Max Bloom's Cafe Noir

“It was a dark and stormy night, when SHE walked through my door. Legs as long as the Mississippi and eyes sharp enough to cut glass. She strutted right up to me with tear-stained cheeks and told me that I was the only one that could help her. Help her with what? Help her find Max Bloom. I didn’t know if I should tell her that I am Max Bloom. Who did she think she was coming to see if not Max Bloom? Was she planning on asking the dry cleaner downstairs for help but accidently made her way up here? Then I wondered if she was illiterate, because it says my name on the door of my office. Then I realized... this woman was very, very, dumb.”

Behold! Mecca!

Max Bloom’s Café Noir in Fullerton is PERFECT. This is the most awesome place I have ever discovered.

Coffee shop? Yeah, it’s a coffee shop. But it’s so much more!

Along with coffee, they serve vintage sodas, snacks, and root beer floats!

They also have “an eclectic selection of DVDs and CDs for sale.”

AND the décor is fantastic: old style movie posters everywhere.

BUT THE BEST PART is that there is something going on (FOR FREE) almost every night.

Monday: Actor and/or French poet open mic

Tuesday: Movie night

Wednesday: Open mic

Thursday: Open mic

Friday: Comedy open mic

We caught the comedy open mic night. It was awesome! Nothing but funny (and not funny) geeks stretching their comedy muscles in a warm, comfortable environment. 

That’s right, comfortable! I will be here a lot.

This is what Heaven looks like.

Fullerton Art Walk

Kc makes a pretty Wonder Woman.

If there’s one thing art patrons enjoy, it’s walking. You know who figured that one out? The city of Fullerton.

The first Friday of the month (from 6pm – 10pm) is the Friday that belongs to the Fullerton Art walk. Selective stores in downtown Fullerton participate by inviting an artist or two to turn their mild-mannered shop into a crazy, out-of-control art gallery!

It’s up to the shop to dictate how they want to participate in the event. They might offer wine and snacks, or not. They may have a musician or band to set the mood, or not. They may have an acrobatic dragon handing out balloon animals, or not.

My favorite!

My favorite show was “Heroes & Villains.” Instead of just one artist’s work on display, this temporary gallery featured work that had to do with the theme. There were a lot of superhero and Disney related pieces.

Anyway, there were a ton of cool geeks wandering around and a lot of neat art to look at.

I recommend taking a smart phone to the walk so that you may access the Art Walk map in real time. Oh, technology. You’re neat.

Tranquil Tea Lounge

“Yes, yes, step right in! Good to see you. Now, what’s ailing you? Is it a young lady’s heart you desire? Or maybe it is luck you crave? Perhaps you’d like to sleep less and work more? I have a potion for every ailment and an elixir for every wish. All you have to do is choose one by sight and smell, only!”

Choose wisely.

Tranquil Tea Lounge in Fullerton boasts an entire wall of colorful, scentiful, loose-leaf teas. That’s fun. Flavors ranging from Mardi Gras to blueberry muffin. Grab some blindfolds and you have yourself a party game!

Selecting your tea is the most fun part. After that, the experience has nowhere to go but down. Oh, wait, except for the tea pots and glasses, they’re adorable!

The eatery area is not very comfortable or private. Also, their use of Papyrus is frustrating.

But, picking out the tea is fu-u-un.

Food Trucks

I want the one with the mostest fruitests.

One day I’d like to see a movie version of a food fight escalate to the point where a food truck crashes through the wall - just a dream I have.

Food trucks are neat. I like them mostly because the portions are small enough to taste lots of different things. I think restaurants should allow me to choose several different entrees to have tastes of instead of having to commit to one. I’m indecisive.

Fullerton has a few food trucks hang out downtown on Tuesday nights from 5pm – 9pm.

Fun Fact: Not all trucks serve food.

My friend, Bert, and I investigated. (He’s somewhat of a food truck expert as this is the SECOND truck-based dining event he’s taken me to.)

We got there around 8:30pm and some of the trucks were closing up or had left.

We did get to have some herbivore fries at the OC Food Truck. And Bert got a lychee berry drinky thingy that was way delicious.

I was really looking forward to getting snacks at the Bakery Truck, but they closed up.

I will definitely go back – but earlier in the evening.

Oh, and FYI, if you’re into food trucks like Bert, he recommends the iPhone app: Truxmap. Pretty cool.

Westside Bar and Grill

I heart dive bars.

The Westside Bar and Grill describes itself as OC’s nicest Dive Bar. I have to agree.

Plus, there’s usually some form of entertainment. Comedy, Karaoke, or Bands.

My friend Crysta (you may remember her from such posts as ElecTRONica) and I went to see two of my friends, and former Cherry Spitz members, compete in a stand up comedy competition.

They, unfortunately, didn’t win. However, the winners did go on to perform at the Comedy Store in Hollywood. Good for you Westside: helping local comics.

There’s plenty of space in the bar, it’s always bumping, the food and drink is good, and the service is friendly.

Kevin Stevenson, last month's winner.

Westside Bar and Grill – you’re doing a great job.

Little John's

So, I’m a little bit afraid of guns.

It’s because of movies. When do you ever see a gun in a movie that doesn’t eventually shoot someone? Right? Therefore: Gun = get tense, someone be getting shot, Yo (as the character with the gun might say).

Yeah, this thing shot some Nazis.

BUT my dad found one of my grandpa’s WW2 guns. Wow. So we went to a gun store (obviously) to try and sell it. And, in true gun store style, the owner explained, “What you got there is an antique. You need to go see Little John.” Like we were suddenly transported into a video game. “Little John can tell you all about any gun – practically tell you the color of the shirt of the guy who last used it. Hehe…”

“Oh… okay. How do we find this… Little John.”

“He’ll find you.” No, I’m kidding. He gave us directions.

And the pliers are for, what? Retrieving bullets?

Walking into Little John’s Antique Arms is just like being a kid in a Nintendo store IF you’re a 19^th century pirate.

Seriously, if you’re a Civil War reenactor, a renaissance faire attender, a cowboy, or just a seriously creepy dude – go see Little John.

Little John stands 8 feet high, speaks with a lisp and is missing an arm. Sort of. In reality he IS very tall (taller than me, at least) and had his arm in a sling. The man is quite learned about antique guns. But to an outsider who didn't know there was SO much to know about weapons – watching Little John with this gun was like watching a psychic touch an article of clothing belonging to a missing child and then spew out a description of where he is. Magic.

They have auctions about every three months. I bet those are fun. My grandpa’s gun will be in the August auction.

C’mon… BIG MONEY!

Bruxie

Have you ever found yourself staring into your refrigerator at the contents of a fantastic sandwich only to remember that you’re out of bread? What do you do in that situation? Do you give up on the sandwich pipe-dream? HECK NO. You improvise. “Maybe I could use a tortilla instead of bread, or I could cut all the ingredients up and make a salad-y thing. Oh, do I have any frozen bagels?”

I believe the founders of Bruxie the restaurant were once in this very situation. You know what they use for bread on their sandwiches? WAFFLES!

The Bruxie Burger

Bruxie is, according to the website, “A new take on the authentic Belgium Waffle. The "Bruxie" is unlike any waffle offered: the Bruxie is light, crisp, yeasty and not sweet. It's street food that's perfect for breakfast, lunch, mid day snack as well as a dessert or late night treat.”

Boy, do they have that last part right. There is ALWAYS a line at this sandwich stand. Most line placeholders are Chapman Students, as the restaurant is directly across the street from the school. The quality of these treats, however, is not that of top ramen, mac & cheese, or any other college staple. These are GOURMET waffle sandwiches. For example, these are some of the ‘savory’ options: Prosciutto & Gruyere, Smoked Salmon & Dill Cream Cheese, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Goat Cheese. That last one is my favorite. 

They also have sweet Bruxies: Nutella and banana

OH, and these guys MAKE their own soda: Delicious cane sugar sodas. Yum.

AND, despite this being an “order here” “pick up here” kind of place, the service is unbelievable. They really take hospitality to a new level. IE my friend wasn’t crazy about what he ordered. The owner (I’m guessing) INSISTED that he replace the sandwich.

Blythe Hill (photographer), Jordan Sabolick, Kc Wayland, and I left feeling happy and satisfied.