Fast Food Friday

There is nothing better in the world than a great breakfast-only restaurant.
Conversely, there is nothing worse for your diet than a great breakfast-only restaurant.
We tried one the other day (for what passes for "brunch" in our household) in Loma Linda, and it didn't disappoint, on either end.
The place was called the Homestyle Cafe, and was modeled just like any other place with that name (including the one that used to be in Guasti, and is now in Chino). There was a mish-mash of chairs surrounding the tables, and coffee came in a mug that led you to believe that other customers were not sharing the design (Gina's mug said something about work and needing the money). And the walls were covered with the proper amount of kitsch and pictures of family and friends.
Of course, just like every place like this, they claimed their pancakes were the biggest in the world. Didn't try one, because I've been down that road in a place like this. When they tell you that, you better be in the mood for a pancake. And no matter what you do, don't try two.
We looked over the menu, and decided to pass on omlettes. First off, the heading over all the choices said: All of our omlettes feature about six eggs. SIX. EGGS. That's how many we scramble together to serve the three of us. Then, they pack in the extras. One choice was a meat-lovers, featuring bacon, sausage, ground beef, ham and chorizo (I think it was all those. Maybe not the ground beef). It did not come with the angioplasty.
We opted for the basics. Gina got bacon and eggs, and I got the diced ham and scrambled eggs. Each of them came with only three eggs, with Gina being served five pieces of bacon. And both came with toast and a side of breakfast potatoes that covered half the plate.
That may not sound impressive until you realize that the plate was oval shaped and was about 24-inches long by 10-inches wide. And half of that was covered in potatoes.
Not that we were complaining, mind you. This restaurant was a little more expensive than some of the others we've gone to in the past (but we haven't been to one in nearly three years). But we went in, got our fill and left knowing that we weren't going to need to rush to a next meal.

OK, now I'm going to air a pet peeve of mine when it comes to burritos:
If you're going to put rice in a burrito, it better not be the ingredient I taste the most.
Frankly, I'd rather there not be rice in a burrito, period. And since I typically don't want beans overpowering the thing, I already order most of them sans frijoles. For me, a good burrito only need carne asada, a little cheese, salsa (and/or guacamole) and maybe small amounts of beans and rice, just to hold the thing together.
This comes up because I went to Tio's Tacos here in Riverside and got me a carne asada burrito and was mostly unimpressed. It wasn't bad, mind you, but when I pony up more than $5 for a burrito, I'd like to taste the meat I ordered to be put in that burrito, not rice.
Now, I know part of the attraction of Tio's is the art work outside. And it was very cool. If I weren't just running over on my lunch break from work, I would have spent more time exploring all the works that have been created using recycled materials. I'll probably go over again one day (with the family) to check it out more, and give the food another try. Overall, the experience wasn't bad (the food was still tasty, after all), but next time, I'll probably just go with tacos.