\n\tOne of the true pleasures in life is Saturday afternoon with no cares in the world, celebrated at a warm and friendly restaurant with abundant amounts of fresh food with a homemade flair, and reasonable prices.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a sea of corporate giants offering lunch fare approved in the boardroom, Doug’s Downtown Bar and Grille stands out as a true gem, right in the middle of historic Garden Grove.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the true pleasures in life is Saturday afternoon with no cares in the world, celebrated at a warm and friendly restaurant with abundant amounts of fresh food with a homemade flair, and reasonable prices.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a sea of corporate giants offering lunch fare approved in the boardroom, Doug’s Downtown Bar and Grille stands out as a true gem, right in the middle of historic Garden Grove.<\/p>\n

\n\tUpon arrival we were greeted by the owner, Doug Coleman, who engaged us in amicable conversation that made us feel like we were guests in his home instead of his business. We were shown to our table in a very comfortable, well-appointed dining room.  <\/p>\n

\n\tHe told us about his passion for cooking and fine food, and after testing the waters in the catering business, he finally made the commitment to open up his own restaurant and pour years of experience and dreams into his new venture.<\/p>\n

\n\tDoug told us about the house specials and got suggested a refreshing, brewed tropical ice tea with a slice of orange when we ordered regular.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe recipes inspired by home were delicious; starting with the New England clam chowder which was thick and creamy and filled with large succulent pieces of clam, instead of minced, featured in store bought soup.  <\/p>\n

\n\tThe fried zucchini was the best I’ve ever had.<\/p>\n

\n\tCut and prepared when ordered, the zucchini is fresh and covered with a light batter fried to perfection adding to the crunch of the zucchini. Topping off the appetizer is the homemade ranch dressing, which made me want to throw away all the bottled varieties sitting in my refrigerator after I tried it.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe main course included a variety of choices from prime rib to burgers to salads and more.  I ordered the ‘McDoug’ sandwich which is a meaty and delicious version of the so called competition sandwiches, and features delicious baby back rib meat straight from the bone with a tangy, sweet barbecue sauce and topped with grilled onions and sliced pickles on French bread.  The brisket sandwich was smoked at the restaurant and was a juicy delight served on baguette that was crunchy on the outside, while warm and soft in the middle.  <\/p>\n

\n\tA choice of sides was available and I chose my favorite, homemade sweet potato fries.  They were cooked to perfection, crispy on the outside and moist and hot on the inside. The side was served with the homemade ranch dressing that I had enjoyed with the fried zucchini.<\/p>\n

\n\tThroughout the meal Doug visited all the tables in the dining room, speaking with all the customers and making sure they were well taken care of and getting what they wanted.  Doug asked item-specific questions about the food quality, and avoided the standard ‘how is everything’ question.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen checking on us during our entrée, we learned about his passion for smoking meat and why he uses applewood logs to smoke with.  That distinctive flavor certainly comes across when eating his brisket. When leaving the restaurant we could still smell the appetizing aroma of the smoked beef on our hands.<\/p>\n

\n\tOur server Kevin greeted us as soon as we were seated and was very knowledgeable about the menu.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe food came out expeditiously and Kevin jokingly brought us extra napkins knowing they would be needed.  In fact, we needed more than he brought.  Kevin was attentive throughout the meal and checked back on the appetizer, entrée and dessert in less than two minutes after we received it.  He also made sure we had plenty of the delicious ice tea to drink. Our glasses were never empty.  Kevin even held the vestibule door for me leading to the restrooms.  <\/p>\n

\n\tTopping off the meal was a wonderful selection of desserts.  I chose the buttermilk pie which was adapted from a recipe from Doug’s family. The crust was light and flakey and the filling was creamy and light without being too sweet and topped with homemade whipped cream and ice cream.  I chose that particular dessert because of the modifications Doug made to his grandmother’s recipe by adding fresh pineapple and coconut, two of my favorites.  The blend of the pineapple and the sweetness of the coconut was a perfect combination to end my meal.<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore we left, Doug thanked us for visiting his establishment and encouraged us to return during dinner hours where he features an award winning prime rib.  He delivers on his passion for food and guest service from the moment you walk in the door. <\/p>\n

\n\tI would recommend Doug’s Downtown Bar and Grille to anyone who wants good food at a moderate price in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\n\tDoug’s Downtown Bar and Grille is located at 12900 Main St, and is open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Monday through Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the true pleasures in life is Saturday afternoon with no cares in the world, celebrated at a warm and friendly restaurant with abundant amounts of fresh food with a homemade flair, and reasonable prices. In a sea of corporate giants offering lunch fare approved in the boardroom, Doug’s Downtown Bar and Grille stands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4475,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions\/4475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocn.archives.ocnnewspapers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}