Johnnie is not a big Hawaiian food guy, but he stumbled upon this little joint, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, right near my office and I figured why not. I’ve actually been there several times over the past 2 months, so this is an all-encompassing review.
Ambiance: This place is cozy and very small, call it 8-10 booths inside. There is some outdoor seating however since there are several food shops it’s kind of a “food court feel” at a local mall outside. You order at the counter and they surprisingly have an extensive menu for a small place. You pay and they give you a numbered receipt and call your number to return to said counter and pick up your order. Being greeted by the counter staff with “aloha” as you walk in is a great touch. 4.25/5
Food: They offer chicken, pork, beef, all cooked Hawaiian style, as well as burgers, Spam, and shrimp/fish. I settled on a “mini” chicken plate. The plate consisted of 3 chicken thighs pounded flat, teriyaki BBQed and served alongside 2 scoops of rice a scoop of their famous macaroni salad, and some green salad. All this for the cost of $6.50 plus tax.
If I were to order a “regular” plate you get bigger scoops of said accompaniments, and 2 additional slabs of chicken costing $8.50. However, for an active 33-year-old, I find the mini plate very much filling. The food was great, wonderful Hawaiian teriyaki chicken, the macaroni was delicious, however, it was like eating an entire pizza calorie-wise I am sure. It was great, everything tasted good and I have even tried other menu items. 4.5/5
Overall: It is a very small place, they are a franchise nationwide; that being said, the food was amazing. I liked that you could see the kitchen from your seat, and the wait for the food gave an impression of being cooked when you order, not before. Everything was top notch; the photo does not do the food justice as they mistakenly subbed out the mac salad for extra rice…. but still a solid place. So solid Johnnie Does has become a regular and can say the BBQ beef and the burger are solid choices as well. 4.3/5
Johnnie Does had a coupon for a free appetizer if he bought an adult entrée so he decided to visit a Chevy’s location near his office for some good ole American Tex-Mex cuisine. Chevy’s is a chain that has been in and out of bankruptcy for what seems like the last decade. They have a mix of great locations such as the one on the Sacramento River, average places like the now closed one in Gold River, and the one by my office. Here is the review.
Ambiance: It’s a chain, but in reality it has a lot going for it. The bar or “cantina” had festive decorations, a countdown clock for Cinco de Mayo next year, and lots of drink selections. The actual restaurant area also looked fast paced, and they had an area with lots of vegetables on display….I’m not sure why? Perhaps to buttress their claim of “Fresh Mex.” The servers were flying around, and it seemed like more of a fast casual place than a sit down place. I took a seat at the “Cantina” since it was just me….big mistake. 4.4/5 on the ambiance (I’ll explain more later on).
Chevy’s full stocked bar (at another location)
Food: I was greeted with a pile of chips, and a small bowl of salsa, which had to have been the mildest salsa since Pace Picante….no other options here. The chips were for certain Tostitos and not homemade, but oh well. The bar tender seemed friendly…however he set down a bunch of fruit in front of me and started cutting it up….then he disappeared with said fruit still in front of me. This would be a recurring theme, him disappearing, which was bizarre since the bar area was vacant sans myself. Finally at 1pm he took my order; keep in mind I have an hour for lunch and must be back at 1:30. I ordered the pick 2 chicken quesadillas and the wings as my free appetizer. Again the disappearing act ensued for 15 minutes, finally at 1:20 he emerged with my quesadillas, no wings. At 1:30 the wings were still MIA, I guess they were still trying to catch a fresh chicken near Florin Road. The bill came and well, the chicken wings showed up there! The manager said he would only remove the charge if I presented the coupon, so I did, couldn’t fight it, but he should have taken a hint since no plate other than the one holding my quesadillas was in front of me. The quesadillas…also missing chicken, but oh well. 1.1/5
Chevy’s quesadillas as found at another location
Overall: This place is busted and busted badly. They appear to be trying to take a page from Dos Coyotes, but they are not fast casual, they are a chain, and a sit down one at that. Embrace what you are and stay in your lane. Your menu is way overpriced for the food to be missing ingredients, or entire items. All I want is to get what I ordered in a reasonable time and have it look like the picture when it arrives on my plate. Chevy’s need to find a happy medium between what’s on their menu and what comes out of the kitchen. Also, make the chips in house, or at least not from a crappy bag from a grocery store.
In addition, the birthday song being sung what seems like every 5 minutes is very annoying. Chevy’s is not a great place to visit on your own or with co-workers… (see Farrell’s demise and their similar birthday song charades.) Given the advanced age of many of their customers, maybe frequent birthdays, slow service, and bland food are passable but for us working stiffs, this place is not the highlight of your 9 to 5 workday existence.
Chevy’s, you are not fast casual. Lower your prices, improve quality where you can, offer add-on’s for additional $$$ and see where it takes you. Also, if you don’t want to give out the perks of a coupon, just exempt yourself from it. Nothing should be more embarrassing for a manager than the service that I received. The fact that I was never served my wings, but the manager only agreed to remove it from the bill once a coupon was produced encapsulated much of what is wrong with this dining experience. 1.3/5 overall
I would avoid this place. Seems like this location is franchisee run and the management has checkout too. I can hear the company circling the drain now. Maybe the 90-day calendar will euthanize this location soon.
Meal kits are becoming very popular, with all kinds of players entering this space: Sun Basket, Home Chef, Blue Apron to name few. Recently Albertson’s parent of Safeway bought Plated, and I was offered a free kit with my club card. Johnnie Does loves free stuff, so I had to check this out. The selection was not great, and they were a little picked over, and frankly there were some really exotic meal kits available. I chose steak au poivre, of the other kits available, there was Moroccan chicken, shrimp with glass noodles, and lasagna. This review will differ from my other reviews as ambiance does not apply.
Meal in a box: Steak au Poivre for two
First an introduction, meal kits are very popular. In essence you sign up for service and they send you a meal kit for two, proportioned out and essentially ready to cook. These kits usually run about $20 each and you can pick what meals you want sent so you don’t end up with tofu with marijuana buds. Just kidding about the last part, but they cater to every lifestyle, active, dieting, keto you name it. The steak kit is a meal for two consisting of steak, kale, and fingerling potatoes; also it came with all spices/liquids to fix the meal. That’s right you cook it yourself. A very detailed direction manual came with it, walking you step by step to complete each part of the meal.
Step-by-step instructions
First I had to cut the potatoes in half length-wise, put them face down on a baking sheet, season with salt, pepper and olive oil and bake for 12 minutes. While they were baking I had to sear the steaks on a pan on the stove, I minced a shallot (fancy name for an onion) and added half of it to the potatoes and roasted for another 10 minutes. When the steaks were done I removed from the pan, and in a different pan added the kale (I had to chop it), olive oil, and garlic and cooked that down. While that was occurring I had to prepare the sauce for my steaks, it consisted of cooking wine, cream, and black peppercorns, all included with the kit. This took a few minutes, using the same pan with the steak’s juices. Just like that, it was time to plate the meal. Easy 4.5/5
Front to back– kale, steak, taters, onion, drug bottle
I was eating this kit by myself, so I plated it all on one large plate, sliced the steaks, and poured the sauce over them; I added some to the roasted potatoes as well. The kale cooked down nicely and I placed it between the potatoes and the steaks. The meal was very tasty, I’m not a huge kale fan but you cannot make any changes to the kit. 4.7/5
Overall: The ingredients were fresh so that was a definite plus; the directions were super easy to follow. All the spices and other items were included, so it saved on last minute trips to the store. The meal was awesome, but now the hard part, the negatives. The meal doesn’t seem like 2 people could eat it and then be full, almost like you needed a dessert or an appetizer. Additions and subtractions can’t be made, so you’re stuck with the box’s contents. You will use quite a bit in terms of dishes, this meal called for a baking sheet, and 2 different pans, so in essence you will fill the dishwasher up. On the issue of pricing; $20 seems fair if it’s being shipped to you, which all of these companies do by the way, however the cost of said ingredients are far less expensive at the store. I understand convenience, and most people cannot cook these days, so I guess it’s a decent product. Seems like a really cool date night, or like a night with the spouse dinner, but I think overall it’s a bit pricey, now for $15 like it’s advertised sometimes, I would be intrigued. I’ll go 4.5/5 I like the concept and ease of the meal, and you can get quite adventurous as well.
While perusing an old Sacramento Magazine from 2017 (Johnnie Does is a big history guy) I came across an article about 30 things every Sacramentan must eat before they die. Being a simple man, I was overcome with emotion about my own mortality, I knew I had to try something from this list before I went to my eternal reward. I saw Jimboy’s ground beef tacos on the list and figured there is one near my office so let’s do it!
Some Background Jim and Margaret Knudson started Jimboy’s back in 1954 as an American spin on tacos. They started with just a taco cart and grew into a large empire. They started in Tahoe and migrating down to Sacramento in 1961. Glad we claim it as our own…..here is my review!
Ambiance: Jimboy’s gives off a relaxed fast casual vibe. The location near my office features two entrances, a main one and a take-out only entrance… both of which lead to the same counter! You place your order at a counter and you get a number on your receipt and when your order is ready you return to the counter and claim your meal. The menu is standard Mexican cuisine with an American twist; tacos, burritos, salads, fajitas…etc. However in the eyes of this professional food critic, some items are very overpriced…namely said tacos! I placed my order and found a small salsa bar offering about six salsa’s ranging from mild-to-hot, as well as ketchup (?) and Taco sauce. I grabbed the sauce, some hot salsa, and jalapenos and took my seat. The relaxed vibe and having to wait for fresh made food was a nice touch 4.1/5.
Food: As stated above, they have an American variation on Mexican food and I’m grading based on such. I ordered three ground beef tacos, they were $2.80 a piece! The tacos are corn shell, beef, lettuce, cheese, grease and a parmesan cheese dusting the outside of the shell. Did I mention grease…lots and lots of grease. 3.3/5 the taco sauce was a good addition.
Grease is the word
Overall: It was hard to get too excited about this place. The tacos were vary overpriced, by comparison there is a Taco Bell and a Del Taco nearby; both offering their spin on tacos for far cheaper. I did enjoy the relaxed laid back vibe, I loved the food was not premade, it was cooked after I ordered, and came out hot to boot. However even on taco Tuesday, $2 for these tacos are viciously overpriced. 3.3/5
I perused the list of the other “things I had to eat before I die” and was not impressed. Merlino’s Freeze I never liked and the Squeeze Inn cheeseburger only squeezed my blood vessels (plus I can’t see myself in a cheese skirt). As such, I think I can die in peace knowing I didn’t miss much other than harder arteries. I started not feeling well while writing this review…Johnnie Does diarrhea may be forthcoming. Recently, another salsa bar in Elk Grove overloaded my plate with grease as well, maybe the natives are sending a message to me?
San Francisco, it’s been referred to as cutting edge, a dump, liberal bastion, Bagdad by the Bay, home of Michael Savage, and pretty much everything that you can name, so the Blog Father deployed intern “Johnnie Does” to report back on a myriad of topics. The following is his report.
While making my final descent across the Golden Gate Bridge (it’s more of a red-orange not gold but I digress), I saw a sign advertising the bridge toll of $12. Like any other proud American, I was ready to pay said toll for the right to enter San Francisco from this historic structure but to my dismay there was no attendant in the toll booth! I passed through; fearing the worst. Would I get a ticket? Was I now a criminal? A fugitive on the run even? Would I make it out of the City alive? My passenger assuaged my fears saying they are going to send you a bill via snail mail for the $12, they got rid of the toll takers years ago. Whoa! That’s Weird! Liberal San Francisco actually shrinking government payroll? Or was this an Amazon.com esque agreement where these bills are delivered at an extra cost to Joe Taxpayer? Maybe a third-party billing service owned by the nephew of a local bigwig? I couldn’t dwell on this; I had a job to do. I was finally here, and I needed to complete my mission; cranking out decent content for this blog.
Photo via Facebook
I found a parking lot right near Fisherman’s Wharf. I was a little offended this wasn’t really anyone’s wharf; especially, considering this city believes anyone can use any place as a bathroom. Maybe if this was private there would be standards, public ownership means anything goes, talk about hypocrisy. I realized I had inadvertently selected a labor union’s parking lot, and at the rate of $20 a day I figured I did my part to re-fill their coffers which took a big hit following the Supreme Court’s Janus decision.
I then set off on my journey toward Golden Gate Park. It was a short walk, if by short, I mean the kill radius of a thermo-nuclear weapon, but I finally made it. The homeless issue had been reported on by a couple of real news stations, so I wanted to get a firsthand perspective on this. What I saw would stun everyone except maybe resident pantywaist Darrell Steinberg (idiot-Sacramento). Homeless people had taken over the park!
Darrell Steinberg
Literally every part of this once magnificent landmark was covered in trash, tents, sleeping bags, propane stoves, five-gallon buckets of…. (well, let’s call it human waste). I thought this was supposedly a tourist area. Really? Again, whoa, that’s weird! I needed to get answers, so I interviewed several characters inhabiting the park. The first, “Chief poo slinger” (no relation to “The Chief” correspondent on this blog by the way) claimed that the part of the park which he was residing in was actually his, given to him by God. Not sure I ever read that passage in the Bible, maybe it appears in Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s Authorized Version?
Jeremiah Wright no internet photo of him holding a Jewish or Christian Bible exists
Pressed for answers, he and his counterparts; Jack Meoff, and fellow sister, Coke Meup, relented and answer several tough questions. None wanted to leave the park under any circumstances claiming they had a right to life under the Constitution, I agreed. None wanted to live in a state or city sponsored shelter, saying they didn’t want to give up drinking or doing narcotics. This is understandable, many a homeless person these days just wants money for said alcohol or narcotics. In a sense, they had formed a pack or herd mentality, and as a group, they took over what was once a proud tourist destination.
Golden Gate Park–site where woman gave birth 12/13/2012
The homeless were ever present on the Embarcadero and the entire walk to Pier 39 and other tourist traps. The odd part here, was a security force shooed them off whenever one wandered into the tourist areas. I saw this firsthand several times. So, I interviewed one of the guards. He was actually quite a good interview! He said the businesses and landlord hired them to make sure the area is welcoming for visitors because the wharf is a worldwide tourist destination. I agreed but stated that the sidewalks were dirty and grimy and could use a re-vamp…more on this later. But the security force was very good at making sure the homeless knew that until after midnight, they weren’t welcome. Further on my journey, I encountered a worker in a yellow fluorescent vest picking up what I thought was trash…it was human feces.
San Francisco Poop Patrol
Apparently, San Francisco has an “open door policy” meaning you can open the back door and relieve yourself wherever you wanted, and these “poop troops” were employed to clean it up…. WEIRD! Similar poop troop squads are deployed all over the city. They even keep a log of where they pick up all the “logs.”
Gross and upsetting, more on this later.
Both when I stopped to grab a bite for lunch and later for dinner, I was able to chat with the employees and managers alike. The attitude from the employees was that the homeless have overrun the place…. but it’s San Francisco and we have a “love all, serve all” attitude. Generally, they seemed happy, as the minimum wage is higher here than most places, and they have healthcare to boot! Yes, added on as a line item to my bill was a 5% tax to pay for worker healthcare mandated by San Francisco. That was somewhat unsettling as my ticket for Fish n Chips came to over $20 after tax, tip, and healthcare costs were passed conveniently on to me–the customer.
Talking to the managers gave me a fresh prospective on the homeless situation. They lamented the rising rents and minimum wage increases. These economic factors put continuously upward pressure on costs and as such are passed on to the customer. They spoke of the nightmare of trying to hire people, and constant turnover due to rising costs. Like the employees, they didn’t seem to have much animosity toward the homeless.
I walked down the Embarcadero toward the ballpark where the San Francisco Giants play. On my walk, I encountered more of the same homeless people littering the streets. These ones took a far more aggressive pan handling tone than any others I had encountered. Harassing of patrons was not even frowned upon by law enforcement.
photo: SF Chronicle
I went into a couple of small businesses specifically to ask the owners what they thought of the situation. Predictably the business owners were fed up, the homeless create a blight, and while it’s easy for Pope Francis to say we need to take and provide for all these folks, the detriment on businesses is telling. The business owners lamented the lack of police support. The proliferation of homeless, coupled with the role-back and decriminalization of many things in the County, made business ownership in their part of the city difficult. A couple of business owners even said they would support a tax to build housing for the homeless, even knowing it won’t alleviate the problem. All in all, it painted a bleak picture of any prospect of a turnaround. I guess the City/County of San Francisco doesn’t care about the cleanliness or appearance of its streets but are more than willing to put a tax on the ballot.
Finally, I had a chance to speak to several police officers in the city. Their responses will blow you away! This is a very unhappy bunch, essentially nothing is a crime in The City anymore. Sure major violence is, but the DA has made so many crimes non-priority that enforcement is nil. It’s almost a lawless area. The police have been ordered to do nothing about public intoxication, urinating in public, or aggressive homeless people. It has created a culture of anything goes, and as a result tourism is declining. While I am sure the pay and benefits are great, it must be surreal to have gone through the academy and take an oath to uphold the laws of the land only to see them being decriminalized and make you a bystander.
Final Thoughts It was an okay, but very average trip to San Francisco. Golden Gate Park is overrun with homeless, the City has an app showing where the “poop troop” has picked up a log, and sadly the entire city is covered.
Poop Patrol map
The streets are dirty, the smell of human waste is everywhere, apathy has set in amongst the employees and police, and business owners are talking up supporting a tax to throw more money at the problem. The seafood was good but very overpriced due to high labor and benefit costs, I don’t think I will visit again anytime soon. It has become overrun by homeless and unless you visit the tourist traps it’s just not a fun experience. The politicians and local leaders don’t seem to care either as the only answer in their eyes is throw more money at the problem. Sadly more and more homeless have migrated to the city knowing full well they can get away with far more in San Francisco than any other surrounding area. I cannot say I would recommend a visit.
I know what you’re thinking, chain restaurant? Has Johnnie gone soft on us? He literally put a store out of business…. rest in peace Side Burn BBQ. However, we saw a commercial for loaded queso fajitas and were intrigued. We found a $5 off coupon in a local newspaper, which conveniently doubles as flooring for a pet’s cage! Here is the review.
Ambiance: It’s a chain so it’s hard to quantify it, but no hostess during the height of lunch hour is a bad look. I seated myself at the high-top table near the bar and was predictably ignored by the wait staff and bartender (it’s her serving area) for about 15 minutes. They had very loud music blaring on the sound system which didn’t make for the greatest experience but at last I was helped. I ordered the loaded queso shrimp fajitas, and a water. The waitress informed me she was also the manager; I respect the hustle and won’t downgrade too many points here. Nevertheless, prior to helping me, she was seated at the bar eating lunch…. whoa that’s weird! Why are employees eating at the peak time that they should be waiting on customers? Well, like the Col Sanders ad or any hands-on manager you see on T.V., at least she eats the food produced in her kitchen! Generally, the place seemed very disorganized, with patrons approaching any crew member to ask if they could cash them out, or place and order etc. Possibly the worst and making it a lower grade was a crew member (female) bent over to pick up food scraps near the bar revealing, well let’s just say the secret is no more, Victoria! 3.2/5 on the ambiance, not bad for a chain, but man they need some work.
Menu: Again, it’s a chain so they serve a little bit of everything, burgers, steaks, fish, apps, chicken, it runs the gamut. After finally placing my order, I’m waiting about 10 minutes to score the fajitas. I’m hoping they were worth it. They came out of the kitchen piping hot very similar to a Chevy’s. They did not disappoint!
Loaded queso shrimp fajitas
A large sizzling plate with Spanish rice, peppers, onions, a bunch of shrimp, cilantro and a separate plate with 3 tortillas (not enough) pico de gallo, and cheese, accompanied by some guacamole that Johnnie is heavily allergic to, and asked to BE LEFT OFF!!!!! However, this was awesome! I felt it was a very good deal at $11 after the coupon, but its normally $16 and for lunch that hits a high price point, again understanding it’s a franchise store and increased labor costs, I’d say it’s a solid 4.2/5
Overall: Again it’s a chain, so it is what it is, I don’t know if I would take a date their but it’s a decent place, and at the end of the day it’s like any other place; you know what you’re getting and that is saying something. It has its flaws, but at least they don’t season with Franks Red Hot. 3.7/5. I got my check paid and handed over said coupon. It took about 10 minutes to get a manager to override the system to accept it, so it was like paying with EBT at a local store for food…. oh well.
Before you ask, get your mind out of the gutter. Ariana’s is the name of a family owned Mediterranean food joint, located on Center Parkway near United Artist theatres. It’s very similar to Sal’s which we tried about 3 weeks ago. Seems Johnnie is on a Mediterranean kick. Everyone loves a little competition, and Johnnie knew he had to check this joint out.
Ariana Gyros & Kabobs 8785 Center Pkwy Ste B160, Sacramento
Ambiance: Again, it’s a kind of fast casual vibe, you order at the counter, they also sell spices by the jar…kinda cool touch. They have a sign saying they prefer cash, understandable, but it gives off a non-sales tax paying vibe as no receipt was given even when requested. They recently re-decorated the place and it looked great. Nice Greek/Afghan feel with pleasant booths, tables, and they had a refrigerated unit holding extra sauces and spices that was self-serve. I felt welcomed and the place had a nice crowd for lunch. 4.2/5.
Menu: Pretty much verbatim of Sal’s: gyros, kabob plate, bowls, great selection. Oh, prices were cheaper than Sal’s. I went with a spicy chicken gyro bowl.
Ariana spicy chicken gyro bowl
As seen in the photo it had a generous portion of chicken, basmati rice, lettuce, onion, tomato, cucumber, and homemade tzatziki sauce on it, served in a porcelain bowl. Wow, what a bowl, ton of food under $10. The spice was right on point, it was the definition of awesome. 4.7/5 (Blogger note: a new discovered item revealed later.)
Overall: Can’t go wrong here. Ariana’s is a family owned joint, well kept, great food. I was going to go 4.5 overall. But then I got hit with this dump. Another customer asked what spices they used to spice the “spicy” chicken……they said Frank’s Redhot. Yeah like this very bottle that I keep in my very Anglo kitchen.
Frank’s Redhot photo from Johnnie’s Anglo kitchen
So, you have no legitimate spices? I have to wonder if the homemade Tzatziki is from a bottle too? The rice? The lettuce? Get outta here, you frauds! No wonder the kitchen is hidden and serving sizes are plentiful! 0.0/5
Take a lap! No one pulls the wool over Johnnie Does…. Why do you serve up fraud food!
Johnnie Does
Editor’s Note: I’ve never seen Johnnie so down on a restaurant, ever the ones driven out of business by his reviews. (Yes, that really happened.) Apparently, the Redhot in question is not the candy sold in my youth nor the busty Irish girl in the other high school math class, but the offending item is an off the shelf sauce from his local Walmart. Johnnie, my friend, you did say this was a family restaurant and you’re mad they use family ingredients? Have you considered that you were stepping out to try to spice up your life and then learned that the spice you really needed and desired was at home all along?
In this week’s edition, we spoke to a charter school leader regarding the future of charter schools in California.
Charter school expert
If you’re not aware, charter schools are kind of a hybrid, they get all their funding from the state just not as much per student as traditional public schools. The teachers are not union, but get CalSTRS (California State Teachers’ Retirement System) pensions. Charters are in demand and frequently have a lottery to determine admission. Charters have been popping up all over the country as an alternative to poor performing public schools; usually in the inner-city with high numbers of people of color. To say traditional public schools hate charter schools is putting it lightly. As a result they have been under siege in California. No less than four bills are floating around the capital trying to limit/reduce the number of charter schools in this state. One bill wants a permanent cap on the number of charter schools in the state, with new schools allowed to open only after one closes, so no growth.
I had a conversation on this subject with an executive at a group of six charter schools in the Sacramento area and to call this person naïve is an understatement. Here are a few examples that this person didn’t perceive as threats to charter schools.
This person had no idea that there was even a movement in the legislature to restrict or limit charter schools, let alone a series of bills for this express purpose working their way towards the governor as we spoke. Please keep in mind that the livelihoods of this person and their employees are at stake here.
The state has tightened their grip on local schools with such mandates as serving hot meals for breakfast and lunch; however, charters have no facilities or capabilities to comply. The person that I spoke with is under the belief that the traditional districts are willingly going to pick up the stack in this area since they have a good working relationship. Such wishful optimism is literally sticking your head in the sand. At some point, charters will be forced under the authority and control of traditional districts. In this particular case, they have charter schools operating in areas governed by three different traditional districts. While the EGUSD (Elk Grove Unified School District) is doing decent financially, Sacramento City Unified is a complete dumpster fire. If you don’t think Sac City isn’t gunning for your state per capita money then you are very naïve.
This person speaks about the curriculum being different from traditional public schools….this is disingenuous at best and an outright lie at worst. The state dictates the curriculum (he who has the gold, makes the rules) and if you don’t teach it….well, you’ll pay for it. Ask the Blog Father, he knows someone who is a teacher at a public school, not teaching the curriculum gets you “axed the question.”
Adding insult to injury, this person is completely aloof to what public schools can “offer.” A cynical view is that basically the only difference between traditional public schools and charter schools is about $7K in teacher pay. This naïve person scoffed at the notion of teachers leaving charters for public schools over money because get this…. “they drank the Kool-Aid.” (Bonus: this person had no clue where the drink the Kool-Aid saying came from.) On the one hand, such a comment is calling their staff mindless drones incapable of thinking for themselves, yet also thinking they are superior for working at a charter?
I think a drill to unionize charter schools is in play and will be seen in the next few years. I foresee a scenario in which the state’s education apparatus becomes more hostile to charter schools and uses the power of the budget to compel them to merge with existing districts or else…
Controlling benefits and linking them to union membership is the reason why you will never see a mass exodus from the CTA. Teachers get no benefits or legal representation without union membership. If charters were denied these benefits without union membership, their teachers would jump ship in a heartbeat.
The problem here is this, this charter group is banking on Fortune Charter schools (led by a black lady) carrying their water. This group didn’t even know about a charter school protest being held at the capital literally a stone’s throw away from one of their schools! Leaving Fortune to fend for themselves!
Margaret Fortune–Charter School leader (not interviewee of this post)
Turns out this group, like many other charters, would prefer not to “stir the pot or speak up.” Problem is they are likely going to be legislated right out of existence in California. The CTA (Communist California Teachers Association) is very strong and a huge player in this state, they want charters gone and charters seem to have no interest in speaking up or defending themselves.
Unions equate charter schools with corporate greed
I could throw in a, they came for the gypsies first, then the Pols, then the Russians, … but I won’t stoop to that level; since I’m a Trump supporter, it would be racist.
Hopefully the charter schools don’t get whacked, but I can’t think of many reasons to keep them around, as this group of schools have been accused of grade inflation.
As promised, we visited Bonchon located in Elk Grove for this week’s food review. Hope you enjoy.
Bonchon is a new concept to both the area and to the United States, as they are Korean owned and known for their fried chicken, and Asian fusion cuisine menu. The stores are franchised so you could see some variation depending on where you visit. They are growing rapidly in the US and the fad seems to be resonating with the people, so Johnnie had to try it out!
Ambiance: This place gives off a fast-casual order at the counter vibe; however, that is not the case. They do a ton of takeout/carry-out business so the cash register up front is a little misleading. The place is very small maybe the size of 2 Subway stores. They have a small bar/counter area and the rest of the place is for seating. The kitchen is hidden from view, only a small window where the food is handed to the servers makes for very little transparency. This is definitely a hipster type joint and played to a younger freer spirit type crowd. 3/5 for the ambiance because it was so small the waiting area essentially spilled over outside the store, which makes things seem a little awkward.
Food: The place is a Korean food joint so menu items include friend chicken, bulgogi beef, and other entrees which were on full display on the menu.
The Korean fusion part is they offer fried rice, and tacos as well as chicken strips, etc. Like any other review, I visited the place twice. I will say they offer quite a bit in terms of variety, chicken katsu, biminbap, everything looked good, but Johnnie Does wants to try what you are known for, so I went fried chicken. You can choose from 3 different flavors; spicy, soy garlic, and sweet crunch; I went half and half with soy garlic and spicy. I was very impressed. For $9.95 my food also came with a side so I went French fries…at a Korean joint….I know. The chicken was outstanding, they double fry it, then rather than spin or dunk the chicken they paint the sauce on it, getting great coverage and not allowing waste. Total 4.8/5 on the chicken.
The fries were also very tasty and I would recommend again. The tacos were my other entrée of choice later in the week, for about $10 you got 3 tacos in spicy chicken flavor, it’s a $1 more for beef. I will say this, the tacos were very spicy, if you don’t like spicy avoid. I’m talking like there should almost be a warning about how spicy, the spicy chicken strips were tasty and I guess I didn’t remember them being as spicy. 3.1/5 for the tacos. Overall 4.3 between the chicken strips and the fries bringing the score up.
Overall: Bonchon was awesome! I would for sure have a disclaimer about how hot spicy is….however a few friends of mine remarked Korean food is very spicy by nature and everyone knows that. I guess Johnnie Does needs to avoid the salsa bar and get out more often! Some idiosyncrasies about the place: they are closed Tuesdays…. very random day of the week to be closed. Additionally, they open for lunch, then close, then re-open for dinner, I have to believe this has to deal with the rising cost of minimum wage and helps keep the cost down. However, price points were great especially for lunch, and I would definitely recommend this place to anyone, however I would not take a date here as it can be very noisy. 4.5/5 for Bonchon Elk Grove.
Know a place you want Johnnie Does to review? Put it in the comment section!
PS Maybe change the name? Bonchon kind of sounds like a medical issue requiring a shot of penicillin or is it just Johnnie Does liking the salsa bar a little too much?
Greetings, I decided to keep it local and hit up a Kabob and Gyro place just down the road from my office this week. Here is my review!
Sal’s is a local small family owned business who recently opened a second store in Roseville, which is a strange trend I’m seeing in the family owned business area these days. Why have 2 stores over an hour apart? They serve traditional Greek food; kabob plates, gyros, shawarma wraps, and even have a burger on the menu. I visited the place twice just to get a true feel for the food and service, as the Yelp reviews are inconsistent.
Ambiance: This is a no frills, small business. They have a counter, you can see the entire kitchen similar to a Chipotle and can see the lamb and steak roasting on a spit. Seating is very limited; call it maybe 30 people could sit between inside and outside. 3.5/5 It’s a low budget Greek place so I can’t go too low, the family works there so it’s not a bunch of hired help.
Food: So, I had the Lamb Kabob plate, it came with rice, vegetables and lamb. I thought it was decent. I ordered my plate medium spicy. At $13 after tax, it seemed a little high for lunch. Later in the week I came back, ordered a chicken Gyro medium spicy, with fries and a coke. It came to about $10 and I thought that was a decent price point. The gal behind the counter pointed to a refrigerator filled with cans of coke and said go ahead and grab one…I wasn’t in the mood for a can of soda so I passed. I guess I should have been more attentive, fountain drinks are king and have a lower cost for your business by the way. I received my gyro after about 10 minutes, but no fries, I was told they were making them fresh. The Gyro was great! Chicken perfect and spiced wonderfully, the salad was good and the tzatziki sauce was awesome…a home run. I wolfed it down…poor thing didn’t stand a chance against me…still no fries. I was ready to walk out as I was irritated at this point, because obviously I was being ignored, other people who ordered did subsequently receive their frozen potatoes thrown into a fryer and called done. She finally brought mine out and they were soggy and cold. I ate them anyway, and well, they were forgettable. 3/5
Overall: I try to support small business and this one could be good with a little better service and a soda machine. I understand in this era that cutting costs is a thing, but a can of coke and fries for an extra $3 is out of touch; especially considering the fries were cold when brought out. The Gyro was amazing and I’m going to order it again, and for $6.99 the price is great! The only other commentary I will add is the location is not easy to access so service needs to be at a premium! 3.25/5
