crossings at corona

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse – Corona

December 13, 2011 by Ole Leave a Comment

According to its website, BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. operates 115 restaurants across the country, almost half of which are in California. If you live in California, chances are you’ve seen or visited a BJ’s restaurant.

The first BJ’s restaurant opened in 1978 in Santa Ana. I’m not sure if I went to that original location, but I do remember going to a BJ’s on Bristol in Santa Ana when I was a kid. I also remember watching one of the epic Lakers / Celtics battles of the 1980’s at the BJ’s in Balboa. Now that I live in Riverside, I take my kids to the BJ’s in the Crossings at Corona.

We went to BJ’s in Corona Crossings over the weekend and enjoyed it as always. The restaurant was packed, but we ended up being seated without too long of a wait.

On this visit, we went for the classic Deep Dish Pizza. Since our daughter wasn’t with us, my wife shared the pizza with me and the boys, and allowed us to skip the tomatoes. Otherwise, she probably would have shared a Vegetarian pizza with my daughter. BJ’s has an extensive menu along with its own handcrafted beers.

BJ’s is also great for lunch. Two of my favorite lunchtime options are the Turkey Club and Roast Beef Dip, while my wife prefers the half salad / half California Chicken sandwich.

I’m not a big dessert guy, but the Red Velvet Pizookie is pretty awesome. If you haven’t had a Pizookie, just imagine a big warm cookie straight out of the oven topped with ice cream.

If you haven’t been to BJ’s, give it a try. If you have, give it a try again.

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse
2520 Tuscany Street
Corona, CA
www.bjsbrewhouse.com

Tacos Cancun, Corona Crossings

November 1, 2011 by Ole Leave a Comment

Update: This location is closed. The 6th Street location is still open.

We seem to be at Corona Crossings (The Crossings at Corona) all the time, so I am surprised that it took us so long to eat at Tacos Cancun. Tacos Cancun seems to have a great location right next to the movie theater, but I have never seen it crowded. Too bad, because I like this place.

Tacos Cancun has a full menu including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, salads, tostadas, tortas, etc. Unlike many other Mexican food restaurants, Tacos Cancun cooks your food to order. So when I order one of my two favorite items – the carne asada burrito (without the pico de gallo) and the carne asada quesadilla – they cook the steak while I wait instead of reaching into a bin of already cooked meat.

The chips are fresh and the salsas are unique. I’ve eaten here a bunch of times and on probably half of my visits, the chips were so fresh that they were still warm.

The people who work here are also very friendly. In fact, while I was in the restaurant a few weeks ago, one of the workers helped a physically challenged man by getting his drink, carrying his food and helping him to a table. I like to think that any business would offer this type of assistance, but what really impressed me was the worker’s attitude. It didn’t seem as if he was helping this gentleman because he had to… it seemed that he was helping this gentleman because he truly wanted to.

If you like Mexican food, you should give this place a try. In addition to the location in Corona Crossings, there is a Tacos Cancun near the Newport Beach pier and another on 6th St. in Corona.

Tacos Cancun

2630 Tuscany Rd
Corona, CA

Buffalo Wild Wings Grand Opening – Corona, CA

August 31, 2010 by Ole Leave a Comment

The grand opening of Buffalo Wild Wings at Corona Crossings is tomorrow, September 1, at 11 a.m.

From The Greater Corona Valley Chamber’s website:

The first 100 people in line when the doors open at 11am will get 6 free wings per week for an entire year!!!

Buffalo Wild Wings
2670 Tuscany Street
Suite 101
Corona, CA 92881

Chick-fil-A at Corona Crossings – Corona, CA

August 19, 2010 by Ole Leave a Comment

We don’t eat at fast food restaurants very much anymore. Chick-fil-A in South Corona is the exception. The food is great, the restaurant is always clean, and the staff is incredibly friendly.

I had never eaten at a Chick-fil-A restaurant until this location opened in Corona Crossings a few years ago. Now I’m hooked on the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. In my opinion, this is the best place to get a chicken sandwich.

If you go in on a Monday in August 2010, your receipt will be printed on green paper. Come back later in the month with your green receipt and you’ll receive the exact same order for FREE. Check out the details on the restaurant’s facebook page.

Chick-fil-A

Crossings at Corona

3555 Grand Oaks
Corona, CA 92881

Fender Benders

August 22, 2009 by Ole Leave a Comment

As I was walking out of the Edwards / Regal movie theater at The Crossings at Corona last night after seeing Inglorious B… (I guess the movie I saw isn’t important), I heard some guy over a loudspeaker tell people to come over to the side of the fountain for a free rock and roll show. Curious, I walked over.

It turned out to be an exhibition for the Fender Center’s Kids Rock Free Program that featured bands made up of kids in the program. According to the Fender Museum website, this program offers free and low cost musical instruction to children aged 7 to 17.

The first band up was the Fender Benders, which appeared to be made up of high school kids. They started the set with Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” followed by Heart’s “Barracuda”. I was surprised that they were playing classic rock – songs that were classic even when I was in high school – but they were good songs for the band’s female lead singer. I did feel bad for them when they broke out Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'”. They played it well, but I feel bad for anyone in high school that has to be subjected to Journey. I went to high school in the 80’s and I couldn’t stand Journey. They followed up with “Boys of Summer” by Don Henley, which helped me forget about Journey.

While I enjoy classic rock, and definitely appreciate the talent it takes to play these songs, I do hope that these bands get to pick some more contemporary music too.

I guess the Fender Center’s program is pretty good because all five members of the band are talented. In fact, the announcer at the beginning said that one of the guitarists had been accepted into the Berklee College of Music in Boston. If I understood the announcer correctly, kids in the program rotate through the different bands, so last night’s makeup of the Fender Benders might look different the next time.

If I didn’t have another commitment, I would have stayed longer to see the other bands. I left during the band’s rendition of “Carry On Wayward Son” by Kansas.

Fender Museum

Fender Center

Kids Rock Free Program