SoCal Restaurant & Lounge

Oh my goodness. Hats off to chef Dan on the latest freshsheet menu item. The Vacant Growler pizza.. ..nothing vacant about it..except your growling stomach for three days...my taste buds have been infused with what I assume is angelic bliss...let's start with bison meatballs which alone would have been enough...but not for Dan..let's add pineapple..not regular pinnapple..lets carmalize it first. And add cheese...managuetois....ya I said it..3 cheeses. Beer infused crust is the foundation on this masterpiece. Roasted Pablano peppers..thanks Pablo...asiago cheese graces the final touch with shaved pancetta....I'm in heaven...oh wait no it SoCal!!!

Surprised at all the great reviews here. We started with drinks: a margarita, mojito and a Moscow Mule - all were very watery and tasteless, I switched to a double vodka and soda after that and it was also watery, no hint of vodka in it at all. For appetizers we had the totchos which were soggy, lukewarmt and kind of tasteless; the chili grilled shrimp - no hint of chili - again tasteless; the stuffed jalapenos - not bad but just meh. Our mains were: chicken fajitas - the chicken/peppers mix tasted like it had Greek seasoning on it, there was absolutely nothing Mexican about them, the rice and the beans were very weirdly sweet - we were told there was lime cordial in the rice - what??? -the most prominent ingredient in Lime Cordial is sugar???? it was bizarre; battered fish tacos - the tortillas were not warmed even a little, the batter on the fish tasted like pancakes (sweet) and the slaw was also sweet (must have put lime cordial in those too). I had the seafood linguine - the sauce was not bad, the pasta cooked fine, the prawns overcooked, the salmon fishy and if you don't know what a swimming scallop is, don't expect to taste a succulent scallop. Instead expect something that looks like a sheep's eyeball and tastes like a squishy, very fishy oyster blech, I choked down one and left the rest - not their fault really, I should have clarified what a swimming scallop actually was, the dish was served with a limp, barely toasted piece of tasteless toast(ish). Anyway it was all around disappointing. On our $180 tab, the Manager took half the fish tacos ($8.50) off the bill. Certainly wont be returning, especially while they are putting lime flavored sugar water in everything. Music was good.

Just okay. Very fast service with good servers. Food was okay, but did not stand out. Had Fajitas and California salad. Salad was quite good. Fajitas were just very boring. Reasonable value for money. I will try it again.

The food and service have always been outstanding. I really enjoy the food and they always have something tantalizing on their fresh sheet of the day. I particularly love the lively atmosphere and decor. It's a great place with friendly service.

Our table started with the Tatchos which are tater tot natchos which everyone really enjoyed. I had the enchiladas. They needed some more spice and flavor. They were really lacking in heat and acid. Need to add some Cayenne, lime and cilantro. My Mom had the burrito which I also tried and it had the same issues. Overall not bad but need some work on that genuine Mexi-Cali flavor.