CALIFORNIA FOCUS / HIT'S THE SPOT: The State in Victoria Gardens

The State has an excellent selection of appetizers that perfectly accompany any entry or as something to snack on while you enjoy a locally brewed beer. The poutine was phenomenal and is a meal in itself. Dense, flavorful comfort food that you don't find everywhere. The portobello mushroom fries are a mushroom lovers dream! The beer batter is thin and crispy which makes for a great combination of texture. When dipped into the truffle aioli you get that trifecta of yum!

The State has a full menu of entrees but for the soft opening we were only offered burger and sandwiches...which is fine by me because they do serve some of the best burgers in the Inland Empire. The Drunken Pig's obvious feature is the sunny-side up egg which is as tasty as it looks. The Bourbon BBQ Burger features thick smokey bacon and beer batter onion rings.

The Nutella Grilled Cheese is a rich filling way to end your meal. Be sure save room for this treat. While it sounds like a simple dessert there really is a lot going on with flavors and textures that you don't expect. The full menu features another great dessert, The Butterschotch Pot de Creme. This is a simple sea salt and chantilly cream served in a glass which was hard to get good pictures of but was my favorite. Looks like we have to go back to get that image...aw shucks!

The food is good, the restaurant itself is amazing but the real stars of the show are the drinks. Let's start with the beers, They have a huge selection of locally brewed beers. Whom ever is selecting the beers know's what they are doing and seems to be a big part of the State's charm. The State has a large selection of whiskeys so you'll see that influenced on their cocktail menu. Our favorite was the Old Fashion. made with home made bitters and other fresh ingredients, it's must. We'll put a video below of the making of this drink.

Now let's get down to business. The State is a whiskey bar. The menu for whiskeys is bigger than the food and other drink menus combined! What's nice is they also do flights of whiskeys which I highly recommend. No matter which you choose you're going to be impressed.