Latest news with #NoriegaHotel
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
THE DISH: Wool Growers makes LA Times list of best restaurants in state
Bakersfield is back in the spotlight this week thanks to Wool Growers Restaurant. The longtime Basque eatery was named to the Los Angeles Times' 101 Best California Restaurants list. Restaurant critic Bill Addison doesn't mince words in reducing Bakersfield down culinarily to its rich Basque history. He writes that he passes through the area at least once a year, hitting up a couple of Basque spots to debate which sets the bar since the original Noriega Hotel, a James Beard Award-winning restaurant, closed in 2020. Addison gives the edge to the East 19th Street restaurant that has been in operation since 1954. He notes the fried chicken is a little juicier and more roundly garlicky, that meat tumbles off the bone in the hearty oxtail stew and the vinegar of the sliced pickled tongue "twangs like Parker Posey's North Carolina accent in 'The White Lotus.'" Salt is needed on the fries to make them great by his standards. (The hot salsa served with the opening courses also works well with the potatoes with fewer health concerns for diners, in my opinion.) Atmosphere and staff also earn his praise:" ... The beige floral wallpaper and the plastic table coverings over white tablecloths woozily blur the time-space continuum. I don't know quite where or when I am, but the friendly, fast-moving staff always seems glad I'm here." The critic also briefly acknowledges Pyrenees Cafe and The Sinking Ship for providing "outlandish, pirate-themed bliss." Two other Central Valley restaurants made the list: the new American-style spot Saizon in Fresno and Mi Ranchito Cafe in Stockton. Visit for the complete list. Additions for Father's Day Special offers and menus continue to be announced right up until the holiday. Here are a few that didn't make the list shared earlier this week. At C Fresh (920 California Ave., Suite A): Dads can enjoy $2 beers along with a seafood boil or other entree at the central Bakersfield spot. Bangkok Street Food (6300 White Lane,Suite F): Diners will receive a free tiramisu cake with a dine-in purchase of $35 or more on Sunday. BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse (10750 Stockdale Highway): All dads get a free limited-edition pint glass. Rewards members will receive a 20% VIP card when dining at the restaurant on Sunday. The card is good for a discount on food, merchandise and nonalcoholic beverages once per day from June 17 to July 7. Del Taco (multiple locations): Take advantage of a buy one, get one free deal on epic burritos now through Sunday via the Del Yeah! Rewards app. Those who buy $40 worth of e-gift cards will receive a free regular size meal (choice of combos 1 to 14) and those who purchase $100 worth will receive three free regular-size meals. Free meal offer redeemable through July 31. Eureka! (10520 Stockdale Highway): Treat Dad to an Russell's Reserve Old Fashioned, made with the Kentucky bourbon, for $10. Guests can also enjoy a Father's Day prix fixe menu ($40) that includes a choice of appetizer (Caesar salad, nachos, fried pickles or Dorito-crusted shishito peppers), entree (choice of chilaquiles, breakfast sandwich or French toast until 3 p.m. or Eureka! American cheeseburger, spicy fried chicken sandwich or steak salad all day) and dessert (chocolate cake or carrot cake). California Pizza Kitchen (10150 Stockdale Highway): Purchase a $50 gift card and receive a $10 bonus card valid from July 1 to 29. El Patron Bar and Grill (4803 Panama Lane): All shrimp dishes will be $20.99 and the restaurant will also have drink specials all day. Headquarters Bar and Eatery (3015 Calloway Drive): This spot will have a $20.99 dinner with a 10-ounce rib-eye, cheese enchiladas, eggs and country potatoes with the option of a discounted beer or michelada. Huevo House (3939 Ming Ave.): Dads can enjoy a rib-eye plate ($20.99), served with two eggs, potatoes and two cheese enchiladas, as well as a $3 beer or $6 micheladas on Sunday. Legends (7900 Downing Ave.): Enjoy a rib-eye and grilled shrimp plate ($36.99) with choice of red wine mushroom sauce or peppercorn sauce , served with mashed potatoes and grilled squash. Call 661-218-9789 for reservations.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wool Growers lands on L.A. Times's list of California's 101 most essential restaurants
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – What is it about L.A. Times restaurant reviewers and Bakersfield Basque restaurants? The legendary Jonathan Gold loved Bakersfield Basque cuisine, especially the Noriega Hotel, but he died in 2018, and the original Noriega's closed two years later. Five years later, the Times is back – this time with restaurant reviewer Bill Addison singing the praise of another Basque landmark: Wool Growers, which shares much of that Noriega DNA. Addison names Wool Growers on his list of California's 101 best restaurants – one of only three in the Central Valley to make the list, and the only in Kern County. 'Oh, I had no idea (until) somebody sent me a text this morning and said congratulations,' said Christiane Camou, the third-generation owner of Wool Growers. 'I'm just so flattered. It's such an honor, because for me I'm just trying to continue my grandmother's legacy.' Camou's grandmother, Mayie Maitia, immigrated to the U.S. from France in 1947 and, following a stint working at the Noriega Hotel, started Wool Growers with her husband J.B. in 1954. 'She started this with nothing, and it has provided for so many families – you know, our employees' families, and our family,' Camou said. 'What an honor to be considered one of the top 100 restaurants in California. She's looking down from heaven. She's so happy.' According to the L.A. Times review, 'Here the fried chicken runs a little juicier and more roundly garlicky and the oxtail stew is full of meat tumbling from the bone, and the vinegar that sharpens the sliced pickled tongue twangs like Parker Posey's North Carolina accent in 'The White Lotus.' 'When I salt the hell out of the fries, they're great. Plus, the beige floral wallpaper and the plastic table coverings over white tablecloths woozily blur the time-space continuum. I don't know quite where or when I am, but the friendly, fast-moving staff always seems glad I'm here.' Jenny Maitia Poncetta, daughter of Mayie and mother of Christiane, ran Wool Growers for decades before retiring – and then un-retiring. She missed the action. 'We're very proud to be Basque in our heritage,' Poncetta said. 'But we're proud to be Americans too.' And so Bakersfield's decades-long run as a culinary critical darling remains intact. The Times did give props to another Bakersfield Basque restaurant – the Pyrenees Cafe, just a block over. Happily but somewhat incongruently, the paper also plugged the Sinking Ship Room cocktail lounge, which is neither Basque nor dining, unless you count pineapple wedges. The old Noriega Hotel remains shuttered, and Narducci's, another historical Old Town Kern restaurant, is still undergoing renovations. But this east Bakersfield restaurant district is still serving it up – hot and garlicky. Picon Punch, anyone? Cheers! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
