Food – Page 7 – The Unvegan

3/11/2009 Reviews El Segundo

The Original Rinaldi’s Italian Deli

Conveniently located on Main Street in sunny downtown El Segundo is The Original Rinaldi’s Italian Deli. From the outside, you see that Rinaldi’s is a no-frills, old school deli.

Inside it’s no different, with plastic chairs and seemingly foldable tables. The menu on the wall has enough unvegan delicacies to delight even the most casual carnivore. Steak, turkey, bacon, sausage and more adorn the various sandwich descriptions, making it hard to decide the appropriate meat for the moment. As soon as I saw the Fatboy, though, I knew it had to be mine. The ingredients were sausage, beef meatballs, pepperoni, marinara sauce and (provolone) cheese. I ordered the 10″ rather than the mildly girlish 6″.

Delis El Segundo Food Italian Los Angeles Meat Restaurants Sandwiches The Original Rinaldi's Italian Deli

3/6/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

Csardas Hungarian Restaurant (CLOSED)

Paprikash is dish best served without a pretty little pepper — Paprikash is dish best served without a fancy little pepper.

As we walked into Csardas around 7:30, we quickly realized we were the only patrons. It boggled my mind how a restaurant could be empty during peak times and still be in business, so I was a little worried about how the food would be.

Having grown up around Hungarian food, I scrutinized the menu, only to find a lack of cherry soup. I asked our waitress (who had an indistinguishable accent that most certainly was not Hungarian) and she told me they actually had the soup. That was a close call, but they passed the first test. To go with the soup, we ordered the Hungarian Appetizer Plate, which was said to come with home smoked sausage, winter salami, korozott (a sort of cheese spread) & liver mousse. All of these fit in perfectly to my unvegan diet. On top of that, I ordered Chicken Paprikash for my main dish.

Csardas Hungarian Restaurant Food Hollywood Hungarian Los Angeles Magyar Meat Paprikash Restaurants

3/3/2009 Heroes and Villains

Padma Lakshmi: Unvegan Hero

It's just...so...pretty... — It’s just…so…pretty…

As the host of Top Chef and the writer of healthy cookbooks, I originally wrote Padma Lakshmi off as vegetarian health nut. All that changed when I saw the picture to the left. There are few things that make me happier than seeing a beautiful woman taking down such a well-prepared piece of meat.

I also have found out that she will be doing ads for Hardee’s (Carl’s Jr.) Bacon Western Thickburger. It’s enough to make me run out and find the nearest Hardee’s.

Carl's Jr. Food Heroes and Villains Meat Padma Lakshmi Raves

3/2/2009 Reviews Palm Desert

The Desert Willow

What the hell is that green stuff? — Why is there green stuff on the top left?

On the beautiful grounds of the Desert Willow golf course, there lies a happy little restaurant with an awesome view. The only thing that gets in the way of the view is the actual golf course.

The menu looked pretty good and I had a hard time choosing, before finally settling on the Turkey, Bacon and Avocado melt. I ordered mine without the “vine ripe tomatoes.” It’s like they couldn’t think of a good way to describe the tomatoes, so they wanted to make the customer feel as if being ripe from the vines would make the tomatoes taste slightly better than terrible.

American California Food Golf Course Meat Palm Desert Restaurants Sandwiches The Desert Willow Travel

2/27/2009 Reviews Rancho Mirage

Piero’s Acqua Pazza (CLOSED)

That steak's got balls...of mashed potatoes. — That steak’s got balls…of mashed potatoes.

It seems that the only three things to do in The Desert are swim, golf and eat. This is by no means a bad thing, as there is no shortage of good restaurants.

With my father and two grandparents, I went to Piero’s Acqua Pazza, an Italian-ish restaurant. I say “-ish” because they offer much more than traditional Italian food. The night I was there, they had a three-course special, which included a starter, main course and dessert. The price was unbeatable because it included the filet mignon, which actually cost more on the regular menu without the other courses. A true meat-loving family, we all wanted the filet. After making that choice, I checked out the starters, which to my behest, only included vegetable dishes. I scoffed at this and decided it was still worth the three-course meal.

There was still one last hoop to jump through, the filet came with a side of mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley.Â

California Desert Cities Food Italian Meat Piero's Acqua Pazza Rancho Mirage Restaurants Steak Travel

2/25/2009 Reviews El Segundo

Big Mike’s Philly Steaks & Subs

For a good, wholesome cardiac arrest, few food items offer such good chances as a Philly Cheese Steak. Although I have never had one of these in Philly, and may be ill-equipped to judge, I have put down a few of those sandwiches in my day. The most recent of which came from Big Mike’s Philly Steaks & Subs in El Segundo. Typically any restaurant that has “Big” in it’s name is a hit with me, unless it precedes something stupid like “Head of Lettuce” or “Fungus Lovers.”

Keeping things simple, I ordered a twelve-inch Philly Cheese Steak. The sandwich really should not be called this, as it comes with onions and peppers. I mean really, if you’re going to call it a cheese steak, I’m okay with it, just make sure it’s only cheese and steak.

American Big Mike's El Segundo Food Los Angeles Meat Restaurants Sandwiches

2/23/2009 Reviews Las Vegas

The Caravan Cafe (CLOSED)

As the night of the glorious buffet wound down, I incomprehensibly became hungry yet again. Perhaps that was because it was 4 am, or perhaps it was because I’m a fatty. Either way, I got it into my head that I only wanted Hooter’s wings (which were on special after midnight for only 25 cents a wing) or another buffet. Ridiculous as it seems, these were my only culinary desires in my late-night state. Unfortunately, despite my expert debate skills, I was unable to convince my friends to take me or accompany me.

Instead, we ended up back at our hotel, The Sahara, at a sad little 24-hour diner called The Caravan Cafe. While complaining about the lack of buffet/Hooter’s wings and how I refused to eat anything but, I was finally coerced into ordering the chicken strips.

American Casino Food Las Vegas Late-Night Meat Nevada Restaurants Sahara The Caravan Cafe Travel

2/18/2009 Reviews Mobile

Taco Truck at Venice and Centinela

"No onions" got lost in translation... — “No onions” got lost in translation…

When eating at a taco truck, I am typically drunk and there are few demands that have to be met. One of those demands is that my food have no vegetables, the other is that the food is edible. When I recently ventured out to the Taco Truck at Venice and Centinela, I was in for a rude surprise.

I stumbled up to the window to place my order. When I inquired about the ingredients in the chicken quesadilla, I was told that there were no vegetables. Then, I asked about the carne asada taco, which I was told came with onions. I asked the lady for no onions, and to make it offensively clear, I also said, “no cebollas” (cebolla being the spanish word for onion).

Food Food Trucks Late-Night Los Angeles Mar Vista Meat Mexican Mobile Taco Truck

2/17/2009 Reviews El Segundo

The Hummus Factory

Nothing compliments a sandwich quite like fries.

Situated just off the main stretch of downtown El Segundo is The Hummus Factory. The name is really false advertising because it certainly is not a factory and also makes a lot more than just hummus. To be precise, they should have named it The Middle-Eastern Restaurant.

When it came time to order, I chose the Chicken Kabob Sandwich, which I assumed would be like schwarma. The only things that stood in my path to an unvegan lunch were cabbage and pickles, which I made sure to order without. The sandwich also came with salad or fries and I (surprisingly) opted for the fries. To top it off, I got a side of hummus in the expectation that the rest of my food would not quench my unvegan hunger. That proved to be a wise choice.

Food Hummus Hummus Factory Los Angeles Meat Mediterranean Middle-Eastern Restaurants

2/13/2009 Reviews Los Angeles

In-N-Out Burger

unvegan in-n-out — It’s no 4×4, but it’ll do.

California has more than its fair share of things to claim for itself. The state is proud of these things. Some (like skateboarding) for no apparent reason, but others are good reason to give California bragging rights. One of these things is In-N-Out Burger, the fast food that never fails to please.

In-N-Out breaks the rules of the traditional fast food restaurants. Even people who say they don’t eat fast food go to In-N-Out. Their menu is so basic that they need a secret menu to make people happy. The drive-thru lines protrude so far beyond the land that has been zoned to them that they have people walk outside to take orders. So it’s a pretty unique place, but what about the food?

American Burgers Fast Food Food In-N-Out Meat Restaurants West Coast Chains

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