"Back in my college days 70’s), I lived in Costa Mesa, California. When single and on a tight budget, I was looking for places where the food was good, there was a lot of it and the price was right. Cold beer, good drinks, a billiard table and the availability of Single Gals from time to time were always a plus. A place that met all the above was a local dive called Zubie's pizza. Zubie must’a bought it from a pizza place because there was a pizza oven, but pizza was nowhere on the menu I knew about and I never saw a serving. What made Zubie's pizza popular was his prime rib. There was a weekly naval night in which you had to call for a "reservation" time in the morning. The reservations were issued in a way like Tickets Masters, which issued tickets for a sale concert, on a first come basis. You have a time slot, you appeared at that time, gave your name, bought a ticket $2.85 in the 70s) and rose in line. Once you came through the line, the seating was not assigned and `family style’ on picnic tables with sawdust on the ground. Well, this place fell craze into the coastal development, but before it did, he opened a few other low key, local favorites. Zubies Dry Dock in Huntington Beach and Zubies Chicken Coop on the other side of the Costa Mesa on the Newport Beach city border. Before it was Zubie's Chicken Coop, this was a chic French restaurant with a chic French name right on the Pacific Coast Highway at Newport Beach/Costa Mesa city limits. It was an upscale restaurant with parking, samttapete, bevelled French windows and plush carpet. I don't know why or how Zubie came to buy it, but when he did, he got rid of the menu and the parking service, but not much conversion as a few inch sawdust on the carpet and then he opened the doors. Not much has been done since then, either; some new tables like those fancy French wore out and an occasional filling of the sawdust on the floor When you scratch your foot through it, you can still make the design in the old carpet). Known for locals as a place with good food and drinks, the menu is served in large portions with homemade freshly cooked dishes. The only thing I was disappointed was the Rotisserie chicken, maybe this is a kind of tribute to his pizza-free pizza place). It is no surprise to see dressed multimillionaire yacht owners sitting in the bar for breakfast saying jokes with the local mechanics. Zubie Captain John Zubieta) is gone now, he died a few years back and the place continues under the direction of his wife. She has sold it since then she still leads Zubies Dry Dock in Huntington Beach), but the place lives without change, weekly Prime Rib Night and all!"
