The Unvegan

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

The Wrong Sandwich at Lemonade

December 30th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

This is more like it.

Walking into Lemonade in Venice is at first quite frightening. This is because the place is set up sort of like a buffet/cafeteria and while that alone can be frightening to someone, the real frightening part is that the entire first section of the lineup is salads. And while these are more like your creative sweet potato or radish than lettuce and tomatoes, there is certainly a staggering amount of veggies. I quickly looked around to see if they had anything I could eat and found a nice menu that detailed some of the real food that Lemonade had to offer. Continue Reading»

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Abbot Kinney, Beef, lemonade, Los Angeles, meat, restaurants, Sandwiches, Venice

Cultural Devolution at Mao’s Kitchen

August 27th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Will this improve my vision?

After what feels like years of hearing about the deliciousness that dwells within Mao’s Kitchen in Venice, I finally found myself an opportunity to try the place out. A big perk of the place was that it was BYO, so I grabbed a sixer of tasty beer and brought it along to see if Mao’s could really be good Chinese food. Before delving into the meal itself, let’s take a moment to consider the name of Mao’s Kitchen. Honestly, I’m not so sure I would want to eat whatever Mao would have served. Most likely it would have involved mass atrocities and a side of untimely death. Cultural faux pas aside, I was still drawn in by their reputation for culinary goodness. Continue Reading»

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Chicken, Chinese, kung pao, Los Angeles, mao's kitchen, meat, restaurants, Venice

LA’s Best Burger at 26 Beach?

July 14th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Awesome sign.

Recently, a Facebook burger competition (very scientific) crowned 26 Beach in Venice as the best burger in LA. Now you may be asking yourself, “What the hell is 26 Beach?” and you are not alone, because even I had no idea what the place was until contest began. Somehow this unknown burger contender topped my personal favorite, Umami Burger. I couldn’t let this stand, well at least not without trying it myself, so off I went to 26 Beach to see what sort of witchery pushed their burger to the top of the heap. Continue Reading»

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26 Beach, Beef, Burgers, hamburgers, Los Angeles, meat, restaurants, umami burger, Venice

An Amusingly Tasty Burger at Beechwood

February 12th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Thank you for being tasty.

Heading into Beechwood, I was feeling a bit skeptical. Bars in Venice can tend to be a bit trendy, especially the food-serving kind. Once inside, part of my skepticism was confirmed, with strangely shaped lounge seats and a half hour wait even though we had reservations. Oh well, at least they had a pretty sweet beer menu so I could have a little something to drink while waiting. They had a pretty cool-looking wheat beer called Moosbacher from Germany. Since I like moose and wheat, I figured these would outweigh my distaste for Germany, and I was right. It was quite good and came in a huge bottle. Continue Reading»

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Bar Food, Bars, Beechwood, Beer, Burgers, father's office, gastropubs, hamburgers, Los Angeles, meat, restaurants, Venice

Borderline Okay at the Border Grill Truck

February 2nd, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Sweet design.

Finally, I feel like I’ve been to just about all of the food trucks in LA that I have any desire to visit. Yes, I know I haven’t been to all of them, but I think I’ve been to enough to justify paying a visit to the Border Grill Truck, despite the fact that the Border Grill is already a restaurant I have been to. I guess I just wanted to see how an upscale Mexican restaurant could translate into a truck. People seemed to be enjoying their food outside of the truck, so I went to see if I could partake in their enjoyment. Continue Reading»

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Abbot Kinney, Border Grill, Border Grill Truck, chorizo, food trucks, Los Angeles, meat, Mexican, Mobile, taquitos, Venice

Fighting for Frankies at India Jones

February 1st, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Hello Frankie.

I visited the India Jones truck at good old First Fridays evening on Abbot Kinney. The area was pretty packed, but I had been following India Jones on Twitter and was eager to try them out. When I got there, Mr. Jones himself was dealing with a horrible skater punk who had decided to steal a can of Pellegrino. It was an uncomfortable situation, because the skater guy was obviously a terrible person, and luckily someone stepped in and grabbed the can to return to Jones. One of his idiot friends decided to hit the truck with his skateboard and ran away, because he was like a child, and although Jones chased after him, it was to no avail, the buffoon had gotten away. After seeing this, my hunger for some food from this truck grew even more. Jones was willing to defend his truck and fight against dumb hooligans, so I was happy to support. And by support I mean order food. Continue Reading»

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Abbot Kinney, first fridays, food trucks, frankie, india jones, Indian, lamb, Los Angeles, meat, Venice

Getting Fried at Asian Soul Kitchen

January 29th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

It's a sooouuuul truck.

Combining Asian Food and Soul Food is kind of an interesting concept, and in doing so the Asian Soul Kitchen truck was born in LA. I decided to follow them on Twitter because their twitter name of “itsbentobaby” sounded pretty awesome to me. I found them on Abbot Kinney and took a look at their menu. Although some of their specific Asian foods like yakisoba looked good, I needed something with a lot more meat to it. To get that fix, I turned to their Lollipop Chicken. Continue Reading»

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Abbot Kinney, Asian, Asian Soul Kitchen, food trucks, fried chicken, itsbentobaby, Los Angeles, meat, Mobile, soul food, twitter, Venice

Dogs on a Truck from Dogtown Dogs

December 9th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

A prefectly unveganized hot dog.

No, this isn’t LA’s new mobile petshop, although that is a genius idea that someone should really get on. Instead, it is another one of LA’s constantly expanding collection of mobile food trucks. Dogtown Dogs specializes in hot dogs, which isn’t entirely creative considering the existence of Let’s Be Frank. Despite this, I tracked them down one night after hearing some pretty good things about their dogs. As with most mobile eateries, I ended up finding them parked near the Brig on Abbot Kinney. Continue Reading»

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Abbot Kinney, Bacon, dogtown dogs, egg, food trucks, Hot Dogs, Los Angeles, meat, Mobile, the brig, Venice

More First Fridays with the Flying Pig

November 12th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Who wouldn't eat from a bright pink truck?

For my second course on First Fridays in Abbot Kinney, I headed out to one of LA’s newest food trucks, the Flying Pig. When I first read about this Mexican-French fusion truck, I wasn’t too amazed by what I read. Fusing Mexican food with Asian is one thing, but to try to fuse it with French as well seemed like a strange niche that I didn’t need to explore. Lo and behold, my opinion changed when I saw the truck and the happy customers outside of it. Continue Reading»

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Abbot Kinney, duck, first fridays, flying pig, food trucks, french, meat, Mexican, Mobile, taco trucks, Venice

Rants and Raves

Sea Kittens

January 20th, 2009

When I began writing about my life as an unvegan, I made a solemn promise to myself that I would dedicate my blog simply to the reviewing of restaurants as they relate to my taste in foods. Any rants, complaints or praises I had about people or things in general would somehow make their way into my review and never grow into their own entries.

Today, I break that promise.

Today, the world has changed.

Today, a friend has brought to my attention a campaign by PETA to rebrand the word “fish” as “sea kittens.”

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.

‘Venice’

Hinano Cafe: The Diviest Cafe of Them All

The Wrong Sandwich at Lemonade

Cultural Devolution at Mao’s Kitchen

LA’s Best Burger at 26 Beach?

An Amusingly Tasty Burger at Beechwood

Borderline Okay at the Border Grill Truck

Fighting for Frankies at India Jones

Getting Fried at Asian Soul Kitchen

Dogs on a Truck from Dogtown Dogs

More First Fridays with the Flying Pig

Rants and Raves

Sea Kittens

Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

What is this?»

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