Venezia: Barbara’s Bits & Bites Rediscovering Dick Church’s, Tommy Pastrami

I enjoy discovering and rediscovering fun places to eat in Newport/Costa Mesa for this monthly Barbara’s Bits & Bites column.

And every now and then, I say bring on the grease and calories, which is exactly what I was in the mood for when I visited two of my favorite local food joints.

A great place for breakfast is Dick Church’s Restaurant, 2698 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa. Church’s is open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, and from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. Breakfast is served all day.

I’ve enjoyed this spot many times over the years with my pal, and “At Home on the Range” TV show cooking show partner, John Crean.

But since his passing in 2007 I hadn’t seemed to find my way back there until a few Saturdays ago when my husband, Stan, suggested we dine there one morning. There’s no outdoor patio for doggy dining so Stasha stayed home.

When we arrived about 10 a.m., the line was out the door as folks waited to be seated. Seems Church’s, which has been around since 1947, is still as popular as ever with locals.

I’m not a big fan of waiting in line, and was tempted to leave, but the hostess said it would be a 10-minute wait, and she was right on target.

Looking to pass the time before being seated, I decided to keep myself occupied by visiting their website for a bit of the restaurant’s history:

What would we do without smart phones!

On the site I discovered some interesting background facts about this iconic eatery.

Dick Church’s Family Restaurant is one of the oldest restaurants in Orange County, and the cash register is the original black model from 1947.

I did not know that Dick Church’s originally started as Baby’s Beef Burger in 1947 and since then has changed owners and names several times, as the site informed me.

Over the restaurant’s history it’s been called “Bud’s Beef Burger” and “The Coffee Tree,” but in 1972 it was named after its owner. That name stuck, even though the King family purchased the restaurant in 1981.

I’m partial to the retro vibe of Church’s décor with large orange booths — a throwback from the 1960s — and the dark wood paneling cover the interior walls.

The food here is well-priced and plentiful.

A cheese omelet is $6.95. A Denver omelet, made with ham green chile and onions, is $7.95. Omelets are served with breakfast potatoes and toast of your choice.

Try their plain waffles, $5.45, or the waffle combo, $8.25, which includes one egg and two strips of bacon or two links of sausage.

I had the Special Omelet, $7.95, made with spinach, mushrooms, onions and Jack cheese, which was quite tasty.

My husband received an omelet entrée he hadn’t ordered — we weren’t quite sure which omelet it was — but he ate it anyway and enjoyed every bite.

Our waitress was very nice, so we didn’t mind the mixup.

Check out the restaurant’s weekly lunch specials for $6.95: Mondays, Chinese Chicken Salad; Tuesdays, Chicken Caesar Salad or Tacos; Wednesdays, Ortega Burgers or Meatloaf; Thursdays, Teriyaki Chicken Salad or a Red Baron Sandwich; Fridays, Fish Tacos or Parmesan Melt.

They also have hamburgers, fries, sandwiches and salads.

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A visit to Tommy Pastrami in Santa Ana

Speaking of lunch, when I get raving cravings for a good deli sandwich, I head over to Tommy Pastrami, 751 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana.

Sure my beat is Newport/Costa Mesa, but it’s so close to the border of Costa Mesa — and near one of my frequent shopping haunts, Ikea — I feel it deserves a mention.

And they also have an outdoor dog-friendly patio.

Owner Tommy Cassella, from my home town of Brooklyn, is there most days behind the counter, taking orders and chatting with customers.

Don’t be surprised if Cassella walks outside and sits at your table and asks how you like the food and makes small talk.

He’s visited with me and Stasha more than once as I munched on one of his famous overstuffed pastrami sandwiches. Truth be told, I take half of it home to enjoy later; it’s that big.

Try a whole sandwich, $11.95, or half sandwich, $7.95, of pastrami, roast beef, brisket, or hot corned beef.

There’s also homemade soups like chicken soup, $5.75, and Matzo Ball Soup $7.25.

And don’t forget their coleslaw, steak fries, homemade chili or onion rings $4.75. It’s all really good.

Visit their site, tommypastraminydeli.com for full menu and catering options.

So, as a friend cautioned me last week, it’s time to get back to being “dietricious,” though it did feel good to throw caution to the wind, forget about calories and just enjoy.

BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at [email protected]. Listen to her weekly radio segment on “Sunday Brunch with Tom and Lynn” from 11 a.m. to noon on KOCI/101.5 FM.