The Unvegan

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls on Tires

June 27th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

One if by sea, two if by truck.

When Great Balls on Tires first debuted last year, I was concerned that such a name for a meatball truck was a bit of a gimmick. Yet, now that GBOT has lasted through the middle of this year, I felt it was time I tried them out. When I walked up to the truck to see what they had to offer, I found there were only a few sets of balls to choose from. Yet, more than one of these balls looked attractive to me. Unfortunately, all balls came in sets of two, so I had to limit myself to only one ball type. Continue Reading»

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Beef, food trucks, great balls on tires, kobe beef, Los Angeles, meat, meat balls, Mobile, north hollywood, Sandwiches

Thai. Seriously. At Summer Canteen

June 23rd, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

A real summer has no vegetables.

In the continuing story of trying to find new and interesting food in the Valley, a coworker suggested trying out a place called Summer Canteen. Not knowing what sort of food a place named Summer Canteen would have, I opened up the menu online to find that it served none other than Thai. Wait, Thai? Really? I thought the rule of Thai restaurant naming was that it had to have “Thai” in its name (Thai Boom, Thai Smile, Natalee Thai, etc.) or use words from the Thai language (Jitlada). Summer Canteen broke these two rules, and would go on to break one more. Continue Reading»

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Asian, Beef, Curry, meat, restaurants, summer canteen, Thai, toluca lake

A True Detroit Experience at Coney Dog

June 20th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

At home on the Sunset Strip.

We Detroiters (or metro-Detroiters in my case) are adamantly defensive and passionate about our Detroit roots. Ask one of the thousands of Detroit expats what they miss most about their homeland and they will give you answers ranging from the lakes to the sports to awesome summers. But there is one thing just about all of us can agree upon: we miss coney. In LA, we are about as far from Detroit as possible in the lower 48 and absence truly makes the heart grow fonder. Just about every conversation I’ve had with a former Detroiter in the 3-plus years I’ve lived in LA has led to a “wouldn’t it be awesome if we opened a coney restaurant out here?” moment. Yet, while all these conversations were taking place, a few people were making it happen. Continue Reading»

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Beef, Burgers, Coney, Coney Dog, Coney Island, detroit, Hot Dogs, loose burger, Los Angeles, meat, michigan, restaurants, sunset strip, west hollywood

Beefing Up at Soul Dog

June 17th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

And who is Otis Jackson?

A few months ago, a sign appeared in North Hollywood for a soon-to-open restaurant called Otis Jackson’s Soul Dog. The sign claimed “premium hot dogs & soul fixins” and while I wondered who the hell Otis Jackson was, I figured that this place wasn’t just serving the hot dog meat, but also the souls of the animals in the hot dogs. But, with Vicious Dogs just a 3 minute walk down the street, this was going to have to be a damn good hot dog to compete. Continue Reading»

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Beef, Chili, Hot Dogs, Los Angeles, mac and cheese, meat, north hollywood, otis jackson's soul dog, vicious dogs

Filled Up on Ford’s Filling Station

June 13th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Did someone say bacon?

Evoking images of an old fashioned gas station for Ford cars, Ford’s Filling Station in downtown Culver City actually has no actual relation to Henry Ford. It also has no relation to Gerald Ford, the former US President from the great state of Michigan. It does, however, have a relation to another Ford, Harrison. You see, Ford’s is owned by Benjamin Ford, Harrison’s son, and he also happens to be the executive chef. Last time I went to Ford’s, which was before the unvegan blog came into existence, Benjamin himself actually came out to our table to tell us the specials. It was like the foodie version of meeting Harrison Ford. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Beef, Burgers, Culver City, gastropubs, hamburgers, Los Angeles, restaurants

A Swanky Burger at 25 Degrees

May 3rd, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

SHINE!

Normally, when you hear about a restaurant in a hotel, it is overpriced and pretentious, meant more for business people with an expense account than for the common man. So when I heard that the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel had a delicious restaurant called 25 Degrees, I was a bit skeptical. But then I heard more and more about the place until my buddy over at Burger Conquest told me it was his favorite burger in LA. That was quite a claim for a city filled with the likes of Umami, The Apple Pan and Hole in the Wall, so I took it seriously. Continue Reading»

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25 Degrees, Beef, Burgers, hamburgers, Hollywood, hotel roosevelt, Los Angeles

Menuless at Gardens of Taxco

April 7th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Course number one is a cheese a dilla.

About a year ago, a coworker of mine walked up to my desk, slapped a golden matchbook on it and told me I had to go to this restaurant. The restaurant he spoke of was called Gardens of Taxco in West Hollywood and despite the strange-sounding name, he told me it was amazing. One year later he is no longer a coworker of mine, but a Living Social deal popped up for the place and I took it as a sign from the tax gods that it was time for me to pay the Gardens a visit. Continue Reading»

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Beef, Carne Asada, gardens of taxco, Los Angeles, meat, Mexican, mexico city, restaurants, west hollywood

A Big Time Lunch at Big Time

April 1st, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Can a hole in the wall be standalone?

On the corner of Magnolia and Laurel Canyon in North Hollywood, there is a Taco Bell. Across from that Taco Bell sits Yum Yum Donuts. And just next to that Yum Yum Donuts is a burger joint called Big Time. Although it has the looks of a hole in the wall, Big Time occupies its own piece of real estate and has looked inviting to me ever since I began working in North Hollywood. Some of the best food in the world comes from places like this, so I was excited to find out if Big Time was one such place. Continue Reading»

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Bacon, Beef, Big Time, Burgers, hamburgers, Los Angeles, north hollywood, restaurants

Home is Where the Slop is

March 30th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Sure, I'll eat your commie pancakes.

Over in the land of Silver Lake on LA’s east side, my sister, girlfriend and family friend converged upon a restaurant called Home. The place looked nothing like my home and the menu items barely had some items I’ve ever seen at home, so I assumed the name was derived from some sort of Silver Lake hipster irony. We sat outside on a relatively cold Saturday for LA and I watched as the workers fumbled helplessly to try to keep the heat lamps lit while the women tried desperately to keep warm. It was unintentionally entertaining, to say the least, and I hoped the food would at least be half as good as said entertainment. Continue Reading»

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Beef, Brunch, Los Angeles, meat, pancakes, restaurants, Sandwiches, silver lake, sloppy joes

A Simpler Meal at Tacomiendo

March 29th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Take it easy there.

On a funky little corner in Culver City, there resides a hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint called Tacomiendo. I originally read about them a long time ago because they served good food at cheap prices. Finally, after residing on my to-eat list for so long, I got around to taking a ride out to try them out. Not terribly hungry for this dinner hour, I skipped over the big ticket items like burritos and tortas. Instead, I went with their namesake, a taco. Continue Reading»

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Beef, Chicken, Culver City, Los Angeles, meat, Mexican, restaurants, tacomiendo, tacos

Rants and Raves

Stop Global Warming for Better Meat

November 25th, 2009

Why isn't this cow happy?

Meat eaters of the world have many enemies. They can come in the form of PETA or a hamburger that someone has decided to ruin with lettuce. One of the newest enemies, however, can’t be easily remedied by making fun of vegans or by sending food back to the kitchen. This enemy is global warming.

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.

The Unvegan

‘Beef’

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls on Tires

Thai. Seriously. At Summer Canteen

A True Detroit Experience at Coney Dog

Beefing Up at Soul Dog

Filled Up on Ford’s Filling Station

A Swanky Burger at 25 Degrees

Menuless at Gardens of Taxco

A Big Time Lunch at Big Time

Home is Where the Slop is

A Simpler Meal at Tacomiendo

Rants and Raves

Stop Global Warming for Better Meat

Going Global at Plan Check

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