Eureka! I made a discovery! The 101 Coffee Shop serves chicken fried steak…on Monday’s starting at noon ONLY. But guess what, it’s not on the menu. Come to think of it, the chicken fried steak wasn’t on the menu at Cafe Four’N 20 either. Is this a pattern? Is this a thing? Restaurants don’t have it on the menu but serve it on a “special only” status, interesting. I found out by calling by the way, so if you need an answer to a question don’t settle for what the restaurant’s online menu tells you. So now I have the weekend to mull over the white gravy speckled with pepper, the two eggs sunny side up, the hashbrowned potatoes (well done), and the hunk of cube steak coated with flour and spices. I look into my crystal ball and I can honestly say that I can see into the future- I will be sitting at The 101 Coffee Shop this Monday shortly after noon and eating Chicken Fried Steak #2.
June 19, 2016
Father’s Day surprise lunch!
Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, a diner fare classic. My second CFS review in my quest to become the authority on Chicken Fried Steak in Los Angeles. Here goes:
First impression: This could be The One, steak is a good 6 inches.
Taste: Explosive. The white gravy was close to perfect, I say “close” because there are still many more Chicken Fried Steaks out there to be reviewed. The gravy was peppered proportionally and not too salty. The steak was juicy and tender, not too thick either. The unfair advantage at Bob’s just might be the breading, absolutely fantastic and reminiscent of KFC.
Presentation: Classic style: The Holy Trinity of Chicken Fried Steak, eggs, and hashed browns. Again, presentation is nowhere near as important as taste; nonetheless, it is extremely comforting to see the classic key players arranged together on the plate.
Overall score: 8 out of 10 with the potential to possibly move to a 10 dependent on how the rest of the chicken fried steaks out there taste. This score my change over time being that this is the second review, but I will say that this is going to be one tough steak to beat. Damn good.
I wish: I wish I could get paid to eat Bob’s Big Boy’s chicken fried steak because it was awesome.
SPOILER: This could quite possibly be The One…The Rooster…the best damn chicken fried steak in Los Angeles. I look forward to someone trying to top this.
June 19, 2016
Paul Zies
“We Give Awesome Advice”
House Of Pies, an all-day and late night staple of the Los Feliz hood. I think that I had been there before but I know that I had never had the chicken fried steak. Why? Third time was not a charm, this one was and is by far the worst chicken fried steak in the Los Angeles area if not the universe.
First Impression: Looked beautiful. Gravy, white and speckled with pepper- yessir. Hash browns, check. Eggs, round and jiggly. Chicken fried steak golden brown and sizable, you betcha.
Taste: Wha’happen, holmes? The gravy had no taste, not even the pepper had pep. The steak itself was juicy and the right consistency but there was no flavor…at all. Same with the hash browns. I know this is about the chicken fried steak but the entire plate was just a mishmash of warm shapes and textures with little to no flavor. There was a little flavor, that was in the breading and it was reminiscent of what you might taste when biting into the last plate of fried fish served after a grease fire in Kabul. No bueno.
Presentation: The classic trinity of chicken fried steak, eggs, and hash browns. Presentation ain’t gonna save this one.
Overall score: 0. They don’t deserve a score. It sucked. Bad. Can’t believe I had to pay money for it. Garbage.
I wish: I wish the House Of Pies would take chicken fried steak off of their menu.
June 23, 2016
A Dark Day For Chicken Fried Steak In Los Angeles
Ye Rustic Inn, a staple of the Los Feliz neighborhood just east of Hollywood, a place that I actually took my wife to (because it was close to where she was living and only for a late drink) on our third date that sealed the deal (and her fate) for us some fifteen years ago.
First impression: I felt immediately that the lights are kept low in this place for a reason. The white gravy wasn’t so white, harbinger of things to come.
Taste: Meh, not quite as flavorless as House Of Pies but dangerously close. The white gravy was not white, was not thick, was not flecked with pepper, and was about as savory as a warm glass of tap water. The steak itself was probably calf, and I’m not talking about a baby cow, it seemed more like it was ripped from an old sailor’s leg and then microwaved on high for ten minutes. Very tough, not quite juicy yet strangely wet. Breading was like a layer of Elmer’s Glue sprinkled with sand.
Presentation: I’m starting to think that this category might be meaningless. A crappy chicken fried steak shouldn’t receive accolades for being served the right way with hashed browns, eggs, and toast. That should be a given. It’s like rating a car based on having all four tires. I may drop it unless something extraordinary is served with the next chicken fried steak that I encounter. Speaking of the toast, I have accidentally bitten into napkins that were more satisfying than what I had stacked on my plate.
Overall: It’s tough to give this a 1 but I need something to show that it is a close second to the 0 at House Of Pies. I can tell you right now that Los Feliz is not the place to head for a chicken fried steak in Los Angeles. Head over to Dark Horse Tattoo for a permanent mark instead if you’re in the area.
I wish: I wish the cook at Ye Rustic Inn would go to Bob’s Big Boy and see what a real chicken fried steak tastes like.
July 1st, 2016
Paul Zies
“We Give Awesome Advice”
September 5, 2016
Outside Of Los Angeles: Country Touch Cafe, Atascadero, CA
Well outside of Los Angeles, 210 miles north, I found myself at an Atascadero diner sizing up the next candidate in my quest for “The Best Chicken Fried Steak In Los Angeles”. Granted this is not even in the same county; however, a good chicken fried steak has proven tough to find in Los Angeles. The Country Touch Cafe in Atascadero, a diner off of the main drag in a tiny community. There was a line out the door at 8:30 in the morning, a great indicator of a fine meal.
First Impression: Steak was a big sucker, hung off of the plate. No gravy? What sort of witchcraft is this? The gravy was actually underneath the huge hunk of flattened beef. Two eggs sunny side up, hash browns, and sourdough toast- the Holy Trinity was present.
Taste: It’s amazing how the pass-fail ratio with chicken fried steak is so extreme. There is no middle ground. It is either the best damn chicken fried steak you’ve ever had or it is absolutely the worst. No judgement against the restaurant nor the service, both were great; however, this was an abysmal chicken fried steak. They put hard work into getting this thing too me, I could hear them beat the crap out of it in the kitchen and I could see the meat hammer cleat marks on the steak when it got to the table. The steak was like wet cardboard in texture and taste, one tough hunk of leather. Breading was simple flour, no spices. The gravy was right on point, strange to discover it underneath the steak.
I wish: I wish it would have been a great chicken fried steak, everything else was fantastic.
I am not going to rate Country Touch Cafe since it is in Atascadero; however, I will suggest you go with the Belgian waffle like my daughter did.
The quest for the best chicken fried steak in Los Angeles continues.
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