Local Gem – Grid 710
Some time ago I wrote a small article about the history and origin of hot wings. You may read it… or you may not. Anyway, I asked my friends where their favorite places to eat wings were and a couple of them mentioned the same place: 710 Grille in San Pedro. So since it’s pretty close to where I live, I love wings, and I love food adventures, of course I had to try it. I will say that I am more than happy that I did too!
If you like small, local, neighborhood hangouts that are unpretentious and totally friendly, then you’ll love the 710. At full capacity, maybe you could, and I mean maybe fit 40 people in there. That’s what I’m talking about! There are rules written on a dry erase board like: Your mom’s not back so she show some respect or don’t move the tables. You know playful, funny and semi serious. They have a great menu. Wings, with different levels of hotness from not so hot to are you kidding me? Who the hell is going to eat that? When I was there, I forgot to write the names of the levels, so I paraphrased a bit. Me and my girl chose level 5. It was spicy, but not so spicy that you didn’t want to eat them, and the flavor of their wing sauce was off! A lot of places don’t think about flavor when they turn up the heat and that detracts from the overall experience, for me. I’m not one of those macho guys who says, “Hey, just make it as hot as possible!”
I like it, no, I need the food to taste. That’s what it’s really about, for me. Remember, dear reader, these are my opinions. Some of you may want to see the doctor the day after you’ve ingested hot molten lava, that’s your prerogative, you can do whatever you want (did I just drop a Bobby Brown reference?). Anyway, the wings came out crispy and not completely drenched in sauce. There was a fair amount of sauce, but they weren’t swimming in it.
As for the burgers… I didn’t forget the rest of the menu. I know you’re like, “He said they have a great menu and then he went on a rant about the wings, what the heck?!?!” If you are adventurous and like a great tasting burger then you have to try one of their specialty burgers. The 710 has some of the most amazing selections I’ve come across: alligator, kangaroo, buffalo, ostrich, beef (of course), and I think its signature: Cevapchichi. This is a mix of lamb, pork, beef, garlic, parsley, and a few other “secret” seasonings and spices. This mix of meats and spices is a Croatian delicacy according to the people of 710, it even says so on their menu. I had the Cevapchichi Bacon Burger and all I can say is, Damn that was amazing!
My girl went for the buffalo and that thing was saved too! Not spicy, but it had a distinctive flavor, a bit softer on the palate than lamb. Being newbies we didn’t order the combos so we added an order of fries and onion rings… I think they make the onion rings from scratch but I’m not sure. Regardless, they were tasty. As I said before, they are unassuming. All of our food was served in little red baskets with red and white checkered paper, which made the experience that much better in my opinion. There’s also a bakery just around the corner that 710 gets its buns from every day, and to me the bun is just as important as what’s inside! I can’t wait to get back there and try some alligator or have an ostrich burger.
I want to thank my two friends who gave me the tip about this place: Dave and Trent… Great find guys!
Keep eating people…