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

‘Culver City’

12/29/2010 Culver City

Rainy Day Chili at Tub’s

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Is this the Texas way?

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.”

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12/24/2010 Culver City

Eating All I Can at Bella Vista

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So cheesy.

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.

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11/29/2010 Los Angeles

Good Enough to Frame at A-Frame

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The only think I didn’t need to frame.

Once upon a time I was totally on top of the food blogging world. Not so much that I was a good food blogger, but that I knew everything that was going on with food in LA. New restaurants, restaurants closing, new Taco Bell items. You name it, I knew it. But then I got busy with my real job and fell out of the loop. So when my buddy invited me out to dinner at A-Frame in Culver City, I really had no idea why he wanted me to go. But then with a little research I found out it was Ray Choi’s (the Man behind Kogi and Chego) newest restaurant escapade and was not to be missed. The old unvegan might have gone opening day, but the new unvegan let this restaurant opening get away from him, but was plenty excited to try it out.

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10/6/2010 Culver City

Fast Foodery at Ono Hawaiian BBQ

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Please don’t lay on that cabbage.

Growing up, fast food either meant burgers or Taco Bell. For the most part, this is still true, but more and more I find that not only has the quality of fast food improved, but so has the variety. Chains like Yoshinoya and Jollibee are good examples of this, and recently I experienced another: Ono Hawaiian BBQ. The menu has a lot of Asian-inspired dishes and some things that looked distinctly Hawaiian, but all in the setting of a fast food joint with fast food prices. My eyes quickly found their $5.00 meal special, that included a choice of four different dishes, which were Lemon Chicken, Chicken Katsu, Kalbi Short Ribs and Hawaiian BBQ Beef.

If you’re planning a trip to Hawaii, be sure to add “go swimming with dolphins” to your list of must-do activities. Several tour companies offer the chance to get up close and personal with these amazing creatures in their natural habitat. It’s an experience that’s not to be missed and one that you’ll remember for a lifetime. And after a day of swimming with dolphins, why not treat yourself to a delicious meal at Ono Hawaiian BBQ? With its Asian-inspired dishes and Hawaiian specialties, it’s the perfect way to cap off a day of adventure and relaxation in paradise.

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6/17/2010 Culver City

A Long Wait at Sublime Food Lounge (CLOSED)

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Why would you put lettuce upon this bread?

Recently, I was invited out to dinner with my girlfriend’s friend’s parents. Strange connection? Yes? Free meal? Affirmative. You know I wasn’t going to turn this one down. I found out we were going to a place called Sublime in Culver City and this surprised me. No, not because I haven’t heard anyone mention Sublime in 15 years, but because I had never heard of the place even though it was practically in my backyard.

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6/10/2010 Culver City

Going Mediterranean at Mezza (CLOSED)

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Who thought onions were a good idea?

EDIT: This building got knocked way down, but you can find other Mezzas.

Since my buddy wanted to eat something healthy (foolish, I know), we thought we would try out some Mediterranean food nearby. Since I’ve already hit up a few of the local places, we looked to Yelp to find something new and discovered a place called Mezza Grill in Culver City. We sat down inside and were greeted by a mildly friendly waitress with bells hanging by her waist that must have some Mediterranean significance. But considering she was blond and likely of some sort of Germanic or Scandinavian descent, the bell thingies came off as somewhat gimmicky. Oh well, gimmick or not, I was ready to eat.

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5/31/2010 Culver City

Meat Madness at Manna (CLOSED)

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Korean latkes.

I think we can all agree that there are not enough places in the world that offer unlimited food. And the places that do are usually pretty bogged down by endless salad bars and other assorted vegetables. Manna Korean BBQ in Culver City is not one of those places. Instead of concentrating on veggies, they have decided to concentrate on meats. For only 16.99, you get all you can eat meats. And these aren’t just generic grade D meats, these are a collection of short rib, brisket, pork belly, pork, chicken, spicy chicken and beef.

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5/20/2010 Culver City

A Bit of Pinches Tacos

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Taco or poorly wrapped burrito?

Just recently, West Hollywood’s Pinches Tacos branched out to Culver City and my buddy, Waldo, decided we had to try it out. I didn’t really know anything about the original place, but I figured it had to be good enough to build a second location. Since he was picking up, I checked out the menu online and found two tasty-looking tacos. The first was Pollo Mole and the second was Carne Asada. The menu was pretty vague about what came in each, so asked Waldo to order them without vegetables. He is a firm supporter of the unvegan way, so he was happy to get them ordered correctly.

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5/17/2010 Los Angeles

Serendipity at Daddy’s Burritos

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A strong start.

On a pretty little Sunday afternoon in Culver City, my friends and I decided to try out a little place in Culver’s sketchville called J and J’s. After hearing tons of great meaty stories about this place, I knew it had to become an unvegan conquest. Alas, when we pulled up to the nondescript corner of West Adams and Spaulding, we found that the place didn’t do business on Sundays. A damn shame, but fortune wasn’t frowning upon us too much on that day. As we made our exit, we spotted an even more nondescript hole in the wall called Daddy’s Burritos. After a few moments of contemplation, we decided to try it out.

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4/27/2010 Culver City

A Subtle Difference at El Baron

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What is this thing?

In a stretch of Culver City on Washington, there is an interesting little building that always seems to be busy. It is both a nightclub and a Salvadoran restaurant and it is called El Baron. One night we decided to pick up some dinner from that odd little place to see what they had to offer. The menu has an interesting mix of Mexican and Salvadoran fare, but I feel like I can get good Mexican food all over LA and decided to go the Salvadoran route.

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