‘Chili’
In my attempt to consume some of the meatier delights from Jonathan Gold’s 99 Things to Eat Before You Die in LA, I convinced some of my coworkers to join me on a trip to Chili John’s in Burbank. In addition to reading about it on the list, I had heard a lot of other great things about the place, so I was surprised to find it pretty empty for lunch on a Friday. We all found a seat at the horseshoe-shaped counter and began our journey into chili.
EDIT: This Souplantation is no more, but if you’re into salad bars there are plenty others carrying on its name.
As a man who loves all-you-can-eat, I was very excited at the prospect of heading to Souplantation (also known as Sweet Tomatoes in some places). I knew that they had an 80-foot salad bar, which sounded terrible, but I had also been told they had some REAL food. When I walked in, I hadn’t totally comprehended what an 80-foot salad bar would look like, and it bothered me deeply. Tucked in the recesses of this foul bar, I found some pastas that seemed pretty decent. I decided to start with these and took them back to my table for some tasting.
Down the street from my new office in North Hollywood sits a little chili burger stand called Crown Burger. I saw the place from a distance and wanted so badly for this to be a place to fall in love with. I walked five minutes to the place and walked right up to the counter to make my order. The place was run by a group of Asians (likely of the Korean variety), which was surprising since hamburgers aren’t ordinarily associated with people from the east, but I was still excited at the prospect of this burger.
Last week, I brought you an interview with Frysmith, the newest food truck to roll out in LA. Although they were opening Friday, I didn’t think there was any chance I could make it, due to a previous commitment. At the end of a long Friday night, I decided to check Twitter to see if there were any taco trucks to be found. I was pretty sure that Frysmith had already wrapped up, but I was still in need of some mobile foodery. As I checked Twitter, though, I found that Frysmith was still at the Brig in Abbot Kinney, so I rushed over to see if I could make it in time.