The Unvegan

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.

Tags: chicken, Chinese, kung pao, Los Angeles, mao's kitchen, meat, restaurants, Venice

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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.

Tags: 26 beach, beef, Burgers, hamburgers, Los Angeles, meat, restaurants, umami burger, Venice

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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.

Tags: Bar Food, bars, beechwood, beer, Burgers, father's office, gastropubs, hamburgers, Los Angeles, meat, restaurants, Venice

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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.

Tags: abbot kinney, border grill, border grill truck, chorizo, food trucks, Los Angeles, meat, Mexican, Mobile, taquitos, Venice

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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.

Tags: abbot kinney, first fridays, food trucks, frankie, india jones, Indian, lamb, Los Angeles, meat, Venice

Even Jim Cramer Likes Carl’s Jr.

June 3rd, 2009

A friend of mine told me that Jim Cramer did a special on Mad Money about Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. Apparently he loves their stock, but “…wouldn’t enter a Carl’s unless 24’s Tony Almeida had planted a canister full of pathogen there, millions of lives were on the line and [he] was the only person who could diffuse it.”

As a result, Andy Puzder (the CEO) came on the show to talk with Cramer about his company, their burgers and, most importantly, their sexy ads with Padma Lakshmi and Paris Hilton. In the end, Cramer tried one of their burgers and loved it.

Looks like I’m not the only one who enjoys a burger from Carl’s Jr.

Beer Me Some Bell’s Oberon

Look like summer to you?

It’s really not summer until you’ve had some Oberon. Sure, the weather may be warm, the grass may be green and the county may be forcing you to water your lawn only on odd-numbered days, but in truth, none of this matters until you get some Oberon in you. Now, you may be wondering, “What is Oberon?” If you turn to Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge), you will be lead to believe that Oberon is the king of the fairies. But this is just hogwash. In fact, Oberon is more likely to be a king of beers. No, not the king of beers…some brewery in St. Louis has that copyrighted.

‘Venice’

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

Even Jim Cramer Likes Carl’s Jr.

Beer Me Some Bell’s Oberon

What is this?»

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