Reviews

8/5/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

Down in Mexico With Red O

Rick Bayless is apparently a pretty big deal, and not just because he got his PhD at the University of Michigan. No, he is actually a famous chef who specializes in Mexican food. Now, when I headed off to dinner at Red O, I was entirely unaware of both the existence of man named Rick Bayless and the fact ~~the Red O’s kitchen was run by him~~ that he was Red O’s consulting chef. Clearly this was not going to be an everyday ordinary Mexican meal. The exterior had a design reminiscent of the Bird’s Nest in Beijing. The interior wasn’t too shabby either, but this style came at a price. One of our party was sporting khaki shorts and was nearly denied entry, despite everyone else in the restaurant wearing shorts. This almost knocked the place down a notch to me, but I was willing to forgive if they could deliver some amazing food.

Lamb Los Angeles Meat Melrose Mexican Mid City Red O Restaurants Rick Bayless

8/4/2011 Reviews Chicago

Rocks Your Socks

When striving to live the high life, there is nothing better than a good, honest unvegan meal at a tasty price. In Chicago, and I imagine in all other major metropolitan areas, knowledge of the specials around town allows us to fulfill our unvegan needs without crippling the budget, especially on weeknights.

On Wednesdays, Rocks, a bar with very good burgers and locations in Lincoln Park and Lakeview, has a special of $5.00 burgers and $5.00 24 oz. beers. The latter is a distinction in which I differ a little bit from some other unvegans. When I am eating, my first choice for accompanying beverage is cola and my second choice is water. As I tend to eat really fast, I really don’t like consuming alcohol with my food.

Bar Food Bars Burgers Chicago Hamburgers Illinois Lakeview Lincoln Park Rocks

8/1/2011 Reviews Mobile

No Veggies at No Tomatoes! (CLOSED)

By name and color, No Tomatoes! has the makings of an amazing food truck. The name implies an amazing lack of the vegetable known as the tomato (I don’t care if it’s anatomically a fruit, so is a cucumber and you don’t see anyone calling that a fruit) and the orange coloration that enshrouds the truck makes it look beautiful. Oh and if the name doesn’t give it away, it serves up Indian food. But hidden in this supposed gem of a truck is deception. For there is one dish at No Tomatoes! that actually contains tomatoes: Tikka Masala. So while they were serving up lies with Tikka Masala, I looked to other options.

Food Trucks Indian Los Angeles Meat Mobile No Tomatoes! North Hollywood

7/27/2011 Reviews Chicago

OK Burger at Oak Street Beach Cafe

Veggies on the side means some sad fish tacos.

Once again, here’s a guest blog courtesy of @RGSpiegel.

This week, one of my good friends is on a week-long staycation as she transitions in between jobs. Knowing that I set my own hours, she asked me if I wanted to go to the beach. Given that it was 85 and sunny with a slight breeze, she didn’t have to twist my arm too hard to take some time off from blogging late on a Monday morning.

Burgers Chicago Gold Coast Hamburgers Illinois Oak Street Beach Oak Street Beach Cafe Restaurants

7/26/2011 Reviews West Hollywood

A Birthday Burger at Comme Ça (CLOSED)

Ever since I conceived of the notion of a to-eat list, Comme Ça (pronounced comb-eh sah) has resided on that list. The reason is because once upon a time, Jane Sigal of the New York Times called The Comme Ça Burger “perfect.” That is no small claim and no small publication. But how would it fare against my unvegan palette? Would it crumble to the ground and beg for mercy like the Father’s Office Burger or would it leaving me begging for more like Umami Burger? I hoped it would be the latter.

Burgers Comme Ã‡a Comme Ca French Hamburgers Los Angeles Meat Restaurants West Hollywood

7/25/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

Going Meatless at BLD

Ok, I have a confession to make. Longtime readers know it already, but newcomers may be a little surprised. That confession is that…well I don’t eat meat for every meal. Yes, it’s true. Sometimes, a breakfast of pancakes or a dinner of mac and cheese satiates my appetite just as much as a steak. But most importantly, these meals are devoid of vegetables. After all, unvegan principles are more anti-veggie than pro-meat. One such meatless meal occurred at BLD.

Beverly Hills BLD Breakfast Los Angeles Pancakes Restaurants

7/22/2011 Reviews Culver City

Not Turning Japanese at Akasha

Perched on a corner in downtown Culver City, I have somehow managed to avoid Akasha. “Why?” you ask. Well the answer isn’t so simple. I have no excuse. With a Japanese-sounding name and the knowledge that Akasha wasn’t a sushi place, I should have flocked to Akasha much sooner, but it took a tour of Culver City with my mom to finally come face to face with the place. What I found was truly intriguing. Akasha wasn’t Japanese at all.

Akasha American Culver City Los Angeles Mac and Cheese Macaroni and Cheese Restaurants

7/20/2011 Reviews Los Angeles

The Scoop About The Coop

If you saw a pizza place on a corner in LA called The Coop, would you think it was pronounced like scoop without the s or more like co-op? I’m leaning towards co-op, and it probably has something to do with the medical marijuana dispensary, Kind for Cures (KFC), across the street. Besides, what is a coop anyway? Pronunciations aside, I knew The Coop had pizza, and supposedly it was pretty good, so while my buddy and I’s ladies were eating something vegetable-like, we ordered some Coop.

Italian Los Angeles Meat Palms Pepperoni Pizza The Coop

7/19/2011 Reviews Chicago

It’s Not Digiorno, It’s Sarpino’s Food delivery

This guest blog comes courtesy of @RGSpiegel. He blogs sports too.

Perhaps one of the most uniquely puzzling marketing campaigns of the last year has been that of Domino’s Pizza. In extolling the virtues of their “new recipe” pizza and remarking on how much it has improved, Domino’s is tacitly admitting that their old pizza was not, for lack of better words, particularly good. Given that we were marketed to relentlessly by Domino’s back when their pizza was “not particularly good,” why should we give our valuable pizza dollars to them now? Even with their new recipe, Domino’s is only marginally better than upper tier oven pizzas. The answer, though, lies in their prices. Their special of three medium pizzas for $5.99 each is unmatched, right? Not so fast.

Chicago Delivery Illinois Italian Pepperoni Pizza Sarpino's Pizzeria Sausages

7/15/2011 Reviews Beverly Hills

Scaring Vampires at The Stinking Rose

This is the story of when I ran away and joined the garlic circus.

With the ever-growing popularity of vampires in silly stories like Twilight and edgy television like True Blood, it seems that something important to our very human survival has fallen by the wayside. That is garlic, the fabric of our lives…errr…the thing that vampires hate. For some reason. One place you’ll never see a vampire hanging out at is The Stinking Rose, a restaurant in Beverly Hills. The reason is that apparently “stinking rose” is another term for garlic. I disagree with calling it stinking because I like the smell of garlic, as long as it hasn’t yet been eaten, but perhaps pungent rose was already taken.

Beef Beverly Hills Chili Garlic Los Angeles Meat Restaurants The Stinking Rose

The Unvegan

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