I treated myself to lunch on March 9th of Restaurant Week at Wild Goose Tavern on 17th Street in Costa Mesa. Their pub menu is most unique. One page lists all kinds of knackwurst/sausage sandwiches. On their special $10 Restaurant Week lunch menu  I opted for the wedge salad and the pulled pork sandwich. In my not so humble opinion  it was the most flavorful pulled pork I have ever tasted. It was just the right amount of juicy and it didn’t fall apart all over the plate or my lap.

An added benefit of my dining experience was the conversation of the four handsome gentlemen at the table next to me. Seemingly very successful, they spoke with pride about their jobs, business trips, sports and their families. This reminded me of my working past when I spent my lunch hour(s) in the company of men instead of watching soap operas in the lunchroom with the ladies. Men’s conversations were so much more interesting.

On March 10th, my Friday night date with my brother David, we went to The Hub Kitchen & Taps. Located on Newport Boulevard near 17th Street in Costa Mesa, The Hub is the latest restaurant to open in this space. I think we have a winner this time. We got there after 7pm so we expected it to be busy and it was, but pretty noisy inside. Lots of people at the bar were watching the March Madness games. We sat on the patio which was much quieter even with bar and TV access from the patio.

Hub logo

From the special Restaurant Week $20 dinner menu we both chose the fish and chips with tomato basil bisque for me and the wedge salad for bro (I had a wedge at lunch the day before). The soup was quite lovely, the fish lightly breaded with plenty of fish inside, French fries nice and crispy. Dessert was a big chocolate chip ice cream cookie for David and a small banana split for me. The waitress commented on our plates licked clean. “I guess you really hated that,” she laughed.

All in all a tasty Restaurant Week for me – and very affordable. This is certainly a wise marketing tool for local restaurants. The special prices allows diners to go out to eat somewhere they might not normally afford to go.