Entertainment

Taco Express Mexican Food - High School Close

RESTAURANT REVIEW - My wife and I have been wanting to try this new Mexican restaurant in Madera near the high school. So today for lunch we stopped for a quick bite to eat. This is a small, eight table place without much in the way of decor. I'm sure in time decorations will go up and the place will develop some character.

The music from the stereo was a little loud which made hear the gentleman taking our orders a little difficult but we got through it. I ordered the burrito supreme and my wife ordered the quesadillas. Both chicken and both were about $5.50 each. We also ordered drinks and out total was around $15. Not bad for the food we got.

Frosty Queen - Best Location Great Burger

RESTAURANT REVIEW - Ok, this is getting a little ridicules now. First there was Super King Burger, then the Red Onion opened. Now Frosty Queen has jumped onto the bandwagon. All three of these restaurants basically offer the same menu and same quality of food. I challenge anyone to tell the difference in the food at any of these three places. This isn't a bad thing. The quality is exceptional at each place. The bread is fresh as are the ingredients are, but the taste is the same.

Like the Red Onion, there are inconsistencies in the combo prices. There are several burgers priced at $3.49 that when you order them in a combo, the prices are different. Yet the combo is the same medium Pepsi and large fries. The same goes for the numerous $3.99 burgers. Even with all that, the prices at each of these places is much better than McDonald's, Burger King or Carl's Jr.

Where Not to Find a Hot Dog in Madera

RESTAURANT REVIEW - When they closed the AMPM on Hwy99 at Avenue 12 many of us lost one of the cheapest places in Madera County to buy gas. I was real happy when AMPM opened on Avenue 17 at Hwy99 last year. When I found out they had fresh hot dogs with an ample selection of toppings and condiments I was over the moon.

I no longer minded paying the .35 cent fee for using my ATM to get gas because there was finally a place near Madera for a good hot dog. In Madera I can buy eighteen different types of tacos, fourteen different versions of a hamburger but there is no place that sells a decent hot dog. Why is it that in Madera a good hot dog is impossible to find?

Fatte Albert's Pizza - A Hanford Must

RESTAURANT REVIEW - I took my family in here last Thursday while we were downtown for the "Paint It Pink" for breast cancer awareness. I did some research before going to Hanford and found this place on the Internet. It looked cool, so we decided to take a chance.

The place was busy. I stood at the counter and two people told me that they would be right with me, then a third said it so I said, "I heard that twice before". The only thing that kept this place from getting that fifth star was this lady's bitchy attitude.

Di Cicco's Italian Restaurant

RESTAURANT REVIEW - Took my family into Dicicco's for my step-son's birthday Sunday night. Tammy was our waitress and she did a great job of making us feel at home. The food and service was great as it always has been for us when ever we come in. All three of my kids had shrimp salads and shared a pizza. I got some of that pizza when we got home and it was good.

I had a rib-eye steak and a plate of pasta. Tammy had the steak sauce in her apron when she delivered my steak so I didn't have to wait to jump into my food. My fiancé ordered the Scarface which has mushrooms. Yuck for me but I hate mushrooms. She said it was great and took her leftovers to work with her today.

Premier Brick Oven Pizza - Best Pizza in Town

RESTAURANT REVIEW - A few years ago a friend of mine opened a pizza place in the old Straw Hat location in Madera. Just a few months later he suffered a massive stroke and died. His restaurant closed and I was worried his dream also died. Fast forward over two years later and a new family is in the same location chasing their dream of running a successful pizza business in Madera.

Premiere Oven Baked Pizza is the continuation of the dream that started with Gambini's Pizza. It's a family run operation with a quality product and a professional, service oriented staff. It's not the bland, greasy corporate belt-oven pizza from the chain franchises. It is the first pizza in Madera to bring back the California tastes of the old Straw Hat Pizza.

Round Table Pizza - Best Chain Pizza in Madera

RESTAURANT REVIEW - I have been a fan of Round Table Pizza for years. Of all the chain pizza places Round Table is by far the best. However, I have not been a fan of the local franchisee or his wife. It's a personal thing that does not need to be explored in this review but it would be hypocritical of me not to acknowledge that there have been problems between us in the past.

There is an old joke that says "Pizza is like sex, when its good it is really good and when it's bad it's still pretty good". I feel that was about nearly all the pizza locations in Madera (except Dicicco's which is just too greasy). Even a hot Little Caesar's Pizza is better that a salad with a side of broccoli. What Round Table, Me n Eds and the new Premiere Pizza have going for it is that it is still good for breakfast, cold right out of the refrigerator.