The Unvegan

‘Bars’

Victory Dinner at San Francisco Saloon

May 21st, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Go Bruins?

After my team posted a huge victory in our rec basketball league, we decided to grab some burgers to celebrate. This led me to San Francisco Saloon, which is not located in San Francisco at all, but rather in West LA and has been serving LA since 1934. The place is more sport bar than saloon and actually has a good sports bar vibe. The burgers are named for LA and San Francisco sports teams like the Giants and the Trojan, with a few non-sports names like Hickory to join them. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Bar Food, Bars, Burgers, hamburgers, Los Angeles, restaurants, San Francisco Saloon, West LA

Eating the Old West at Tinhorn Flats

March 26th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

But really, it's not gimmicky.

There’s something about a gimmick that alienates people. You go to Hooters and while they have good wings, a small part of you feels dirty because it was a gimmick that brought you in in the first place. Many times I drove by Tinhorn Flats in Burbank and wrote it off because it looked like an Old Western saloon, which to me screams out gimmick. Little did I know that Tinhorn had been around since 1939, which makes it one of the oldest things in LA. If it was simply a gimmick, it never would have lasted these 70+ years. So when my coworker encouraged me to check it out, I roped in the troops at work to head east on Magnolia – straight for the Old West. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Bar Food, Bars, Burbank, Burgers, hamburgers, Los Angeles, meat

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 at Front Street

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

Rants and Raves

Destination: Namibia

July 29th, 2009

It looks like I’ve found the next stop on my quest for a meaty utopia. No, not Taco Bell. This time I hear a whole country calling my name: Namibia!

According to an eye-opening article from WHL, Namibia sounds like a paradise on Earth. It is entitled Namibia: A Truly Meat-Loving Country, by Rachel Harlech-Jones. In the article, Harlech-Jones writes about how the country didn’t even seem to know what a vegetarian was when she first went to Namibi (apparently they now know what a vegetarian is, but “still do not really know why vegetarians exist.”) This has nothing to do with a bad language exchange since their official language is English. Rather, they are just my type of people, constantly confused by people who don’t want to eat meat.

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.

A little stretch before eating at Don Pichon.

The Unvegan

‘Bars’

Victory Dinner at San Francisco Saloon

Eating the Old West at Tinhorn Flats

Wing Time at The Irish Times

Hinano Cafe: The Diviest Cafe of Them All

Old Western Eating at Front Street

Classing it Up at The Tar Pit

The Thrill of Far Bar

Southern Discomfort at South

Rocco’s Modern Tavern

Doubling Down at Townhouse

Rants and Raves

Destination: Namibia

Going Global at Plan Check

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