Paradise Grill - Castro Valley, CA

Paradise Grill
Previously known as Paradiso at Willow Park (Golf Course)
17007 Redwood Rd.
Castro Valley, CA 94546
(510) 537-3063



Paradise Grill is also known as Willow Park Event Center's Paradise Grill and Mike Wiesner's Paradise Grill. They are located at the Willow Park Public Golf Course on Redwood Road in Castro Valley.



Service: Excellent. Friendly. No complaints at all!
Atmosphere: Pleasant and upscale cozy.
Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas: absolutely delicious comfort food...I cleaned my plate!
Grilled flatiron steak (10 oz.), creamed spinach, bleu cheese potato gratin: perfectly seasoned and cooked medium rare, very tender steak with yummy side dishes!
Peach & blackberry cobbler, vanilla bean ice cream: superb fruit cobbler, portion large enough for sharing, could use a bigger scoop of ice cream! :)

Paradise Grill in Castro Valley is a place I would definitely come back to, whether it be for another dinner, lunch or one of their special brunches on Easter or Mother's Day.

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Dublin, CA

Romano's Macaroni Grill
4805 Hacienda Dr.
Dublin, CA 94568
(925) 560-1520
macaronigrill.com



Romano's Macaroni Grill is also known as simply "Macaroni Grill" and this one's located on Hacienda Drive at Dublin Boulevard and I-580...you can't miss it next to Mimi's Cafe across from the Shell gas station. We came here last Friday evening and the wait was surprisingly only about 10-12 minutes...we've been here before and left when the wait was 30-45 minutes!



We decided to venture from the "usual" Macaroni Grill dishes we order...the Penne Rustica for him and the Pizza Margherita for me...and both tried their new Sausauge Salentino ($8.99) dish after sharing a bowl of their Chicken Toscana Soup. Neither one of us cared for the Sausage Salentino, as it was not only served at room temperature, but it was a boring pasta dish with barely a touch of watery tomato sauce, bits of sausage like what you see on a combination pizza, bland broccoflower hybrid (broccoli x cauliflower) and roma tomatoes. Macaroni Grill should really consider removing the Sausage Salentino from their menu!

On the flip side, Macaroni Grill's Chicken Toscana Soup ($4.99 for a bowl) was excellent...and so was their Simple Lemon Pound Cake ($1.99) that we shared for dessert! Macaroni Grill also serves Illy coffee, which is very good and a great way to end a meal. Their service is also friendly and excellent, with a lot of attention to drink refills and asking if we'd like any more of their awesome bread. :)

Main Street Grill - Walnut Creek, CA

Main Street Grill
2355 N. Main St.
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
(925) 927-1147
mainstreetgrilldelivers.com



The Main Street Grill serves breakfast, lunch and dinner from 6:30am to 10:00pm and they also provide breakfast and lunch catering and delivery services. They are located inside the Marriott Hotel in downtown Walnut Creek. It is next to a Motel 6 and across the street from a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealer. FYI, they offer valet parking which the restaurant will validate if you dine there.



Service was excellent at Main Street Grill in Walnut Creek and this is what we ordered:

Side Caesar Salad (included) with anchovies - delicious!
Porcini Dusted Halibut ($25) with toasted orzo, baby spinach, caramelized sweet onions - very tasty!
Main St. Black Pepper Bacon Burger ($11) with Gorgonzola cheese - nice, thick bacon and a generous amount of Gorgonzola cheese, but the meat quality was average.

Tailgaters - Brentwood, CA

Tailgaters Sports Bar & Grill
8065 Brentwood Blvd.
Brentwood, CA 94513
(925) 513-8281
brentwoodtailgaters.com

The best thing about my first experience at Tailgaters was their Black and Blue Burger (a Cajun style blackened Tailgater with gorgonzola melted on top) and the worst thing was that our party of four sat and waited for 10-15 minutes for our table to be cleared and cleaned.

The other three in my party ordered the Monday $10.95 All-You-Can-Eat chicken wings (drummettes, actually) which are served as a basket of 12 the first time, then in quantities of 6. They said they were okay, but nothing special.

Seems like a great gathering place for watching games and although the owner/manager himself was actively involved in clearing tables and taking orders, the quality of service from servers was lacking at this time.

Boardwalk Grill - Discovery Bay, CA

Boardwalk Grill
5879 Marina Road
Discovery Bay, CA 94505
(925) 513-2499
boardwalkgrill.net

The first time I had been to this location at the Discovery Bay Marina, it was called "Discovery Joe's" and this was back in the late '90s so I know I'm dating myself! ;) It was awful back then, so I actually hadn't returned after giving them a few chances to redeem themselves.

Living in Discovery Bay back in the day, our only "local" dining choices were either Discovery Joe's or the pizza parlor or sandwich shop in the Discovery Bay Shopping Center. You could also head out to Orwood Resort for an Okie Taco or drive to Brentwood for more selection...but it was really still quite limited!

Anyway, we really enjoyed our lunch at the Boardwalk Grill today. Not only was it the perfect day driving up to Discovery Bay in my convertible, but we're thankful that there was no wind so we could enjoy dining al fresco without my hair blowing everywhere. :) I think the term "Delta Breeze" is quite an understatement...on a typical day, I wouldn't be able to eat outside without being subject to an occasional mouthful of my hair!

Service: Excellent. Thanks, Danielle (30)!

Sourdough Melt (his): "Burger patty with melted cheese and grilled onions on sourdough served with seasoned fries" $8.49. Excellent...although the fries were plain, not seasoned.

Asian Chicken Wrap (hers): "Chicken breast, mandarin oranges, crispy wontons, rice noodles & toasted almonds, with fresh lettuce & our sesame dressing in a large flavored flour tortilla served with fruit" $9.99. Excellent...but the almonds were not toasted as described. The pineapple slices served on the side were delightfully sweet...yum! He ate my cantaloupe and watermelon. I'm from Hawaii. The fruits I eat are pineapple, guava, passion fruit, lychee...not cantaloupe and watermelon. :)

Note: I just joined Boardwalk Grill's e-mail list since their website enticed me with a "free" appetizer. Now I'm reading their confirmation e-mail and not only did their attached coupon expire on April 1, 2009 but it also requires a $30 minimum food purchase. Thumbs down to that.



















Sourdough Melt $8.49


Asian Chicken Wrap $9.99

Zephyr Grill & Bar - Livermore, CA

Zephyr Grill & Bar
1736 First Street
Livermore, CA 94550
(925) 961-1000
zephyrgrill.com

This was our first visit to Zephyr Grill & Bar and we decided to try their Happy Hour (M-F, 3-6 and 9-close). You have to sit at the bar or at one of the two tables in the lounge to order from the Happy Hour Bar/Lounge Menu, which is 50% off all appetizers and $5.50 for the cocktails listed or any well cocktail. The service was great, the decor and ambiance set the tone for higher expectations, but the food was a disappointment.

The bread basket was beautifully presented and contained a couple of slices of olive bread, a couple of slices of sourdough and some crunchy breadsticks. The trio of butter balls consisted of: sweet cream, roasted red pepper (my favorite!) and garlic pesto.

Grilled Pear Salad: "Spicy, Wild and Creamy! Grilled and spice kissed pears with spicy pecans, wild greens and creamy crumbled bleu cheese. Tossed in a sweet but vibrant pomegranate viniagrette. $7.95 (or $3.98 during happy hour.)" On paper, this was a fabulous pairing of ingredients, but the overall execution failed as a result of their use of "pecan crumbs" instead of chopped or whole pecans. The texture and flavor of the "spicy pecan crumbs" were pretty much undetectable among the bleu cheese crumbles and spiced pears...too bad. I really would have enjoyed this salad had the pecans made their presence known!

Pizza Margherita: "Whole milk mozzarella, fresh basil and tomato snow on homemade grilled pizza skins. $8.95 (or $4.48 during happy hour.)" This was a complete failure IMO, and I'd even go as far to say that this should be removed from their menu. My description would have read: "An overload of mozzarella, one basil leaf sparsely spread over 6 mini-pizza slices and a chunky tomato spread on week-old dried out flour tortilla-esque skins."

The highlight of Zephyr was getting the bill...which they present atop a platter that contains a couple of bite-size pieces of chocolate brownie with a peppermint layer in the middle...MMM!













Grilled Pear Salad $7.95 ($3.98 during happy hour)


Pizza Margherita $8.95 ($4.48 during happy hour)