The Unvegan

3/14/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

Republic of Pie for Pi Day

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.

Los Angeles Mac and Cheese North Hollywood Pie Republic of Pie Restaurants

3/13/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

LA’s Best BBQ at J “N” J Burger and Bar-B-Q

The Eagles once wrote “If you call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye,” so it is with great trepidation that I roll out my review here. The meaning I have always taken from that line is that if you tell people about a great place, that place will cease to be great because more people will go there and ruin the experience. On the other hand, I feel the need to tell the world about J “N” J Burger and Bar-B-Q and hope that this review will not kill paradise, but simply give it more customers.

Barbecue BBQ Culver City J "N" J Burger and Bar-B-Q Los Angeles Meat Restaurants Ribs

3/12/2012 Reviews West Hollywood

Not Addicted to Chili Addiction

My quest for challengers to the Chili John’s and Coney Dog empire of LA chili led me to Chili Addiction in West Hollywood. Their menu of insane chili concoctions really pulled me in the first time I saw their menu online and I really thought I had found myself a contender. I convinced my buddy to give it a try with me, both for company and so we could get multiple things to test out.

Burgers Chili Chili Addiction Hamburgers Hot Dogs Los Angeles Meat Restaurants

3/8/2012 Reviews Santa Monica

Tacos Por Favor, Please

Santa Monica doesn’t exactly have a reputation for good food. And what reputation it does have usually tends to lean on the upscale. But reputation alone does not simply make a city, and Santa Monica actually has a surprising number of little gems hidden in its nooks and crannies. One of these, I had heard, was Tacos Por Favor.

Yet, aside from actually hearing of Tacos Por Favor, I hadn’t really been told what was good on their menu, so when I arrived and found a vast menu full of nearly every Mexican dish I had ever heard of, I was in trouble.

Al Pastor Carne Asada Los Angeles Meat Mexican Restaurants Santa Monica Tacos

3/8/2012 Reviews

Taco Bell Goes Doritos Locos

How many times have you sat around late at night eating either Taco Bell, Doritos or both and thought how amazing it would be to combine the two? I know I have. So when Taco Bell first started testing their new Doritos Locos in Fresno and Bakersfield last year, I was almost tempted to pay one of those cities a visit. Thankfully, I did not make the mistake of setting foot in one of those cities, and the testing was obviously a success, because at midnight this morning Taco Bell rolled out their Doritos Locos Tacos for the nation. If you’re unfamiliar with the Doritos Locos, they are essentially your regular or supreme tacos, but with a giant Nacho Cheese Dorito as the shell. Usually I can wait to try Taco Bell’s new products, but for this I had to be there right at midnight.

Doritos Locos Tacos Fast Food Los Angeles Mexican National Chains Taco Bell Tacos

3/7/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

Meet me at Meat (CLOSED)

Once upon a time, Koreatown boasted an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ joint called Manna and long before I had my own meat blog, I made my way to Manna for a protein-fest. The memory of this visit stuck with me as I visited the inferior Manna outpost in the Fox Hills mall. Granted, I wasn’t too disappointed, because you can’t really be disappointed with so much meat, but I knew there was something better out there. By the time I made it back to Manna in Koreatown, it was no longer Manna, but had become Meat, which is a far more appropriate name.

Buffets Korean Korean BBQ Koreatown Los Angeles Meat Restaurants

3/6/2012 Rants and Raves

Straws. Now with Beef!

What’s that you say? You’re not getting enough beef in your diet? Join the club! But luckily, there is hope. We all know you can’t just go around eating steak all the time. Sure, it would taste delicious and you would live a long life, but it’s expensive at restaurants and tiresome to cook all the time. Fortunately, there are now beef straws!

Beef Straws Bloody Marys Meat Raves

3/5/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

Food for the Soul at Chef Marilyn’s

A couple of weeks ago, Squidink tossed out a list of the 9 Best Macaroni and Cheese Dishes in LA. Naturally, my mouth was watering profusely as I read through and saw the gooey, holy cheesus. And, while they all looked awesome, there was only one that I felt the need to eat immediately. This was Chef Marilyn’s Soul Food Express, which resides in that fascinating part of west LA on Pico and La Brea.

Carry-Out Chef Marilyn's Soul Food Express Fried Chicken Los Angeles Mac and Cheese Soul Food

3/2/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

Coley’s and the Gang

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.

Caribbean Chicken Coley's Jamaican Los Angeles North Hollywood Restaurants

2/29/2012 Reviews Los Angeles

Golden Road to Unlimited Libation

First off, no, there is no such thing as unlimited libation at Golden Road Brewing. But I just couldn’t resist making the painfully obvious Grateful Dead reference. Especially because there was nothing at all Grateful Dead about the brewery. As one of the few microbreweries in LA, Golden Road resides in a sketchy part of Glendale and is kind of personifies a blend of collar and hipster, at least in decor and architecture. The food menu tries to bridge that gap as well, but leans heavier on the latter than the former, with a frightening number of vegan menu items and a couple of sandwiches to scare any blue collar visitors back to the smelting plant.

Beer Duck Glendale Golden Road Brewing Los Angeles Meat Microbrewery Restaurants Sandwiches Sloppy Joes

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan

A Quick Bite at Burrito Express

Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus

Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos