Ted’s Place – For Gourmet Fast Food

23990 Aliso Creek Rd.

Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

OPEN: Monday – Saturday 6AM – 9PM, Sunday 7AM – 9PM

(949) 831-0061 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (949) 831-0061      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (949) 831-0061      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Big thanks to my friend, Brandon Tash for bringing me to Ted’s Place. This is one of his favorite places to eat, and now I can really see why. At first when we drove up to Ted’s Place I was sort of confused. It looked like it was the size of a restaurant, but it had the images and menus and specials that looked like a diner or a fast food place. When we got inside I saw a large counter that wrapped around the store, it had a self-serve tortilla chip area, salsa bar (no not the dancing, I’m talking about the condiment), there was a place to get pickled carrots, and an unlimited soda fountain, and even a horchata dispenser. When I got to the ordering area I was blown away by the menu. There is over 190 items available on the menu to order. This number doesn’t even count the specials that were hand written.

Fortunately, I had an idea of what I wanted to order. I knew that I wanted Mexican food. And I was pleased to see that they had a wide selection of Tacos, Burritos, Enchiladas, Quesadillas, Plates, and Taquitos, and Fajitas. I thought for a moment and decided on getting a Wet Burrito. This was one of the best dining decisions of my life. Since it was evening when we ordered the meal was delivered to our table. This is different from lunch time when you have to pick your food up at the counter. So anyway, before the meal was delivered, Brandon and I got some snacks from the counter. We got tortilla chips, pickled carrots (which were doused in vinegar and tasted pretty good) and I also got some horchata to drink. Then, when the Wet Burrito hit my table I was in food heaven! The Wet Burrito was HUGE! It was the largest Burrito I’ve ever had in my entire life! The thing was the size of a large dinner plate, NO JOKE. It came with rice and beans and lots of red sauce.

But here’s the special thing that happened with my burrito: When I ordered it, the lady at the register asked me what kind of meat I wanted in the burrito. Being a man of wisdom, instead of simply blurting out an answer, I decided to ask a question. So I asked, “What kind of meat do you recommend? What’s your favorite?” And without hesitation the lady said, “Carne Asada!” and I was so glad she answered me honestly without beating around the bush. So I decided to take her advice and get it with Carne Asada. So when the Wet Burrito finally came to my table and I took a bite, it was like eating a perfectly cooked Carne Asada steak that was sliced into thin pieces. It was delicious. Each fork-full, had beans and rice and was covered in sauce, and the meat was amazing. At first I thought that it was going to be too much food. But I ate half of it without really noticing. My friend Brandon, was amazed at how much progress I was making with the burrito.

I was almost able to eat the whole thing with the rice and beans and everything. But I stopped myself before I exploded. I felt really full even though all I had to eat that day was a small bowl of cereal. The Wet Burrito was so much food that I didn’t need to eat dinner or lunch the next day. All I ate the next day was some cereal and a Caramel Macchiato, which was delicious by the way. Honestly, I still feel full from that burrito and it’s been 2 days later. All I’ve had to eat was a ham sandwich and another caramel macchiato. I think these things are going to make me fat but I love them.

Overall I think Ted’s is an amazing place to eat. The service is fast, the meals are huge and the prices are reasonable. The Wet Burrito I ordered cost me $9.00 plus tax. And that came with unlimited horchata and rice and beans. The next time I go to eat there, I will probably make sure not to eat breakfast or anything else that day. The reason is because there is so much food. If you like Wet Burrito’s lathered in red sauce and cheese and you love Carne Asada, you will probably be very happy with the Wet Burrito from Ted’s Place!

-Tyler

Dickinson’s Pure Seedless Black Raspberry Preserves

Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon

Calories: 50

Sugars: 10g

INGREDIENTS: Black Raspberries, Sugar, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Pectin, Citric Acid

Dickinson’s Pure Seedless Black Raspberry Preserves are delicious. They are great on bagels and crackers. I especially like it when I put the preserves on a toasted cream cheese bagel. The Dickinson’s preserves are very easy to spread and they taste sweet. At first I thought that they tasted way too good to be natural, and I was partially right. Two of the main ingredients in the Black Raspberry Preserves are corn syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Now, this may seem like a bad thing to have the High Fructose Corn Syrup because it isn’t the healthiest thing to put in your body. But if you eat the preserves in moderation then you will probably be OK. The only problem is that those preserves taste really good. For some reason the Dikinson’s preserves taste even better when mixed with cream cheese. So be mindful when snacking, because you may eat more than a tablespoon serving suggestion quite rapidly.

Here are a list of some snacks you can have with Dickinson’s Pure Seedless Black Raspberry Preserves: A Toasted Bagel with Cream Cheese, Ritz Crackers, Toasted Bread, French Bread, and other items.

You may have seen Dickinson’s products at a hotel before. They are quite popular. I personally rate these preserves as among the best tasting spread. I wouldn’t try it on a peanut butter and jelly though. It would be too sweet. Although the preserves on a peanut butter covered Ritz cracker would probably taste pretty good. Experiment for yourself and enjoy!

Photo Courtesy of Brandon Tash Photography

This is the story of my experience when I saw the opening Midnight showing of Iron Man 2. I’ve been waiting to see Iron Man 2 ever since the first one came out. I loved the idea of a Superhero who was primarily a scientist and who was smooth with the ladies. So when my friend said that he wanted to check out Iron Man opening night I was like, “Count me in!” We bought our tickets pre-sale for the Thursday show at the Edwards (Regal) Big Newport Cinema. I was pumped because I knew that the movie would be in the “Gold Concourse” which is said to be the largest non-Imax theater “This side of the Mississippi!” I’ve seen good movies in this theater like Contact and others. The sound system in the “Gold Concourse” is top notch, and it can get pretty loud, but before we heard anything, there was some funny stuff that happened.

I was lucky enough to find a seat in the center-middle of the theater. So that was when the surround sound effects kicked in, I knew that I would get the full immersive experience. But I didn’t know that I was sitting in the middle of a festering war-zone. After a few minutes of sitting down some people busted out some medium-sized beach balls and were bouncing them around the theater. It wasn’t the first time this happened during a premier but it was definitely the funniest. The theater was about 70% capacity and not everyone was paying attention to the bouncing beach ball. So when someone was standing up and not looking around and got hit by the beach ball everyone would make a big deal about it and start clapping and say, “OHHH.” Then some people started cheering, “Iron Man! IRON MAN!” and I was asking myself if they were just pumped for the movie. But in reality the people were cheering this one guy who was actually dressed up as Iron Man! I took a picture with him after the show which is pictured above. He was in the side of the theater doing action poses of using his Repulsor Technology.

Everything was like a fun semi-normal movie premier at Big Newport until something unexpected happened. FLYING TORTILLAS! Suddenly tortillas were getting thrown all over the theater. It was nuts. They were everywhere, making a huge mess of the floor and some people were actually eating them. It was too bad they weren’t El Tortito Grill tortillas or I else I might have eaten a couple myself. The amount of flour tortillas that were being thrown around was getting out of hand…they were EVERYWHERE. Then I realized that at least one group that had the tortillas in bags was sitting right behind me. And I asked, “Where did you get all those tortillas?!?” And this guy with a beard replied, “From Ralph’s…F&*$!” And my friend said, “SERVED!” and I was pretty blown away that anyone would buy tortillas from a Ralph’s Supermarket just so they could start a tortilla fight in the middle of a theater.

Finally the movie theater staff came in and made everyone stop throwing tortillas. And the manager on duty gave out some posters of Iron Man 2. He also presented an actual film copy of the Iron Man 2 trailer. It was pretty cool because it was all wrapped up in a cylinder like you would expect for a film. And it was rare too. Well he decided to give it to someone who could guess the name of Tony Stark’s secretary (pretty easy question, I know). But the girl he first asked didn’t know the answer. So the manager then asked the dude in the iron man outfit who the secretary was, and Iron Man yelled, “Pepper Potts!” and the guy in the costume got the prize. It was the perfect fan to give the film reel to.

When the movie started everyone began cheering. I am not going to give any spoilers about the movie because it just came out this morning. But let me tell you that it is not quite as amazing as Iron Man 1. The movie is very fun to watch and the action is great. It’s just that you don’t get the same vibe that you had in the first movie where Tony Stark has to bust his way out of his confinement in the cave. Also there are a lot more characters in this movie, so the plot isn’t quite as punchy as I would have liked it to be. But overall Iron Man 2 was a fun movie and I am very glad I went to see it opening night. If you are going to watch this one for the previews, you will probably be disappointed. The previews were for movies that I don’t really care about like “The Last Airbender.” That movie can eat a dirt taco for all I care. Also make sure to watch the entire credits and stay for the end. Because there is a short secret ending. I won’t ruin what it is though.

-Tyler

Bacon, Gouda Cheese & Egg Frittata on Artisan Roll (Starbucks)

Calories: 380

Protien: 19 grams

Sodium: 1050 mg

Fat: 20 grams

Breakfast sandwiches at fast food places are pretty hit or miss. You never know when you are going to eat something that’s good, or something that has ham that tastes like plastic. Well, I was at Starbucks this morning and I was hungry so I decided to get a sandwich. Usually the sandwiches are sold out in the morning very quickly so I was lucky today because they had a wide selection available. I decided on getting the Bacon Gouda Sandwich that comes with egg and is on an Artisan Roll. It was heated up in the heating machine and the barista offered me a plate and that was nice of her. So I asked for some ketchup and the thing about the ketchup you get from Starbucks is that the ketchup is about 1.75 times the size of your regular fast food ketchup packet. And the ketchup tasted really good. So I took my plate with my sandwich and my ketchup and sat down next to the fireplace in a comfortable leather chair.

I took the first bite of the Bacon Gouda Sandwich and was blown away by how tasty the bread mixed with the egg and cheese was. The flavors seemed to melt together to make this slightly sweet and bready mixture. I didn’t get a bite of the bacon at that time, so I put some ketchup on the bitten area and began again. This time, when I tasted the bacon with the egg and the cheese I was like, “Say what? This is a Starbucks sandwich?” It is that good. I was feeling kind of guilty because it tasted so good and I was sure that it couldn’t have been a very healthy snack. From what I know now is that the Bacon Gouda Sandwich is pretty high in salt. If you eat two of these things then you’ve had your entire daily recommended sodium intake. That’s pretty crazy for a sandwich that you can eat in like two minutes.

Now I know that the official name of this sandwich is that it is a fritatta, but it looks like a breakfast sandwich to me. And even though it tastes fancier than a regular breakfast sandwich like a egg McMuffin or something, it still has all the same parts of a regular breakfast sandwich. One piece of warning: This thing is deceptively hot when it comes out of the warmer. At first it seems like you can eat the whole thing just a few seconds after it is heated. That’s what I did. But unfortunately it was hot and the cheese burned my gums. The problem is that the sandwich is so delicious that you want to keep eating it and ignore that pain like it’s a slice of pizza or something. So I learned my lesson, next time I eat a Starbucks Bacon Gouda Sandwich I will make sure to let it sit for a minute.