WHY Mini pies, medium pies, maxi pies…. WHAT A sunny yellow-and-white-striped color scheme complements a case full of pies at this perky café with plenty of room for sit-down diners. Salads, sandwiches (pulled barbecue chicken on pretzel bread), main dish pot pies (chicken curry) and side dishes (roasted brussels sprouts) are more than just excuses [...]
March 25, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY The perfect middle-of-L.A. spot to meet friends from across town for lunch, with a menu that has something for everyone. WHAT The quintessential L.A. café, Buddha’s Belly has a bright, bamboo-lined indoor-outdoor space, an appealing and affordable pan-Asian menu and good service, and we find it handy when needing a central spot to meet [...]
February 13, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Pizzas as good as Mozza’s, only less expensive and with less hoopla surrounding them. WHAT Bradford Kent is an obsessive fellow, prone to toss out dough that he feels isn’t just right, and refusing to serve a pizza that is the slightest bit overcooked. Given the tendency toward overly blackened crusts these days, that [...]
February 7, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Mexican dishes with a jolt of traditional flavors in a casual, eco-friendly storefront café. WHAT Tinga’s owners were inspired by Santa Barbara’s deceptively casual La Super Rica. Their thick corn tortillas also have a house-made heft, with cochinita pibil pork tacos as spicy as advertised. Taco plates, quesadillas, burritos and tortas made with steak, [...]
January 25, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Modern Latin American cuisine that’s at once traditional and playful. WHAT John Sedlar’s sequel to Rivera follows much the same model as his Downtown restaurant, a handsome place showcasing a vast array of Latin American flavors. Cocktails are almost universally excellent, devised as at Rivera by Julian Cox. Plates are large (to humor Sedlar’s [...]
January 6, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY For talented, gregarious chef Mark Gold, and for the Sunday brunch and dinner. WHAT Cozy, minimalist Eva has two faces: the more restrained cuisine, such as udon noodles with clams and scallops served at lunch and dinner most days, and the heartier Sunday dinners. The Sunday four-course prix-fixe meals are a great value, with [...]
December 11, 2011 | Posted in
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WHY Because you never know when the urge for a terrific, if Lilliputian, lobster roll (creamy and a bit spicy, stuffed into a warm, butter-grilled roll) will hit. WHAT This seafood-centric spinoff of Animal is tiny and generally mobbed, so it’s nice that a long communal table as well as a few seats at the [...]
November 19, 2011 | Posted in
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