WHY Chiles rellenos, lengua en mole and good margaritas, all at low prices. WHAT Manny Lares seems to be the main man at this family restaurant, but then there’s his brother, his two sisters, his niece…. We all cook, we all wash dishes, we all go to the bank, he says. Downstairs is a quiet [...]
May 22, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Jidori chicken, cornmeal pancakes with grilled shrimp and chipotle cream, Mexican Coke, $5 burger night, and bargain wines. WHAT One of the leaders of the Echo Park boom (it’s not evil gentrification, it’s a renaissance!), the Park is stylish in a barren, homespun way, with empty frames on stark walls and a simple patio [...]
May 18, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Because it’s on the Malibu Pier and the food doesn’t suck. WHAT The folks behind the restored 1940s Beachcomber at Crystal Cove run this place on Malibu Pier, and the look is identical to its parent: green leather booths, warm wood paneling and plenty of windows to bring in the Pacific. There’s a large [...]
May 14, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY For 40 years, Jesse Gomez’s family has been turning out ‘careful-the-plate-is-hot’ Mexican food at El Arco Iris, an old-school hub of Highland Park life. Now Gomez has created a new-school, loft-like place serving regional Mexican dishes, as well as twenty-some tequilas and what may well be the best margarita Downtown. WHAT This is not [...]
May 12, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Warmth, a strong sense of neighborhood and a serious approach to food—and, more importantly, to Mexican chocolate in all its forms. WHAT The name was a poor choice—everyone stumbles over it—but everything else about this richly colorful café/deli/market succeeds. You order at the counter to eat in the café or out on the patio, [...]
May 4, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Asian, American, Latin and whatever-else-Roy-Choi-feels-like-cooking dishes intermingle in perfect harmony at this unfussy neighborhood restaurant that’s something of an indoor picnic. WHAT Whether it’s the crisp Beer Can Chicken or the cheekily named Knuckle Sandwich (a massive bowl of broth bobbing with oxtail, tendon and other unloved meaty bits), the man who invented the [...]
May 2, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY With its chill vibe and entertaining concept—six choices in each category (appetizers, sides, entrées), six brews on tap and six wines by the glass—the Six fills a gaping need in the Overland-Pico neighborhood, where the mall overwhelms sidewalk life. WHAT This café-pub is a relaxed but confident departure for owners Will Karges and Jake [...]
April 30, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY WeHo chic in old-money Pasadena. WHAT This glam white-on-white restaurant doesn’t look one bit like Pasadena, and we admire the Langham Huntington for pushing the envelope. (It’s always entertaining to see San Marino men in Brooks Brothers blazers trying to figure out what to do with that precious morsel of lobster that appears to [...]
April 27, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY Because you can snack on squid-ink tagliolini and romanesco pizza at 3:30 in the afternoon. WHAT This casual spinoff of Piccolo in Venice may be a lot less expensive, but it has the same authentic culinary bent—think veal tongue in tuna sauce and baccala-filled ravioli. An upmarket pizza list of sauced and unsauced varieties [...]
April 20, 2012 | Posted in
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WHY A multi-purpose, festive Mexican spot with killer tequila selections in Downtown’s cocktail gulch. The downstairs rec room is fab for private parties. WHAT Silver Lake favorite Malo has spawned a bigger Downtown sister location in a cavernous and often deafeningly loud historic jewelry store. Hide out in the ’70s flashback basement lounge, or sip [...]
April 19, 2012 | Posted in
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