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»

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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»

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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»

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

Classing it Up at The Tar Pit

January 10th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

What resides within my gnocchi?

Once upon a time, I read an interesting review of The Tar Pit on LAist. It wasn’t exactly positive, but it only covered their happy hour and seemed to be more concerned with Chef Mark Peel’s children running around than with the food itself. Most disheartening, though, was Peel’s comments to the review. Needless to say, such a big time chef should not have been so concerned about one bad review and his concern made me less likely to go than the review itself. Yet, to The Tar Pit I went, and I was glad for it. Continue Reading»

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American, Arancini, Bars, Los Angeles, Mid City, restaurants, Steaks, The Tar Pit

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»

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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.

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

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

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

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

Rants and Raves

Meat Declared Healthy Once Again

November 12th, 2009

That brain looks tasty.

ABC reports that in a bit of not-so-surprising news, meat has been found to have no relation to brain cancer. And this isn’t just any meat, this is cured and processed meats that have high levels of nitrates and nitrates. Sure, it seems pretty popular nowadays to convince people that food without nitrates and nitrates are going to kill you, but as far as brain cancer goes, this just ain’t the truth.

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.

The Unvegan

‘Bars’

Wing Time at The Irish Times

Hinano Cafe: The Diviest Cafe of Them All

Old Western Eating in Temecula

Classing it Up at The Tar Pit

The Thrill of Far Bar

Southern Discomfort at South

Rocco’s Modern Tavern

Doubling Down at Townhouse

Missing Meat at The Parlor

The Valley Goes Gourmet with Laurel Tavern

Rants and Raves

Meat Declared Healthy Once Again

Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

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