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

‘Beef’

Some Mad Cow at the Mad Bull’s Tavern (CLOSED)

-
This bull actually looks quite content.

While I rarely venture into the valley after work hours, I recently took a trip there after dark for a bit of a birthday celebration. The gathering was at the Mad Bull’s Tavern in Sherman Oaks and although I wasn’t quite in a drinking mood (plus I was the driver and Sherman Oaks is a long way from home), I actually found myself in an eating mood. It was five minutes to 11:00 pm and when I asked for a menu, I was told that most of the food, except for appetizers, would only be available until 11. I had to think fast.

Burned by Burger King

-
This is a well-done burger. And not in a good way.

So apparently it’s been a while since I’ve had Burger King. In fact, since starting my meat blog I hadn’t set foot into a BK until now. Was there a reason for this? No, not really, except for the fact that I feel like LA has such better options for fast food burgers. Yet, with their new Smoky Cheddar Steakhouse XT, I felt like they deserved a visit.

I ordered a combo meal and made sure to order the burger my way. Hey, if any place is going to cater to an unvegan like me, it should be the place that once boasted, “Have it your way.”

Burgering at The Golden State

-
Smothered in cheesiness.

One fateful afternoon at Dodger Stadium, a raging drunk who had been told of my meat blog decided to proclaim their love of burgers at The Golden State. Never having heard of this restaurant, my girlfriend took the opportunity to look it up and plan a dinner there. The place itself is pretty small, with only about 8 or so tables and their menu is also pretty small. There’s only one real burger on it, with an additional turkey burger, veggie burger, sandwiches and hot dogs. Fortunately, the lone burger looked pretty tasty.

Yo Quiero Mucho Mas

-
I’m so plattered.

Surprisingly close to Poquito Mas in North Hollywood, there is a restaurant called Mucho Mas. I’m not sure which came first or if there is some sort of rivalry between these two similarly, yet oppositely named restaurants. Whatever the case, a work lunch took me off to Mucho Mas and I was eager to see if mucho was better than poquito.

By the time I arrived, a good amount of my coworkers were seated at the outdoor patio are and an appetizer platter had already been ordered. Fortunately it was unvegan-friendly. It came with cheese quesadillas, beef flautas, beef taquitos, chips, beans, guacamole and sour cream. It was a delicious way to start out the meal and I could only hope that my main course would be as good.

Keeping it Simple at The Foundry (CLOSED)

-
This stuff comes with the food.

I’ve been meaning to head to The Foundry on Melrose for a while. Not only have I heard good things about the food in general, but I also heard that once upon a time The Foundry challenged Father’s Office to a burger taste test. I’m not sure who ended up winning that particular taste test, but I was happy to know that someone had the balls to challenge the pretentious Father’s Office. Finally, a 30% coupon from Blackboard Eats pushed me over the edge to finally visit The Foundry.

One Flimsy Tortilla at Dos Burritos

-
Uno burrito.

On my way to see In the Heights (I’m cultured!) at LA’s Pantages Theater, I had no time to eat any food. I also had no idea what kind of food even existed on that part of town. The Hollywood Strip is quite the foreign territory for me. After parking at a failed meter (score), I whipped out my Urban Spoon to see what it would show me. After sifting through a couple of dead ends, I found Dos Burritos and walked in to see what it could offer me.

LA’s Best Burger at 26 Beach?

-
Awesome sign.

Recently, a Facebook burger competition (very scientific) crowned 26 Beach in Venice as the best burger in LA. Now you may be asking yourself, “What the hell is 26 Beach?” and you are not alone, because even I had no idea what the place was until contest began. Somehow this unknown burger contender topped my personal favorite, Umami Burger. I couldn’t let this stand, well at least not without trying it myself, so off I went to 26 Beach to see what sort of witchery pushed their burger to the top of the heap.

Spicing My Broth at Asahi Ramen

-
Mix one part curry noodles…

For a little post-tennis victory Japanese treat, I headed to Asahi Ramen in West LA with my vanquished tennis foe to get some…ummm ramen. Now don’t be fooled by the name of the restaurant, as it apparently has nothing to do with delicious Asahi beer. Confused myself, I took the liberty of looking up Asahi on the old interwebs and found that Asahi is the name of about ten different towns and cities in Japan, so for the name to carry over into both beer and ramen isn’t that surprising. Anyway, enough with geography and economics, let’s get to the food.

Drunk Trucking at Tacos El Gallito

-
A truck worth blogging about.

In my experience, most taco trucks aren’t worth blogging about. It’s not that I feel like I am too good for them or that they aren’t interesting, but in most cases I have found that they all taste pretty much the same. This is not true of Tacos El Gallito. I stopped by here one night with no plans to blog, but just hoping to get a decent taco. Instead, I had one of my most legendary LA nights and wound up befriending a couple of their Mexican patrons named Toast and Reuben. I also fell in love with the truck and vowed to return to give them a proper unvegan review.

Going Nuts at Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger (RELOCATED)

-
Go here. Fast.

EDIT: Blimpy Burger has moved due to a rent dispute, but it is reputedly as good as always.

After four years of living in Ann Arbor and countless other trips to the city of my alma mater, I have finally made my way to Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger. Although I always knew of the place while I lived there, I didn’t realize just how big of a deal it was until I saw it on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Since that time, it has been my goal to eat at Blimpy Burger and I can finally cross that place off of my list. But is it any good?

cURL error: Could not resolve host: schema-pro.com