Eating a Dinosaur

The Taco Grande in Victorville is an unsuspecting hole-in-the-wall. I say that because it occupies a rather large building. Once inside, the charms of all the generic one-location restaurants comes flooding to you.

So what struck my fancy? They offer a Taco Tuesday promo, selling small street tacos for 79 cents each. Come in after 3PM and you can get a burrito and drink for $6.50

Mass consumers will be happy to know that there is a chips and salsa bar, all free of charge. You are allowed to go back as many times as you want. The chips taste really fresh too.

My meal of choice for the evening was the asada fries, priced at $6. They were excellent. The portion felt a bit on the small side, especially at that price point, but the quality was commendable. It's too bad I didn't come across an "asada fries eating challenge" because it's just that good.

So what else did I notice? A $10 burrito named "The Dinosaur." It weighs about 3 lbs, or so I was told. You can bet I'll be back for that.

In my case, The Dinosaur will only serve one.

Yum Yum Diner

If you take the 215 freeway North through Riverside, you'll see a small restaurant off to the side as you pass the La Cadena Drive exit in Colton.

Yum Yum Diner. I liked the name. Reviews on Yelp seemed to do the place justice. It wasn't too far from a Denny's, so obviously they're doing one or two things right to stay in business. Prices are decent.

When I visited Yum Yum, something inspired to order a dish that never crossed my palate before. Liver and onions. Well, whatever else may be said, they certainly did a decent job of preparing it. The liver was strong, but it wasn't unbearable. Leaving it to the professionals this time around paid off. Don't remind me of the time I tried to cook beef kidney!

Monsterburger Royale

Professional eaters and hangers-on will converge upon the city of Hawthorne, CA this June when the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Championship Qualifying Contest rolls into town.

Some enterprising souls may wander away to B&R's Old Fashion Hamburgers to sample the specimen featured above.

The Monster Royal Burger.

16 oz of pre-cooked meat, chili, cheese, eggs, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, banana peppers, and your choice of bacon or pastrami. I picked pastrami.

It's like a Fatburger or the Original Tommy's, just a lot messier and straight to your table with that feeling of home.

A poster on the wall claims it weighs 1.5 lbs all dressed up. Apparently there's even a yearly speed eating contest with this thing every October. Unless it's been canceled.

Definitely worth the $8.50 (back in October 2009). I gave it a good home. The restaurant was clean inside, the staff inviting, the regulars cordial and enthusiastic.

One customer couldn't stand the sight of such an overwhelming burger: "Why would you want to eat that?!"

Not sure how I should have replied. It was definitely an awesome eat. B&R's know their stuff.

Big Mike's Burger

If you're ever in Bellflower, you might check out Big Mike's restaurant. They apparently deliver. I caught a glimpse of this truck after I tucked my car away in the rear parking lot off the street.


No photos of the restaurant front.. lots of the guys who ran into me didn't look too friendly, and I would have had a tough time convincing them that the use of my cell phone camera was completely kosher. Some guys don't like having their picture taken.

It's a nice place to eat in the midst of a rough neighborhood. Go there! They serve the Big Mike Burger, decked out with 2 lbs of ground beef and a hot link. Big Mike owns the place and actually took my order. He was really friendly and courteous. I got mine without the hot link, and he even knocked a couple bucks off the price tag. That was cool.


The combo, with fries and a drink, went for $9. It was a good meal. You actually watch them cook it on a huge griddle. And it isn't fast food, either. The two patties took a solid 10-12 minutes to prepare.

As a final note, I found something admirable about the inclusion of store-brand ketchup as a condiment.

Their food was tasty. They don't need Heinz.