That’s right. We’ve gone off the deep end dining wagon. This is straight up ghetto. LAist recently did a study of the “fish dogs” at Wienerschnitzels hence it’s only right Losanjealous will now present the $2.99 Big Bite 1/4 pound hot dog from 7-11.
We started Drive & Find a few years back because, frankly, we were damn intimidated by the vast Los Angeles culinary scene. It’s a simple concept: two Westside dudes are hungry… they pick an area of town… they take a drive … they find an alluring restaurant … they dine there. This concept has brought us all around LA – from seafood to Thai to total crap – nonetheless our affinity for the unknown remains.
DATE: Wednesday May 20th, 2009
RESTAURANT: CAFÉ VIDA
15317 Antioch Street
Pacific Palisades 90272
(310) 573-1335
THEIR SLOGANS: “Food for life” and “A great, fresh taste.”
OUR SLOGAN: “Food” and “A decent, not-everything-but-most-things-are-fresh taste”
DRIVE TIME: 15 minutes
LIKES: Being really the only open restaurant in the area. Complimentary lime in the iced water. Interesting, loud conversation amongst four basketball apparel adorned high schoolers regarding chicks. Quiet streets.
DISLIKES: Identity crisis. A tad overpriced. Boring menu. Peeping Tom waitresses. An ugly dog sitting tableside in a striped carry-on suitcase-like apparatus.
»continue reading Drive & Find: Ep 2: Cafe Vida (Pacific Palisades)
Ok, people. The mighty gurgitators of the LA Metblogs are having a Hot Dog Death March to the Death on June 13 (week from Saturday). Information is here. They’ll be eating at Oki-Dog, Pink’s and Skooby’s, all during the same afternoon. Maybe you join them, let us know how you fare. Me, I’m steering clear. In fact in no way and at no time do I recommend you join this event. No, I must advise against it. For reasons to remain unblogged at present I no longer condone any sort of social experiment regarding Oki-Dog, Hollywood Toll Booth, Day-glo Bastion of Toothlessness, North Fairfax, Willoughby, Tinseltown USA. I will not be at this event; I will not be at the Oki-Dog. I will be nowhere anywhere near this event, at all. Do not let this stop you.
LA Metblogs Leads the “Los Angeles Hot Dog Death March” To Sample 3 Eateries in 1 Afternoon
Calling all hot dog lovers & pop culture fans! LA Metblogs (la.metblogs.com), obsessed with covering everything quintessentially “LA,” is gathering for a mass “meat-up” over three of LA’s best-loved hot dog stands.
»continue reading Under $10 And In No Way Advised: “Hot Dog Death March” (LA Metblogs)
In the mood for a huge, hearty, warm, melty, fake-meaty Vegan sandwich for under $10? Look no further than Chango Coffee House in Echo Park. The hipster coffee shop/art gallery is located at Echo Park Avenue and Delta Street, a spot that locals have dubbed “Chicken Corner,” and has recently added two unbelievably tasty vegan sandwiches to its menu. I had the chance to try both over the weekend, steak & cheese as well as chicken pesto, and each one brought a kind of sandwich satisfaction that isn’t available anywhere else in town.
The vegan steak and cheese sandwich is basically a vegan version of your typical “Philly cheesesteak,” with thick soy steak strips and dairy-free mozzarella, along with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Chango toasted the sandwich when I ordered it, so the bread was warm and crispy and the soy cheese was perfectly melty. For the steak Chango uses gardein, and for the cheese they use Teese from Chicago Soydairy…each being the best replacement out there for its animal-product counterpart. I can tell you, this steak and cheese sandwich was so amazing, even a meat-eater would fall in love with it. Not since Doomie’s or The Vegan Spot (both are closed down now) have I had such a great vegan sandwich.
We started Drive & Find a few years back because, frankly, we were damn intimidated by the vast Los Angeles culinary scene. It’s a simple concept: two Westside dudes are hungry… they pick an area of town… they take a drive … they find an alluring restaurant … they dine there. This concept has brought us all around LA – from seafood to Thai to total crap – nonetheless our affinity for the unknown remains.
DATE: Sunday, May 2, 2009
RESTAURANT: Cantalini’s Salerno Beach Restaurant
193 Culver Blvd; Playa del Rey, 90293
310.821.0018
www.salernobeach.com
Their slogan: “The Best in Traditional Italian Cuisine.”
Our Slogan: “The Best in Traditional Italian Cuisine … on that part of Culver Blvd.”
Drive Time: 20 minutes
LIKES: Saltwater smell outside. The house band straight out of an early ‘90s Steve Martin romantic comedy. Cozy date spot. The hand-painted walls. Leather booths outside for table waiting. Cute, oddly dressed hostess. A lot of cork popping all around. Locals in beach attire.
DISLIKES: Thirty minute wait at 7:45 p.m. on a Sunday. The enflamed MAC Tools Autoracing parka worn by a dude at an adjacent table. At times feeling like we were in coastal South Carolina. The bread. Their middle school class project website (www.salernobeach.com ).
»continue reading Drive & Find: Ep 1: Cantalini’s Salerno Beach
Cafe Bolivar is one of my top three favorite cafe offices. You can go to Yelp and learn about the varied experiences of casual patrons who don’t really know what they’re talking about and who base their review on 1.5 visits (though it is rated quite high by most yelpers, I should add); meantime, I’m here to tell you that you should come to this cafe and work for three reasons:
Oh. That was four. Anyway, OMG I love those guava pastries. Haven’t had one in ages, ‘cuz I can’t eat that wheat poison no more. But as far as wheat poison goes, it’s pretty terrific.
»continue reading Under $10 Westside Free WiFi Watch: Bolivar Cafe
WHAT NOW?
The Golden State Cafe is situated on Fairfax a few doors up from Turntable Lab, Damiano “Mr Pizza” and the dried-up husk of Largo (RIP old Largo, you were much more fun and intimate than the Coronet). The cafe features craft brews, decent food and gelato offerings from Mr. Tai “Scoops” Kim himself at $2/scoop, all served within a space afforded a very keen “warehousey” design eye. They pride themselves on showcasing, in their own words, “the best makers of food and drink in California.” In a move that is patently inconsistent with this philosophy, they also pride themselves on the most expensive beer in their restaurant, the infamous “aged in Jim Beam barrels” Allagash Curieux from Portland, Maine, priced at $9 for one 10-oz glass. To their credit, though, they also have some great California brews on tap.
Beloved sub sandwich shack, Roll Inn Sandwich, frequently affectionately referred to by UCLA undergrads as “Buck Fiddy” for its one-time $1.50 (pre-tax) sandwiches was found dead today on Gayley Avenue in Westwood Village, a “For Lease” sign hanging it its window.
As a reliable late night purveyor of alcohol-sopping subs to stumbling drunkards emerging from nearby Maloney’s after last call, the Roll Inn maintained a foothold in the area even as their prices gradually crept upwards from the 12-bit offerings of their glory days. It upgraded its exterior facade to a White Stripesy candy cane theme, added catering service, and expanded its menu, adding even a bulgogi beef sub. They even installed some of those needles you put on the roof to deter pigeons from landing and shitting you. Even with these improvements, its ramshackle shack sprit was in its bones, kind of like a girl that loses a lot of weight but you can still sort of see the fat girl in them.
For a local business that has hung on in the historically difficult retail climate of Westwood Village for upwards of a decade, the passing may come as a shock. Pending an autopsy, the precise date and cause of its demise was not known.
»continue reading UCLA Westwood Village’s Roll Inn Sandwich a.k.a. “Buck Fiddy” Found Dead
Downtown Culver City has really developed over the last year, especially in the food department. It has been sarcastically dubbed as “CuCi” for its semi-pricey lunch and dinner spots. But in the armpit of CuCi, behind Ugo, Fraiche, Bottle Rock and the BofA, there’s a little alleyway gem that still keeps it real. REAL CHEAP. Aesthetically, this place is a skidmark and sore thumb in an area of newer and trendier businesses. Introducing Tokyo 7-7 Coffee Shop, a place that has been run by old-school Japanese Americans since 1983. Maybe even 1883.
I stumbled across this place when I was super poor one day during lunch. I was sick of Honey’s Kettle Fried Chicken, Fraiche and that one rib joint that is so so. I parked in the structure and there it was. Sure, why not.
»continue reading Under $10: Tokyo 7-7 Coffee Shop, Culver City
Gaja Moc is THE place for grill-at-your-own-table Okonomiyakis (ok, it’s the only place I know of). Okonomiyakis are savory Japanese pancakes and, at Gaja, you can pick your own fillings, ranging from the predictable (pork, sausage, kimchee, teriyaki chicken, shrimp) to the few surprise guests (mochi, cod roe, plum, squid leg). Think Korean BBQ, but less BBQ and more breakfast griddle. You get a bowl of batter, your selected fillings, a minature spatula, and just go with it. 4 -5 min per side. Especially recommended for those who enjoy the sight of mochi, cheese and spicy cod roe together atop a gooey pancake batter.
But: For the under $10 part. Gaja Moc just started opening for lunch (first date of service was 3/17). They have insane (read: huge) lunch set menus, which are all plays on the noodle soup + salad + side rice bowl combo. The udon soups come in a f*ing casserole dish, for god sake. It’s pretty mad / rad:
RESTAURANT NAME
Pho Minh
CLAIM TO FAME
No-nonsense pho with fragrant cinnamon broth that might not even need the requisite lime, chili, sprout and mint additions (you’ll add all four just the same; you know it, I know it)
This is what happens when an aged giggling neo-con with a bushy-yet-waxed mustache keeps buying you and two Icelandic sisters free beer at the Farmer’s Market, then you all stagger over to Sheddy’s and run into your neighbors, then you drag the party to El Carmen on Third to see a “Los Angeles Tequila Bar™” and neo-con giggles, mumbling “I can’t believe they let me in, I’m wearing shorts!” on a Wednesday evening when all you meant to do was watch the Dodgers and shoot the breeze. This fucking plate is what happens. I bet you didn’t even know they served a dish like this at Carney’s, did you. Amateur.
SCENE
Int. CARNEY’S Sunset Strip
SOUNDTRACK
“Hot Freaks”, Guided by Voices
She told me, liquor
I am a new man
“What can I get for you?”
“I’ll have, uh, a Derailer. And a chili cheese fry for good measure. Small fry.”
Hot freaks!
One eyebrow cocks. “Deeeerailer!” comes the cry. A line cook flinches. The guy on drinks stifles a laugh.
»continue reading Under $10 And Incredibly Shameful: Carney’s Derailer
This joint, as all joints that you don’t know, is really hard to find first time out. It’s just a across the lot from the Anh Hong, the 7 course beef joint, and it’s also across the drive way from Di Vang 3. On the north side of Westminter Ave, right before Brookhurst.
I haven’t set foot inside this plaza in at least 5 yrs, the last time we were here for 7 course beef @ Anh Hong. Things are… well.. different. But not exactly that different. Di Vang is up to #3 now, and the $1.99 restaurants are now $2.99…
»continue reading $2.99 (!!!) Fried Chicken @ Song Huong, Garden Grove
Awhile back, a lil bloggin’ birdie dropped some poop which led to this craptastic pie at Coop. Still love you Ronnie, tho BARELY.
This is one of the better slices in the Westside, beyond Joe’s in Santa Monica. The gentleman, Mr. La Rocco, can be seen grubbin on his own product, doing the crossword puzzle(?) on a random early evening. He likes fresh roma tomatoes with garlic knots. That’s respectable.
Not sure where the actual pie slingers are from, but this is what makes this joint great: the puttanesca slice. Sugo alla puttanesca has been falsely portrayed as sauce in the style of a whore in Italian. While the blogger/writer Steve Parzen clearly dispeled any notion the puttanesca sauces are whorish, it is no doubt tasty. Traditionally, puttanesca has involved olive, salted anchovies, tomatoes and chili flakes, LaRocco’s version utilizes artichokes, basil and pecorino romano to give the sense of a kitchen sink spilling over onto the pizza. Recipes evocative of kitchen sink are often some of the finest assemblages of ethnic cuisine: think bi bimp bap.
People walk and drive by you, without giving you as much as a glance. People make fun of you. People do not take you seriously. People consider you to be lonely and desolate inside. And people only come to you when they absolutely need something. Why do people treat you like this?!
That’s because you are a strip mall.
»continue reading Under $10 – Cafe Bravo, Silver Lake – Tasty Armenian Meal
Back to basics: Big Mike’s Philly Steaks & Subs. Ribeye steak sliced thin, served on a Steak roll with perfectly grilled onions, mushrooms and just the right amount of cheese. 6″ for about 5 bucks. Make it a combo with a hefty portion of garlic fries and a soda – You’re looking at $7 and change. No wagyu beef, heirloom tomato ketchup or foie gras butter here. Just a damn good cheesesteak.
12″ on the counter
»continue reading Under $10: Big Mike’s Philly Steaks & Subs
Your camp maintains the phony twitter feeds from washed-up celebrities, movie characters and inanimate objects are the jokes of yesterday. Our camp disagrees, cut from the cloth of the devout followers of John Kreese (as scripted by Paul Scheer). Still, we sit and sup daily, side by side on twitter, unequivocally agreeing that tweets from the Kogi BBQ Truck occupy a special, indescribable, sacred place within the psyche of today’s wired Los Angeles foodie. Things have been more or less balanced within the kogiverse, once we accepted and acknowledged that fact. When Phony Kogi showed up on the playground one day and thousands of people begin following his feed, we had questions, naturally. Are all of the thousands of followers in on the joke, over at fake Kogi feed? If so – or, more importantly, if not – where did they come from? The legitimate Kogi feed has less than 9,000 followers at press time. Where and how might a lawsuit be filed, based solely on text characters? Would that be defamation of text character? (“They used our trademarked capital “L” trick, so we sued for infringement…”) And just what is Phony Kogi’s beef, is he sick of the overhype of the original Kogi? Disgruntled ex-employee? Jealous competitor? Just bored? How long until Phony Kogi gets pulled? Will he get pulled? Are there twitter police? What twitter expert out there can tell me how this stuff plays out, or if it does? Help. Also, who cares. Let us all enjoy a hand-picked basket of tweets from Phony Kogi at this time:
New special for Lent: Anyone willing to wait 40 minutes for their food will get 5% off.
12:19 AM Mar 4th from webis at Terminal 6 LAX you’ll luv our Venice Alley Kimchi Quesadilla
8:19 PM Feb 24th from webWe’ve just added a third truck. Dubbed ‘Negro’ this 60ft semi-trailer truck is big and black with supplies to satisfy multiple customers.
8:19 PM Feb 23rd from web
Continuing the Vietnamese theme for Under $10: I checked out a little place tucked in the South Bay called Pho Hana. Right when I walked in, I could tell I was in for a treat –I was hit with an aggressively beefy fragrance, laced with a trace of cilantro and anise…
As is typical, the menu is mostly variations on pho with beef broth –you make your selection/combination of rare steak, flank, brisket, tendon, tripe, and meat balls. At Pho Hana, they even have a choice of “fat crispy”, which is just delightful.
The pho is served piping hot. The noodles are chewy and aren’t clumped together – a good sign. My friend ordered a extra side of rare beef and I watched her swirl each piece into the broth, the edges of the beef curling up as they cooked up against the sliced onions and chile paste…it was almost too much to take. I think I grunted. Slurping ensued.
Following the footsteps of Christian so and so, the publisher of “What Stuff People Like”, now available in print, you decide to partake in a bit of #71 action: “Being the only white person in the room”. In the morning, from say Silver Lake, or Echo Park, City of Alhambra is only a quick 20 minute jaunt. If you’re on your fixie, I’d suggest shelling out the big bucks at La Mill. But given the opportunity, the little ladies of Banh Mi My Tho throw down a better breakfast than Mr. Adrian Vasquez (who recently became a father to a baby daughter, and of course, is the pastry chef behind LA Mill’s gourmet eats).
the clusterF that is BMMT
»continue reading A superior $3 breakfast sandwich: Banh Mi My Tho, Alhambra
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