The Unvegan

‘Mexican’

Komodo Heads Indoors

May 9th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Some prep kitchen.

A long long time ago, I managed to get myself into the Komodo Truck launch party. It was a good time for all, and apparently the truck has been pretty successful. So successful, in fact, that they recently opened a storefront at Pico-Robertson. I wasn’t there for the debut of this one, which may be a good thing. While the debut of the truck was plagued with long lines, when I walked into the restaurant I found myself the only patron. The friendly cashier made sure to tell me that although things seemed pretty grim, the restaurant doubled as a prep kitchen for the truck. So although I was the only one giving money to the restaurant that night, the place was indirectly earning them some money wherever the truck may be. Continue Reading»

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Asian, Burritos, komodo, Mexican, restaurants

Quesoing at Qdoba

April 22nd, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

The Q stands for queso.

On the fringes of the Mexican fast food world lies a restaurant chain called Qdoba, which I’m pretty sure is pronounced queue-doh-ba. Qdoba functions in an assembly-line vein similar to Chipotle and the food itself tastes pretty similar except for one special thing: queso. For those who understand the language Spanish, queso simply means cheese and it would be no surprise to you that cheese is on the menu of a Mexican restaurant. But, for those of you who are well-versed in the language of Qdoba, queso means so much more. Continue Reading»

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Burritos, Chains, Hawthorne, Los Angeles, Mexican, qdoba, restaurants

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 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

Tacos…Tumbras a Tomas

March 7th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

What a special name.

After my first time at Grand Central Market in Downtown LA, I knew I had to go back. Fortune smiled on me over the weekend and brought me back to that special place that makes you feel like you just entered a market in Mexico. Honestly, I’ve never been to a market in Mexico, but in my mind, this is what it’s like. Although I enjoyed my food from Ana Maria’s, this time I once again went for a stall that looked crowded. I found Tacos…Tumbras a Tomas. Continue Reading»

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Burritos, Downtown LA, grand central market, grand central square, Los Angeles, meat, Mexican, tacos...tumbras a tomas

Tasty Tacos at Tinga

January 27th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

A still life of Tinga.

On a Saturday night the girlfriend and I were sitting around feeling lazy. Neither of us had eaten dinner, and we weren’t terribly hungry, but we knew that we needed some sort of food in our systems. It had to be light, and as I looked over my list of restaurants I wanted to try, only one seemed to tickle our fancies. This was a remotely new (8 months or so) restaurant called Tinga, in Mid-City.

The interior of Tinga has a nice wooden atmosphere that is almost like a bar except that it is BYO. In the middle of the small seating area is a long communal table and the walls are lined with stools. The ordering takes place at the counter and although the full menu is on the side wall, they also have paper menus for those who don’t want to stare awkwardly over the shoulders of fellow patrons. Continue Reading»

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Beef, Los Angeles, meat, Mexican, Mid City, restaurants, short ribs, tacos, tinga

Getting Stuffed at Spice Market Buffet

January 13th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Not understanding the relation.

In my continuing quest to find the greatest buffet in Las Vegas (and eventually the world!), I may have found one to stand toe to toe with Rio’s Carnival World Buffet. Situated in Planet Hollywood, the Spice Market Buffet doesn’t fit into the Hollywood theme, at least in name. It also doesn’t bear any resemblance to a Spice Market. Nonetheless, it does use spices and the walls are adorned with food-related movie posters like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (two very similar movies). The lunch buffet cost 25 bucks, but as soon as I looked around, I knew it was going to be well worth the price. Continue Reading»

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American, Asian, Beef, Buffets, Chicken, Italian, Las Vegas, meat, Mexican, Middle-Eastern, nevada, Pizza, planet hollywood, restaurats, Seafood, spice market buffet, Travel

Aptly Named Salsa and Beer

December 28th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

The lighting is a little red, but the food is more than a little good.

For a friend’s birthday, we headed out to Salsa and Beer in Lake Balboa to eat some birthday Mexican food. Having never really been to Lake Balboa and having mostly heard sketchy things about that part of town, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Salsa and Beer. Yet, some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had has come from sketchy places, so my expectations were somewhat mixed.

As soon as I walked in, though, I had a feeling this was going to be a great meal. Looking around, I saw happy faces and giant platters of Mexican food. On top of that, my sense of smell was sending me strong messages. Once the rest of our group arrived, I finally got a chance to look at the menu and was floored. First I was floored by the sheer size of the menu. Figuring out what to eat wasn’t going to easy. Once I started looking around, I realized the prices weren’t going to make things any easier, because everything was damn cheap. Continue Reading»

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enchiladas, lake balboa, Los Angeles, Mexican, restaurants, salsa and beer

Too Much Creativity at Sky’s Gourmet Tacos

December 21st, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

A great namesake.

Over and over again, a friend of mine has told me that I just have to go to Sky’s Gourmet Tacos. Considering I live so close, it took me a long time to finally make it there, but when I did I was expecting something pretty special. Before fusion taco truck became the coolest thing in LA, Sky’s was already serving up their own kind of fusion. In their case, the fusion is Mexican “with a splash of soul.” Since I’m a big fan of soul food, Mexican food and general food creativity, I was sure I would love Sky’s. Continue Reading»

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Los Angeles, Mexican, restaurants, sky's gourmet tacos, soul, tacos

A Different Kind of Sharky’s

December 20th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Looks like a tasty burrito.

When I found out we were heading out to Sharky’s in Burbank for lunch, I was first a little confused. You see, for me, “Sharkeez” is the name of a college-style bar down in the South Bay, and they aren’t known for their food so much as they are for their happy hours. Little did I realize the difference in spelling, but as soon as we arrived, I knew we weren’t in for some drinking. Instead, I found myself at a counter with a bunch of different Mexican food to order. Sharky’s calls itself a Woodfired Mexican Grill, which is kind of strange to me because I really only think of pizza as being woodfired. But hey, if it can work for pizza, I’m sure it can work for Mexican. In addition to the wood fires, they also attempt to distance themselves from other Mexican food chains by claiming completely natural meats, non-GMO veggies and everything else you can think of that is associated with good old-fashioned food. Continue Reading»

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Burbank, Burritos, Chains, Los Angeles, Mexican, restaurants, sharky's woodfired mexican grill

Rants and Raves

Vegan Pictures (With a Side of Meat)

April 18th, 2011

Because vegan food doesn't look good enough.

It’s a vegan-eat-vegan world out there today (although not literally, because that would be decidedly unvegan) and if you’re one of those meat haters, it’s getting harder and harder to know who to trust. The latest schism comes from an expose at quarrygirl.com. In this expose, it is revealed that VegNews, “the nation’s leading vegan magazine” has been using images with meat in them. That’s right, delicious succulent meat has successfully infiltrated the pages of VegNews, making it unvegan!

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.

‘Mexican’

Komodo Heads Indoors

Quesoing at Qdoba

Menuless at Gardens of Taxco

A Simpler Meal at Tacomiendo

Tacos…Tumbras a Tomas

Tasty Tacos at Tinga

Getting Stuffed at Spice Market Buffet

Aptly Named Salsa and Beer

Too Much Creativity at Sky’s Gourmet Tacos

A Different Kind of Sharky’s

Rants and Raves

Vegan Pictures (With a Side of Meat)

Going Global at Plan Check

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