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"Remember the time we almost had a Chili's?" That was a joke I could do for years until American Road Trip took the building over. I also used to say, "During my son's last year of elementary school, I took him out to a different Yucaipa restaurant for lunch every Friday. After two weeks, we were out of choices." I've been unfairly hard on Yucaipa's dearth of restaurants. Besides, it's not like we eat out a lot in my family. I'm married to a very elderly man who was born in the mid-1870s and he expects me to have dinner prepared every night — not right when he gets home, because he's not quite hungry yet, but 57 minutes after he gets home. Our 14-year-old son has been actively humiliated to appear with us in public since he was eight. In fact, he even hates when I appear with him in his room to help him put away his laundry. So when I decided to find some restaurants to recommend to you, dear Our Yucaipa reader, I was happy that I have friends who could join me. Stacey was the first one I elected to help. We made a list of restaurants in town, excluding anything fast food or franchisy, and were surprised with how long the list was. "Let's reveiw 10," I said. "We only have a few days," Stacey pointed out. So we narrowed it down to three, one for each meal of the day. We selected an old-time favorite, the Kopper Kettle Kafe; one that's been around for a few years, Jake's Bistro and Brew; and a newcomer, Time Out Sports Bar and Grill. The latter we visited first for lunch. Time Out is about a year old, has a full bar and an amazing chef. The décor is warm and sprinkled with sports memorabilia. It's a great place to meet for lunch as it's clean and welcoming. Stacey and I sat down and she announced she would order a salad and call it a day. Hey — I've seen Kitchen Nightmares, I've seen Ratatouille — I know you have to order more than one or two things to judge a restaurant. "We'll order three appetizers and three main courses," I told her. "What about our diets?" she asked. "We're starting after Labor Day, remember?" There's always a loophole in diets. An hour, and an order of mac and cheese bites, wings, brushchetta, pork chops with mashed potatoes and green beans, a cheeseburger with french fries and a southwestern chicken salad later we were having trouble breathing. I made a mental note to not eat EVERYTHING next time. Just a taste. A bite or two. No need to be like Mr. Creosote in the Monty Python sketch who eats for hours and then is talked into having a wafer-thin mint for dessert and explodes all over his fellow diners. Two days later Jolie, one of my best friends in the whole world, came to Yucaipa to go with Stacey and me to Market/ Antique Store night. It was the same night we decided to go to Jake's so I texted her: "Don't eat all day." It was a Friday night and Jake's was hopping. We sat in the bar area and fell into easy conversation with the people around us. Everyone was loving their food and their evening out. We ordered and were mindful to pace ourselves. The food and the service were excellent but it was the atmosphere of Jake's that struck me — everyone was happy (I have proof… see the photo of Jolie and Stacey above). For our breakfast meal, Stacey and I went to the Kopper Kettle Kafe, located up the Boulevard before the first roundabout. The nice thing, among many, about Yucaipa, is that you know that most any business you go into will be filled with locals. I don't know why that pleases me, but I'm glad we don't have a lot of tourists in town, gawking at our roundabouts and new police building, or cluttering up our eating establishments. The breakfast was very good, expertly prepared, and the staff friendly and solicitous. There was one dish, however, that made us both rethink our "one or two bite" rule. I'm not going to spoil the surprise though… Each restaurant is featured on pages 8 and 9 in this publication. I hope you enjoy our reviews and that you use the coupon offers each business has included. And if your favorite restaurant isn't featured this month, don't fret. We're eating again, even AFTER Labor Day. Hey — the holidays are around the corner and there's no sense in going on a diet now… Send me your suggestions! ~ Courtney 2 OUR YUCAIPA | SEPTEMBER 2014 Eating Our Way Through Town

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