‘Culver City’
Although I work like literally right next door to the Pitfire Pizza in North Hollywood, I was somehow compelled to pay a visit to the newer Culver City location. The set up of the place is actually pretty cool and somewhat industrial-looking. Orders are taken at a counter that has a nice blackboard behind it showing off the current specials. None of these looked too interesting to me, so I took a look at the regular menu and found something interesting.
Living in Southern California, I haven’t really had any need for places like Baja Fresh. There are just too many good local Mexican places. Yes, I know I have an unhealthy infatuation with Taco Bell, but that is fast food, something that Baja Fresh does its best to avoid being. Nonetheless the Culver City location is right down the street from me so I couldn’t avoid it forever.
I walked in and had a hard time deciding what to order. They had a good amount of choices, but most of them had a fair number vegetables. I did find one burrito, though, that was free of veggie invaders. It was called the Nacho Burrito, and despite the oxymoronic nature of the name, I ordered it.
I’m not totally sure how it happened, but at some point in the last year I heard about a place called Jasmine Market in Culver City. Unfortunately, life happened and it took me until recently to finally get to pay the place a visit. Jasmine Market is unique because it is both a market and a restaurant, but even more interesting than that is that they serve Burmese food. Never heard of a Burmese restaurant? Well neither had I. In general I’ve avoided things related to Burma (Myanmar) for fear that anything I did would seem like I support the military junta there. But you don’t find a Burmese restaurant too often, so I knew I had to try it out.
On a cold, wet afternoon, I was hankering for some lunch when I saw a beacon of hope in Culver City. No, not just any beacon, but a restaurant that was actually called Beacon. This name was just so similar to bacon that I had to try it out. Well, also I had heard some pretty good things about the place. The lunchtime crowd was pretty big, but my girlfriend and I still found a table pretty easily. Beacon was an interesting blend of Asian and American fusion, featuring dishes like “black” edamame (which sounds like an even scarier version than regular edamame) and Miso Braised Short Ribs. By far the most confusing part of the menu was figuring out which dishes were salads and which were sandwiches, since they both fell under the header of “Salads and Sandwiches.”
A long time ago, I was planning to write a review of the then-new Kay ‘n Dave’s in Culver City. At the time, they had a late-night happy hour that was pretty sweet, but before I could write about it, they put the kibosh on it. It left a bad taste in my mouth that prevented me from going to Kay ‘n Dave’s again for a long time, but when I finally went back over the weekend, I was a new man, just looking for a good meal.
JR’s BBQ sits in a little nondescript building at the corner of La Cienega and Fairfax in Culver City. Despite the many many times I’ve driven by there, I still had no idea the place existed until a buddy of mine suggested we check it out. Once I found the place, we went inside and found an old timey place with a bunch of stools set up and a little dining area in the back with mismatched tablecloths, chairs and tables. It was actually pretty cool to be in a place that seemingly cared a lot more about their food than the scene it would be eaten in. We were the only people there, so we took our seats in the dining room and started looking at the menu.
A little birdie named my girlfriend told me Rush Street in Culver City had a swanky brunch, so we went on a grand Sunday morning to experience this middle meal with a friend of hers. Now you might think that Rush Street is named for the street it is on, but you would be wrong, since it lies on Washington Boulevard. Being a smart Midwesterner, though, I quickly realized that this restaurant must be named for Rush Street in Chicago, one of their big roads. I was right, as the owners are from Chicago. The place is supposed to give off a Chicago sort of vibe (but don’t tell my girlfriend that, since she loves Rush Street and somehow hates Chicago). Anyway, back to brunch.
The ladies of Sweet Square in Culver City contacted me recently because they wanted to give me a sampling of their dessert bars. I’m more of an expert on the savory end of the food spectrum, but never one to turn down free food, I obliged and we set up a date for them to hand-deliver them. In the interim, I checked out their site and saw a bunch of sweets that looked pretty good, but the best-looking one of all was their “Makin’ Bacon” Bar. I have made it well-known throughout this blog that I am not one of the proponents of the bacon craze that is sweeping the nation. Let there be no doubt that I love bacon, but I am constantly baffled by the notion that bacon has become the ultimate topping. Nonetheless, bacon in a dessert bar is intriguing, and I looked forward to the moment that meat would hit my taste buds in dessert form.
For the longest time I have avoided stepping into the Panda Express across the parking lot from my local grocer. It’s not so much that I disagree with the existence of Panda Express or think I’m too high and mighty to lower myself to the level of Chinese fast food. No, the real reason is that I just feel like there are some better Chinese restaurants around that serve food just as fast. Nonetheless, every time I would walk by, the strong scent of glazed Asian-ness would be quite enticing. Finally, I gave in to that noxious perfume and took a plunge into Panda Express.
I was especially excited when a BJ’s Brewhouse opened in Culver City. Los Angeles is known as a city short on craft and microbrews, and although BJ’s is a big chain, I hoped it would fill a much-neglected gap in beer and microbrewery food.
To start out the meal I ordered their Harvest Hefeweizen. Hef has never let me down in the past, so I expected it wouldn’t again. I was wrong. This was the sweetest beer that has ever tried to pass for a real beer. Don’t get me wrong, I think a Strongbow Cider or a Leinenkugel’s Berryweiss can be very refreshing on a hot summer day, but those beers are composed of fruit and you know what you’re getting when you order them. Sure, hefeweizen isn’t the most bitter beer, but BJ’s attempt at it tasted like they accidentally spilled a carton of sugar into my beer.