Reviews

3/16/2009 Reviews Culver City

Drunken Munchies at the Backstage

Sitting right next to Sony Pictures Studios is the Backstage Bar & Grill. Claiming to have the best bar food in LA, I decided to take them for a spin.

First, I downed a few beers to make sure I was in the right state of mind to be eating bar food. Then I took a look at their happy hour menu, which is quite conducive to the unvegan. From garlic fries to quesadillas, most everything looked to be free from the bondage of vegetables. As soon as I saw the wings, though, I knew they had to be mine. Any opportunity to eat with just your hands should be fully embraced, especially after a few drinks. They come in hot, BBQ or teriyaki, and with my trusty beer in hand, I felt strongly about taking on the hot wings. At only $5, I knew I couldn’t go wrong.

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3/13/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

Lucy’s Drive In

What's with the greens? — What’s with the greens?

On a late-night drive back from a party, the glowing fluorescence of Lucy’s Drive In lured me inside.

While standing in line, I had plenty of time to check out the menu on the wall. I was temporarily distracted by the burgers on the menu, which I decided were only there so they could put “American Food” on their sign. Brushing this distraction aside, I chose the chicken taquitos with guacamole platter. The menu said it came with rice and beans, but I asked the ingredients of the taquitos to ensure that I wouldn’t end up with any unfortunate vegetables inside. The woman told me there weren’t any, so I felt confident as I waited for my grub.

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3/11/2009 Reviews El Segundo

The Original Rinaldi’s Italian Deli

Conveniently located on Main Street in sunny downtown El Segundo is The Original Rinaldi’s Italian Deli. From the outside, you see that Rinaldi’s is a no-frills, old school deli.

Inside it’s no different, with plastic chairs and seemingly foldable tables. The menu on the wall has enough unvegan delicacies to delight even the most casual carnivore. Steak, turkey, bacon, sausage and more adorn the various sandwich descriptions, making it hard to decide the appropriate meat for the moment. As soon as I saw the Fatboy, though, I knew it had to be mine. The ingredients were sausage, beef meatballs, pepperoni, marinara sauce and (provolone) cheese. I ordered the 10″ rather than the mildly girlish 6″.

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3/9/2009 Reviews El Segundo

El Pollo Loco

The el bland meal-o. — El bland-o meal-o.

The heart of fast food is its ability to satisfy (at least in the short term) while remaining at impossibly cheap prices. These two essential elements are really quite reliant upon each other, because it is hard to achieve gastro-satisfaction if you think you are paying too much.

On my trip to El Pollo Loco in El Segundo, I had high expectations. Being a fan of Taco Bell, I have always been told to try it. When I arrived, the menu completely confused me. I couldn’t figure out what was what except for the value menu. Having been around since 1975, you would think they could have figured out a way to just show a list of the food they offer, but no. Instead, I stood silent for a long time at a loss of what to order.

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3/6/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

Csardas Hungarian Restaurant (CLOSED)

Paprikash is dish best served without a pretty little pepper — Paprikash is dish best served without a fancy little pepper.

As we walked into Csardas around 7:30, we quickly realized we were the only patrons. It boggled my mind how a restaurant could be empty during peak times and still be in business, so I was a little worried about how the food would be.

Having grown up around Hungarian food, I scrutinized the menu, only to find a lack of cherry soup. I asked our waitress (who had an indistinguishable accent that most certainly was not Hungarian) and she told me they actually had the soup. That was a close call, but they passed the first test. To go with the soup, we ordered the Hungarian Appetizer Plate, which was said to come with home smoked sausage, winter salami, korozott (a sort of cheese spread) & liver mousse. All of these fit in perfectly to my unvegan diet. On top of that, I ordered Chicken Paprikash for my main dish.

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3/4/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

Subway

Is there any meat in there? — Is there any meat in that mess?

A few years ago, Subway changed the name of the “Meatball” sub to the “Meatball Marinara.” I’m not sure why this particular change occurred. Maybe it was to placate healthy people who would be more attracted to the word “marinara.” I never felt this was a particularly bad thing, after all, rebranding to increase sales is a huge component of our capitalistic system.

That all changed when I went to the Subway at Pico and La Cienega. I ordered a Meatball Marinara sub on Italian herbs and cheese bread, with provolone and parmesan cheese. It seemed like such a great idea, until I started watching the man behind the counter make my sub.

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3/2/2009 Reviews Palm Desert

The Desert Willow

What the hell is that green stuff? — Why is there green stuff on the top left?

On the beautiful grounds of the Desert Willow golf course, there lies a happy little restaurant with an awesome view. The only thing that gets in the way of the view is the actual golf course.

The menu looked pretty good and I had a hard time choosing, before finally settling on the Turkey, Bacon and Avocado melt. I ordered mine without the “vine ripe tomatoes.” It’s like they couldn’t think of a good way to describe the tomatoes, so they wanted to make the customer feel as if being ripe from the vines would make the tomatoes taste slightly better than terrible.

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2/27/2009 Reviews Rancho Mirage

Piero’s Acqua Pazza (CLOSED)

That steak's got balls...of mashed potatoes. — That steak’s got balls…of mashed potatoes.

It seems that the only three things to do in The Desert are swim, golf and eat. This is by no means a bad thing, as there is no shortage of good restaurants.

With my father and two grandparents, I went to Piero’s Acqua Pazza, an Italian-ish restaurant. I say “-ish” because they offer much more than traditional Italian food. The night I was there, they had a three-course special, which included a starter, main course and dessert. The price was unbeatable because it included the filet mignon, which actually cost more on the regular menu without the other courses. A true meat-loving family, we all wanted the filet. After making that choice, I checked out the starters, which to my behest, only included vegetable dishes. I scoffed at this and decided it was still worth the three-course meal.

There was still one last hoop to jump through, the filet came with a side of mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley.Â

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2/25/2009 Reviews El Segundo

Big Mike’s Philly Steaks & Subs

For a good, wholesome cardiac arrest, few food items offer such good chances as a Philly Cheese Steak. Although I have never had one of these in Philly, and may be ill-equipped to judge, I have put down a few of those sandwiches in my day. The most recent of which came from Big Mike’s Philly Steaks & Subs in El Segundo. Typically any restaurant that has “Big” in it’s name is a hit with me, unless it precedes something stupid like “Head of Lettuce” or “Fungus Lovers.”

Keeping things simple, I ordered a twelve-inch Philly Cheese Steak. The sandwich really should not be called this, as it comes with onions and peppers. I mean really, if you’re going to call it a cheese steak, I’m okay with it, just make sure it’s only cheese and steak.

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2/23/2009 Reviews Las Vegas

The Caravan Cafe (CLOSED)

As the night of the glorious buffet wound down, I incomprehensibly became hungry yet again. Perhaps that was because it was 4 am, or perhaps it was because I’m a fatty. Either way, I got it into my head that I only wanted Hooter’s wings (which were on special after midnight for only 25 cents a wing) or another buffet. Ridiculous as it seems, these were my only culinary desires in my late-night state. Unfortunately, despite my expert debate skills, I was unable to convince my friends to take me or accompany me.

Instead, we ended up back at our hotel, The Sahara, at a sad little 24-hour diner called The Caravan Cafe. While complaining about the lack of buffet/Hooter’s wings and how I refused to eat anything but, I was finally coerced into ordering the chicken strips.

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