The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

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6/6/2012 Los Angeles

Quite Hungary at Maximillian’s (CLOSED)

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Now that’s a schnitzel sandwich.

Since the US is a big mishmash of immigrants, it’s no secret that just about all of our food is “ethnic” in some way. Yet, there are some types of food that aren’t exactly easy to find. Hungarian is one of these and it’s really no surprise, considering that only .5% of the US population is Hungarian American. I’m not part of that .5%, but definitely feel a connection to Hungary through my Hungarian step-mom. So when I learned that there was a Hungarian restaurant called Maximillian’s quite literally a couple blocks from my office, I made my way there at my first opportunity.

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5/25/2012 Los Angeles

Bread on Bread at Panera

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Old faithful.

With a place like Panera, I’m fortunate to not have to give much of a back story. It’s all over the place, and there’s good reason for it. They make some great breads and soups. And they make those other things that often come with breads: sandwiches. When I trekked out to Panera in North Hollywood, it was the sandwiches I was after.

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5/8/2012 Mobile

A Bite of The Ludo Truck (CLOSED)

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We’re just doing the Ludo Shuffle.

EDIT: Looks like real physical location downtown has displaced the truck, so you can still get in on this chicken.

From the casual diner to the most ardent foodie, everyone who enjoys eating out in LA has heard of Chef Ludo Lefebvre and his LudoBites pop-up restaurants that appear from time to time. Yet, while the LudoBites are impossible to get reservations for (and even when you get reservations, you don’t even pick the times), there is a Ludo Truck that roams around town dishing out Chef Ludo’s fried chicken with no reservations (thinly veiled Anthony Bourdain reference) necessary. During a time in which I was eating a lot of fried chicken, the truck came around my office.

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3/14/2012 Los Angeles

Republic of Pie for Pi Day

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Pot pie?

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.

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3/2/2012 Los Angeles

Coley’s and the Gang

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Jamaicapanada?

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.

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2/17/2012 Mobile

Holy Donut Buns at Da Burger Boss (CLOSED)

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Oh my God the bun is on backwards!

Da Burger Boss is part of the newer wave of food trucks and while they aren’t brand new, they’re still plenty new to me. Their schtick is naming burgers after mob terms like The Strongarm, The Collector and so on. It’s an interesting schtick that has produced some interesting-looking combinations, but the sole reason I found myself waiting for Da Boss was to partake in The Patrolman.

You see, The Patrolman is no ordinary burger. Sure, it’s filled with a half-pound patty, bacon and blue cheese dressing, but after that the burger goes in a frightening and exciting direction. First is the cran-apple reduction, which is not crazy on its own, but when you throw in the grilled glazed donut bun, things get goddamn nuts. Yes, I said a grilled glazed donut bun. I was unsure of how any degree of this would be pulled off and figure it was worth the 9 bucks to find out.

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10/31/2011 Mobile

Whining About The Wien (CLOSED)

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Wien me a river.

Hot dogs: the edible version of man’s best friend. Genius in conception and pretty easy to do well. But to do a hot dog great takes some skill and some food trucks have taken this easily portable meal to the streets to some success. Up in North Hollywood, The Wien brought its truck over to my office one day and I thought I should give it a try and see if it could compete.

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8/16/2011 Mobile

Keeping Crunchy at The Nacho Truck (CLOSED)

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Looks classy…

In the grand explosion of gourmet food trucks, tacos have found themselves mixed with all sorts of craziness, from Korean BBQ to fish and grapes to kung pao chicken. Yet, in all this food truck excitement, the bastard cousin/side dish of the taco has been left behind. Yeah, I’m talking ’bout Shaft…err…nachos. But along came The Nacho Truck to remedy this sad predicament. Before this truck arrived at my office, I knew nothing of it, so my expectations were pretty low. Yet, as someone who doesn’t keep nearly enough track of food happenings in LA anymore, it is certainly possible that The Nacho Truck had simply flown/driven under my radar.

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8/1/2011 Mobile

No Veggies at No Tomatoes! (CLOSED)

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No tomatoes in here.

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.

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6/27/2011 Mobile

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls on Tires (CLOSED)

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One if by sea, two if by truck.

When Great Balls on Tires first debuted last year, I was concerned that such a name for a meatball truck was a bit of a gimmick. Yet, now that GBOT has lasted through the middle of this year, I felt it was time I tried them out. When I walked up to the truck to see what they had to offer, I found there were only a few sets of balls to choose from. Yet, more than one of these balls looked attractive to me. Unfortunately, all balls came in sets of two, so I had to limit myself to only one ball type.

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