The Unvegan

Hinano Cafe: The Diviest Cafe of Them All

January 17th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Which came first?

Ever walk into a “pizza parlor” that actually functions as more of a full-on Italian restaurant? Or how about a “Japanese place” that only serves sushi? We are constantly being misled into restaurants that either offer a lot more than expected or a lot less. And then there is Hinano Cafe in Venice, which only a crackhead would consider to be a cafe. You see, Hinano is pretty much the definition of a dive bar. Sawdust coats the floor, there are maybe five real tables and the two guys behind the bar take turns dishing out beer or flipping burgers on the lone griddle in the middle of the bar. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Bar Food, Bars, Beer, Burgers, father's office, hamburgers, Hinano Cafe, Los Angeles, Venice

Expiring at Patrick’s Roadhouse

January 9th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Quick, before the lettuce attacks!

Through an act of charity (seriously), my lady friend and I found ourselves in possession of a gift certificate to Patrick’s Roadhouse in Santa Monica. The only catch was that this thing expired at the end of December. Being the go-getters we are, we finally made our way there on December 21st to get some brunch. When we arrived, we quickly learned that the whole menu wasn’t being served due to it being the manager’s last day. I’m not sure why that prompted a special menu, but it still looked great and we didn’t ask any questions. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Brunch, Burritos, Los Angeles, Patrick's Roadhouse, Santa Monica

Yolk-y with a Chance of Hair

December 19th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Hairless, I'm sure.

In the Windy City for a cold and lovely weekend, some friends, family and other converged upon a brunch place called Yolk in River North. On such a cold day, I was surprised to find such a long line of people waiting to get a piece of Yolk’s action. Despite claiming to have a 20-minutes wait, it was a good 35 minutes until we were seated. It was not a good sign of things to come, but a quick glance at the menu made me immediately forgot the wait it took to get there. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Brunch, Chicago, restaurants, river north, Travel, waffles, yolk

Jimmy’s Super Lunch to the Rescue

November 16th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Super, thanks for asking!

More than once, my work has taken me into the bowels of Glendale, past a little hole-in-the-wall called Jimmy’s Super Lunch. On the outside, it appears to be your average burger shack, but a quick look at the menu and at those working inside tells a different story. Jimmy’s appears to be a part of the trend of old burger places that are now run by Asians (family or otherwise) that now double as teriyaki chicken shacks. I encountered this with Irv’s, Twin Castle and Crown Burger and I’m now suspecting this is more of the norm than some sort of trend. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Burgers, glendale, hamburgers, jimmy's super lunch, Los Angeles, restaurants

Nothing Mexican about Cafe Salsa

October 18th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

I guess I'll have some meat pancakes.

Wandering the streets (err ummm street) of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, waiting for our hotel to let us check in, we made our way to a part of the island called Avarua. Avarua is often referred to as “town” since it is the closest thing Rarotonga has to a town. As in any town, we got hungry and walked into the first place that looked delicious, called Cafe Salsa. Typically, a restaurant named as such would serve Mexican or some other Latin food, but this was not the case and the only thing remotely Mexican about the place was the name. Continue Reading»

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Avarua, Bacon, Breakfast, Cafe Salsa, Cook Islands, rarotonga, south pacific, Travel

Sonic Good is Just Pretty Good

October 3rd, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

So this is what all those commercials were about...

About 10 or so years ago, the world began to see commercials for a fast food burger place called Sonic. These commercials were often both funny and hunger-inducing. Unfortunately, though, Sonics were only in select locations throughout the country. Yes it was annoying, but it was also genius, because it whet the appetite for Sonic with people who had never even seen the place. The idea was that when they would finally see one, whether in travel or with a new one being built, they would want nothing more than to devour their burgers. And it worked, at least on me. When I saw my first Sonic years ago while driving through Independence, Missouri, I just had to try it. I remember it being good, but this was pre-meat blog and in the middle of a cross-country road trip, so the memory is mostly blur filled with the knowledge that the meal kept my internal fuel running just as long as I needed it to. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Beef, Burgers, California, Fast Food, hamburgers, National Chains, sonic, Travel, victorville

Doubling Down at Townhouse

September 28th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Not in my Townhouse.

After seeing the frontrunner for Most Gratuitously Violent Movie of the Year (Drive, which is great by the way), some people might not have much of an appetite. Those people, though, are not unvegan and the sight of so much blood made me crave some meat. As we had seen the movie in the Sherman Oaks Galleria, my local valley friends took me to a place called Townhouse Kitchen + Bar. I knew little of what to expect, except that football would be on TV and this was a good start. Continue Reading»

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American, Bacon, Bars, Beef, Burgers, hamburgers, Los Angeles, restaurants, sherman oaks, townhouse kitchen + bar

Missing Meat at The Parlor

September 26th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

All looks well on the surface.

As a Michigan football fan, it is often difficult to pull myself out of bed and get to a bar for those awesome 9 am games (12 pm for those in Eastern Time). Thus, if I am going to a bar and not watching the game in the comfort of my abode, food is key. Now, I am a big fan of bar food, but it is the rare bar that has delicious breakfast. This week, the bar of choice was The Parlor on Melrose and my number one hope was that Michigan would destroy San Diego State and my number two hope was for some delicious breakfast. I can tell you now that I got at least one of those (spoiler alert: Michigan was a victor). Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Bar Food, Bars, Breakfast, Los Angeles, melrose, Sandwiches, the parlor

Hop to, Choppe Choppe

September 14th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Apples make the world go round.

Despite the insane amount of times I have eaten in downtown Culver City, a few restaurants have still managed to elude me. And I do mean a few. Choppe Choppe is one of these restaurants. Now I can proudly say that I have, in fact, eaten their food, but I can still say that the restaurant has eluded me. Oh, the twists and turns of life when your girlfriend picks up food for you. Now, I may not know the full extent of the menu, so I can’t comment on options, but she sure does know me and picked me out something to fit perfectly into my unvegan diet. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Chicken, Choppe Choppe, Culver City, Los Angeles, restaurants, Sandwiches

Keeping Crunchy at The Nacho Truck

August 16th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Looks classy...

In the grand explosion of gourmet food trucks, tacos have found themselves mixed with all sorts of craziness, from Korean BBQ to fish and grapes to kung pao chicken. Yet, in all this food truck excitement, the bastard cousin/side dish of the taco has been left behind. Yeah, I’m talking ’bout Shaft…err…nachos. But along came The Nacho Truck to remedy this sad predicament. Before this truck arrived at my office, I knew nothing of it, so my expectations were pretty low. Yet, as someone who doesn’t keep nearly enough track of food happenings in LA anymore, it is certainly possible that The Nacho Truck had simply flown/driven under my radar. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, food trucks, Los Angeles, meat, Mobile, nachos, north hollywood, the nacho truck

Rants and Raves

Vegans are Killing Bolivia

April 25th, 2011

Stop stealing food from these children.

As if Bolivia wasn’t troubled enough as one of South America’s only two landlocked countries, now it has a whole new problem with the onset of veganism. If you know a vegan or vegetarian, the odds are that you have heard of a strange little plant called quinoa.

Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

The taste of skiing?

Colorado is definitely a beer state, and not just because Coors comes from the Rocky Mountain State. No, it is also home to New Belgium (of Fat Tire fame) and seemingly countless other micro and craft breweries. While in Breckenridge for a ski weekend, I decided I had to at least try one of these, and because it turned out to be the only one available at dinner, my choice happened to come from the creatively named Breckenridge Brewery. The brewery, by the way, is actually no longer in Breckenridge, having expanded and moved to Denver in 1992.

‘Bacon’

Hinano Cafe: The Diviest Cafe of Them All

Expiring at Patrick’s Roadhouse

Yolk-y with a Chance of Hair

Jimmy’s Super Lunch to the Rescue

Nothing Mexican about Cafe Salsa

Sonic Good is Just Pretty Good

Doubling Down at Townhouse

Missing Meat at The Parlor

Hop to, Choppe Choppe

Keeping Crunchy at The Nacho Truck

Rants and Raves

Vegans are Killing Bolivia

Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

What is this?»

Unvegan Friends