Dear Marilyn, I am 25 years old, I’m married, and I have two beautiful children, ages 2 ½ and 14 months. Sometimes I feel like I have another child…my father-in-law. We’ll call […]
Dear Mari: Get the old grump some pals
Long history, long bar at The Longboard
By Jim and Marilyn Tortolano We’re suckers for local history, and doubly so for small, independent eateries with lots of personality and good food. All that describes The Longboard Restaurant & Pub […]
Retorts: Cheesy thinking about St. Marc
Restaurants in the crowded eatery market of downtown Huntington Beach put out a lot of effort to attract and keep customers. Have an unpleasant experience and there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of […]
Dear Mari: Lend a hand with Easter dinner
Dear Marilyn, Every year it has been our family tradition to go to my grandmother’s house for Easter dinner. She cooks and bakes and we have many wonderful family memories of Easter […]
“Something more” and better in “Beast”
By Jim Tortolano A key line in both the original animated and the current live action version of “Beauty and the Beast” is “there’s something there that wasn’t there before.” In the […]
Can’t “leaf” this tea hot spot alone
By Jim and Marilyn Tortolano In the same small strip mall where a Starbucks flamed out a few years ago and closed, there’s a tea and coffee shop packed with customers and […]
Retorts: What’s behind the flag flap?
What’s the old saying? Don’t criticize a man until you’ve walked a mile in his Skechers? The little bit of wisdom applies this week as the Garden Grove City Council approved on […]
Dear Mari: Wife’s business irks him
Dear Marilyn, I have been married for 12 years, and I have three children. I have had a small business, with a partner, for seven years. It has been mildly successful. During […]
“Orphans” shines as funny family drama
By Thom deMartino “I admire violent men,” said the kidnapped fellow in the Golden West College production of “Orphans.” “They don’t stop at nothin’.” Living alone together, in the disheveled home of […]
Mae’s Cafe is tasty 24 hours a day
By Jim and Marilyn Tortolano Nestled between the elegant Brodard Chateau and the cult-classic burger joint In-N-Out on Trask Avenue in Garden Grove is Mae’s Cafe. Modest-looking and moderate in price, this […]
