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

‘Mac and Cheese’

Blue on Blue at Coral Tree Cafe

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Worth the drive to Encino?

The drive from North Hollywood to Encino on the 101 during a Friday lunch hour is quite possibly the worst 10 mile stretch of road in the nation. Yet, to meet my girlfriend for lunch, I made that drive without seeing nary a Brennan Frasier-shaped caveman. We met at Coral Tree Cafe and after such a terrible drive I was craving some comfort food to counter the traffic blues I was feeling. We walked up to the counter to order and my eyes quickly made contact with their Baked Macaroni and Cheese. It wasn’t what you would consider an ideal food for a 90+ degree day in the Valley, but looked like it would hit the spot.

A Trip for Taste Buds at DMK Burger Bar

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Burger or mac and cheese? Can’t it be both?

Thanks to @waldocent for the guest post. Check out his website here.

The last time I was in Chicago, about three years ago, the only thing on my mind was pizza, pizza, and more pizza. However, on my most recent visit it was all about the beef. Burgers, of course.

I arrived in Chicago from Los Angeles at 7 in the morning after no sleep, because this wasn’t some ordinary red-eye. You see, I had a four hour layover in Las Vegas, where I left the airport, watched the fountain show at the Bellagio, placed $20 on black and WON while slurping down a few cocktails before returning to the airport, only to realize that I forgot to do one of the most essential things: EAT. So upon my arrival to Chicago, I declared to the only person listening – my cousin Jesica – that this wasn’t just a trip for me, but also my taste-buds and, to that, Jesica and many others directed me to a burger joint called DMK Burger Bar.

Not Turning Japanese at Akasha

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Mac and yum

Perched on a corner in downtown Culver City, I have somehow managed to avoid Akasha. “Why?” you ask. Well the answer isn’t so simple. I have no excuse. With a Japanese-sounding name and the knowledge that Akasha wasn’t a sushi place, I should have flocked to Akasha much sooner, but it took a tour of Culver City with my mom to finally come face to face with the place. What I found was truly intriguing. Akasha wasn’t Japanese at all.

Beefing Up at Soul Dog (CLOSED)

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And who is Otis Jackson?

A few months ago, a sign appeared in North Hollywood for a soon-to-open restaurant called Otis Jackson’s Soul Dog. The sign claimed “premium hot dogs & soul fixins” and while I wondered who the hell Otis Jackson was, I figured that this place wasn’t just serving the hot dog meat, but also the souls of the animals in the hot dogs. But, with Vicious Dogs just a 3 minute walk down the street, this was going to have to be a damn good hot dog to compete.

The Over-Peppering of The Capital Grille (CLOSED)

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Just look at all that pepper.

EDIT: This location is gone, but you can find the same over-peppered steak at The Capital Grille elsewhere.

Found in or around malls all around the country, The Capital Grille is a reliable, upscale steakhouse and I’ve never met anyone who isn’t a fan. So the combination of the girlfriend’s parents visiting and an awesome coupon led us to grab some dinner at the aforementioned grille. Despite having a reservation, we still ended up waiting a good 15 minutes for our table, then finally took our seats.

More Soup than Dough at Doughboys

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Yes that is a giant bowl of soup.

On a beautiful morning, I got a call from my buddy who wanted to grab some brunch. He suggested Dougboys over in Mid-City. From what I’ve heard of Doughboys, I expected there to be a huge line, so I wasn’t too into the idea, but we still decided check it out with the intention to go somewhere else if the line was long. Fortunately, we found a manageable line and the fact that there were only two of us made the wait just about 5 minutes.

Lunchtime at Lunch (CLOSED)

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Look at those little toast-bubbles.

The nice thing about having random days off for New Year’s Day because the actual New Year’s falls on a Saturday is that I get to test out some lunch places that aren’t around my office. This is what led me to the creatively named Lunch (which surprisingly also serves dinner) in Culver City. Cue your Abbott and Costello references. Lunch is pretty much what you would expect from your average lunch joint, with soups, salads and sandwiches. But they do toss in some nice twists with sandwich creativity and even offer a make-your-own-sandwich option called Ideal Sandwich.

Brunching at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba

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So many good things in one bowl.

For my second meal in the Windy City, we went to a tapas place called Cafe Ba Ba Reeba. It’s a part of the Lettuce Entertain You group, which despite having a suspect name, runs some pretty swanky restaurants. Although this was a tapas place, it also had a special brunch menu that started at 11 when the place actually opened up. Arriving at opening time, we took our seats in the back, since the outdoor area couldn’t seat such a big group, then took a look at the menu.

Consuming Mojo at Shakey’s Pizza

Just like the olden days.

Shakey’s Pizza and I have a long history, dating all the way back to when I lived in Japan. I discovered Shakey’s in Kyoto and found it to have the best pizza in Japan, at least at that time. They had a modestly priced buffet and although they still served crazy Japanese-style pizza with mayonnaise and corn, they also had good old fashioned pepperoni and cheese. Plus they had delicious fried potatoes and Melon Fanta. Needless to say, every trip to Kyoto came with a stop at Shakey’s. Little did I know at the time that Shakey’s was not just some Japanese anomaly, but had begun in the US. At one point it was a pretty big deal in the US, but now there are more of them in Asia than in the US. Yet, it wasn’t until I moved to LA that I realized I could enjoy the Shakey’s goodness without a plane trip to Asia. Although I knew of Shakey’s in LA for awhile, I finally got the chance to check it out myself and see if it could live up to my memories.

Having a Ball (or Three) at World Fare (CLOSED)

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Quite a claim, World Fare.

So like any good food blogger, I headed to the Silver Lake Jubilee over the weekend. For an event that wasn’t solely for food, it was amazing how all I really heard about the event was that there would be 34 food trucks. I didn’t even know LA had 34 food trucks (not counting the old fashioned kind). This sounded all good and well, but these sort of events seem to attract a butt-load of people and I was a little worried there would be a hassle for parking, getting in and then food. When I got there, though, I found no hassle at all. It was five bucks to get in and right off the bat I was bombarded with foodery. A long row of food trucks lined the center of the jubilee, burning up tons of diesel and serving up some interesting food.

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