Claim Jumper, in Carmel Mt. Ranch 5 & 6/52

Now that I have had a couple of relaxing days off, I have time for some finer things in life, such as blogging!



This past week, and the week before, we went to Claim Jumper, in Carmel Mt. Ranch, for my 'rita blog. Two weeks in a row? Yes, because their happy hour is such a great time, we had to do it twice! That, and on there HH menu, they had two different 'ritas to choose from.

Claim Jumper's HH is from 3 to 7, and only in the "saloon." During HH there is a nice selection of food, ranging from $2 to $6. I am sure you can get full service, but the HH prices for what you get is outstanding! A plate of sliders with fries was only $5. Add to that my 'rita, top shelf, for only $6. Its a deal and a half. AND, free popcorn! YA BABY! :D We arrived at 4:30 and very glad we did. By time we were getting ready to head out, 5:15, the place was packed. People were hovering over us, waiting for our table to clear out.



5/52
So lets talk about 'rita #1. The Claim Jumper Gold 'rita. Man, oh man, oh MAN! This would be their top shelf selection, with a shot of Grand Marnier on top. Oh and was this a fantastic 'rita! Ya, we are talking 5 stars! Now I have to say, I think I am leaning towards "on the rocks" when it comes to my 'ritas now. I will keep the salt, but I have grown out of the "blended" phase. Truth be told, its a bit of a joke, blended. Kind of like watering down the drink, making the drink mostly ice. I have learned it is impossible to really know what a 'rita truly taste like if its blended. For example, if its poorly blended, it separates and the top, icy part, taste nothing like the liquid part on the bottom. The top is too weak and the bottom too strong. I find myself not enjoying my drink at all! If its perfectly blended, which is rare, its all good. Most of the time, if its perfectly blended, it came out of a dispenser and not from a bartender. However, when I get my 'rita on the rocks, its the same through out the entire drink! I am grateful it did not take me too long into my project to figure this one out. Any way, back to my CJ 'rita. There was defiantly a delightful citrus flavor, fresh all the way! On another note, this one is so delightful, I really don't think the salt was needed on this one, but I still like my salt, so I will keep ordering it that way. One thing that I really loved about this 'rita, was that it did not take long for me to get that "ah" feeling, the slight buzz. At the end of the evening, I felt quite comfortable indeed. I was able to drive home safely after a break walking around Costco, so the buzz could have been a bit better, but I think it was just right. A second one, and I would not have been able to drive home myself. (I'm really not out to get "drunk" ya know) I'm gonna have to say, this one is better then my own, and I really like my own!

6/52
The second 'rita, from the second week. The second 'rita that I had gotten at CJ, was the "House Margarita." I have a confession to make, on this second visit, I actually had 2 'ritas and the first one was the CJ Gold 'rita. The second one, on this night only, was the House 'rita. (I was not driving) For this one, on the HH menu it was only $5. A great price for a 'rita and a great 'rita for a second drink! It was still good, but it was no gold! I can honestly say, spend the extra buck to get the CJ Gold 'rita! But you know, when your first drink works well, it really does not matter what your second drink taste like. During HH here, it would be just fine to get the CJ Gold 'rita first, then the House 'rita second and your set for the evening! I was so set, no more drinks needed to make my night. I really cannot tell you exactly why the two 'ritas were so different, to tell you the truth, I failed to take notes the second visit, but trust me when I say, go gold!



Lets talk about the food! Oh the food was YUMMY! Then again, this is Claim Jumper, I don't think I have EVER complained about their food! I had just a burger, with the shoe string fries. Delightful, truly great burgers here. The second visit we had, we had made up our mind to stick to "bar food" on the HH menu. For the three of us, our 6 year old was with us, we had two of the mini pizzas and an order of sliders. The pizzas were very small, easy for one to finish solo. I am not a huge pizza fan, but they sure were good. My favorite dish of all of them were the sliders. We asked for a side of BBQ sauce, and that just really hit the spot. I think next time, I will get the sliders for myself and let the rest eat pizza! :D The food at CJ is simply put, outstanding!

I thank you for taking the time to read my review. I encourage you to follow my blog as well as follow me on Twitter, @SD_Rita, where I plan on keeping you all updated in real time of all the delightful 'ritas I find around San Diego!

This week, I made my 'rita! 4/52

(The actual drink is not really green. The glass is green in color.)
This week, my margarita came from my own hands. Let me tell you, it was MMMMMmmmm GOOD! Of course, I do believe my own 'rita is good, so I had to let others tell me if they were good or not.

So, on Friday, I went to a friends house, with a few additional friends, and put together my beloved drink. I mixed up a batch, measuring everything out carefully and proceeded to poor for 4 out of 6 of us. (Two of the guys simply stuck to beer.) For the most part, serving up the drinks were quite easy, three of us were happy with salt and on the rocks. One of the ladies wanted her 'rita blended. Let me tell you, Magic Bullet to the rescue!

What did I put into my home made 'rita? Here we go:

(For one drink)
2 ounces of freshly squeezed limes (yep, I did all the work, AND broke one squeezer and had to buy a new unit that actually worked.)
2 ounces of simple syrup. (recipe to follow.)
1 ounce of tequila (My favorite right now, Reposado tequila from Familia Camarena)
1 ounce Grand Marnier (The icing on the cake.)

The simple syrup is quite easy, I guess thats why its called "simple" syrup. You take one cup of water and one cup of sugar. Put them in a pan and on medium heat on a stove top. Stir until the sugar devolves, your done! Put in an air tight container, refrigerate and its good for 2 weeks.

Obviously, you can use any tequila you like! I just personally have seen plenty of Jose to last me a life time and wanted to try something new. Thats when I came across the Reposado tequila and man, I am glad I did, its a great tequila!

I guess thats it. I would not say my 'rita is the best there ever was, but I have to say, it sure beats the heck out of most of the ones I pay top dollar for! For the record, ALL of my friends who partook of the 'ritas this past weekend, were all loving the 'rita's and were asking for more!

Please follow me as I twitter my way through this adventure, @SD_Rita.

Casa Reveles, Ramona 3/52

This past week has been insane, but I cannot neglect my responsibilities to blogging!




http://www.casareveles.com/framestart.htm

724 Main St.
Ramona, Ca. 92065

This past weekend, my family and I went to a new restaurant in Ramona, called, Casa Reveles. Such a nice little place. Actually, my husband and I are familiar with this location, it use to be another restaurant that went out of business a few years back called El Nopal. Its an old building, a bit on the dumpy side, but the owners did the best with what they had to work with.

Lets start off by talking about the service. MAN, this server was SO friendly! I had paid my dues, I worked in food service long enough to know that when someone walks in the door, SAY HI! Thats what this guy did. His name is Victor. A delightful guy who was always there to say HI when someone walked in and was always attentive to our needs. The only delay that I felt was a bit too long, was the delay on getting our ticket at the end of the visit. The service alone was worth the visit.




The food:
The chips and salsa were great, but the bowl was not big enough! I was looking for more chips in about 5 seconds.
Hummm, not my favorite! I was not a fan of the "red" enchilada sauce. I put quotes around red because it really was more orange, not a pleasant color at all. Too greasy and just not enough good when it comes to flavor. But as I have learned in the past, if the food is not that great, then the 'rita is…….




The 'rita"
Yep, you guessed it, the 'rita was SO full of flavor! There was a delightful sweetness to it that did not change even after the ice melted. A total bonus. Usually, once its all liquid, it only taste like tequila! I could smell and taste the fresh lime. As a matter of fact, I went out the next day to the market to buy limes so I could try to make my own 'rita! The inspiration was all from this place. What was really awesome was after blending my drink, there was some 'rita left over in the blender that they put in a second glass and served that to me with the 'rita! Almost like getting a milk shake at Boll Weevils! It was fantastic! This 'rita did give me a decent buzz too. Not the best buzz but a buzz none the less. I am not sure that next time I get this 'rita, I would have them blend it, I could tell this one would have been better on the rocks. I say that because it all melted way too fast. There is a fine balance when it comes to a blended 'rita and when I find the restaurant masters that, I will let you know! Now, there is something to be said about simplicity, when I said that I wanted a 'rita, I had two choices, strawberry or lime. No top shelf or Cadillac! No biggie! Their 'rita was so good, top shelf did not matter! When Victor asked if I had wanted strawberry or lime, my son, in all of his wisdom said he wanted strawberries! :D

Please follow me, as I look for the best 'rita in San Diego! You can follow me on Twitter @SD_Rita.