Panera Bread - Broccoli Cheddar Soup & Half Italian Sandwich $6.99

Great Lunch!

1092 E Hospitality Ln

San Bernardino, CA 92408

(909) 478-5723

www.panerabread.com

Sizzler, Redlands

Long time location in downtown Redlands. Standard Sizzler fare. This location generally has good service and a well maintained salad bar. Great place for a quick lunch.

Mona Lisa, Redlands

Mona Lisa
1405 W Colton Ave
Redlands, CA 92374
(909) 335-0818

Updated 11/23/2009

Today was lunch at Mona Lisa's in Redlands.

The Italian Sub has ham, salami, tomato, lettuce, provolone cheese and lots of spices. It is served on a fresh, thin and crispy French roll. Very good, I could eat two of these easily. It comes with a bag of chips and a 20oz drink for only $3.95. Very good deal. Today the pasta special was spaghetti with sausage and peppers. A heaping portion of spaghetti with meat sauce served with one sausage topped with onions and peppers. "Madone", this is good stuff. the spaghetti is served with garlic bread and a 20oz soda. I like the drive-thru, a little slow sometime but well worth it. The quality of the food beats many higher priced restaurants in the area.

Food ****

Cost $





Spaghetti w/meat sauce, garlic bread & soda $4.95

Drive-Thru Italian Subs, Pasta and Salads

Mona Lisa
1405 W Colton Ave
Redlands, CA 92374
(909) 335-0818

Mona Lisa is located in a free standing building across from Tri-City Center at Colton and Redlands Blvd. This Restaurant used to be located in downtown Redlands, moved to this location several years ago. Inside is typical quick service ordering. The decor is early fast food with Formica tables.I really like this place, especially their special of the day. Mona Lisa has a special pasta of the day , it is served until they run out. For $6.95 you get Pasta, garlic bread and a soda. Monday it is ItalianSausage and Peppers with Pasta, Thursday, Spaghetti with Eggplant Sauce and Friday Fettucini Alfredo. Cannot remember the rest of the specials. Last time I visited they were out of the special and I ordered the Spaghetti with meat sauce, with garlic bread and soda for $4.95. Wow, what a deal, and it was delicious. Best part is the have a drive thru, how convenient. Some of the menu items include:
Pasta
Includes Garlic Bread & Meat or Marinara Sauce
Spaghetti $5.95
Mostacciolli $5.95
Ravioli $6.50
Tortellini $6,50
Eggplant Parmesan $6.95
Lasagna $6.50
Manicotti $6.50

Add two meat balls or one sausage $1.50

Fantastic sandwich special that included chips and a soda is $3.95

I love this place and wish them a long life. Open Monday through Saturday 11-9.

Food ****

Ambience **

Service **

Cost $

Maria's Kitchen, San Bernardino

Two Ground Beef Enchiladas, Beans, Rice & Soda $5.99

Maria's Kitchen
424 W Court Street

San Bernardino. CA 92401

909 387-9396

Maria's is located in an old brick building at the Civic Center on Court Street between D & E Streets. It looks like a hole in the wall from the outside but surprisingly big once you see the lay out inside. It appears to be a mom and pop operation. When I visited around 1:30 in the afternoon it was not busy, just a few customers inside. I was pleasantly greeted, order taken and then they delivered the food to my table. I only saw one person working the front, so I do not know how Maria's operates when they get busy.

I ordered the daily special of two ground beef enchiladas served with rice and beans at $5.99. Chips and salsa are served with the meal, along with a squeeze bottle of spicy chili sauce. The plate was huge, the enchiladas were stuffed with lots of seasoned ground beef and cheese. They were covered in a dark red sauce that tasted homemade. The accompanying rice and beans were both delicious. Maria's has many selections on the menu for Mexican and American food, they also serve breakfast. Some examples:

Tortas, Asada, Chicken or Ham $3.75

Tacos of various kinds $1.75

Most Mexican Combination Plates are $5.50

Four Cheese Burger Combo $5.00

Taco Salad $5.50

Meat Burritos $4..

American Breakfasts start at $5.50

I will defiantly give Maria's another shot for lunch. The food is good and reasonable priced.

Food ***

Ambiance **

Service **

Cost $

Repeat - Yes

Panera Bread, Redlands

Chicken Greek Salad $7.58
Breakfast Sandwich $3.89

Panera Bread

470 E Cypress Ave
Redlands, CA 92373
(909) 307-9605

This Panera is located in the Albertsons Center at Cypress and Redlands Blvd. It is fairly new with a fresh and clean feel inside. All the Panera's I have seen have the same decor, wood-tone, relaxing atmosphere. Service can be a bit slow if they are busy. I generally like the food here. They have great soups, my favorite being the Cheddar Broccoli. They also have a good line of sandwiches for lunch or dinner. So far the $5.00 craze has not hit Panera. Panera also serves soups in a sourdough bowl, they really load on the calories by serving bread on the side with the bread bowl. Usually Panera serves the fresh French bread as the side order.. The bread has a crispy crust and soft chewy interior. The butter served with the bread is hard as a rock so bring your blowtorch. The coffee is not bad either and all the refills you can handle.

The Greek Salad is served in a huge bowl. It has a delicious blend of Romaine lettuce, sliced red onions, tomatoes, Greek olives, feta cheese and a mild Greek dressing at $5.79. I added a generous portion of Chicken for $1.79. Of course it is served with a big hunk of bread on the side. I could eat one of these salads every day. All the ingredients blended perfectly.

The breakfast sandwiches are pretty simple. I had the Bacon, Egg & Cheese. It is served on a thin sliced Cibattea bread with one fried egg, slice of cheddar cheese and a strip of bacon. The sandwich was minimally good, the bread was very fresh. Not a lot of flavor, pretty basic sandwich at $3.89. Next time I think would order one of their breakfast souffles.

Another great feature of Panera is the free Wi-Fi. It is always nice to know there is a place nearby with good food, pleasant atmosphere and WI-FI.

Food ***

Ambiance *** (free Wi-FI)

Service **

Cost $

Repeat - Yes

http://www.panerabread.com/

Arby's Italian Salad

Arby's Italian Salad $4.99

Arby’s
1245 E Colton Ave
Redlands, CA 92374
(909) 335-2729‎

When I go to Arby’s would prefer to order a Big Montana (720 calories), heavy on the Horsey Sauce (124 calories), large curly fries (604 calories) and a large diet Doctor Pepper. With age the metabolism changes. I am working on my food ordering preferences At the rate I am gaining weight this will have to become a salad blog.

The Italian Salad was not bad, the lettuce and all the other ingredients were fresh. For 386 calories you get Iceberg lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, pepperoni, salami, red onions, tomatoes and sliced banana peppers. Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing was 130 calories. The dressing was tangy and the salad ingredients blended well together.. I was hungry when finished, but my appetite sated after a few minutes passed. I was a drive-thru customer, service was ok. Hope this helps make up for the In-N-Out Double Double combo with Vanilla Shake I had for lunch yesterday.

Food **


http://www.arbys.com/nutrition/printable.php?type=nutrition



 

Costco Food Court, Caesar Chicken Salad

Chicken Caesar Salad $3.99

Can't beat the price, around 670 calories. I had the Polish Hot Dog, scarfed it down before I even thought about taking a picture. Both were good, I was very tempted to order another dog, glad I passed. When looking for URL for Costco found following nutritional information


http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-nutrition-information-for-items-in-the-costco-food-court.htm

Costco is a chain of huge warehouse stores that offers bulk pricing to the public. In addition to bulk goods, Costco offers an increasing number services for its customers. Some Costco stores sell gas, have a bakery, and even do photo processing. One of the more common warehouse features is the Costco Food Court. On a recent trip, I looked around for nutrition information, but nothing was available. So I asked one of the clerks and he too was unable to find such a sheet. He looked at one of packages of hot-dogs and proclaimed that "they have a lot of calories and fat". Later, I requested nutrition information from Costco corporate headquarters. Shortly thereafter, I was presented with some rather shocking nutrition information:

item	cal.	fat (g)	chol. (mg)	sod. (mg)	fib. (g)
Costco Chicken Caesar Salad	670	40	135	2680	7
Costco Chicken Bake Sandwich	770	25	115	2310	2
Costco California Churro with Cinnamon and Sugar	410	18	0	610	3
Costco Hebrew National Hot Dog (includes bun, ketchup, mustard, onion, relish & kraut)	550	34	70	1630	3
Turkey Wrap	810	38	85	2570	7
Costco Slice of Cheese Pizza (1/6 of a pizza)	700	28	75	1370	3
Yogurt	390	0	10	280	0
Fruit Smoothie	290	0	0	45	1
Costco Hebrew National Polish Sausage (includes bun, ketchup, mustard, onion, relish & kraut)	540	32	65	1580	3
Nutritional Guidelines (Daily values listed on U.S. nutrition labels)	2000	65	30