Happy Hour: Garlic Jo’s – All night Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Might as well continue the garlic theme and go with Garlic Jo’s, since it’s taking us back home.  It’s just at Newport on PCH.  The happy hour menu consists of appetizers and tapas type style plates.  Prices usually range from about $3-$6, not including drinks.  Everything that I post is awesome.

Garlic cheese bread that’s so addicting.  Try not to eat too much of it before the rest of the food otherwise you’ll get full fast and kick yourself in the pants for not saving room for the other dishes you have to try.

Cream cheese jalapeno wontons with a cream sauce and chili mango sauce.  I really like the jalapeno because this is the only place I know that puts jalapeno and is key to setting it apart from amongst the hundreds of places that serve cream cheese wontons the same plain old boring way.

Baby spinach salad with diced tomatoes, bacon garlic chips, with miso dressing.  The miso dressing is really light and flavorful.  If I weren’t around people I would take a shot of it.  Just try not pick off all the bacon before you finish salad. 

The Vampire Killer is roasted whole garlic cloves and anchovy in olive oil topped with parsley and parmesan cheese.  The second picture is when it’s spread on a baguette.  I love roasted whole garlic cloves because aside from the garlic flavor itself, there’s a mild sweetness that comes through when it’s roasted.

Salmon tacos with the salmon lightly breaded and deep fried with lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, a cream sauce on a flour tortilla and a side of a chili sauce.  The cream sauce and breading of the fish makes the texture and the taco itself different from other fish tacos and brings to a higher level, so it doesn’t feel like tacos from a fast food joint.  It feels more gourmet.

The star of the show, garlic pizza.  On a flat bread with gouda and mild cheddar cheese with slice garlic and topped with garlic and parlsey with a side of three different sauces ranging to mild to spicy, which is my opinion with not that spicy but is still good.  This pizza really amazed me because I never thought a pizza without any sauce on the pizza itself would be good.  Instead the absence of sauce allows the simplicity and strength of the flavors allows it to speak for itself.

This is Erik the bartender and he works on Wednesday nights.  Don’t worry, I got his permission to post him.  He is super nice and great to talk to.  You tell him you’re friends with Christine and the In-N-Out group.  I say In-N-Out because some the the most important people in my life work for INO. 

UPDATE:  Garlic Jo’s no long has happy hour :( LAME!  But it is still worth it if you go for dinner.