The Unvegan

1/3/2011 Reviews West Hollywood

Getting Back to Basix

Ordinarily, I am pretty bothered when a place takes a word as simple as “basics” and turns it into “basix.” This kind of goes against being called “basic” because it has overcomplicated a basic word. So, with these overcomplicated thoughts in my mind, I headed into Basix Cafe in West Hollywood, not knowing if should expect something basic or otherwise. What I found was a nice mid-sized cafe with a nice variety of menu items ranging from pizza and pasta to fried chicken and sandwiches. They also had unvegan unfriendly salads and other such dishes, but there were certainly enough vegetable-free dishes to make me like the menu.

American Basix Cafe Fried Chicken Los Angeles Restaurants West Hollywood

12/30/2010 Reviews Los Angeles

The Wrong Sandwich at Lemonade

Walking into Lemonade in Venice is at first quite frightening. This is because the place is set up sort of like a buffet/cafeteria and while that alone can be frightening to someone, the real frightening part is that the entire first section of the lineup is salads. And while these are more like your creative sweet potato or radish than lettuce and tomatoes, there is certainly a staggering amount of veggies. I quickly looked around to see if they had anything I could eat and found a nice menu that detailed some of the real food that Lemonade had to offer.

Abbot Kinney Beef Lemonade Los Angeles Meat Restaurants Sandwiches Venice

12/29/2010 Reviews Culver City

Rainy Day Chili at Tub’s

Having never spent a significant amount of time in Texas, Texas-style chili remains a mystery to me. However, if I were to imagine chili in Texas, it would pretty much look like Tub’s Fine Chili & Fancy Fixins, which I decided to head to on one of LA’s recent days of rain. For starters, the interior has a whole country-western sort of theme to it, with the workers wearing cowboy hats and cowboy-esque stools that resemble saddles. It’s a bit gimmicky for Southern California, but it kind of feels right for the place. Then there’s the chili, which is a far cry from the Midwestern-style chili I know and love from Chili John’s in Burbank and pretty much the entire state of Michigan. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because as they say, “variety is the spice of life.”

American Bacon Chili Culver City Los Angeles Meat Tub's Chili

12/28/2010 Reviews Los Angeles

Aptly Named Salsa and Beer

The lighting is a little red, but the food is more than a little good.

For a friend’s birthday, we headed out to Salsa and Beer in Lake Balboa to eat some birthday Mexican food. Having never really been to Lake Balboa and having mostly heard sketchy things about that part of town, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Salsa and Beer. Yet, some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had has come from sketchy places, so my expectations were somewhat mixed.

As soon as I walked in, though, I had a feeling this was going to be a great meal. Looking around, I saw happy faces and giant platters of Mexican food. On top of that, my sense of smell was sending me strong messages. Once the rest of our group arrived, I finally got a chance to look at the menu and was floored. First I was floored by the sheer size of the menu. Figuring out what to eat wasn’t going to easy. Once I started looking around, I realized the prices weren’t going to make things any easier, because everything was damn cheap.

Enchiladas Lake Balboa Los Angeles Mexican Restaurants Salsa and Beer Van Nuys

12/27/2010 Rants and Raves

Driving on Meat

One of the biggest complaint that vegan and vegetarian environmentalists have against meat-eating is that eating it causes a huge amount of waste. Well, for those of you who have been avoiding meat for that very reason will soon be able to get back on the meat wagon. Well actually the meat car.

You see, Tyson, the largest meat company in the world, has decided to get into the diesel-making business with a company called Syntroleum. This effort will use meat fats that were just going to be dumped and actually turn them into diesel. The key is that this waste was already going to be created and now has the potential to not be waste at all.

Biodiesel Energy Environment Meat Tyson

12/27/2010 Reviews Los Angeles

Turning Japanese with Blosom Bento

A few more veggies than I bargained for.

In the heart of LA’s Fashion District is a relatively new, yet relatively hidden food court. It is here that you can find a nice variety of foods and kind of escape after eating at one too many taco trucks. The food court itself is outdoors and feels like a world away from the fashion peddlers below. You can find Korean, Mexican and sandwiches up here, but I was pretty much drawn to a Japanese place called Blosom Bento. Sure, they served sushi, but they also had my favorite Japanese dish of all time on their menu: Yaki Soba.

Blosom Bento Downtown LA Fashion District Food Courts Japanese Los Angeles Restaurants

12/24/2010 Reviews Culver City

Eating All I Can at Bella Vista

Once in every generation, a great new idea is unleashed upon the world. The steam engine. The printing press. Penicillin. All-you-can-eat Brazilian pizza. That’s right, that list of great ideas now has company and it comes in the form of Bella Vista, a somewhat new restaurant in Culver City. As if combining the awesomeness of Brazilian food with phenomenon of pizza wasn’t enough, Bella Vista took the combination one step further by offering it rodizio-style, which is basically the Brazilian version of a buffet, but with the added bonus that the food is brought to you, rather than forcing you to do actual work. Oh and all that only costs $12.99.

Brazilian Buffets Culver City Los Angeles Meat Pizza Restaurants

12/23/2010 Reviews Hermosa Beach

Greek Tapas at Mediterraneo

While wandering the Hermosa Pier in search for some sort of food to eat, the girlfriend and I discovered a place called Mediterraneo. It seemed like one of the few places on the pier that would be a better restaurant than a bar, so we decided to check it out. While the name implies Greek food, we were surprised to find that this wasn’t some simple gyro and pita place (although that wouldn’t necessarily have been a bad thing). Instead, we found that they were a tapas place that didn’t limit itself to the Spanish style. In addition to Spanish, there was also a nice Greek influence that could be found in menu items like hummus, beets and feta cheese.

Greek Hermosa Beach Los Angeles Mediterranean Restaurants Spanish Tapas

12/22/2010 Reviews Los Angeles

Ungodly Food at Damon and Pythias (CLOSED)

Greek mythology tells the tale of Damon and Pythias. It is a tale of friendship that has withstood the ages and while I won’t get into the details, calling a restaurant Damon and Pythias is kind of like saying, “you’re gonna be best friends with this place.” It is quite a claim and one that I was ready to test. Located in the heart of Westwood, Damon and Pythias serves mostly sandwiches and salads, but with some more normal entrees and even some hot dogs. The food is priced a little bit high for college students in the area, but for a working man like myself, the prices looked amazing.

American Damon and Pythias Fries Los Angeles Restaurants Sandwiches Steak Westwood

12/21/2010 Heroes and Villains

Sarah Palin: Unvegan Hero

It almost pains me to consider Sarah Palin as a hero of anything, yet for her stance on meat, she is most certainly an Unvegan Hero. Unless you’ve been living in a hole for the past two and a half years, you know that Sarah Palin is an avid hunter and meat eater. We’ve all heard the stories, but it wasn’t until a recent episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska that the world got to see it for themselves.

Heroes and Villains Hunting Meat Sarah Palin Sarah Palin's Alaska

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