‘north hollywood’

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Republic of Pie for Pi Day

March 14th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Pot pie?

Up in North Hollywood, the prospect of a new restaurant is always exciting. And when the theme of that new restaurant is pie, the excitement is off the charts. So in honor of Pi Day (March 14th) I ventured out to Republic of Pie with a couple of coworkers to see what they were all about. Republic of Pie has a total coffee shop feel to it, with a few couches here and there, an exposed ceiling industrial look and an iPad in place of an old-fashioned register. The number of people sitting around on their MacBooks drinking tea really helps drive the point home. This is a good thing, because no one wants to feel like they are in North Hollywood and this feels much more like Seattle or Portland. Continue Reading»

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Coley’s and the Gang

March 2nd, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Jamaicapanada?

In a display of mercy, a work event of mine ended last week at a little Jamaican restaurant in North Hollywood called Coley’s. As it turned out, one of my bosses had been Jamaican all along, but none of us knew it. Yet, Jamaican boss or not, I had been wanting to check out Coley’s for a long time, as it sat in that weird area of town that seemed just a bit far for walking, but too close to hop in a car for. Continue Reading»

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Holy Donut Buns at Da Burger Boss

February 17th, 2012 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Oh my God the bun is on backwards!

Da Burger Boss is part of the newer wave of food trucks and while they aren’t brand new, they’re still plenty new to me. Their schtick is naming burgers after mob terms like The Strongarm, The Collector and so on. It’s an interesting schtick that has produced some interesting-looking combinations, but the sole reason I found myself waiting for Da Boss was to partake in The Patrolman.

You see, The Patrolman is no ordinary burger. Sure, it’s filled with a half-pound patty, bacon and blue cheese dressing, but after that the burger goes in a frightening and exciting direction. First is the cran-apple reduction, which is not crazy on its own, but when you throw in the grilled glazed donut bun, things get goddamn nuts. Yes, I said a grilled glazed donut bun. I was unsure of how any degree of this would be pulled off and figure it was worth the 9 bucks to find out. Continue Reading»

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A Pad of Krua Thai

December 7th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Crudite?!

Did you know there was a big Thai contingent in the valley?  And I’m not talking about a string of Thai restaurants, I’m talking about a spot in the north end of North Hollywood where signs for auto repair shops and dry cleaners are both in Thai as well as English.  Here, on a stretch of Sherman Way is a restaurant called Krua Thai, which Jonathan Gold once claimed to have the best Pad Thai in LA. Continue Reading»

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Whining About The Wien

October 31st, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Wien me a river.

Hot dogs: the edible version of man’s best friend.  Genius in conception and pretty easy to do well.  But to do a hot dog great takes some skill and some food trucks have taken this easily portable meal to the streets to some success.  Up in North Hollywood, The Wien brought its truck over to my office one day and I thought I should give it a try and see if it could compete. Continue Reading»

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Keeping Crunchy at The Nacho Truck

August 16th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Looks classy...

In the grand explosion of gourmet food trucks, tacos have found themselves mixed with all sorts of craziness, from Korean BBQ to fish and grapes to kung pao chicken.  Yet, in all this food truck excitement, the bastard cousin/side dish of the taco has been left behind.  Yeah, I’m talking ’bout Shaft…err…nachos.  But along came The Nacho Truck to remedy this sad predicament.  Before this truck arrived at my office, I knew nothing of it, so my expectations were pretty low.  Yet, as someone who doesn’t keep nearly enough track of food happenings in LA anymore, it is certainly possible that The Nacho Truck had simply flown/driven under my radar. Continue Reading»

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No Veggies at No Tomatoes!

August 1st, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

No tomatoes in here.

By name and color, No Tomatoes! has the makings of an amazing food truck.  The name implies an amazing lack of the vegetable known as the tomato (I don’t care if it’s anatomically a fruit, so is a cucumber and you don’t see anyone calling that a fruit) and the orange coloration that enshrouds the truck makes it look beautiful.  Oh and if the name doesn’t give it away, it serves up Indian food.  But hidden in this supposed gem of a truck is deception.  For there is one dish at No Tomatoes! that actually contains tomatoes: Tikka Masala.  So while they were serving up lies with Tikka Masala, I looked to other options. Continue Reading»

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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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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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In Foreign Territory at Mofongos

June 7th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

So that's what Puerto Rico tastes like.

Once upon a time, a friend of mine hooked up with a Puerto Rican lady.  Afterwards, he proclaimed that he was “in foreign territory…literally.”  Unfortunately, as an American he failed to realize that he was not in foreign territory at all.  At least not since 1898 when the US won the Spanish-American War.  Similarly, Puerto Rican food is so different from other regional American food that it almost feels like foreign territory, but after eating Mofongos in North Hollywood I realized this is some regional food I’d like to see more often. 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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Couldn't just bring the whole cow?

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