Reminiscing back to our childhoods, we recall all the good times and bad times that significantly impacted us as children. Everyone remembers certain moments during their childhoods that has permanently affected our personalities today. Even without anything to capture those moments, we can still reminisce about the good old days through photos taken way back then. In fact, today’s society has accepted Throwback Thursdays as an homage to the good old days, when life did not bear so much worry, and we could live out our days without fear or oppression. These days, society has to deal with corruption on many levels, from governments to the internet to bullies in school and more. Like the human immune system, society reacts to these corruptions by implementing methods to combat those problems by either minimizing problems or eliminating them altogether. This may not restore the good old days, but as a society, we still like to look back to what paved the way for us to stand here today. Significantly, we remember the foods we once ate as children, even recalling the low prices. Those old signs advertising $0.10 French Fries did not lie – food stands actually sold items that now cost ten times more, or even more than that! Though we can still buy the same fast food items as back then, we have much better options today as far as finer dining without the inflated price tags. If you miss those $0.10 fries, wait until you see some of the appetizers that you can share with friends or enjoy as an entrée. I have discovered five different shareable appetizers that you can find in the Greater Los Angeles Area, and you can either enjoy these on its own or share them among the table.
5. Out Of The Park Pizza‘s Pizza Poppers
No matter where in the world you may find yourself, certain foods always make their way to every corner of the world. From hamburgers to hot dogs to rice and more, ingredients play a major role in the coverage of certain types of food. Big corporate chain restaurants ensure the spread of many of the more common foods, lending part to the world’s love of these foods, such as pizza. Various types of pizzas now exist because people try to get creative with how they eat pizza instead of the traditional round pizza cut into slices. For something a little more portable and fun, head to Out Of The Park Pizza. Out Of The Park Pizza does not shy away from extravagant toppings on their pizzas, coming up with different types of pizzas such as a Western Barbecue pizza or a Buffalo Chicken pizza. While they have interesting toppings for their pizzas, they have turned their pizzas into an appetizer in the form of their Pizza Poppers. Imagine a slice of pepperoni pizza that they rolled into a ball that resembles a round pastry stuffed with cheese and pepperoni, and you have Pizza Poppers. It does not contain tomato sauce – they provide marinara sauce on the side as a dip. You can order Pizza Poppers as a five-piece snack for $6.99 or a 12-piece shareable appetizer plate for $9.99.
4. Abigaile‘s Pão de Queijo
As humans, we live for variety and diversity. Unlike animals that “eat to live,” some might say that humans “live to eat.” For example, a pet dog or cat feels perfectly content eating the exact same food everyday for his or her entire life. However, if a human attempted that, he or she would go insane from the thought of it. As an aside, this regularly occurs in prisons where inmates get no choice in what they can eat. Humans crave variety, and need something different in their lives instead of living a routine day by day, and people can find diverse foods at a restaurant like Abigaile. Although appearing upscale and fancy, Abigaile actually functions like a casual gastropub, especially given their location by the beach so that beachgoers can dine at Abigaile without worry of their outfit. Perhaps Abigaile appears upscale due to their food menu, which contains some highly eclectic items such as their Pão de Queijo. A Brazilian classic, these Brazilian cheese puffs resemble a hybrid between a bread roll and a hot cheese snack. Chewy and gooey, biting into these cheese poofs feels like biting into a solid mass of warm cheese coated with butter and a slight fluff of bread. For $5, this heavenly appetizer at Abigaile comes with a side of spice honey to help complement the cheesy flavor.
3. Peter’s Gourmade Grill‘s Gooeys
How do you get the word out about your business if you do not do any marketing? You have to deliver something so good that the customers will spread the word about you. In this modern time of internet marketing and social media, all business owners need to utilize all available tools to get the word out about their businesses. Consider that many of these marketing tools have no cost to using them other than time to set up the information. Once set up, the people will do the work as long as you provide something that the people will want to come back for, such as the memorable food at Peter’s Gourmade Grill in Tustin. As a hole-in-the-wall that many people can easily drive by without ever noticing it, Peter’s Gourmade Grill only focuses on what they do best: grilling up foods with a twist, and each twist varies between each menu item. Perhaps the people continually return to Peter’s for these twists, since not many other places have the same combinations that Peter’s offers. Take, for example, their Gooeys. Originally intended as a shared dessert, this massive pile of sweet potato fries gets dressed up with brown sugar, maple syrup, and toasted marshmallows. Has anyone else ever thought of this combination? Perhaps so, but definitely nowhere else in Southern California can you find something like this. At $7.25, this can treat an entire family, as I cannot conceive any sole person devouring an entire order in one sitting.
2. Eat Chego‘s Ooey Gooey Fries
When a food truck converts to a restaurant, one can expect to find similarities between the food truck and the restaurant. When the founder of Kogi BBQ opened Eat Chego, food truck fans from all over flocked to this permanent Kogi fixture to experience Kogi in a more solid setting. As one of the originals, Kogi had one of the largest fan bases of any gourmet food truck, and continued to prosper in long lines for years to come. This popularity easily carried over to Eat Chego and also attracted countless more food fans to savor the flavor of what started a revolution. Although Eat Chego does not serve exactly what Kogi does, the flavors resemble each other, especially in the fan favorite Ooey Gooey Fries. This $6 bowl of beer-battered fries gets topped with sour cream sambal, three cheeses (Monterey jack, cheddar, and cotija), chilies, cilantro, and pickled garlic. Despite its vegetarian nature, people go nuts for this bowl, especially for the pickled garlic. The sauce adds a sour yet spicy flavor, while the cheese gives it a more gritty texture. The pickled garlic does not overwhelm the palate – it contains enough of a bite that you will immediately detect it, but the pickling essentially dilutes its potency. It adds the perfect amount of zing to this bowl. Although one can finish these fries as an entrée, because of the intense flavor profile, I suggest sharing this with a friend.
1. Smoqued BBQ‘s Burnt Ends
With a handle on what the people want, Smoqued BBQ ensures that they rarely run out of customer favorites. This BBQ restaurant in Old Towne Orange delivers classic BBQ dishes using their own recipes, while slinging out over a dozen different types of craft beers at any given moment. Their extensive food menu carries multiple variations of their signature BBQ meats, from brisket to pulled pork to tri-tip to ribs and more. Perhaps the one dish that brings customers back the most resides on their appetizers section. In the appetizers section lies the appropriately named Brisket Burnt Ends. Sure they list this in the appetizers section, and they present it in a way that multiple people can share it. However, after you bite into one of these juicy morsels, you will want the plate all to yourself. This half-pound mound of meaty goodness consists of double-smoked brisket cube ends, which they caramelize in their house BBQ sauce. For burnt ends, the pieces retain their juiciness, as the seared caramelization of the sauce on the outside seals the meat’s natural juices inside. As if the outside did not contain enough heavenly flavor, the meat itself gives a rich, hearty, beefy taste that only true grillmasters can produce. Smoqued BBQ vows to always have the Brisket Burnt Ends available for customers to order. However, if they get slammed on any given day, they may run out by the end of the day. As a result, if you desire some top-notch burnt ends, head on over to Smoqued BBQ in Orange as early in the day as possible, and order up some burnt ends for yourself for $13.49. The price tag may appear steep, but once you get hooked, you may quickly overlook that.
A Punk, A Camera, and An Empty Stomach 