The Original Mexican Restaurant and Bar - San Antonio, TX

We celebrated our parents' 16th anniversary in San Antonio. On our first night, we ate at The Original Mexican Restaurant and Bar and ordered the Chiles Rellenos, an especialidades de la casa (special of the house). The house special came with two stuffed poblano peppers, one with pulled chicken and one with ground beef, covered with ranchero sauce and cheese. The peppers were served with rice, borracho beans and calabacita:

The chicken relleno was delicious and the star of the dish, while the beef relleno needed more seasoning. The dish would've been a home run if the chef replaced the rough ground beef for a braised barbacoa. The beans and rice were fairly standard but, the calabacita provided a surprising sweet crunch.  The atmosphere of "The Original" is quintessential Riverwalk, ostentatiously tacky and loud. This place won't disappoint with a great view of the Riverwalk. And no matter the time, you can always grab a bite here since The Original Mexican Restaurant is open 24 hours a day.

For more information on The Original Mexican Restaurant and Bar, their website is: http://www.originalmexican.com/index.html.

Rockin' Baja Costal Cantina - New Port Beach, CA

Hello all!  To continue on our blog’s theme of California restaurants, we will be reviewing Rockin’ Baja Coastal Cantina.  On a tour of Southern California's Balboa Island with the parents, we decided to try one of the local hangouts.  The Mrs. Jewetts were in the mood for some fruity drinks and seafood.  A quick Google search provided a long list of possible destinations but, RBCC caught our eye. With an impressive rating of 4.4/5 on the Google, we plotted our course and headed down to the point. 

Now, if you're looking for fine dining and posh accommodations, this is not your joint.  If Bubba Gump Shrimp Company meets Chili's is your bag, this place won't disappoint.  Featuring Baja style Mexican, RBCC offers a variety of grilled and fried entrees.  Looking around, we noticed that many tables were enjoying large, mixed buckets of seafood, steak, and chicken.  Listed as Baja Buckets, RBCC's menu includes nine different varieties of "buckets" that consists of lobster, carne asada, grilled chicken, shrimp, crab legs, and any combination thereof.  There is a surcharge for sharing a bucket.  However, the sides are unlimited and the surcharge provides a second side salad.  Accompanied by beans, rice, chips and salsa, waffle fries, and tortillas, one bucket will easily feed two as you can see below:

Everything was delicious; save the carne asada.  Over salted and gristle laden, the steak was the only thing that we would not order again.  Mostly everything in the bucket was seasoned with their signature baja "unique Mexican spices" but, the seasonings were not too overpowering.  If fun drinks, food, and atmosphere is what you are looking for, head on down to RBCC and get your eat on!

For additional information on RBCC, checkout their website at: http://www.rockinbaja.com/.

Lee's Sandwiches - Westminister, CA

On a family vacation to Southern California, we went to Little Saigon in Westminster for dinner at our parent's favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Afterwards, we drove around Little Saigon to see the sights and noticed that there were long lines at Lee's Sandwiches. We took a mental note of this place as somewhere we would want to eat. Long lines are usually a result of great food. We mentioned Lee's Sandwiches during dinner at Aunt Jackie and Uncle Mike's, and they confirmed that we should go there. On our last day in California we were back in the Westminster area and decided to go eat at Lee's Sandwiches before we headed off to the airport. I am so glad we did!

We selected a banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) off the menu board to share. It was so delicious, we jumped back in line and bought three more to bring with us on the plane. Everything about these sandwiches scream fresh. The french rolls are baked fresh several times a day. The banh mi are topped with pickled vegetables and a variety of herbs including cilantro and basil pulled fresh from the garden. The lunch meats, usually ham, roasted pork, a pork roll called cha lua, and pate, are fresh and delicious. Below is a picture of the three sandwiches in my lap, mid-munching at the Dallas airport:



While these are very portable and make a delicious snack, we would recommend that these sandwiches not be brought on a plane. The smell definitely filled the air! While we were at the store, we tried the delicious, freshly made, Deli Majoo. They are bite size pastries with a creamy custard filling. Asian pastries are not overly sweet like other desserts so they were a perfect ending to our lunch.

You can find Lee's Sandwiches predominately in California. However, there are a few locations that are outside of California: Dallas and Houston, Texas; Chandler, Arizona; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and coming soon Las Vegas. If you are interested in knowing more about Lee's Sandwiches, checkout their website: www.leesandwiches.com.

Welcome to 2HungryJewetts!

We started this blog to document our food experiences and share our culinary adventures with you. We hope you will join us for the ride. Happy eating!