by Carin P. Webb webbsight@msn.com
http://webbsight.domainvalet.com
Find out how to get there! http://maps.yahoo.com/
Stox Restaurant Bakery & Bar
Established in 1962, I'm going to go out on a limb to state that Stox is the
oldest independently continuously run restaurant in Downey, and one of the
oldest in all of Los Angeles County.
Stox is really two restaurants in one. The front "family friendly" dining area
will visually remind you of every coffee shop you've ever been in, from Denny's
to Norm's to Spire's, while the smaller rear dining lounge (where the bar is
located) is more reminiscent of an intimate steak house, with its own separate
back-door entrance. Featured at Stox are several wall-mounted television sets
throughout both dining areas, tuned to some major sporting event or another.
Their menu is quite extensive, and what is most impressive to me is the fact
that out of their five pages of menu items, only one page contains food items
that cost more than ten bucks. Breakfast is available whenever they're open, and
dinner and appetizers can be ordered after 11 a.m. Stox makes everything on
their menu from scratch with the exception of their sandwich bread. They offer
11 different burgers made from USDA choice beef which they grind themselves
daily, and serve on their freshly baked (wheat or regular) buns. A turkey burger
is also among the choices. The "Splendid Sandwich" section of their menu boasts
18 different selections. My vegetarian husband frequently orders "The
Vegetarian" made with avocado, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato served on two
delicious
sliced croissants.
An interesting menu choice, and a sandwich I have ordered and enjoyed is the
"Garden Gobbler," which is turkey with sautéed zucchini, onion, tomato, fresh
spinach and jack cheese served on grilled sun-dried tomato bread. Order this
with the choice of the fresh fruit cup, and I think you can get all seven
servings of your fruits and vegetables in one sitting.
Also on the menu are nine "South of the Border" offerings (the quesadilla being
another item that vegetarians can enjoy). Of their seven different salads, even
vegans could order the fresh fruit salad topped with sherbet, or cottage cheese
for those not lactose-intolerant.
An additional item vegans could order from the "Light Fare" section of the menu
is a vegetable medley of steamed vegetables with rice. Served with cheese sauce
on request for non-vegans.
Of the 19 entrée selections, I've had and can recommend the chicken pot pie
because it's just good old-fashioned well-prepared comfort food. I can also
recommend another vegetarian selection, the pasta primavera, which is sautéed
vegetables on a bed of fettuccine, topped with parmesan cheese. The chicken
teriyaki, served on a skewer over rice is also quite tasty.
Their top sirloin steak sandwich is good, and served with the garlic bread on
the side with fries and a peeled tomato filled with cottage cheese. I've also
had their New York steak, which is equally well prepared and comes with fresh
steamed vegetables du jour, fresh dinner rolls, and choice of potato.
Soup or salad will cost an extra $1.50 with your entrée. Their New England clam
chowder served on Fridays is nice and thick and flavorful. Their dinner salads
are nothing to get very excited about, except that they do use an excellent
chunky blue cheese dressing.
On Tuesdays after 11 a.m. you can order the homemade tortilla soup, which just
like the menu states, is a meal in itself. I have to say that it's a rather mis-named
dish, and would be more accurately called, "Huge dices of white meat chicken
served in a nicely spiced stock with cilantro, some crispy tortilla slithers,
and a large dollop of fresh guacamole on top." But I suppose that would be a
little wordy. For Thursdays on their dinner specials board they offer a tortilla
salad, which is similarly mis-named. I would order both of these again.
Also on their daily dinner specials board, Stox always offers at least one (and
usually three) fresh fish dishes. Most of the time it's grilled in lemon and
butter, but occasionally they offer it Cajun style (which can always be
requested, nevertheless). I can tell you that they do a bang-up job on the
halibut.
In addition to their fish specials, they will usually have some sort of chicken
dish and maybe something along the lines of prime rib. Always a good value, and
you can't really go wrong ordering any of the specials. Stox has a full liquor
license, but if you like your Manhattans on the not-too-sweet side, you need to
ask them to go easy on the vermouth. And believe me when I tell you that your
glass will come FULL.
Their beer selection is limited, but not embarrassingly so. Nothing on tap, but
in bottles they have "the six you'd expect" (which are the big three American
brews and their "light" counterparts), along with Heineken, Corona, Samuel Adams
Boston Lager, and a 25-ounce Spaten Oktoberfest. Similarly their wine list
is limited, but respectable. They have two chardonnays, one Riesling, two white
zinfandels, two Cabernets, and two merlots, also available by the bottle. In
addition, they have three house wines from Maddalena (Chablis, blush and
burgundy) served by the glass, half or whole carafes. I've had the white and the
pink, and neither are particularly exciting or memorable, but drinkable
nonetheless.
They also have Korbel champagne by the 750 milliliter bottle or splits. Finally,
they have a dry house champagne (Stanford) which reminds me of a $5 bottle of
Trader Joe's champagne or an inexpensive champagne you'd get at a champagne
Sunday brunch. In other words, drinkable as long as the glass is endlessly
refillable.
Their happy hour is Monday through Friday from 3-6 p.m. and features a special
lounge-only menu with five items under $6, plus 50 cents off domestic beer,
glass of house wine and well drinks.
For dessert, there are at least 17 different freshly made pies to choose from.
We've had the boysenberry, the ripe cherry, the chocolate cream, and the banana
cream, and they're all the perfect and satisfying end to a meal. Stox also
offers an impressive array of additional cakes, sundaes and so on, and until
recently we've never managed to get past the pie. I guess we're not alone in
this, because Stox needs to make 10,000 pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving to meet the
substantial demand.
Wanting to try something we've never had before, a while back we tried their
chocolate éclair and now we may never go back to the pie again (unless it's to
take a whole one home to enjoy later).
Stox enjoys customer loyalty to the tune of 85 percent return clientele, and
have regular customers who have moved away, but still come back on Tuesdays (for
instance) for the tortilla soup. Indeed, they have a few customers who eat three
meals a day, seven days a week at Stox. I think that's probably a testament to
their varied and reasonably priced menu. The fact of the matter, is they prefer
to call their customers "guests", and one of the managers, Mickey Cook, told me
he always tells his hired help that his number one rule is: "Be nice to my
guests. Everything else we can fix. If they don't like the way their meal is
prepared, we can do it over, but you gotta be nice to my guests."
Our waitress, Estelle had nothing but glowing praise for her manager, and added
that their success is achieved through good old-fashioned teamwork. And for any
clean-freak phobics out there, the 60-ish waitress claimed, "This is the
cleanest place I've ever worked."
In addition to customer loyalty, Stox also enjoys employee loyalty. You're
considered "new" if you've worked there less than 10 years, and the longest
tenured worker has been with them over 30 years.
What I like about Stox is that it's a well-oiled, well-maintained, well-run
machine which will impress just about anyone you take there, and where there's
never any surprises. The staff is always friendly and professional, and you only
need to come in a few times before they recognize you and remember what kind of
drink you like to order.
And may I remind you (when dining out) to bring along some Tupperware and
Ziplocks for your leftovers so you can "Just Say NO" to Styrofoam. Or if you
forget your containers, try asking for aluminum foil rather than a box.
Here's a toast to your good health, and a hearty bon appétit!
Stox Restaurant Bakery & Bar
9518 E. Imperial Hwy. (south side, east of Bellflower Boulevard), Downey, CA
90242
(562) 803-4004, fax 803-6750. Reservations not taken, take-out
Webb Sight: none
Hours: Monday-Saturday 6 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 7 a.m.-9 p.m.
Holidays closed: Kri$ma$
Parking: Free in large adjacent lot
Dress: Casual
Type of Liquor License: Full, corkage fee $5
Other Locations: None
Menu Best Sellers: Chicken Pot Pie $8, Daily Chef's Choice $9-13
Entertainment: None
Soup or salad included with entrée: No, $1.50 extra
Sunday Brunch: No
Smoking Section: No
Children's menu: for 12 and under; 13 items under $5
Credit cards: all major
Women's restroom: Not only clean, but also fresh smelling
Men's restroom: Utilitarian and very clean
Carin's Cost Rating: $$
Carin's Dinner Setting Rating:
Return to DaBelly.com