. When I arrived this morning, I expected it to be open, but it wasn't. I parked in front and went to the door. It looked like a padlock is usually on it when the store is closed, but there wasn't one today, so I opened the door and went inside. Though there was pan dulce on the shelves, and milk and eggs in the refrigerator, no one was there. No one behind the counter, no one in the kitchen, nothing. I didn't see any sign of any trouble, just an empty store, as if they had closed the night before and forgot to lock the front door . I hung around for a few minutes, and then walked back out. I went into the smoke shop next door and asked the guy at the counter if he knew anything, but he didn't. I went back to my car, and called the police to let them know that there was a business that no one seemed to be in with an unlocked front door. I couldn't really think of anything else to do.

From the Avenue

I still wanted my pan dulce, though, so I continued to drive toward Ojai. A few blocks farther, I saw Panaderia Lala's across a parking lot in a strip mall. I could see cars parked in front, and as I got closer I saw people inside-much better than my first stop. It's a big space and at 9 AM, smelled great, bready and sweet, perfect for a panaderia. 

Fresh Baked Goodies

 There was one older woman working behind the counter who greeted me in Spanish, and who I then responded to in English.

If you go to a panaderia, it's customary to pick up a plastic tray and some tongs. Then you go to the trays and cases and using your tongs place the bread on the tray. It's a custom that I'm not used to, but the other customers had their trays, so I grabbed one and headed to the cases.

The cases had all manner of treats, and several looked pretty good. There were pretzel wrapped hot dogs that looked like a perfect lunch treat, and bread stuffed with jamon and queso, (ham and cheese), giant cookies, bread things covered in cheese and jalepenos, muffins that didn't really look like muffins, cheese cake that didn't look like cheese cake, and large pan dulce. I used my tongs and picked out some cookies, some pan dulce and what appeared to be an apple turnover.

I took my tray to the front, where the counter lady started to bag it all, saying, "$4.50." As she was about to bag my apple turnover, she said in heavily accented English, "No, no good." She pointed at something on it, which looked okay to me, and then threw it away. She brought me back to the racks and pointed at several other things, until I settled on what looked like a huge cinnamon roll with apple bits cooked into it. I was about to take one from the edge when she said, "No," again, and pointed me toward one in the middle, which I took.

The $4.50 Tray. Note the 'bad' apple
turnover at the bottom.

 With the change of turnover to cinnamon roll, the cost jumped up to $5, which I thought was more than reasonable for the food we purchased. And anytime that a counter person will say no to something that I was more than willing to buy to recommend something else is a counter person that I trust.

I drove by Panaderia Herrera on the way home. The police were just pulling up, and I was going to stop and ask what was up but decided I was hungry and had kept my family waiting long enough. I got the goodies home, and everything was warm and fresh. The large pastries were light and sweet, the cookies large and crumbly, and the cinnamon roll was sticky but not overly so and very good.

Certainly better than a donut.

Cemetery Park

Cemetery Park, Main Street, Ventura

A family plot

I discovered Cemetery Park shortly after I moved to Ventura 15 years ago. It's about a mile from the Mission between there and Ventura High. I was walking my dog when I came across the large, open space. There were no signs at the time, save "1936" on a stone retaining wall that faced Main street. It was maintained, though, and not fenced, so I figured it was a public space. I noticed fairly quickly that it didn't share the other qualities that parks in the city had, no playground nor restrooms, no tables nor benches, nor anything else that a park normally had. The one thing that was apparent was that it was a dog walker's paradise. It seemed to be the place that everyone brought their dogs, though it's not officially a dog park.

Walking through the center of the park, I noticed small, concrete and bronze markers with names and dates. They were all uniform in size, and seemed a bit random in their placement, though occasionally there would be a series of family names grouped in a way that would imply some sort of burial plot. At the time, there was nothing to mark it, but I figured out that this green space was at one point the town cemetery! And like the old movie, Poltergeist, most likely all of the bodies were still there! And now, it was a dog park! And, of course, all the dogs would become possessed and go home and eat their masters!

I did think that last one, briefly in passing, but figured that probably wasn't going to happen.

The mission was founded in the 1790's and the high school dates from roughly 1889, so as the town expanded, it enveloped this site. What I didn't understand was why the site didn't seem to have age appropriate headstones. I was thinking that this park might make an interesting article for some magazine or other (I was feeling pretty confident at the time with my one published LA Times article) and so I called Richard Senate, the Ventura historian, who gave me a bit of the history of the park.

Mr. Senate gave me information, I found some more on the internet, and the rest I can kind of piece together from being a history major. From what I can gather, when the mission grounds could no longer hold the dead (The mission eventually built a school on it's original graveyard-a discussion for another time), new land was selected on Main Street on the crest of the hill and outside of what was then city limits. The first burial in the newly named St. Mary's Cemetery happened in about 1862, and the graveyard had specific areas for Protestants and Jews, and though the current signage doesn't mention it, the space most likely had a section specific to the Chinese, (One of the new commemoration signs does mention a Chinese pioneer), and other ethnic groups.

Facing Main Street

According to several things that I came across, the space was full with at least 3000 residents, and the last burial was done sometime in the 1940's. Around that time the city was given some of the land and purchased the rest for some sort of recreation center. Apparently that didn't pan out, and though the parking lot from that project remains, the building does not.

Improvements Coming!

Veteran's Memorial on the way

It's hard to say how important the invention of the weed-whacker is, but that seems to be the reason that the park fell into disrepair. Looking at the pictures on the Restore St. Mary's Cemetery website, the cemetery had fancy grave markers that would have been labor intensive to maintain without a weed-whacker, and it seems as though sometime in the 60's the city decided to simply move the tombstones. In spite of having many of the city founders interned in the cemetery, and them having family that still lived (and lives) in the area, the city was able to convert the space with minimal fuss. They simply moved the headstones, dumping some in nearby canyons, grinding others and using them for fill at Olivas Golf Course levees, and the rest turning up in odd places all over the city. A few of the remains were moved but most stayed right where they had been laid to rest.

The historian in me finds graveyards fascinating, and I have often stopped and poked around them on various trips through various cities and countries. I find looking at tombstones peaceful, and wonder about the people resting there. And though I can't say that I'm an expert in such matters, I don't think I've ever heard of a graveyard being turned into a park by simply moving the tombstones. But that apparently was the case here.

Personally, I'm okay with the space being turned into a park, but I'm happy that some acknowledgement of the history of the cemetery is now being made. The space is being relandscaped, removing some rather ugly hedges and adding historical signs that talk about the important people that still rest here. A Veteran's memorial is being created, and the city is taking pains to spruce up the area. Cemetery Park has some of the best views in the city, and I'm sure that the dead don't mind the company.

As long as you remember to pick up after your dog.