Greer's OC

Dining

BURGER & BEER PARADISE AT TOMMY BAHAMA!

03.16.11

Review by Joanne Tucker

Chart your course to Tommy Bahama’s Island Grille, where you’ll find a new Burgers & Beer Menu that blends the fresh flavors of California with Tommy Bahama’s island roots in six handcrafted burgers and six microbrews for lunch or dinner.

Located in the Corona del Mar Plaza at the corner of Avocado Drive and PCH in Corona del Mar, Tommy Bahama’s Island Grille has soothing British Colonial décor with dark woods, soft golden lighting and rotating ceiling fans that gives guests an intimate vibe while dining on their favorite gourmet burger or relaxing with a draft lager or ale brew.

Most of us have experienced the fast food burger and diner or café burger fare, but what makes a Tommy Bahama’s burger different from the ordinary burger world?

For this reviewer, it’s the mouth-watering golden brown broche bun from LA’s La Brea Bakery and the juicy prime Angus beef patty that sets a T.B. burger apart. Plus, the fresh and creative accoutrements between the broche buns also heighten the taste of a true gourmet burger.

But how can one resist such culinary temptations? We couldn’t and dove into a table laden with six awesome T.B. burgers and flights of six draft beers to sample, along with three choices of fries that come with each burger.

My picky granddaughter happily dined on the All American Burger, which features prime Angus, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo with house-made dill pickles and sweet potato fries ($13.50).

The more adventurous burger lovers in the family sampled the Jamaican Jerk Burger with jerk rub on prime Angus and citrus mayo slaw ($14) and the Caprese Burger, which includes mozzarella, beefsteak tomato, walnut tapenade and white balsamic ($15). Both were crowd pleasers as well as the Hawaiian sea salt and truffle fries.

The bolder burger explorers taste-tested the Wailea Burger, which comes with crispy pancetta, grilled Maui onions and pineapple relish ($15.50). The ultra luxe of the burger world is the the Mushroom Truffle Burger. It comes topped with grilled shitakes on a Snake River Farms American Kobe patty and Tartufo cheese. Yummy!

For vegetarians, there’s a delicious meatless patty with avocado, alfalfa sprouts, roasted tomatoes, English cucumbers and lime sour cream ($13.50). Even my carnivore son-in-law was impressed with the fresh taste of this burger.

But no burger would be complete without a frosty mug of beer and Tommy Bahama’s doesn’t disappoint. The new draft beer menu includes light beers such as Kona Longboard Lager, Allagash White and Duvel Green Ale while the darker brews include Stone IPA, Humboldt Hemp Brown Ale and Spaten Optimator ($6-8). We enjoyed the light Duvel Green Ale and the dark Humboldt Hemp Brown Ale.

When the dessert tray was passed around, we couldn’t pass up a sweet treat and ordered the multi-layered chocolate cake and Papa Bahama’s version of Key West Lime Pie, which we all loved.

After this sumptuous repast, we felt like we had just entered burger and beer paradise, and heartily gave a “thumbs-up” to Tommy Bahama’s way cool Burgers & Beer Menu.

Tommy Bahama’s Island Grille, 854 Avocado Ave., Corona del Mar, 949-760-8686, www.tommybahama.com.

Open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thu.; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun.

Joanne Tucker is a freelance travel and dining writer based in Costa Mesa, Calif.

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Blog

Crazy for LEGOs!

03.16.11

Kids of all ages need to know that a new LEGO store just opened at South Coast Plaza. It’s a LEGO enthusiasts dream shop, a place to find all of the latest Lego building toys, games, and more. And the store comes complete with innovative displays and interactive play areas. The “Pick A Brick Wall,” offers the option to buy LEGO bricks and elements in a variety of colors and shapes in bulk. Whereas the “Living Room” provides an interactive play area where you can get hands-on practice building LEGO products.

Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday

Level 1, at Carousel Court, at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

714.668.9017.

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