To celebrate Valentine’s Day on Saturday, February 14, 2010, we had dinner at Fonda Don Chon in Covina. Sometime in 2009, my wife got a bunch of coupons from restaurant.com. Fonda Don Chon looked like a good local restaurant to try. For $3 she bought a coupon for $25 off a total bill of $35. We didn’t use it for a while. I also noticed there were small coupons in our church’s bulletin for the brunch buffet at Fonda Don Chon. A while before we went there we did do recon to determine the exact location of the restaurant. It’s on Shoppers Lane, a small street that turns perpendicular. It is connected to Citrus Avenue from the east and Rowland Street from the south. There are some shops, restaurants, and a nightclub along the street. Fonda Don Chon is along the east side of the part where Shoppers Lane runs north-south. The lane has angle parking all along the right side and a small parking lot on the left side.
On Sunday, February 14, we went to the 5:30 church service. We learned that it was also was World Marriage Day, though I think that’s always around Valentine’s Day. After the service ended at around 6:35 we slowly exited the parking lot, turned right onto Workman Avenue, and left on Citrus Ave. I got Shoppers Late mixed up with a commercial driveway but we soon found it on the right and turned right. We parked at an angled spot just past Fonda Don Chon and arrived there at 6:50 pm. It looks a bit like a Mexican adobe on the outside. It has several tables for sitting outside and there were people sitting at them this evening. It had been warm for February that day, in the 70’s, though by 6:50 it was dark outside and quite cool. We entered the arched doorway and queued up at the desk just to our left. Earlier that day I had called the restaurant to try to make a reservation. But they said they didn’t take reservations and seated on a first-come first-serve basis. We hoped it wouldn’t be too crowded because of Valentine’s Day.
The restaurant wasn’t too crowded, just a little over half full. There was one party ahead of us in the queue at the desk. They were seated and then we were seated at 6:55 pm. They put us at a table close to that party. The inside consisted of one large room with many tables, some round and some smaller and rectangular. They put us at one of the latter. The chairs were large, sturdy, and made of dark wood like the tables. It was a bit of work getting around between the tables and chairs. The room had yellow-orange walls and lots of Mexican décor including sombreros and dolls of flamenco dancers on the back counter. Painted on the walls were paintings that looked like little alcoves with shelves or windows, arched like those in a traditional Mexican Adobe, an example of trompe l’oeil style. In the back hall there were more wall paintings of outdoor scenes that covered and nearly hid the doors to the restrooms. Traditional Mexican music played over the speakers.
The servers handed us menus that were large and had lots of colorful photos. There were sections for breakfast, appetizers, antojitos, combinations, carnes, chicken, tacos, salads, “From the Grill”, entrees, seafood, and more. In addition to many regular Mexican dishes they had some unique ones such as Sopitos Estilo Tonaya, Supreme Molcajete, and Schwartzeneggar Taco. (Unrelated news flash (2/15/10, 6 pm): as first I wrote this, a woman sitting near me on the train said that she was friends with the aunt of a member of the 80’s music group Expose.) Under beverages they had Jarritos soda. In addition to the menu, on our table was a flyer listing specials including a pork loin dish and “Taco Bomba”. Most choices were fairly inexpensive with many under $10. We had to get our total tab to $35 and that took some work. We ordered our beverages: hot chocolate for my wife and a tamarind Jarritos for me. Unfortunate they were out of both so my wife got an apple juice and I got a lime Jarritos. Later I got an orange Jarritos to further bring up the tab.
They brought us a large basket of chips and a bowl of salsa that were good together. As we waited for our food I noticed there was a flatscreen TV mounted on the ceiling in the back right corner. It was showing the halftime show of the NBA All-Star game with Alicia Keys performing. We had hoped the see Shakira’s performance but I guess we missed it. They showed a clip of it where she was wearing this “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” outfit. We notice that the young Clipper Eric Gordon had made the All-Star team and we also saw a Sprite commercial featuring the rapper Drake. After a wait of 10-15 minutes they started serving our food first bringing my wife’s antojito, the Tostadas de Tinga. The two tostadas were stacked several inches high with all the toppings: shredded chicken marinated in tomato and chipotle salsa, pico de gallo salsa, lettuce, cotija cheese, and sour cream. My wife enjoyed them but they were a lot of food for an antojito.
Very soon after bringing my wife’s antojito they brought her entre: Filete a la Plancha. But she only had room for a bit of the large white fish filet. She took the avocado garnish and mixed it with her excess lettuce from the tostada to make a salad. Like all our dishes the fish had little Mexican flags planted in it. They then brought the accompaniments to my order: Mexican rice, guacamole (with a Mexican flag in it) and pico de gallo. They had sprinked a little cheese on them so I didn’t eat much of them. But then they brought my main entrée: beef fajitas that were still sizzling on a hot black iron platter. The tasted great with much of the beef blackened but not chewy at all. The beef was mixed with slices of grilled red and yellow onion and red and green pepper. The server also brought out a round plastic container of hot tortillas: two corn and two flour. The corn tortillas were thick but not too chewy. They held their integrity well when made into tacos. They were a bit like the ones at Babita. Everything was good and so much food.
After we had our fill, we doggy-bagged the Filete de Plancha. Our server said we were still $2 short of $35. They had only charged $4.99 for the Tostadas de Tinga rather than the $6.99 given on the menu. We brought another Jarritos (sealed this time) to bring our total up to $35 and with the discount we only paid around $21 including tax and tip. The server passed out red roses to all the female customers including my wife. We put it in an empty Jarritos bottle at home. The next day I was off work for President’s Day so I made fish tacos with the leftover tortillas and the Filete de Plancha. The fish was very good, flaking easily even after I heated it up in the microwave. It’s great we have so many good Latin restaurants in our neighborhood. However, they don’t sell the $25 of $35 coupon on restaurant.com anymore. They now sell a $25 of $40 coupon. That would require getting a whole lot of food from Fonda Don Chon.
On Sunday, February 14, we went to the 5:30 church service. We learned that it was also was World Marriage Day, though I think that’s always around Valentine’s Day. After the service ended at around 6:35 we slowly exited the parking lot, turned right onto Workman Avenue, and left on Citrus Ave. I got Shoppers Late mixed up with a commercial driveway but we soon found it on the right and turned right. We parked at an angled spot just past Fonda Don Chon and arrived there at 6:50 pm. It looks a bit like a Mexican adobe on the outside. It has several tables for sitting outside and there were people sitting at them this evening. It had been warm for February that day, in the 70’s, though by 6:50 it was dark outside and quite cool. We entered the arched doorway and queued up at the desk just to our left. Earlier that day I had called the restaurant to try to make a reservation. But they said they didn’t take reservations and seated on a first-come first-serve basis. We hoped it wouldn’t be too crowded because of Valentine’s Day.
The restaurant wasn’t too crowded, just a little over half full. There was one party ahead of us in the queue at the desk. They were seated and then we were seated at 6:55 pm. They put us at a table close to that party. The inside consisted of one large room with many tables, some round and some smaller and rectangular. They put us at one of the latter. The chairs were large, sturdy, and made of dark wood like the tables. It was a bit of work getting around between the tables and chairs. The room had yellow-orange walls and lots of Mexican décor including sombreros and dolls of flamenco dancers on the back counter. Painted on the walls were paintings that looked like little alcoves with shelves or windows, arched like those in a traditional Mexican Adobe, an example of trompe l’oeil style. In the back hall there were more wall paintings of outdoor scenes that covered and nearly hid the doors to the restrooms. Traditional Mexican music played over the speakers.
The servers handed us menus that were large and had lots of colorful photos. There were sections for breakfast, appetizers, antojitos, combinations, carnes, chicken, tacos, salads, “From the Grill”, entrees, seafood, and more. In addition to many regular Mexican dishes they had some unique ones such as Sopitos Estilo Tonaya, Supreme Molcajete, and Schwartzeneggar Taco. (Unrelated news flash (2/15/10, 6 pm): as first I wrote this, a woman sitting near me on the train said that she was friends with the aunt of a member of the 80’s music group Expose.) Under beverages they had Jarritos soda. In addition to the menu, on our table was a flyer listing specials including a pork loin dish and “Taco Bomba”. Most choices were fairly inexpensive with many under $10. We had to get our total tab to $35 and that took some work. We ordered our beverages: hot chocolate for my wife and a tamarind Jarritos for me. Unfortunate they were out of both so my wife got an apple juice and I got a lime Jarritos. Later I got an orange Jarritos to further bring up the tab.
They brought us a large basket of chips and a bowl of salsa that were good together. As we waited for our food I noticed there was a flatscreen TV mounted on the ceiling in the back right corner. It was showing the halftime show of the NBA All-Star game with Alicia Keys performing. We had hoped the see Shakira’s performance but I guess we missed it. They showed a clip of it where she was wearing this “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” outfit. We notice that the young Clipper Eric Gordon had made the All-Star team and we also saw a Sprite commercial featuring the rapper Drake. After a wait of 10-15 minutes they started serving our food first bringing my wife’s antojito, the Tostadas de Tinga. The two tostadas were stacked several inches high with all the toppings: shredded chicken marinated in tomato and chipotle salsa, pico de gallo salsa, lettuce, cotija cheese, and sour cream. My wife enjoyed them but they were a lot of food for an antojito.
Very soon after bringing my wife’s antojito they brought her entre: Filete a la Plancha. But she only had room for a bit of the large white fish filet. She took the avocado garnish and mixed it with her excess lettuce from the tostada to make a salad. Like all our dishes the fish had little Mexican flags planted in it. They then brought the accompaniments to my order: Mexican rice, guacamole (with a Mexican flag in it) and pico de gallo. They had sprinked a little cheese on them so I didn’t eat much of them. But then they brought my main entrée: beef fajitas that were still sizzling on a hot black iron platter. The tasted great with much of the beef blackened but not chewy at all. The beef was mixed with slices of grilled red and yellow onion and red and green pepper. The server also brought out a round plastic container of hot tortillas: two corn and two flour. The corn tortillas were thick but not too chewy. They held their integrity well when made into tacos. They were a bit like the ones at Babita. Everything was good and so much food.
After we had our fill, we doggy-bagged the Filete de Plancha. Our server said we were still $2 short of $35. They had only charged $4.99 for the Tostadas de Tinga rather than the $6.99 given on the menu. We brought another Jarritos (sealed this time) to bring our total up to $35 and with the discount we only paid around $21 including tax and tip. The server passed out red roses to all the female customers including my wife. We put it in an empty Jarritos bottle at home. The next day I was off work for President’s Day so I made fish tacos with the leftover tortillas and the Filete de Plancha. The fish was very good, flaking easily even after I heated it up in the microwave. It’s great we have so many good Latin restaurants in our neighborhood. However, they don’t sell the $25 of $35 coupon on restaurant.com anymore. They now sell a $25 of $40 coupon. That would require getting a whole lot of food from Fonda Don Chon.
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