Pie-Ology-Fullerton,CA

A friend of mine requested that I do a review on a restaurant in Fullerton, CA called Pie-ology, and she referred to it as "the Chipotle of pizza." I didn’t know  what to think about that statement since I’ve only been to Chipotle 3 times in my life and couldn’t quite correlate Chipotle with Pizza. However, once I walked into the restaurant it hit me. Pie-ology uses the concept of the "conveyour belt manufacturing process" that Chipotle does. I also didn’t think it was going to be a “fast food” style establishment, I was expecting a sit down and order from a menu with waiters type place. The décor also seemed “Chipotle-ish” with the same type furniture and metallic (as in material not music) feel to it. When you walk into Pie-ology, you wait in line to order. As we were in line, we perused the menu that was hanging on the wall.

They roll out the dough made to order. They have an array of toppings to choose from. You have your basics like pepperoni, sausage, vegetables as well as your non- traditional toppings such as bacon or chicken. Just like Chipotle they construct your pizza as you choose your ingredients.  We tried not to go too crazy since it was our first time trying the please so we ordered a pepperoni, mushroom, and fresh tomatoes ($7.50) , a #1 (cheese) pizza ($6)   and a #4 (mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta, fresh basil, cracked black pepper and olive oil)  pizza ($7.50) and a pepperoni, sausage and bacon pizza ($7.50) along with their cinnamon sugar pizza.

There is  no option to have the crust thicker, which doesn’t bother me because I prefer thin crust.  But  when we ate our pizza there wasn’t enough crust to soak in or withstand the oil from some of our toppings. But besides being a little on the oily side, the crust had a good crisp and was nicely seasoned. The pizza obviously tasted fresh since it is made to order.

Their cinnamon sugar pizza was amazing! It would’ve been more amazing if I had eaten it while it was still warm. It was buttery and wasn’t overpowered by too much cinnamon. The frosting that was drizzled over the top was sinful. I could’ve eaten the entire thing by myself.

The pizzas only come in one size, not sure of the actual dimension but I would describe it as not enough to share unless you aren’t too hungry.  $7.50 for a custom pizza, with as many toppings as you like, is a really good deal.  Overall, Pie-ology was good. It wasn’t the best pizza I’ve had and I don’t think I would rave over it but it’s definitely a place I would recommend if you are looking to go wild and construct a pizza like you've never had before. With all the different ingredients to choose from and the endless possible combinations I would definitely go back, but only if I were in the area.

Merengue Cafe and Bakery- Monrovia,CA

One night, I was craving Cuban food for dinner. Since my favorite little Cuban restaurant spot is quite a ways from where I live, I needed to find something closer. Porto’s was also closed, so that wasn’t an option either. I did remember that Merengue Café and Bakery was somewhat close by so we decided we would try it out. It is located in Monrovia, CA.

 Our order consisted of meat and cheese potato balls, cheese rolls, a medianoche sandwich, a Cuban sandwich combo, and a pan con lechon sandwich combo.

Their potato balls ($1.15)  are big. We tried the meat potato balls first. It’s is a mashed potato ball stuffed with seasoned ground beef. There wasn’t enough meat inside. The meat also had that sloppy joe taste. This was just OK for me. The cheese potato ball is a mashed potato ball with  melted, gooey, cheddar cheese inside.  I liked this. The cheese was still hot and melted. Although, I think the mashed potatoes in both potato balls needed a tad more salt. Both also needed to be fried a little more so the breadcrumbs on the outside could be a little more crispy.

The pan con lechon and Cuban sandwich combos ($6.95) came with a choice of salad or soup. For both, we chose the soup, which was clam chowder. I’m not sure if that is their regular soup option or if it changes daily. I didn’t have high expectations for the soup. It’s a Cuban café not a seafood restaurant, so I didn’t expect much. It wasn’t bad. There were a lot of clams, it was thick, and had good flavor. The sandwiches on the other hand, I wasn’t too fond of. The Pan con Lechon sandwich is Cuban bread filled with roasted pork marinated in a garlic oil sauce.  The bread was a little too toasted. The pork was tender but didn’t have much flavor. It needed to either be dipped in the garlic oil sauce, or have the sauce poured over it.

The Cuban sandwich was also disappointing. A Cuban sandwich is Cuban bread filled with ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese and pickles. As with the other sandwich, the bread was too toasted. There wasn’t enough pork and too much ham. It didn’t have enough mustard or cheese. Basically, it tasted like a ham and pickle sandwich. A medianoche is a Cuban sandwich with sweet  bread. Their medianoche ($7.45)  had a same problem as the Cuban. There wasn’t enough pork, mustard or cheese. All three sandwiches were just too dry.

On to the cheese rolls ($1.15).. I knew from first sight that I shouldn’t order them. Against my first instinct, I did anyway. My instinct was on the money. They tasted a little stale. The sugar coating on the outside didn’t caramelize the outside of the pastry, it was as if the baker waited until last minute to sprinkle sugar on top. There wasn’t enough of the cheese filling and way too much puff pastry.

Overall, it was a bust. I left craving Porto’s. It just didn’t compare at all! Merengue is a little pricier and  quality of food wasn’t great. If you still want to eat here, Fridays are a little tough to find parking because of the Monrovia Fair/Farmers Market.