The Unvegan

Wing Time at The Irish Times

January 24th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

The look of good times.

Pop quiz: What are the only five-letter sovereign nations that contain two Is? If you and five of your best trivia-playing friends can’t come up with India and Haiti, you probably don’t want to be at The Irish Times in Palms on Tuesday nights. You see, every Tuesday is Trivia Night and begins sometime between 9 and 9:30, but were it simply a bar with trivia it would not be worthy of meat-blogging. Fortunately that is not the case, because every Tuesday also means $5 buffalo wings. And while they have a full kitchen and a decent bar food selection, there is really no other option in my mind. Continue Reading»

No Comments

Backstage, Bar Food, Bars, Buffalo Wings, Irish, Los Angeles, Palms, The Irish Times, Trivia

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»

No Comments

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

Old Western Eating in Temecula

January 13th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Like all those Old West burger places you hear about.

Temecula is a strange part of California. Somewhere between LA, San Diego and Palm Springs, it’s essentially the middle of nowhere. Except it’s not. It’s wine country, it’s gated communities and it is the Old West. Nowhere is the latter felt more than Old Town Temecula, which is a blend of truly old buildings and new buildings made to look like cowboys once had shootouts inside. Front Street Bar & Grill sits in Old Town, but doesn’t try to look like a cowboy outpost. Instead, it has the looks of colonial mansion, with a great outdoor patio. Continue Reading»

No Comments

Bar Food, Bars, Burgers, California, hamburgers, Old Town Temecula, restaurants, Temecula, Travel

Beer Belly for My Fearless Belly

January 6th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

There are peas in my cheese!

Two of the things I love most in this world are beer and my belly. No, I don’t have a beer belly…much, but when a gastropub in Koreatown called Beer Belly opened up, I figured I had to try it out. I was meeting a group of people, and arrived to find the place packed. And this was not a big place. Like about 8 tables and a few bar stools big, and all of them were loaded. Plus, it was first come, first served, so we got to hang around the tables like vultures surrounded a wounded gazelle. It was the tail end of happy hour, though, so I ordered a beer and hoped a table would clear out soon. Fast forward thirty minutes and we’re still waiting when a woman working the place asks if we’re waiting for a table. Uh, no, lady, we’re just standing here awkwardly for the hell of it. She then proceeded to ask us if we wanted to be on the list. This “list” was new to us, and apparently also new to her, as she told us she had just started it. Well, at least we wouldn’t have to stand awkwardly any longer. Continue Reading»

No Comments

Bar Food, Beer, Beer Belly, duck, gastropubs, grilled cheese, Koreatown, Los Angeles, mac and cheese, meat

The Thrill of Far Bar

November 11th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

These drinks could kill me softly.

A month or so ago, Thrillist Rewards made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. For $29, it included one half-pound burger, unlimited wasabi fries, unlimited wings and two flights of delicious beers at a place called Far Bar in Little Tokyo. A few of us capitalized on this deal and finally made our way there to indulge. But finding it wasn’t exactly easy, as it required a walk through a strange alley. In fact, I walked into the restaurant next door by accident, but a guy there walked me over to the actual bar. Upon arrival, my friends who had gotten there first thrust a basket of fries and wings in my face and I knew I was home. Continue Reading»

No Comments

Asian, Bar Food, Bars, Burgers, Chicken Wings, Downtown LA, far bar, hamburgers, Japanese, little tokyo, Los Angeles, thrillist

Southern Discomfort at South

November 9th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

This passes for southern, apparently.

A couple years ago, the Michigan Alumni Association started gathering at South in Santa Monica. This struck me as strange, because Michigan is about as north as a state can get. Yet, any place willing to host the legions of Michigan football fans was a winner in my mind. Plus, it didn’t hurt to have Abita on tap. But in these years, I had not attempted their food until the past weekend. I heard some bad things, but sometimes you just have to eat.

No Comments

Bar Food, Bars, Brunch, fried chicken, Los Angeles, meat, Santa Monica, south, southern

A Late Lunch at Roadhouse

October 27th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Just like Patrick Swayze.

Little-known fact: restaurants in Rarotonga generally close their lunch doors after 2:00 pm. This fact would have been great to know before the girlfriend and I rode our motor scooter around half of the island in search of a late lunch. Just when we had given up hope, I recalled a place called Roadhouse that we had passed many a time on our way from our hotel to Avarua. If they were closed, we were just going to have to snack ourselves away until dinner time. Fortunately, Roadhouse was open (from 11 am to 2 am every day) and sadly devoid of Patrick Swayze (RIP). Continue Reading»

No Comments

Arorangi, Bar Food, Burgers, Cook Islands, hamburgers, rarotonga, roadhouse, Travel

Rocco’s Modern Tavern

October 10th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Nope, this is not a wallaby.

Not too long ago, a new bar/grill opened in Culver City called Rocco’s Tavern. If you are at all from my generation, the name Rocco evokes memories of one of the greatest Nicktoons ever: Rocko’s Modern Life. Okay, the name is spelled differently, which may explain why neither wallabies nor turtles were on the menu. Instead, the menu was chock-full of some typical bar food. With the Tigers game on the TVs surrounding the bar, I sat down, ordered a happy hour beer (2 for 1 from 3-7 everyday) and decided what to order. Continue Reading»

No Comments

Bar Food, Bars, Buffalo Wings, Culver City, Los Angeles, mac and cheese, rocco's tavern

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»

No Comments

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

The Valley Goes Gourmet with Laurel Tavern

September 9th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

From here it looks like any other burger.

Gourmet burgers and their associated gastropubs have been predominantly the domain of LA’s greater west side. Father’s Office, Umami Burger, Comme Ca and The Foundry all have roots on the west-ish side. So when I heard Laurel Tavern in Studio City was not only a gastropub, but had a burger worth writing home about, I was surprised. Gourmet burger? In the wretched valley? I had to try it out. And try I did. More than once. You see, Laurel Tavern is not the easiest place to get into. Not because of some dress code or something stupid like that, but because they simply have an extremely small space. On weekends, it’s nearly impossible to get in unless you show up mid-afternoon. But when I heard some friends were going on Labor Day, I felt my odds were pretty good and I ventured out to Ventura Boulevard. Continue Reading»

No Comments

Bar Food, Bars, Burgers, gastropubs, hamburgers, laurel tavern, Los Angeles, meat, studio city

Rants and Raves

Eating Bugs

February 24th, 2011

Dinner of the future?

A recent Wall Street Journal article has brought up a very interesting topic. Namely, why the hell don’t we eat bugs? And by we I mean the West, because as you can see in the picture, the East loves their bugs. There are a lot of good reasons to eat bugs, and WSJ is quick to point them out.

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.

‘Bar Food’

Wing Time at The Irish Times

Hinano Cafe: The Diviest Cafe of Them All

Old Western Eating in Temecula

Beer Belly for My Fearless Belly

The Thrill of Far Bar

Southern Discomfort at South

A Late Lunch at Roadhouse

Rocco’s Modern Tavern

Missing Meat at The Parlor

The Valley Goes Gourmet with Laurel Tavern

Rants and Raves

Eating Bugs

Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

What is this?»

Unvegan Friends