Wednesday night is “$5 Burger Night” at Echo Park restaurant ‘the Park’. The $5 price includes one burger and a side. I know what you’re thinking, “For $5 bucks I can get five burgers at McDowell’s”, but we all know that fast food burgers generally lack the texture and distinct flavor of those found in the backyard; plus, once you throw in a 32oz of your favorite malt liquor and the company of your two favorite foodies, this works out to be a pretty good deal.

One of my dining companions had eaten at ‘the Park’ once before and remembered the place being BYOB. I checked the website and although I found the letters BYOB on certain nights, it was unclear if this was their general policy. Being the classy, respectful, upstanding citizen that I am, and given the lack of clarity on the matter, I smuggled in my own hooch — and it’s a good thing I did. Apparently, the news of the “$5 Burger Night” has spread to all corners of Hipsterville and characters straight out of the latest Urban Outfitters catalog swarmed the narrow entrance to be seated. We had to wait about 35 minutes for a table. There was no list to put my name down on, and the hostess seemed aggravated and bothered. I mentioned to her that we would be outside waiting and she apathetically responded, “oh”. Come to think of it, she did not even come out to fetch us when the table was ready, we just happened to be hovering around the patio and saw that one of the tables had opened up.

»continue reading Barely Under $10 and BYOB: The Park (Echo Park)

We can’t actually tell if Mike (a) is tired of shelling out $3.50 for his Coolhaus ice cream sandos, (b) has a crush on the owners, (c) is jealous of the truck’s tar-architecture- asphalt-and- cream-laden business model, or (d) is completely and wholly spot-on, in the right, in his op-ed below regarding the Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwich Truck duo’s failure to openly confess to a presumed Diddy Riese/UCLA collegiate inspiration at some level, having in the last few months shoved their version of the venerable Westwood institution’s non-architecturally-themed-yet-peculiarly-overly-familiar $1.50 sandos into a trendy li’l chrome truck, slapped punny architectural names onto them and tweeted them away all o’er town for $3.50 a throw, an astonishing markup in our frugal books. Who’s to say? That’s why they call it op-ed! Feel free to share your own opinions following the below tirade. The more vocal of you, g’head, send us a fully-fleshed submission for op-ed consideration on these pages (yes, Coolhaus, we’re looking directly at you for rebuttal). -ed

Above close-up of one member of Coolhaus’ $3.50 summer product line replete with edible “500 Days of Summer” wrapper courtesy intellichick (some rights reserved)

Coolhaus not so cool
By Mike

I live in Los Angeles and I eat a lot. I drink a little, too. With this highly dignified and prestigious culinary resume I’ve accumulated some opinions over the years. From time to time I will share them here. Bottoms up.

Dear Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwich Truck Ladies,

Look, I like you ladies. Natasha and Freya – those sound like hot names. Your truck, it’s silver – that’s fucking adorable. It’s even got rims. Totally bad ass. Your sandwiches are named after one of the most overlooked professions of the modern day … architects.

That’s all well and good.

It truly is. But, I think your shenanigans have gone on long enough. It’s time we discuss the frozen white elephant in the truck.

»continue reading “Truck Talk” Op-Ed: Coolhaus Not So Cool

Mayhap you have been following the saga of The Green Truck And The Plight of Trendy Gourmet Mobile Food Providers Along Miracle Mile, The Grouchy Local Purveyors, The Incensed Office Workers and The Man in the last couple of weeks. Mayhap not. Still, mayhap you have. At this time, we can now finally and truly report that there be Nothing Of Interest Whatsoever To Be Gleaned From This Post Regarding The Green Truck, The LAPD, Museum Square’s Grouchy Restaurant Row And Its Nearby Office Tenants. Ready? Begin.

FROM: Ryan’s Wireless Device
TO: Bob N/A
TIME: 11:59am 28 Aug 2009 Fri
What’s going on down on The Mile?

FROM: Bob N/A
TO: Ryan’s Wireless Device
TIME: 12:01pm
Barbie’s Q, Marked 5 are here. No sign of the police just yet. Eating some lunch. Will it be a peaceful day?

»continue reading PROBABLY NOT DEVELOPING: Nothing Of Interest Whatsoever To Be Gleaned From This Post Regarding The Green Truck, The LAPD, Museum Square’s Grouchy Restaurant Row And Its Nearby Office Tenants

Following our recent, topical, txtmsg-suffused posting about the LAPD’s targeted harassment of the gourmet food trucks near 5750 Wilshire Blvd, the inbox has been flooded: carbon-copies of outraged letters to Tom LaBonge, gratuitous linking from angry yelpers, 5750 Wilshire office resident petition signers (120 sigs at press time!) requesting mentions, at least one LA Times piece (wherein The Man pooh-poohs last week’s fiasco as a simple, one-day, non-permit-having-truck-targeted sting) and more than a few recently-submitted food truck reviews and op-ed pieces that I still have yet to parse, process and post live to the site. Meantime, Bobby’s back on the scene down Wilshire way, right now:

FROM: Bob N/A
TO: Ryan’s Wireless Device
TIME: 11:49am
I am at museum square stop now to scope things out. Here come the cops

More as it develops; stay tuned.

Green truck photo by jojomelons

» LAPD Throwing All Manner of Fines Under the Sun At Your Favorite Truck
» India Jones: Open For Business, Impounded By Po-Po, Back On Streets Today
» Green Truck on twitter

Mere days into its new tar-curry-and-asphalt business model, the explosive chutney-laden and aptly-named India Jones Chow Truck suffered a fate no lonchera would wish on another Wednesday prior at 5750 Wilshire Food Truck Takedown ‘09: Impound! Unsatisfied with simply slapping all manner of tickets and fines onto and into the truck and its wares, The Man opted to drag the glittering chrome-goat-milk-and-wheels box back to central for additional consumption, belches and post-tow betel nut chew. Take heart, for the story has a coconutty-sweet ending: Said truck is back on those mean Los Angeles streets as of today and Chef Sumant Pardel, having survived the ordeal in one piece, will be slinging Bombay Frankies, spicy food and various mango sundries again; very soon, in fact, with a possible appearance at this weekend’s Sunset Junction festival, according to that one website where everybody text-messages each other:

@losanjealous we r getting our truck back 2day they almost took it for 30 days… Thanx 4 awsome coverage we got in touch w/ Bobby of green

» LAPD Throwing All Manner of Fines Under the Sun At Your Fave Food Truck
» India Jones Chow Truck (official site / blog)
» http://twitter.com/indiajonesct
» Meals on Wheels: IJCT (Eater LA)

My Taco: 6300 York Blvd #4, Highland Park, Ca 90042

Here at Losanjealous,  we tackle the hardest of hard-hitting issues. Serious earth shattering, globally conscious shit like, does Diet Dr. Pepper REALLY taste like regular Dr. Pepper? And whether or not ‘My Taco’ is “authentic” or “white people” Mexican food (see comments here – ed).

To truly put the matter to rest we first have to dissect what “authentic” and what “white people” encompasses. Naturally, I take authentic to mean a representation of something that is in close proximity to the original inception. Whereas what “white people” means is a matter worthy of some graduate school dissertation. That being said, I will naively conclude, for the purpose of this analysis that “white people” refers to the watering down, or commercialization of whathaveyou: in this case Mexican food. (Not that there is anything necessarily and automatically wrong with that as  I will explore later.)

»continue reading Under $10: OUR Taco (My Taco; Highland Park)

About a month ago, I wrote up this useless post about a bowl of pho ga which has been around since May. I chose to not divulge this info for “Under $10″ due to the restaurant rescinding the offer in early July. Since then, I’ve been asked numerous times when this special will return.

As of last week, $3.50 got you a large bowl of pho ga (chicken) again. We all already think $6 bowls of beef pho all around LA, SGV & Little Saigon are tremendous values, but then, there also exists a gushing review of a vegan $6.50 banh mi sammy in Reseda. This particular bowl of lighter pho, relatively to that banh mi, is the king of Vietnamese cheap.

»continue reading $3.50 Bowl of Chicken Pho! Pho Ha, Rosemead

Worth $10?

Cheapskate foodies, garlic paste addicts, festival fans and carnivores alike: Saturday has come and gone. Did you make it out to the Summit this weekend for the inaugural Korean BBQ Festival & Cookoff? Did you suffer 90-minute lines for such booths as “Flip’s Beach BBQ” (one of the only vendors with a clear, discernable sign posted) or, as did my party, did you stumble upon one of the unmarked vendors in the corner catering primarily to staff, and purchase a (mostly passable) plate for $10 or $15? Did you wait patiently for Sprinkles to set up shop, just for the chance to wait in a line that appeared at surface to be less than than a 75-minute commitment? Did you get sunburned? Stuffed? Bored? Cooled by a paper-and-wood fan that inexplicably reminded of you “Yelp”? Did you partake of the Coors Light and Blue Moon suds? What were the highs and lows? The ins and outs? The Bar-B’s, and the Q’s? The Kims? The Chis? Please grade the festival. Lay it on us, won’t you now, please. My festival grade after the jump.
»continue reading 2009 Inaugural Los Angeles Korean BBQ Festival & Cookoff: What’d You Think?

Weathered Sandal

With rave reviews in notable publications like the LA TIMES, the LA WEEKLY, and Los Angeles Magazine, just to name a few, it’s no wonder I eagerly looked forward to trying the “Huaraches” at my neighbourhood “gem” of the same moniker, ‘Huarache Azteca Restaurants’ in Highland Park. At the risk of disagreeing with the pseudo culinary expertise of YELPers far and wide, this brick pile is a 2.5 star joint, AT BEST.

Maybe I am being too hard on this place because I grew up eating Mexican food, or maybe all the praise and hype I heard about it falsely raised my expectations. Whatever it was, I can honestly say that I gave it the ol’ college try. I once read an article about the rules to writing food reviews which included a list of do’s and dont’s. I found the list redundant and obvious, but one rule that seemed logical was that in order to review a restaurant fairly, one had to try it more than once, and that is just what I did.

»continue reading Under $10: Huarache Azteca (Highland Park)

Nestled in a strip mall; in picturesque Highland Park, sandwiched between what I suspect to be a rub and tug massage parlour, a laundry mat overrun by savage rogue children and an El Pollo Loco, is Carolina’s Mar Y Sol Restaurante. I don’t know a whole lot about Salvadorean dishes, but a sign outside promises $1.60 pupusas everyday, and I like pupusas. Also, I like a bargain even though I am always hesitant to try things that have not been previously recommended.

»continue reading Under $10: Carolina’s Mar Y Sol, Highland Park

Way over in Reseda, miles away from the joints I usually frequent and deep in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, Vinh Loi Tofu is serving up some of the best sandwiches in town for well under 10 bucks. The modest vegan Vietnamese eatery is definitely off the beaten path, but redeems itself by offering several different banh mi subs stuffed with animal-free versions of chicken, beef, tuna, ham and curry meatballs…all of which are reasonably priced and insanely delicious.

Curry Meatball Chicken Sub. $6.50

»continue reading Under $10: Huge Banh Mi Subs at Vinh Loi Tofu

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.

»continue reading Under $5: A $2.99 date with 7-11

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.

»continue reading Under $10: Chango’s New Vegan Sandwiches

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:

• The green sauce
• The yellow lentil soup
• The arepas
• The guava pastries

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.

»continue reading Under $20: Golden State Cafe

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:

»continue reading Under $10: Gaja Moc

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)

»continue reading Under $10: Pho Minh, South El Monte

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