Over a month ago, maybe two now, Alvarado Gardens reopened. The new owners remodeled the aged place that once housed an old-mans bar and barbecue joint. My neighborhood doesn’t have a heck of a lot of excitement going on, so having the chance to eat at completely new restaurant is just too juicy to pass up.
The boys, Big D (not to be cornfused with D-man, who I will now refer to as, Monkey Wrangler) have been more than a few times. They’ve gots breakfast, lunches and dinner versions of their American food available throughout the day. Parking can be found around the corner, in the rear. Please ignore the nasty, failing tarmac. The landlord doesn’t look like they care, but the tenants do!
You’ll never, ever guess what the boys get each time? That’s right, burgers.
Me thinks this burger bun has been updated to a new one. v1.0 seen here.
These were good solid contenders and while I didn’t detect any smoky wood charcoal wafts, they had a grilled look to them. Laden with cheese and bacon would be my next choice. The fries were crispy, hot & thin. Plus the arrival time is in good standing.
Here’s my hot turkey dinner, all glistenny.
Meatball sammich at lunch time. Prolly won’t order again, lacking something zesty.
Perfectly cooked onion rings with bbq sauce on the side. Surely order again, don’t know if house-made, they went too quickly to find out. What’s that funny looking green lettuce thing doing there? I think I would have garnished it with something I could have eaten or another sauce to dip in to.
The boys and I drop about 40 bux with a decent tip each time, so it isn’t exactly an inespensive place to eat. But so far, most everything has been as expected. All except one thing. And since I’m not a professional food writer, I can give them a hard time about 1 thing. Usually you let young restaurants work the kinks out for 3 months before ranting.
GET THAT !@#$% RAW GARLIC OUT OF MY MASHED POTATOES !!!
I don’t care if you are a college degreed chef of some sort, raw garlic does not belong in mashed potatoes. On our first visit I got an entire clove of garlic that had been flattened to some degree in my mouth! Oh it burned! I talked to the kind waitress at the end of the meal about it. She was nice enough and thanked me for the input. They should have listened. This last time it was pureed garlic. And I’m not talking about just a little addition, I’m talking about every mouthful being filled with micro crushed raw garlic, it was crunching in my mouth. I took 2 spoonfuls and couldn’t take any more. Quiddit. Roast it first please, if you must. I want you to repeat, Cream & Butter. Cream & Butter, Cream & Butter & Salt. Don’t be messin’ with my hot turkey sammiches. Plus if I’m paying for dinner prices, please add in 3 kinds of roasted vegetables, please.
I’ve loved Hot Turkey Sammiches since I could grab a fork. And while I know my hot turkey taste buds are clearly an American version and the word Gourmet ain’t even uttered. There needs to be some standards here. The very next day I visited Sukie’s Country Kitchen to take a picture of what I consider a Hot Turkey Sandwich. Notice the vegetables over there. No, that’s the knife handle, look to the upper right. Yeah, those.
While I understand most of you are grossed out by food that’s covered in “sauce” (you can’t say gravy cause sauce is better for you than gravy is). This is how I want it, it’s all about the gravy. Er, sauce. This much sauce allows me to have gravy with each bite. Then? I have enough to save a portion of bread slice for the final sopping. And you know what? There’s no raw garlic in the taters.
In any case, the new and fresh Alvarado Gardens will be worth your time and effort for a decent neighborhood break. I wish you well in the near and distant future!
Biggles
Alvarado Gardens
12891 San Pablo Ave
Richmond, CA 94805
I don’t have the phone number, might add later.
I sure miss the ‘Old’ Alvarado Gardens. Thursday nights used to be Barbeque and Zydeco music.
Oh, my God! That turkey sandwich takes me back to university days when I depended on them for dinner at the Greek diner in town. Or hot roast beef, treated the same way. Tons of carbs, lots of savory gravy (not sauce) and freshly-made made potatoes. A bargain. Think I will hunt one down for lunch today — maybe the Roashaus (Rosthaus?) in Terra Linda. Yum.
Because you went, I will now go. Wish I’d had the gumption to go during the zydeco years…
How’s their breakfast? I don’t know where to eat in this town.
Hey Mrs.,
Ain’t done the breakfast, yet. Hope to soon though. What kind of breakfast are you looking for? Sukie’s Country Kitchen is good for semi-greasy American faire. If you feel like doing an outstanding Mexican breakfast, Tres Hermanas cannot be beat. They ain’t inexpensive, but they’re cooking is perfection.
Biggles
I suffer from Post Restaurant Worker Trauma Syndrome. I have a large mix of rules and goals to balance when I eat breakfast out, what with being so psychically damaged from serving the people and all. I try to avoid going south, because I like to keep the money local and also not see people from work. I don’t like waits or bad smells, so if the hood vent isn’t doing its job, or if I can smell cherry bathroom, I’m outta there.
That said, I break my rules. I go to Meal Ticket in Albania, which has no flaws and the best salmon and eggs breakfast ever. And locally I go to Tina’s in El Sob. But I’m looking for a Pride and Purpose breakfast. So maybe I’ll toddle down to Alvarado Gardens one of these days. On the other hand, Mr Guy makes a mean egg and we stay home a lot 🙂
Hey Mrs,
Uh, yeah it ain’t like Meal Ticket.
No odd smells and the hood vents work fine. Everything is worth a try, at least once.
Biggles