My wife and I are spending the weekend in Borrego Springs and we decided to give Carlee's a try as we heard good things about it here in Borrego.
First off, it's basically a sports bar. It has a very diverse menu including some full plate entrees. So, not just burgers and sandwiches. Plus they are open for breakfast and lunch too.
Anyway, we walked in and the place is pretty dark inside, but you get used to the light level quickly enough. Our waiter came right away and took our drink orders which he brought right away too. We saw a couple of great sounding burgers so we made up our mind pretty quickly. Cathy had the grilled onion burger. It usually comes with Swiss cheese, but she wanted cheddar and they gladly obliged, no problem. She ordered hers done and she said it was done, but still juicy so that was great. I ordered the Ortega burger that comes with cheddar on it. I ordered mine as rare as the cook would cook it and it came out dead rare. Nice! I think the meat was ground chuck as it was very juicy and silky on the tongue. When he brought out the burgers, he brought Cathy a grilled mushroom burger instead of the grilled onion burger she ordered, oops. But it was quickly remedied and dinner went on just fine. I had a Negro Modelo beer and fries with my burger. The fries had a coating on them and were nice and crisp. Cathy had cole slaw and it was some of the best cole slaw I've had in San Diego county. Most places just don't make it well, resulting in bland slaw. This one was perfectly seasoned. We did ask for additional napkins as those burgers were plenty juicy and they were brought immediately. It sure looks like a place where locals hang out so that's a great sign.
We'll go back any time we are in town.
Very kitchy place but actually the tables are nicely dressed with cloth napkins. That's a big plus for me as I don't care for paper ones. We didn't order any mixed drinks, I know huh!, just a Pinot Grigio for my wife and I had a dark Stout beer. We started with the chicken and lettuce wraps. A "some assembly required" appetizer in that a half head of iceberg lettuce comes on a plate and the ground chicken, some bean sprouts, crushed peanuts and sambal oleck comes on another plate. You peel off a leaf of lettuce and take some of the other goodies and put them in the lettuce. Very tasty chicken and the sambal had plenty of kick.
My wife had a Thai beef salad. Lots of assorted greens, cucumbers, some marinated and cooked shredded beef with a Yuzu mint vinagrette. Seemed like it needed a crunchy carb. Maybe a rice noodle or something like that. Otherwise, very tasty.
I had the New York Steak and frites. Wagyu Kobe beef steak and sweet potato fries. The fries had a mildly spicy seasoning on them. The steak was simply seasoned only with salt. Perfect. I ordered it cooked "as rare as the chef will cook it" and it came out perfect. Just a nice crust on the outside and just warm in the middle. Like carpaccio with a crust. It came on a bed of steamed spinach. There was a pesto sauce for the steak and some sweet onion ketchup for the fries. The pesto went begging as I like my steak unadorned. It was table knife tender, full of flavor and needed no help. The ketchup was very tasty and a good contrast to the fries.
Sort of an odd thing: I went in expecting to hear "Island" music and the music was far from that. More like techno, which is fine, but not what I expected for a place with Tiki in the name and that kind of decor in the place. There are televisions around the restaurant playing surfing movies all the time also.
I should mention the service. It was great! Water glasses were kept full and our waiter got our orders right and didn't get them mixed up at the table.
Reasonably priced and excellent food. Coffee was so-so, but I'm not a big fan of Boyd's anyway. It usually isn't full bodied enough for me. However, the food was great. My wife had the buckwheat pancakes. There were 6 very good sized cakes on the plate and came with plenty of soft butter (a big plus in my book. Hard butter sucks) and maple syrup. I got the Dutch baby. If you've ever had one at the Original Pancake House, you know what I'm talking about. It came with plenty of lemon wedges and powdered sugar. Nice!! I also ordered a side of bacon for us to share. It was a thick cut bacon, not super salty, but cooked til crisp. Just how I like it. No soft bacon for me.
Service was excellent. We got there before the crowds started up and into when they did start up and we had great service the whole time
A friend mentioned she had an egg white omelet and it wasn't good at all. She called it a "travesty". So, stick with their specialties and you'll have good luck there.
My wife, son and I went here on 7/10 (my birthday). Based on the other review of this place we went knowing it would be good, but maybe with some hiccups. Well, there were no hiccups. We started with the Yuca appetizer. It was fried, not breaded and wasn't oily but was crisp and piping hot. Served with lightly pickled (lemon juice was predominant) red onions and the Aji sauce. A spicy sauce that was a good dip for the Yuca.
Wife and I had the Lomo Saltado. Grilled strips of meat, red onions, french fries and fresh tomatoes in a dark sauce. Sort of an odd mix of ingredients but they worked well together and the potatoes really soaked up the sauce. The rice, mentioned as hard in the other review, was not hard at all. Just right, in fact.
Our son had the Seco de Carne dish. Came with rice and some ranch style beans. Another very good dish. The sauce on the meat was a cilantro based sauce. Tasty.
So, take a chance on this place. It seems they are getting their act together and the food is getting better.
We have eaten at Mountain Mike's a couple of times and have ordered delivery many times and always are very satisfied with the quality of the pizzas. The service in the restaurant is great and the delivery people seem to always get here before the stated wait time. We are at the extreme limit of their deliver area (Clairemont Mesa Blvd at 805) and the pizzas always arrive piping hot. Great flavored crust and sauce.
Their prices are just a bit high but I believe you can pay a bit more for great quality and that is what Mountain Mike's delivers.
My wife and I went there for dinner and it looked like it was packed. We got there in time to get a booth and by the time we left people were waiting for a seat.
The host seated us right away and our server came right away and both were very pleasant and nice. The menu isn't too complicated so it was easy to decide what we wanted quickly. So we gave her our drink and meal order at the same time.
Wife had the prime rib sandwich that came with jus and horseradish sauce. It was a bit odd that the prime rib was a slab instead of sliced as for a steak sandwich. She sliced it up herself to make it a bit easier to eat.
I had the SamSon's steak sandwich. Very interesting blend of ingredients.
Slice & Marinated Prime Rib, grilled with cheese, spinach, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and onion on a toasted roll.
The menu states this was Food Network's Guy Fieri's favorite sandwich. It was very tasty. The steak on this one was very thinly sliced. Tender with crunchy bits.
Our server kept our water glasses full and brought my beer right away.
Only complaint and a minor one is why can't restaurants make good cole slaw? I realize it's a side dish, but good slaw is not that hard to make. This one was very bland. We both added salt and pepper and we don't normally use much salt at home.
All in all, a good dinner and great service.
My wife and I have been to this restaurant twice now. Once by ourselves and the next time with some friends. The food is pretty good. Although the foie gras we had was just ok. One person said it tasted of Braunschweiger. Good for Braunschweiger but not good for foie. They normally have white cloth napkins on the table but they offered my wife a black napkin as she was wearing a black dress the first time we went. First time that had ever happened at any restaurant we have been to.
Also, first time we went it seemed the AC wasn't working and it was uncomfortably warm. When we went with our friends, it seemed to be working and the room was comfortable.
Our first visit was during one of the prix fixe meal deals and it wasn't the greatest. Crunchy risotto, for example. Our second time with our friends, the meals were much better. Perhaps they don't do the specials all that well? Give Cavaillon a try.
