Limericks Tavern

I spy my little eye on an Apple Jim Beam.

BOGO, buy one get the other second for $1.

I enjoy going to Limericks Tavern an Irish pub in Chino Hills because it has good food and the ambiance is dimly lit with dark wood all around is my kind of place. This is a perfect place to go to when you just need a drink during the week and to party on the weekend. I ordered a 12 oz, $6 Golden Road Mango Cart beer to wash away a hard day.

left side is the avocado sauce, and right side is the salsa verde.

Keep the onions because it makes the tacos.

There $7 spicy street tacos (3) aren’t even spicy – I ordered the delicious short ribs. They had other options, such as carnitas and carne asada. The tacos came with a side of avocado a ‘oly sauce (house sauce) and an in-house salsa verde that completed the tacos.

That is not ranch, it’s blue cheese dressing.

The last thing I ordered was the $9 garlic parmesan wings (8) that had three wings and five drumsticks, a side of carrots and celery sticks and a side of blue cheese dressing. This is perfect for those who like a hint of cheese on their wings. I love cheese, so next time I will order a side of parmesan to make my meal more satisfying. The food was decent and plenty to eat.

Next time I go in a want to try their bacon mac n cheese and angus sliders because I heard they were popular. It gets busy Thursday-Sunday that contains a DJ, which keeps the energy flowing. Each location varies on prices and daily specials on happy hour.

The weather is changing and a Guinness stew sounds warming to the belly.

Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que

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  BBQ rib tips I crave every time I think of BBQ.

The thought of Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que restaurant makes me happy and giggly like a six-year-old. That is because I know Lucille’s has a good happy hour and some items contain BBQ sauce.  I would normally order the rib tips and lucky me they had them on the happy hour menu. Their happy hour menu prices are between $4 and $10, which I think is a fair deal, but it depends on what you order. Lucille’s happy hour drink menu for drinks is anywhere between $2 and $9, they offer $2 off all 22oz. draft beers and $1 off any other specialty drinks. What I appreciate about their menus is the calorie count is right next to the item.

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  If you don’t eat the biscuit with butter you’re weird.

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  I think jalapeño not, put that on the side.

For starters, Lucille’s biscuits and butter are a must because that’s what they’re known for. I really wanted to order the $9 smoked brisket nachos, but another table next to mine ordered them, and they did not look appetizing at all. I like my nachos with refried beans and heavy cheddar cheese that fully covers the chips; Lucille’s nachos looked dry and lacked the gooey cheese. But of course, I ordered the $8 BBQ rib tips (1,210 cal.) some pieces were a tad bit dry, but not dry enough for me not to box them up and eat later.

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  Be right back. I’m going to stuff my face for 10 minutes.

 My coworker and I kept going back and forth deciding whether we should order the $10 blazin’ burnt ends (660 cal.). The word of mouth was that the burnt ends were good, so we gave them a shot. The name doesn’t sound appealing because who wants to eat something burnt? But they weren’t burnt- the edges were crisp and quite juicy. The blazin’ burnt ends typically come tossed with sliced jalapenos but for our order we asked for it to be on the side. I’m glad because the jalapenos had a weird tangy taste to them. The last thing I ordered was the $7 spinach and cheese dip (580 cal.) because I love the cheesiness in my dip. However, it wasn’t as good as the ones at Tahoe Joe’s because instead of chunks of spinach, everything was blended. I still think it’s delicious, but I prefer the chunks.

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  Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

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  Next time I will order the $6 BBQ Sausage Duo.

Lastly, I didn’t order a drink other than water, but I took a swig of my coworkers $4.99, 32oz. mason jar peach lemonade that blew me away because it wasn’t over-poweringly sweet. Next time I go to Lucille’s I will order the peach lemonade. Overall, I dig their food.

The Pub

Bacon goes with everything.

We have a Lagar over here.

The Pub provides great food and good vibes with good happy hour prices. The Pub has happy hour throughout the restaurant, so I decided to sit on the patio. The waiter served my mom and me a small bowl of buttery popcorn as a complimentary snack while we looked over the menu. I liked being served popcorn rather than bread or chips because it’s different. Happy hour specials included $4.99-7.99 appetizers, $4 draft beers, house wine, well drinks and $6 crafted cocktails.

Just add salt, you’ll be fine.

Onions make everything taste better.

I wanted to eat healthily, so I order the delicious $4.99 grilled Brussel sprouts with sautéed onions. I felt like I had already dropped three pounds. The al dente Brussel sprouts were cooked perfectly since my mom hates eating vegetables that are mushy. I wanted comfort food as well, so ordered the $7.99 sloppy fries. The bacon is what really sold me on this order. The buffalo ranch sauce that came with the fries looked delicious, but unfortunately it wasn’t to my liking because the sauce didn’t mesh well with the fries. To wash everything down I had $4, 12oz. Pacifico Lagar that quenched my thirst, which stuffed my stomach to the fullest.

When: Saturday-Thursday: 3p.m.-6p.m.

              Friday: 3p.m.-7p.m.

Where: 5771 Pine Ave, Chino Hills

Vanilla Fish

Watching workers while sitting at the bar top.

This was my first time going to Vanilla Fish. I instantly loved the ambiance because it was a small dimly lit room. It took me to a place where I didn’t feel like I was in Chino Hills anymore. I sat at the bar top due to lack of tables, but at least I was able to see the workers cutting sushi. I wish I knew to pay cash ahead of time so that I would have been able to get a 10 percent discount when ordering a minimum of $20. Vanilla Fish had happy hour prices ranging from $6 for appetizers and traditional rolls to $5 house drinks. The first thing I ordered was the $5 Kirin draft beer 25 oz. For those who are not sure if the beer is to your liking, the server will offer a taster for no charge. The first thing I ordered for food was the $6 pork shumai (six piece).

25oz. Kirin beer that I did not finish.

There is an option to choose pork or shrimp shumai for those who prefer shrimp over pork. The pork shumai was delicious, but I practically inhaled the shumai because they were so small, and I was also sharing with my mom. Sharing is caring.  However, for how small the shumai were I wouldn’t pay $6 for them because the portion was more worth $4 or even a $4.50.

The juicy small pork shumai someone can easily choke on.

The second thing I ordered was the $6 salmon collar, and to my surprise, was a nicely sized appetizer that sat on a bed of lettuce noodles that contained a citrusy dressing. On top of the salmon were little orange fish eggs. Sounds sad, but it was good.

The delicious salmon collar.

The last thing I ordered was the $6 California roll (Blue Crab) (eight piece). The California roll wasn’t bad, but I have had better elsewhere. However, it was only $6 so I cannot complain; it did its job and I was full.

The too much sesame seed California roll.

The cool part about their menu was a sushi etiquette to show the “do’s” and “don’ts” when it comes to picking up sushi. The only two things I was impressed by were how big the beer was and the size of the salmon collar. However, the food was delicious so I would go back and order more of their happy hour.

$6 food items with $5 drinks can’t beat that deal.

When: Monday-Thursday: 7 p.m.- 9 p.m.

Where: 15870 Soquel Canyon Parkway Ste G. Chino Hills CA 91709