Manteca, restaurant summary

This is a summary of the restaurants I have visited in Manteca.  This does not include the Tamales purchased from a vendor at Save Mart which were great great and inexpensive.  Also I have eaten some great food at the church, pancake breakfast and chili cook off.  These times are the best.  I am going to update this blog from time to time as we visit new restaurants.  However because of furlough days through the county, these will be less frequent.  However, the big sinners for fast food, A&W for the root beer, Del Taco for the fries and Carls Jr. for the burgers and McDonalds for the toys.  In terms of Mexican the winners are Taquestia La Costa (great price), Las Palmas (great salsa) and El Jardin (great fajitas.)  Best Pizza Mountain Mikes.  The overall winners are Chilis and Kelly Brothers.  Kelly Brothers is a tremendous find, good environment, great food and good time.  It is better than anyplace we ever ate at in the South Bay.

Note from April 2012, Kellys Brothers has closed

fastfood
McDonalds ****, Tony loves toys with his fries, Union and Yosemite newly remodeled
KFC/A&W;W Lathrop, Tracy ****, Rootbeer, need I say more.
Five Guys, Burger and fries ****, and peanuts (Dublin or Stockton, not in Manteca)
KFC Manteca ***^ no rootbeer
Foster Freeze ***^ I have only tried their ice cream
Carls Jr. ***^, great burger
Del Taco, ***^, great fries
Subway, ***, One visit the pork sandwich fell apart, another very good, ham sandwich is good
In N' Out, **^, shakes with your burger
Dairy Queen, **^, No butterscotch dipped cones
Sonic, (Ripon)  **, I was really disappointed
Jack in the Box *  Did not make the grade

 Asian
Forum Dynasty ****  Lathrop and Union
Super Buffet  ****Higher priced but worth it (I liked it, Sheri didn't)
Chinese 4 Less **^, lots of food, but lacking vegetables
New China Restaurant, **^, More vegetables than  Chinese 4 Less
Luu's Chicken Bowl ** Japanese oriented, I didn't care for, Tony loves it

Mexican
Taqueria La Mexicana ****   best food
Gordos Tacos ****
Las Palmas, ***, great salsa, so so environment
Taqueria La Costa, ***, great food, cash only, good price, eat outside
El Jardin ***, great fajitas
Taqueria La Playa, **^, Again the food seemed precooked, and dried out as a result
Taqueria Estrella **^  food too hot
Chipotle **^
Taqueria Manteca, **, All tasted precooked, and under the heat lamp too long.
Taqueria Nayarit, **, Our first Mexican adventure in Manteca, good food, cruddy environment (now closed)
Cabana Del Sol **^ too pricey

sitdown
Kelly Brothers ****^, this is a great place to eat (closed)
Chili's ****, Still Sheri's favorite restaurant
Chubby's **** pleasant surprise, decor older
Applebees *** Manteca is better than San Jose
Red Robin ***, A great place for burgers, and onion ring trees, but not good for calories
Shooters **^Patty Melt but something in my chili
Mimi's (Modesto but we ate at San Jose) ***, one of Sheri's favorite, She likes the french onion soup, I like the little breads
Johnny's Restaurant  **
Panera Bread **(San Jose but locations Turlock and Stockton)
Big League Dreams snack bar, **, too pricey

pizza
Mountain Mikes ***, best pizza we have tried in town, also in the Bay area
Round Table Pizza **^, bread sticks are great
Caesar's Pizza, *^, a  bit more expensive than South Bay and not quite as good

ice cream  *** Paletalandia Mexican icecream shop and smoothies
Foster Freeze ***^ The have a special on Tuesday for dipped cones
Dairy Queen **^ I was hoping for butterscotch dipped but not in Manteca