Good places to eat in Los Angeles?

I think there might be a Burger King you can walk to...

From downtown, your best bet is to walk up to Chinatown from Union Station and take your pick of any of the restaurants on Broadway.

They also have the "off-the-menu" Grilled Cheese.

Not that some posters have a tendency toward reverse-snobisme that can sometimes seem a little anti-fun.

http://www.chowhound.com/california/boards/losangeles/losangeles.html

Philippe's is a must, but as mentioned earlier it doesn't pass the "no meat" rule.

Also this post from S&D International Cuisine

Who has eaten at the Bucket?

great places to eat downtown these days:

pete's cafe (old bank district)
tiara cafe (fashion district)
cafe metropol (arts district/near sci-arc)
redwood bar & grill (near the l.a. times building)

and oomasa in little tokyo has excellent sushi.

I just went to Oomasa

I will certainly try the others

and if macarthur park counts as downtown, chichen itza FTW

Pete's Cafe is great for late-night eats with a streetside urban ambience.

When I went last week, Redwoods was closed but the Pete's block was hopping even after midnight.

yeah pete's stays open until i think 4 am?

Very handy to know, as the rest of non-diner LA seems to shut down for dinner by 10.

There were some other interesting looking places on that block, not sure what they were.

What is the best Korean barbecue?

Went to Dong-Il Jang for old time's sake last week but surely there is better.

there's a vietnamese place (blossom?) on the pete's block that's decent.

korean bbq: sa rit gol on olympic, tucked away in the back of a strip mall.

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jun/09/food/fo-hamburger9

I went to the secret beef place 2 visits ago and thought it was great but not excellent (ie, over-rated).

where's the best ramen?
asahi and ramen ya are great and have different styles, fountain valley and torrance have that shin sen gumi chain which might be the best I know, what are others????

i've heard that the best ramen places are in the sawtelle corridor, but i haven't tried any of them yet.

that's where asahi is

best ramen downtown is daikoku-ya.
shinsengumi is better but out in the burbs.

ALTHOUGH
the last time i went to daikoku-ya it was a huge stepdown from previous visits....

so where are we eating on 8/8/08?

Somewhere with an 88 course tasting menu

88 courses of beef

Table 8

Yes to all this.

Jody, I'm going to try one of your 4 downtown recommendations TONIGHT. Which is easiest for parking and price?

redwood is the best on price, and it's not that difficult to find street parking at night. but, being primarily a bar, it may take a while to get a table if the drunks are out. :-)

While this thread is here, does anyone know of somewhere decent to eat in (gasp) North Hollywood or is it a wasteland?

kc bbq company

santouka ramen in the mitsuwa market food court (centinella and venice) is seriously good. much richer stock than asahi or ramen-ya.

expert analysis and good pictures at<a href="/http://www.rameniac.com/resource/comments/santouka_west_la/";>Rameniac</a>.

Either of the Guelaguetzas in Koreatown for awesome Oaxacan, though only the one on Olympic serves alcohol (and an awesome marimba band weekend evenings).

santouka is good shit~

there's another guelaguetza on sepulveda and palms, and monte alban on sm just east of bundy. both are great.

What is the best Korean barbecue?

I still go to Soot Bull Jeep most often, but Gold's Koreatown top 40 is pretty essential: http://www.laweekly.com/eat+drink/dining/koreatowns-top-40/2013/

I ate at Santouka a couple days ago and it's pretty much king of the hill unless you want to go to one of the places in Gardena.

While this thread is here, does anyone know of somewhere decent to eat in (gasp) North Hollywood or is it a wasteland?

Coley's Carribean on Magnolia
http://www.coleyscuisine.com

Creo's Southern Kitchen on Lankershim
http://www.chow.com/places/32164

so where are we eating on 8/8/08?

-- get bent, Thursday, July 24, 2008 11:00 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Link

In honor of the Olympics and its host city, Beijing, Noé Restaurant & Bar in Downtown L.A. has unveiled a special dim sum menu, which they are describing as "classic dim sum dishes with a gourmet twist, such as foie gras dumplings". Chef Glen Ishii's menu will be available in the indoor/outdoor lounge of the restaurant; dim sum for 1-2 people is priced at $18, or $36 for 2-4 people. Noe is located in the Omni Hotel and is open for dinner all week long; the special menu begins August 8th and runs for the duration of the Olympics.

A very good deal considering Noe's usual proces.

Looks tempting, for sure, but right now there's a drive on for either Merkato or someplace right near the tar pits given what a madhouse it will be...

I am aiming for either Dr. Hoggly Woggly's, Tito's, Magic Pan, or the secret beef restaurant.

where should we go tonight? requirements: cheap, relatively central, not heavy.

Had some amazing Thai at Jitlada the other day. FYI.

Who has eaten at the Bucket?

― admrl, Thursday, July 24, 2008 1:16 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i have

Was the Bucket filmed at your school?

j0hn are you in l.a.? so am i, at the moment.

I was there for about 36 hours earlier this week. Back in Chicago now, though.

anyone chasing that korean bbq taco truck?

Kogi is so 5 minutes ago. It's all about Starry Kitchen now.

old jonathan gold piece on the bucket's former owner, the colorful julio (neither the bucket nor julio are mentioned by name in the piece):

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-10-30/magazine/tm-56316_1_garlic-powder?pg=2

where should we go tonight? requirements: cheap, relatively central, not heavy.

― get bent, Wednesday, August 6, 2008 4:35 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

guelaguetza in koreatown (the olympic blvd. location if you're planning to drink) for pretty great oaxacan food and awesome marimba.

i've been to the olympic guelaguetza. it was fine, but there's much better oaxacan food in l.a.

anyone in l.a. wanna pick me up in santa monica and go to amoeba for a few hours tomorrow or saturday? i really don't feel like takin the bus to hollywood.

i didn't say it was the best. besides, most of thebetter places are all the way over on the westside. i love guelaguetza for the marimba band most of all.

no i agree, fuck the west side.

Have been in downtown for a while now and really liking a bunch of the newish places: Church and State, Bottega Louie, Wurstkuche, Colori, Blossom etc etc.

church and $tate made a kickass gimlet the only time i went there

Yes, excellent drinks.

i've heard so many good things about church & state. must check it out. bottega louie and wurstkuche are lotsa fun.

blossom is the vietnamese place on main? i like that too.

I say worst cooch

I say it with a y at the end.

i don't remember much german from college but i say it vurst - koosha.

yesterday I heard someone say whooshkoosh

btw good call on the y spencer

Had some amazing Thai at Jitlada the other day. FYI.

― jam master (jaymc), Friday, March 19, 2010 12:16 AM (23 hours ago) Bookmark

i've heard so many good things about church & state. must check it out. bottega louie and wurstkuche are lotsa fun.

blossom is the vietnamese place on main? i like that too.

― kogi taco ergo sum (get bent), Friday, March 19, 2010 11:05 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

@nnie and i went to jitlada and wurstkuche in january, and they were really really great. highly recommended!

xpost, reminds me of the Armand Van Helden track, among other things!

i've heard so many good things about church & state. must check it out.

Seconding Church & State here. Had some really amazing meals there.

And OK, it's a NYC transplant but the Babycakes downtown is HFSOMG good.

i have been eating authentic mexican food all my life and grew up in la.
this place is hands down the best for mexican breakfast. cheap, flavorful, great service and most importantly authentic.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-huarachito-los-angeles

good to see some huarachito love. i used to live in lincoln hts. and would go there a couple of times a week.

Lazy Ox food is GREAT but small portions for $$$.

vurstkookeh, seriously

this thread needs more mexican recs, please.

Was getting new tires in Huntington Park and came across this amazing place and had a Cemitas sandwich which was awesome.
http://www.lataco.com/taco/cemitas-y-clayudas-pal-cabron-huntington-park
http://www.laweekly.com/2009-06-25/eat-drink/hey-cabron
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cemitas-y-clayudas-pal-cabron-huntington-park

Me and my high school age kid are gonna be out there briefly from Thursday the 5th to Sunday. We'll be staying with relatives in Hermosa Beach, but looking for places to eat on days we're out on our own.

What's new

I might try the Coco's that has opened nr York and Figueroa. I'm sure it won't be good but I want ti to be.

Trying to plan a little for EMP weekend.

Any thoughts on cheap eats/drinks around UCLA?

Looks like there are a good number of Persian places in Westwood -- my interest is particularly piqued in Attari Sandwiches. Also Little Osaka (Sawtelle Blvd.) wouldn't be too far, either.

I still have fond memories of the burger at Apple Pan.

if you go to asahi on sawtelle get the curry ramen

The Apple Pan is its own great experience; a little too distant for a lunch break by walking though.

if you're flying into lax eat at front page grille, I used to eat there almost every day when I worked around there.

Is the Mongolian BBQ place still there? We used to dominate that place with creative bowl stuffing techniques.

Also, the Hari Krisna "donations accepted" buffet on Wednesdays?

Haha, this is going wayyyy back... 20 years?

if yer talking to me, then yeah, the mongolian bbq place is alive and well

I seriously can't recommend front page enough, it's pretty amazing, I mean hated my fuckin job so much but I think that restaurant helped me cool down and stay for a respectable period

attari is great! pomodoro is surprisingly good italian. shaherzad is ok.

i would go through jonathan gold's reviews on the la weekly site and pick a few things that sound up your alley. westwood isn't the best place for culinary delights beyond maybe sawtelle and sushi. imo you'll find generally better and cheaper food east of there in hollywood and koreatown. or further south in culver city/west la. taking a bus somewhere is pretty easy, quick and totally worth it. get tacos somewhere.

thirding jitlada, unreal good

el huarachito in lincoln heights (the birria was mmmmmmmm)
and i suspect monterey park has a lot of really good dim sum places but as i've only been to dean sin world on n. garfield i'll rep for that one

wait, sorry, didn't see that jaymc was asking about stuff near UCLA, so ignore my suggestions. just wanted to say i really liked them!

rich people from china fly to monterey park to eat lunch iirc

Yeah, part of me wants to go back to Jitlada. Just don't know whether trekking to Hollywood will be convenient during such a busy weekend.

i would go through jonathan gold's reviews on the la weekly site and pick a few things that sound up your alley

Yeah, I totally looked at the map of his 99 essential area restaurants.

Pretty smart move, that. Am planning some sort of pre-birthday get-together for yours truly one of those nights so if you want to combine forces there...

hollywood will be a total mess this weekend, btw (oscars)

Hahah too goddamn true. Stay on the Westside!

my interest is particularly piqued in Attari Sandwiches.

headed to a movie at the hammer tonight and will probably check this place out, i'll report back!

...

verdict: yum!

and today the grill 'em all truck is parked a short walk from my workplace \m/

Nice. Let me link the EMP thread here:

EMP Pop Conference 2011

Anyone in the area, just show up for this thing!

Also I'd be down for lunch tomorrow at Attari -- jaymc, anyone else?

and today the grill 'em all truck is parked a short walk from my workplace \m/

*googles* that's close by. tempted to hop on the 224 bus right now.

Also I'd be down for lunch tomorrow at Attari -- jaymc, anyone else?

depends what time. i'd have to leave a wide berth of time to get up to the west valley for work.

Well I'm thinking 11:30 since registration is at 1 pm.

Also here's the food trucks we have at EMP on the weekend:

Be sure to take advantage of food trucks that will be parked south of the flagpole, in front of the UCLA Humanities Building - a mere 500 ft from the entrance of Royce Hall. On Saturday we will have: Flying Pig and Canter’s and on Sunday: Border Grill and Sky Taco.

jbr and i had just had some food truck synchronicity!

i was also wearing my ingmar bergman/iron maiden cinemetal shirt today, so good timing on all fronts

so far i haven't eaten anywhere. too late last night to go anywhere. hotel bagels this morning. and i just got back from trader joes with two bags of provisions. walked around ucla though. did you know that its israel apartheid week?! i had no idea. AND the oscars! some kind of irony there. what a lovely day! you el lay people probably take it for granted but i just left 5 feet of dirty snow at home.

when i was walking around i was kinda tempted by barneys beanery for the whole when in rome thing, but i didn't go for it. wish there was an in -n- out burger near me. i would totally hit that before going home.

there's one near ucla (so i learned when i was using ucla's library system for a research project)!

i have a feeling this address will come in handy for many of you: http://www.yelp.com/biz/in-n-out-burger-los-angeles-5

oh man i was right by there! totally would have done it. thanks though. so gonna happen.

not a lot of hippies like me around ucla. nice clean american kids.

jbr and i had just had some food truck synchronicity!

yes, we both had the "waste 'em all" burger!

on my way home i noticed another food truck that was parked outside the art school on lankershim. oh, to have the time, cash, and metabolism to be able to try all of these.

xxpost Dammit Scott we must and shall do this. You wanna try for it on Saturday?

Also check your email.

I guess I will hit Jitlada on July as I'll be about 7 blocks away.

enjoy waiting! (it is so worth it tho)

Seconded, thirded, etc. Enjoy!

I will no doubt try Musso & Franks for the ambience and martini, and I'm reading the food is decent too.

it's decent old man food. the peas are amazing (and i don't like peas). once i ate peas next to harry dean stanton, also eating peas.

it's edible, wouldn't go beyond that. you can go to the bar on the other side of the restaurant and save yourself some $$ while still getting the vibe imo

"Ordinary fuckin' peas, I hate em." xp

Otherwise, I read that Formosa Cafe is for drinks only.

i did not much like the food i had there, but yes, go for the drinks

enjoy waiting!

The two times I've been have been mid-afternoon (2 or 3 PM). No problem getting a table at all.

i got there at 9pm on a saturday and waited half an hour

i know practically nothing about downtown, what's good, not super-pricey? meeting a friend down there tonight.

Wurstkuche

What he said.

ooh been wanting to try that. i'm kinda leaning towards tiara cafe tho since it's super-close to where my friend staying

Not cheap and not downtown, but for everyone else, Gjelina is worth the trek to Venice. AMAZING dinner last month. Best to go with four people to share. You can do it cheap by getting pizza which is awesome.

ok tiara is not serving dinner yet (despite the fact that they have a dinner menu on their website?)

wurstkuche it is

Unfortunately, my favorite new pizza place downtown, Toddy G's, closed. It may or may not be reopening today and may or may not have the same menu. Fingers-crossed as this was the best pizza I've probably ever had in LA. Convincing NY-style, but the Sicilian was something else.

Can't go wrong with Wurstkuche. Go early if you don't want to wait in line - although the line is very social and good for people watching. Late night on weekends can get a little SC (as in dentistry and accounting students).

Tony's is a great nearby bar also.

yeah, i'm aiming for six-ish right after i get off work

Another option would be Mas Malo, the supersized downtown version of the Silverlake staple. It's not too pricey and the room is beautiful, but it can get very loud.

xpost, oh that's perfect Wurstkuche time.

wurstkuche is great but if you don't mind waiting in a bit of a line and you want to go somewhere else get ramen at daikokuya

is angel city brewing still open around there

Not cheap and not downtown, but for everyone else, Gjelina is worth the trek to Venice. AMAZING dinner last month. Best to go with four people to share. You can do it cheap by getting pizza which is awesome.

― Spencer Chow, Friday, June 3, 2011 11:12 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah this, but there's a d in it somewhere

i went to angel city about a month and a half ago - i like their pale ale

speaking of downtown eats: a friend on facebook just posted j gold's review of spice table & it made me instantly jealous i don't live there any longer.

ooh been wanting to try that. i'm kinda leaning towards tiara cafe tho since it's super-close to where my friend staying

i like tiara! sorry they don't have dinner hours. wurstkuche is fun, but the lines for their sausages can get pretty long.

mas malo has good chips and salsas and margaritas. the torta ahogada i had there wasn't amazing, but it did the job.

bottega louie has surprisingly good pizzas. plentiful and not that expensive!

went to wurstkuche, saw michael stipe, ate the rattlesnake/rabbit one, YUM

Good choices.

mas malo is good, and a better scene than the sort of obnoxious silver lake location imo. for my downtown mexican food fix, i often hit up the mexicali tacos tent in the vacant lot @ 1st and beaudry after friday night cocktails, i highly recommend it. vv friendly dudes and a perfect post-happy hour meal.

http://firstwefeast.com/eat/our-favorite-DUMPLINGS!-los-angeles/

Shout out to the 馅饼

Nice feature on Top Restaurant - the Indonesian place in Pasadena that's quickly become my fave place to eat:
https://la.eater.com/2024/2/23/24080638/top-restaurant-pasadena-indonesian-fried-chicken-hawaiian-food-los-angeles-local-legends

I've been meaning to try that place for decades, as it's not far from where I live. Probably be too busy now.

There's a steady crowd, but since it's to-go only you don't have to wait long. Worth getting there early for the fried chicken:
https://www.yelp.com/biz/top-restaurant-pasadena

It looks incredible, I wish I lived nearby

I will mention it to my relatives who do live nearby

I just had what I thought was very good dim sum at Lunasia in Pasadena, and great reasonably priced sushi at Ahi Sushi, which I think is Sherman Oaks

Rosario of Roma Market was profiled a couple months ago. I hope everyone here gets to try the sandwich at least once

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocF7kQCvoIw

have not had the sandwich but i have bought some guanciale from there. love all the old italian joints in the NELA/glendale/pasadena area

Claro's in Arcadia (and elsewhere) is another good Italian deli: https://claros.com

Perhaps this isn't a controversial take, but it's been 33 years since the last time I ate at The Pantry and I'm shocked that it hadn't closed earlier. Never cared one bit for the food there.

Goddamnit

Citing rent, beloved Greek restaurant and market Papa Cristo’s to close next month
https://laist.com/news/food/greek-restaurant-and-market-papa-cristos-to-close-next-month-rent