Outlaw Larry’s

Outlaw Larry’s
1825 Hamner Avenue
Norco, (951) 278-2771

The full story of Outlaw Larry’s reads more like the tale of a relationship gone badly than one of a restaurant striving to find its place in a changing community. Some of you may remember Texas Loosey’s, which occupied the same building for a number of years. They began to serve food back when Norco’s streets were still quaintly paved with dirt and there were only three or four other restaurants in town. Originally, it was part of a chain of Texas Loosey’s strung across
a couple of counties, with the location in Torrance being the hub, but what most people may well remember about Texas Loosey’s is the fact that the image of the establishment fit well with its name: Picture Hooters with a sultry Texas drawl… oh yeah, and chaps over bikinis… well, you get the idea.

That theme worked well in rough and ready horse country, well enough to make a name for itself as a restaurant with great food and a great… ahem, view. But times, they do change, and Norco has been enjoying an upswing in the quality of life that its neighboring communities have been endorsing for a number of years, and when a continual breakout of new housing communities spring up across what was once cow and horse property, with it usually comes young families. If anything, Texas Loosey’s in its original form was not a family restaurant.

About 10 years ago, the chaps and bikinis disappeared, perhaps because of Norco’s
transformation, but the restaurant still carried with it the reputation of a local saloon that also served food, a place where regulars sit elbow to elbow at the bar, watch the game and tap the keg dry. Eventually, the Texas Loosey’s chain, for whatever reason, went belly up, bankrupt, and all the properties were scattered in the wind to their new owners. The folks that bought the Norco Texas Loosey’s property didn’t change anything about the place, but to their fault, they relied on inexperienced managers to make inexperienced decisions that greatly affected not only the slim-to-none profit margin but its already fragile relationship with the community. Groups were asked not to come back if they wanted to split the check too many ways or if they announced that they were going to go somewhere else after dinner for a drink.

All of that came to a screeching halt four years ago when Larry Weinstein, wrote a check for the deed to Texas Loosey’s, and a new incarnation was about to begin. For starters, he didn’t change a thing. Everyone in the kitchen, keep doing what you’re doing. He began right away to mend the relationships soured by the previous regime… and he expanded the menu… and expanded the menu… and then expanded the menu some more. Larry grew up behind the counter of his father’s delicatessen, and decided that he wanted to incorporate some of those tried and true recipes at his new place. However, since he didn’t want to cut any of the items, afraid that he might dishearten a customer loyal to whatever dish he axed, he would lose business, so his menu is ever growing, currently topping the scales at over 220 items.

But what to do about the name? With Texas Loosey’s still emblazoned on the front of the building, Larry was anxious he was either turning people away because of prior stigmas of previous owners or reputation or disappointing people who were used to the old Texas Loosey’s. After three years of fretting about the name, and a lot of hand wringing, a friend suggested Outlaw Larry’s, and although he didn’t want to use his name in the title, it stuck.

That was a year ago, and since then, business has been picking up, as it slowly ditches the baggage of a bar that serves food and embraces the ideal that Outlaw Larry’s is a family-style sports bar and steakhouse.

Well, now that you know way too much about how Texas Loosey’s became Outlaw Larry’s, what can you expect when you open the front door? Frankly, it is a no-frills establishment, as all the tricks that attract less discerning eaters to other restaurants, like Friday’s or Red Robin, are in the kitchen at Outlaw Larry’s. The pizzazz is in the food. The décor is a western theme meets a diner, but it doesn’t punch you in the face at every turn (like Friday’s), and while you should expect some thematic atmosphere from a restaurant, it would be hard to spot it if you first didn’t know the name on the building. And that’s good in a way, because it focuses on the food and the conversation, the whole reason for being there.

First to arrive at the table were three soups, each one better than the one before. The chicken noodle that I first tried was typical of what I would have expected to find in a bowl of regular chicken noodle soup, but it was actually refreshing and light. The chicken wasn’t chewy, the noodles rubbery nor was the base salty. What followed was Larry’s French Onion soup, topped with a thick slathering of cheese (possibly gruyere), a complex beef broth and nicely caramelized onions. It wasn’t overpower or especially chunky, but it would have made a nice platform off of which to jump into a steak and mashed potatoes. The third soup was a special concoction that isn’t ordinarily on the menu, a sweet and sour cabbage soup from the recipe files of Larry’s grandmother, and without giving it away the details of this soup, I suggest you leave your card and ask that Larry call you when he whips up a batch because it alone is well worth the price of admission.

There was hardly any room on the table for the behemoth that arrived next, as Larry hefted out the flagship of his menu, the Larry’s Mega Combo, a heaving platter of meats from the land, sea and air: A 10-ounce tri-tip steak, a smoked chicken, half a rack of baby back ribs, two thick beef ribs, five jumbo fried shrimp and a variety of in-house-made barbecue sauces, dips, Texas red chili and Ranchero beans (you can get other side options, of course).

Best on the plate for me were the two large beef ribs, that once you picked them up by the conveniently exposed bone (the steam-injection smoking method Larry uses to cook these ribs causes the meat to shrink on the bone without losing juiciness or flavor) the meat practically falls off into your mouth. They have a strong flavor, and with the robust barbecue, packs quite a hefty punch of taste.

I’ve never really been a fan of baby back ribs. For starters I always feel slightly guilty that the word “baby” is in the name… I know. But they’re always a lot of work for what you get. Usually, the meat is sparse, meager, and they are amazingly messy. Larry’s are no different in many regards, but the flavor of the meat more than makes up for it.

The butterflied fried shrimp added a nice contrast to the red meat and chicken, which was like having a basket of bread nearby to neutralize your mouth between meat shifts. It wasn’t over breaded like some shrimp plates I’ve been subjected to, and they rely more on the zest of the shrimp in the marinara sauce than the amount of frying they were cooked with.

I felt the chicken was a little on the dry side, at least once you bit through the thickly barbecue-basted skins, but it could have been dry because it was one of the last things I tried from the combo platter. Then again, it is difficult to make fowl that doesn’t come out dry, especially when it is compared to dripping wet ribs or a juicy tri-tip and all of the complementary sauces and sides on the plate. However, I lathered it up with some extra barbecue sauce and it was good to go.

Of everything so far, the entrée I was least enthusiastic to try was the Homemade Country Fried Steak, only because they always remind me of Salisbury steak I’d find in an elementary school cafeteria. I understand that isn’t really fair to compare them in that way (or generalize), but it is the gravy smothered on top that triggers my memory. Usually, the gravy on other country fried steaks I’ve had in the past has been bland, predictable and frankly insipid. At least Outlaw Larry’s injected his with chunks of bacon and bits of sausage to break up the monotony of a creamy gravy, and it is used sparingly on top of the steak. What balanced out the experience was the mashed potatoes, presented like a little volcano holding back the gravy lava that gave the smooth and creamy potatoes a welcomed kick, tying the whole plate
together with a common flavor.

If I could eat meat and potatoes every day of my life, I doubt that I would have anything to complain about. Of course, I would probably be nearly 400 pounds doing so, but at least I wouldn’t fret over what dinner was going to be like, so when I finally cleared some space on the table in front of me to make room for the 12 ounces of Angus rib eye steak that was headed my way, I was looking forward to it. Char broiled, the steak just sagged in my plate, a welcomed sight as I could almost slice into it with the side of my fork. The well tenderized meat was no match, melting in my mouth with very little help from my teeth. If you are a steak lover, you’re missing out if you haven’t had one of these yet (they also offer it in a 20- ounce size for the truly hungry). It came with steak fries and steamed vegetables that could not possible measure up to this steak, and if it came out from the kitchen on a plate all by itself, I don’t think I would have had a problem with that because it needed nothing else…okay, maybe a dab of horseradish. Certainly my favorite.

The fact that Outlaw Larry’s still enjoys some of the trappings of its roots can be seen not only in the pages of its menu—most all of the Texas Loosey’s menu was retained—but in the spirit of the restaurant itself. It’s come a long way from chaps and bikinis to booths filled with young families, its customers can rest assured, Outlaw Larry’s is a place where you can be sure that you’ll get a good traditional steak, hand-picked at the market by Larry himself, and cooked the proper way.

And hey, if you don’t like steak, there’s 219 other items on the menu. You won’t be
disappointed.

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Three Square Bistro

Three Square Bistro
140 Hidden Valley Pkwy # A
Norco, CA 92860

It can’t be stressed enough that the restaurant industry is indeed a fickle mistress, one that not only robs the budding entrepreneurs of time spent with his friends and family but all the while threatens—at every possible moment—the potential to spit them out on the street, douse the fires under their pots and close their doors forever. Sweaty palms and sleepless nights are prerequisites upon signing the lease to any building that will house a restaurant.

However, it isn’t that rare these days to find a restaurant owned by a large conglomerate that is well fortified by a wide bottom line and countless links to their chain, but what is rare is to meet a charismatic young couple with the courage and energy to stand against the odds and open a restaurant unlike any other so far in the area. To make it more of a cliffhanger, they both quit lucrative jobs to make it happen.

Meet John and Janet Lee, owners of the newly opened Three Square Bistro in Norco, and upon the first handshake it is obvious they are not only devoted to their dream but also not afraid to roll up their sleeves and take command of it. I mean, where in the restaurant world does the owner himself escort you to your table with a charming smile and a genuine welcome? And not until you spend a few minutes with them do you meet their alter egos behind the charm: two passionate, hard working and eager-to-succeed individuals with a drive only the truly diligent can muster. They’re the American Dream incarnate.

Boiled down, the Three Square Bistro story began on Christmas Day 2005 in Los Angeles, and, over dinner with Janet’s brother (operator of a sushi bar in some place called Norco), they revisited the long-standing discussion about starting a restaurant. After all, Janet was no stranger to the workings of the food service business, having been a real estate lawyer for the parent company of Panda Express, and John, all the while passionate about cooking but hardly ever having the chance (a childhood ambition was to be a chef), was growing tired of the dental supplies manufacturing industry. To them, that Christmas Day, the allure of owning their own restaurant grew to a boiling point that flashed when Janet’s brother told her that a
location was available right next door to his sushi place in Norco.

They decided to do it. “After all, we’re still young and we don’t have kids yet,” explains Janet over a mouthwatering rack of braised short ribs that I’m dying to sink my teeth into. “So why not take a chance and try it.”

The dye was cast, jobs were quit, leases signed, equipment purchased, chefs hired, menus planned and tables set. The front doors were opened in mid September 2006, but at the time they only offered two of the three squares, not adding breakfast until only a couple of weeks ago. If you were hard pressed to classify the fare, it would fit in that widely-defined arrangement called California Cuisine, but the menu is so vast and varied they have a hard time fitting it all on the pages. They offer 17 different sandwiches for lunch, for example, and those are completely different sandwiches not just variations on the ham and cheese theme: Grilled Four Cheeses, Sirloin Steak Sandwich, Pastrami Reuben…et al. Items for a classic breakfast are varied from French toast, waffles and pancakes to build-your-own omelets (with
their most popular being the crab, asparagus and mushroom omelet), and those for lunch and dinner are as varied as cheese steaks, pastrami sandwiches, jambalaya, chicken and shrimp, ribs and steaks, not to mention all of the dishes in between that you would normally expect(and a few that I wouldn’t have like the Breakfast Penne—pasta for breakfast sounds intriguing).

One detail that you’ll be hard pressed to find at another establishment is a revolving menu. John and Janet’s plan is to change about 20 percent of the menu every quarter, cycling in and out recipes and dishes with the seasons. “We want to set up a winter menu and a summer menu,” explains Executive Chef Leo Mendoza, to always offer something different for their regular customers. “People need change from their regular routine.” In addition to the innovative items on the menu, it is important to note that they make everything right on the premises. “Nothing is store bought and nothing is frozen,” John told me. From their sauces and soups to their desserts, “Everything is made in-house.”

Their location—tucked away next door to that giant “always on sale” furniture store on the south side of Hidden Valley that keeps going out of business but is forever replaced by another giant “always on sale” furniture store—unfortunately isn’t going to afford them a host of drive-by diners in search of something new to try, but so far, by simple word of mouth, they are doing a brisk business, with each month’s figures being larger than the ones previous. Inside, the décor is purposely Spartan with marble tables, ample booths, cherry wood chairs and some modestly eclectic artwork, but it doesn’t lend itself to an overpowering theme, allowing you to focus your attention on what is important: conversation with your friends and the food, which makes a big splash when it’s placed in front of you.

Speaking of which…

Put in chronological order, I started with breakfast and their widely popular Bistro Pancake, which delightfully resembled a pie shell succulently bathed in butter and powdered sugar. It is a German-style pancake, meaning that it is baked in an oven rather than fried on a skillet, and that really makes all the difference in the world to someone who has never had one before. “Traditional” pancakes are heavy as if laden down by the batter they’re whipped up from, but the Bistro Pancake is light and puffy with crisp edges that almost elevate it to that ever lofty goal of being a dessert, so much so that I hesitated in adding any syrup, allowing the pastry to stand up on its own (if you don’t think a pancake can be a pastry, you need to try
this one).

Within the blink of an eye, I was able to fast forward to lunch, and from the kitchen came two of their specialties, The Bistro Burger and the Turkey & Asparagus Melt. First to arrive is the Melt, accompanied by their very popular sweet potato fries and, most important to any fries connoisseur such as myself, a specially concocted honey butter dipping sauce sprinkled with cinnamon. Even though I would have expected that combination on a doughnut, it sparkled the flavor of the sweet potatoes and was a welcomed change to ketchup or ranch dressing for certain. The turkey was presented in four small rolls within the slices of the toasted country oat bread, and wrapped in each of those rolls was a stick of asparagus. Provolone cheese, alfalfa sprouts and tomatoes are lightly brushed with a Thousand Island dressing, and the whole thing simply falls apart in your mouth, right were it should. The flavor is light but full—all the while tasting healthy—and each element is a complement to each other, rounding out to an overall pleasing experience.

Be prepared for the Bistro Burger, as it is one of those difficult-to-eat burgers that require an extra napkin, but, don’t worry, as it is well worth the mess. The secret is not to put it down, which isn’t that hard to do. The meat itself is an oversized burger packed with Worcester sauce, ketchup, mustard and a bevy of “secret spices” that neither John nor Janet would divulge. It is loosely packed but thick, spilling over the top of the bun, and each bite seems to dissolve in your mouth. One thing: I saw no ketchup or mustard on the Three Square Bistro tables and I didn’t see anyone ask for any either; trust me, you don’t need to and you’d ruin the
hamburger if you did. Each item, especially their signature Bistro Burger, speaks for itself and doesn’t need any help from French’s or Hunt’s.

Last but not least, for me, was the best of the best, their Braised Short Ribs, clearly the flagship entrée on the menu, and because of the nearly four-hour prep time involved in fashioning these ribs, they are only offered on Friday and Saturday after 5pm (and only until supplies last…about 60 pounds worth per night). For John, this is a sentimental dish, as it is his mother’s recipe, and after you taste them, you’ll soon realize that John must have had a wonderful childhood. They are marinated all night in a special soy sauce-based mixture and braised in the oven for two hours, served with sautéed vegetables and my three favorite words: garlic mashed potatoes. In short, you taste them well before your fork reaches your mouth; the spices and sauce fill your nose as the knife slices easily through the thick meat (still on the bone…but barely). The flavors are full, heavy and deep, obviously Asian inspired with the soy sauce tang, but very American in that satisfying meat-and-potatoes hearty meal, exactly like the kind you’d find at home on a Saturday night.

What was most impressive about the various meals brought to my booth was the attention to presentation. Regardless of my opinion about what hangs on the walls or what color tiles grace the floors, there is nothing there that beats the jaw-dropping astonishment as the entrée is set down before me. Dancing elephants and stunt motorcycle riders couldn’t have commanded my attention as easily as their meals do. It was as if each plate was a mini show all to itself and performing especially for me. The bun to the burger was cocked just so to show off the tomato and basil garnishing and the ribs were fanned out on four quadrants of the plate standing sentry around the mountain of potatoes and vegetables. Even the Melt was split open and the fries were spilling out as if from a cornucopia.

I enjoy a well-cooked meal like anyone else, but the experience I had was a most welcomed change from all the other “name brand” restaurants springing up in the Empire. As evident of the Three Square Bistro, we are beginning to experience a new wave of quality eateries that are synonymous to the quaint boroughs of big cities, and I could be hard pressed to find a better way to satiate my appetite with original dishes at reasonable prices.

The Lees are delightfully confident in their undertaking at the Three Square Bistro, but realistic and grounded: “I could always go back to being a lawyer,” Janet confessed, but the look on her face was as if she just licked a lemon. I don’t think she has anything to worry about; the world has enough lawyers, but not enough Three Square Bistros.

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