‘Venice’


First Fridays with the South Philly Experience

November 11th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit
Seems like it would be hard to drive with that sign...

Seems like it would be hard to drive with that sign...

Sometimes, following LA’s food trucks on Twitter can be a difficult process.  If you don’t have a Twitter account or a smartphone, then it gets even harder (seriously, not having Twitter or a smartphone is soooo 2008).  Luckily for those who fight the future of technology, there is a little event on the first Friday of every month on Abbot Kinney in Venice creatively called First Fridays.  These nights are the best opportunity to experience LA’s food truck culture.

One truck I’ve been trying to find for a while happened to be there.  It’s called South Philly Experience (SPE) and dishes out Philly Cheese Steaks, plus a couple other random East Coast faves like Tastykakes.  The menu was as basic as you’d expect from a food truck, offering a couple varieties of sandwiches, but I only wanted the original.  I ordered as specified on the menu, “witout” onions and “wit”  Cheez Wiz, as I’ve heard the Wiz is Philly’s top choice for cheese steaks. Continue Reading»


Getting Spicy at Agra Indian Kitchen

November 6th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit
Too many onions all up in my chicken.

Too many onions all up in my chicken.

With one of those strange restaurant.com gift certificates in hand, my girlfriend and I set off to try Agra Indian Kitchen in Venice.  Kitchen is an appropriate name for the place because it was only slightly larger than a kitchen.  Luckily, though, one table was open when we arrived and we were seated immediately.

The menu looked pretty good, despite its massive vegetarian section.  I was stuck in the bread are for a long time, trying to figure out which sort of naan or other bread we should get to start the meal.  In the end, we kept it pretty simple with garlic naan , but also experimented with some cheese naan.  The cheese naan was kind of like an Indian version of a quesadilla.  There wasn’t a ton of cheese in it, but the bread was like an edible pillow, in a good way. Continue Reading»


More Food Trucking with Don Chow Tacos

October 30th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit
Not quite as shiny as the other trucks...

Not quite as shiny as the other trucks...

Although the Grilled Cheese Truck is the newest member of LA’s fleet of food trucks, Don Chow has already been roaming the streets in search of hungry night life for months.

The truck isn’t nearly as shiny as Kogi or Nom Nom, but I’ve never felt the need to be served from a shiny establishment.  In fact, when I did catch up with the Don Chow truck in Venice, the cheap sign had fallen off and it looked like any other generic taco truck.  Good thing my girlfriend noticed a small sign on the front of the truck ensuring us it was Don Chow. Continue Reading»


The First Melt at the Grilled Cheese Truck

October 27th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit
So shiny and like-new

So shiny and like-new

The highly anticipated Grilled Cheese Truck finally rolled into town tonight and due to my frightening obsession with cheese, I made sure to greet the truck.  In the tradition of other great ks before it, the unveiling took place at The Brig on Abbot Kinney.  I arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled 8:00 start time and was shocked to find the parking lot at The Brig empty except for the shiny orange truck.  Apparently, I was to be the first in line! Continue Reading»


BBQ the Right Way at Baby Blues BBQ

June 29th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit
Such a pretty plate of not vegetables.

Such a pretty plate of not vegetables.

After attending the LA BBQ Fest, all I wanted to do was find a good BBQ place to go to whenever I wanted to.  I heard some great things about Baby Blues BBQ and saw their mac n’ cheese at the BBQ Fest, so I decided to try the place out.

The restaurant looks like a BBQ place should, reminiscent of a shack and nothing fancy by any accounts.  The wait to sit inside was pretty long, while outside seating was pretty empty.  We decided we may as well sit outside and eat because it would probably take just as long to get our food and eat outside as it would to just wait out there for a table inside.  Does that make sense?  Well, it does in my head.  Anyway, the waitress was there in an instant to offer my girlfriend use of her jacket, which was one of the nicest things I’ve ever seen a waitress do, and she accepted the offer. Continue Reading»


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.

Continue Reading»