TAPS Fish House and Brewery

Location: Dos Lagos Promenade Shops, Corona, Ca

Type of Food: Fish House and Brewery

Price Range: Expensive, $20-$40 per plate

Date Potential: Impressive

Website: www.tapsbrea.com/corona/

Taps Fish House and Brewery is a very new addition to our Inland Empire, founded originally in Brea, Ca in September of 1999. Taps offers a premium-dining destination with extraordinary attention to classically prepared seafood, steaks, and European ales and lagers. Overlooking the lakes at Dos Lagos, Taps’ dining room is elegantly displayed with white linen tablecloths, stemware, and delicate table décor. Think New Orleans Mardi Gras meets elegant dining. Tap’s is perfect if you want to dress up or dress down. Thank goodness for southern California weather, Taps’ patio dining, overlooking the water, features a gorgeous brick fireplace and chic sitting.

From the very beginning of your dining experience at Taps, you are sure to be impressed. Each meal begins with fresh baked bread and an oil-balsamic vinegar dip with chucks of garlic, to die for. A bit of warning, if you do decide to take a date to Taps, you may want to avoid the dipping sauce, often times you reek of garlic for two days.

On to the main course. If seafood is your thing, you have come to the prefect place. Taps’ signature Cedar Plank Salmon, wild salmon seasoned with a brown sugar glaze broiled atop a cedar plank, is unbelievable fresh and honest to goodness delicious. This will be the once dish, I guarantee you won’t want to end.

If seafood isn’t at the top of your list, no need to fret. Taps’ Prime Rib is arguably one of the most tender and juicy cuts of meat one can get. So tender you can cut it with a butter knife and it literally melts in your mouth.

Desert at Taps’ deserves a page of its own. Each dessert is prepared fresh, which means you have to allow about 20 minutes for whatever you order. Taps’ offers homemade cookies and milk; the cookies are in fact made when you place your order, fresh baked brownies, crème brulee, New York-Style cheesecake, chocolate dipped strawberries, and many other first-class desserts.

This is one of the first restaurants in a long time, where honestly I was impressed from beginning to end.

Chilitos Mexican Grill

Chilitos Mexican Grill

Location: Pierce Street, Riverside, Ca, Across from Farmer Boy’s Restaurant immediately off of the 91 freeway

Type of Food: Mexican grill

Price: Moderate ( more expensive than Taco Bell! )

Date Potential: For the everyday girlfriend boyfriend day date

Chilitos Mexican Grill provides excellent Mexican dining in a quick and convenient, yet upscale environment. The location of the restaurant is in a new ( 2 year old ) complex in a good part of town. The restaurant compared to many other Mexican “fast food” hole in the wall is remarkably clean and classy.

The menu of Chilitos’ is diverse and offers items such as burritos, tacos, enchilladas, tostadas, salads, nachos, fish tacos, and fajitas among many others. Expect to pay $3-5 for a burrito and up to $7 for a carne asada or fajitas plate.

The food proves well worth the price as the quality and presentation is higher than expectations. Don’t expect a sloppily folded burrito with the beans leaking out the back! The meat is well marinated and vegetables freshly prepared.

The service of Chilitos is also very good. Following your order, expect to be brought a basket of chips and metal eating utensils ( uncommon for most quick dining ). One thing I must note is the fresh salsa bar. Chilitos offers 5 different salsas ranging from mild to very hot. These salsas are also very fresh and add a lot to the overall flavor of the food.

Once finished with your meal, don’t worry about finding the trash as one of the restaurant employees will promptly clear your plate. Overall this restaurant is reliable and somewhere you will want to eat regularly.

Sub Shack

Sub Shack

Location: Pierce Street, Riverside, Ca, Across From the Arco Station

Type of Food: Submarine Sandwiches, Hamburgers, Salads

Price: Reasonable. $4-6 per sandwich

Date Potential: Suitable for a very casual lunch date

To avoid the long lime at Subway during lunch, one might consider a visit to Sub Shack. Upon arrival, you will notice the relaxed atmosphere and beach design. Eating lunch is pleasant as the shop typically remains uncrowded. The menu boasts items for sandwiches of all types and also hamburgers and some breakfast items. To accompany your mean, you have various options of french fries, chips, potato salad, macaroni salad, or a green salad.

The overall quality of the sandwiches are descent. You might notice that the bread, meat, and veggies are not as fresh as Subway, which isn’t saying much. The size of the sandwiches however seem much more substantial for the price. A half sandwich at Sub Shack will keep you from hunger much better than a half sandwich from Subway.

The edge that Sub Shack has in the sandwich making industry is its diversity. No other sandwich shops serve fries or burgers. This means that the restaurant will be more pleasing to a large number of people which some different tastes. If you like supporting small local business where it is often the same employees working round the clock, then this sandwich shop is for you.

Riverside Thai

Riverside Thai

Location: Pierce Street, Riverside Ca, Across from the Arco Station next to Papi’s mexican food

Type of Food: Thai Cuisine

Pricing: Moderate for a sit down. Expect to pay $6-10 a dish

Date Potential: Nice lunch or dinner date in a small intimate environment. For the boyfriend that wants to impress, but not spend a fortune.

Riverside Thai is one of the few hidden gems in the area. This small restaurant of about a 20 person capacity boasts some of the most tasty Thai food in the area. The food is comparable to restaurants two to three times its price.

One important suggestion is to go on a weekday for lunch. This is possibly the best value in the whole town. For a $7 lunch meal, you will get one entree ( a $6-10 value by itself ), an egg roll, rice, and soup or salad. Make sure to get to the restaurant no later than twelve or you might end up waiting for a table at this popular local spot.

The service and employees are very friendly, although sometimes understaffed during lunch. During dinner, expect to get your food very fast. The overall ambiance of the restaurant proves relaxing as the floral decorations and soft Asian music combined with the food allow you to find inner harmony.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. My name is Candy and I am a senior at La Sierra University. Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my blog. My goals and intentions for this blog are to provide people with a quick and dirty summary of the many local restaurants serving the greater Riverside area. I was inspired to write this blog for a couple of reasons. The first is that I now have an excuse to go out to eat, and the second to provide my readers helpful and inside information on the lesser known restaurants in our area.

I will not bore the population with comments on the many chain restaurants that we have become so accustomed to. This blog will serve more for the hidden treasures known only by the locals. I will give you the low-down on location, pricing, ambiance, best and worst dishes served, service, date potential, and overall satisfaction.

Feel free to add comments on any of the restaurants featured, sharing your own experiences and offering any suggestions for restaurants you, as a reader, would like to see highlighted.