‘Bar Food’

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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»

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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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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»

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Rocks Your Socks

August 4th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Pickle me this, pickle me that.

When striving to live the high life, there is nothing better than a good, honest unvegan meal at a tasty price. In Chicago, and I imagine in all other major metropolitan areas, knowledge of the specials around town allows us to fulfill our unvegan needs without crippling the budget, especially on weeknights.

On Wednesdays, Rocks, a bar with very good burgers and locations in Lincoln Park and Lakeview, has a special of $5.00 burgers and $5.00 24 oz. beers. The latter is a distinction in which I differ a little bit from some other unvegans. When I am eating, my first choice for accompanying beverage is cola and my second choice is water. As I tend to eat really fast, I really don’t like consuming alcohol with my food. Continue Reading»

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I Choo Choo Choose You

July 7th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

What an apt description.

Located just south of President’s on Highway 53 in Superior, Wisconsin, is a restaurant in a box car.  I’m not sure how, but it somehow got the name of Choo Choo Bar & Grill.  Although it is plenty old, it seems that Choo Choo has been renovated recently and has the look of a new dive bar that will not look new for very long.  And if anyone knows how to test out the food of a dive bar, it’s this guy. Continue Reading»

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Deep Dishing at CJ’s Brewing Company

June 10th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

The unthinkable.

Many times I have lamented the lack of a microbrewery in LA.  Sure, I’ve heard there’s one in Eagle Rock, but in 3+ years of living in LA I haven’t set foot in Eagle Rock and probably couldn’t point it out on a map.  Plus, that’s one (allegedly good) brewery for a city with a metropolitan area of just under 18 million.  Blech.  But Michigan is another story, with plentiful great microbreweries.  One of these is CJ’s Brewing Company in Commerce.  And while I’ve had some delicious beers there, as with most microbreweries, the food is just as good. Continue Reading»

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Triple Meating at Ducey’s

May 31st, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Ahhhh get that crap outta my burger.

Up near Yosemite National Park is a place called Bass Lake.  Bass Lake has itself a little village, and this village is dominated by a huge lodge called The Pines Resort.  Inside this resort is a fancy restaurant called Ducey’s on the Lake.  We wanted no part of this, so we found Ducey’s Bar and Grill, with a swanky patio and a much more reasonable and fun menu.  We grabbed a table outside and sorted out what to eat.  I had sworn a couple days off of burgers after tackling a couple bad ones in the last couple days, but there was a burger on this menu calling out the unvegan name and I couldn’t resist. Continue Reading»

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A Burger to Drink with at City Tavern

April 20th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Warning: I did not take this picture sober.

Well, someone finally beat me to the punch.  Ever since I moved to the west side of LA, I’ve thought that downtown Culver City has needed a real bar.  Kay ‘n Dave’s and Rush Street are good places, but they are first and foremost restaurants.  Finally, the guys behind Rush Street have pumped out City Tavern (in the location that formerly housed the Meltdown grilled cheese joint) and I don’t think I could have done it better myself.  I arrived a solid 45 minutes before my friends, which gave me a chance to put our name on the list for a table and to sample the beers they were purveying. Continue Reading»

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A Confusing Lunch at The Federal Bar

March 22nd, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

No veggies to be found.

The Federal Bar in North Hollywood just opened last month and it wasn’t a moment too soon.  North Hollywood has desperately needed some bar variety, because you can only go to Big Wangs and Pitfire Pizza so often.  Plus, The Federal Bar is not simply a bar, it is a gastropub featuring a tasty-looking menu just waiting for an unvegan visit.  The visit came on St. Patrick’s Day, when my coworkers and I were in dire need of a beer and didn’t want to wait in line anywhere.  We were amazed to find The Federal Bar had a surplus of seats available and sat down to see what it was all about. Continue Reading»

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A Taste of Home at Upper Deck

October 27th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

If you hail from the great state of Michigan, you know why I took a picture of this.

A couple weeks ago I headed to Phoenix with the girlfriend for a wedding.  But this wasn’t just any weekend, it happened to be the weekend of the Michigan-Michigan State game.  It’s usually a pretty big game, but with both teams undefeated (at the time), it was a game I couldn’t miss.  Fortunately, said girlfriend found an interesting bar for me to watch it at in Old Town Scottsdale.  It was called Upper Deck Sports Grille and was dedicated to Michigan and Michigan State fans.  You would think Phoenix would be big enough to host ex-Michiganders at more than one bar, but you would be wrong. Continue Reading»

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Going Global at Plan Check

Fries of the world.

A couple of weeks ago, The Backyard Bite invited me to The Burger Culture Clash, sponsored by Stussy (which apparently still exists) and Plan Check. Plan Check, by the way, is a sort of new (since February) restaurant in West LA with Chef Ernesto Uchimura of Umami Burger fame. As my love of burgers, especially those of the umami variety, I jumped at the opportunity.

Although I arrived alone, I was not the only lone eater. Just next to where I was seated, I met e*star LA and we decided to share a meal called loneliness, because it’s better than eating alone. We made quick friends over our respective blogs and Midwestern roots, then got to work at dissecting the special menu, which Plan Check will be featuring for the next month if anything tickles your fancy.

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It doesn't taste like wool.

What is this?»

Unvegan Friends