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

‘Events’

Burgers, Bourbon + Beer 2016

Flaming up good.
Flaming up good.

There was a time when Diners, Drive-ins and Dives was pretty much the best food-related alliteration. Then came Los Angeles Magazine’s Burgers, Bourbon + Beer, laying out some of the best consumable things in the world. The event took place in Santa Monica at The Victorian and showcased a number of bite-sized burgers (no, not sliders), a few bourbons and beers from Golden Road. Oh, and there was ice cream, chocolate and music as well. But you’re at Unvegan.com, which means everything took a back stage to the burgers. Better yet, this was a competition, so instead of just mass-producing burgers, these were all cooked to perfection. Not even I could eat all of them, but I did my damnedest.

Going Global at Plan Check

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Fries of the world.

A couple of weeks ago, The Backyard Bite invited me to The Burger Culture Clash, sponsored by Stussy (which apparently still exists) and Plan Check. Plan Check, by the way, is a sort of new (since February) restaurant in West LA with Chef Ernesto Uchimura of Umami Burger fame. As my love of burgers, especially those of the umami variety, I jumped at the opportunity.

Although I arrived alone, I was not the only lone eater. Just next to where I was seated, I met e*star LA and we decided to share a meal called loneliness, because it’s better than eating alone. We made quick friends over our respective blogs and Midwestern roots, then got to work at dissecting the special menu, which Plan Check will be featuring for the next month if anything tickles your fancy.

It’s a Bacon Bash

Guest blog courtesy of Joel Danto and Bacon.

If your mouth isn't watering, you may be dead.
If your mouth isn’t watering, you may be dead.

December 4th was a very momentous day. You may be wondering, just as my people do during Passover, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” Well, friendos, prepare to be shocked and possibly appalled, as I have done something completely reprehensible. I…ate…bacon. And I didn’t just eat bacon, I threw a BACON BASH — complete with a six course menu. Yes, if it existed, I would probably be going to Jewish Hell, which likely consists of strapping me to a chair and making me watch Joan Rivers television shows on repeat with a bagel, cream cheese and lox slightly out of reach. Hopefully this is a Hell that few will ever have to experience.

Korean BBQ Festival and Cook-Off

The lines were long, but not endless.
The lines were long, but not endless.

On Saturday, my friends and I headed down to Koreatown for the Korean BBQ Festival and Cook-Off. Korean BBQ is known to be heavy in meat, so I felt this would be a great opportunity to tackle my daily meat intake.

The festival ran from 12:00-5:00 and although we arrived around 1:00, the lines were already getting pretty long. I wasn’t too surprised by the long lines since the event was free, plus $10 per plate.

Assuming the longest lines had the best food, I jumped into one of the lines without

Tubs of meat roll by.
Tubs of meat roll by.

even knowing what it was.

Celebrate National Hot Dog Day!

hot-dogIt seems as though our great nation cannot agree upon a date to celebrate National Hot Dog Day. I’ve seen websites claiming it falls on any day between 19th and 23rd of July, but there is certainly one thing we can agree on: July is truly the month for hot dogs. It starts with Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th, and continues throughout the month with strings of backyard barbecues, baseball games and the sheer enjoyment of that magical tube meat. So before the month ends, be sure to get your share of hot dogs, you’ll be happy you did.

Free Meat Alert: White Castle

I don't know if it's a real slider, but it's free.
I don't know if it's a real slider, but it's free.

Click on that picture to the left to get a free Pulled Pork Slider coupon from White Castle. The coupon is good through June 30th and looks pretty damn good.

I have a hard time believing you can make a real slider out of pulled pork, but since White Castle burgers are true sliders, maybe they are on to something…

*Update: It looks like they are also offering free regular sliders through July 12th. Check out the coupon here. Thanks to AHT for the info.

(via Gizmodo)

LA BBQ Festival

LC's had the longest line for some reason...
LC's had the longest line for some reason...

On Sunday, I made my way to the Santa Monica Pier to take part in the unvegan bbq fest 3

unvegan bbq fest 10At $10 a plate, this was not a festival to attend alone. Instead, my friends and I divided up the place to get a few plates and sample each other’s. First, we checked out Southside Market and BBQ from Elgin, unvegan bbq fest 2Texas. They were offering sausage and brisket (combined) sandwiches with no side dish. Despite the fact that the plate came with onions, this place was truly built for unvegans. The sausage was incredible, but the brisket was nothing special. It felt as if the brisket was just kind of forced in order to make the plate worth the $10, because there was no way to tackle two of those sausages.