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

‘West Hollywood’

8/13/2013 West Hollywood

Mild Thai at Night + Market

Feeling crabby?
Feeling crabby?

Before departing the land of Los Angeles, I had a couple of restaurants to knock off of my to-eat list mixed in with the number of restaurants I had to eat because I knew I would miss them. One from the former category was Night + Market, a Thai restaurant that wasn’t just your ordinary Thai restaurant. With an air of authenticity, I heard Night + Market boasts some spicy food, and while that wouldn’t be in the cards due to some mild white people I was with, I was still eager to see the flavors they had to offer.

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8/1/2013 West Hollywood

Off the Wheels at Rounds Burgers

The burger on the bus goes round and round...
The burger on the bus goes round and round…

Back in January, some family friends were in town and encountered a burger truck called Rounds Burgers. To say they wouldn’t shut up about it would be an understatement, as when I saw them again in June those burgers were still the only thing they wanted to talk about. So, being the good unvegan burger connoisseur I am, I knew I had to check out Rounds before writing up my (almost) definitive list of LA’s top burgers.

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7/19/2013 West Hollywood

Riding the Carney’s Express

Limited, eh?
Limited, eh?

Inside the box car of a train that looks more out of place in West Hollywood than a snowball in hell is Carney’s. While not as old as Pink’s, Carney’s has been around for a while and is unquestionably one of the city’s biggest hot dog landmarks, especially when it comes to chili dogs.

Typically, the biggest crowd forms after the bars let out of the Sunset Strip, but I was looking to check Carney’s off my list before leaving LA and willing to get there even during regular feeding hours. I opted for a big basket of chili cheese fries and a chili cheese dog to go with it.

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4/19/2013 Los Angeles

Little Piggies at Lucifer’s Pizza

Some fiery piggies.
Some fiery piggies.

At first glance, Lucifer’s Pizza seems like a sort of one-trick pony. Their schtick is having multiple heat levels for their sauces, hence the name. They don’t wood-fire their pizza and like most local pizza places claim to have fresh ingredients. Yet, upon visiting Lucifer’s on Melrose for the first time, I found they were more than just a pizza place with spicy sauce.

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3/14/2013 West Hollywood

Fruity Pie at Mercato di Vetro (CLOSED)

Blackberry pizza?!
Blackberry pizza? No, thanks, I prefer the iPhone.

I’m always up for interesting food combinations. Usually this means mixing meats into wonderful protein concoction, but at Mercato di Vetro in West Hollywood, I was introduced to an especially unique mix of foods. But before I settled on my meal, I got myself a nice look at the entire menu. Menu items were purported to be “small plates,” but carried price tags that said otherwise. Even though I wasn’t paying, I shifted my eyes to food that I could expect to actually fill my stomach with.

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4/24/2012 Los Angeles

Burger Aid at Salt’s Cure (RELOCATED)

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Why are there pickles on this plate?

EDIT: This review is of the original. The new Salt’s Cure is apparently bigger and better. We shall see…oh yes…we shall see.

My continued quest for amazing burgers took me to a place called Salt’s Cure in West Hollywood. At this particular intersection, only one of the corners lacks burgers, as the other two are populated by Fatburger and Astro Burger. And while Salt’s Cure isn’t strictly a burger place, a quick look at the high priced menu on the wall when I walked in all but guaranteed I would be eating their burger.

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1/31/2012 West Hollywood

Palihouse Goes All DineLA

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Man salad? My assssss.

Well, it’s that wonderful time of the year again – dineLA’s Restaurant Week. Yes, it’s the time of the year where I spend too much, eat too much, and still feel happy about it. Unless, of course, I’m eating at Katana. This time around, we went with a couple friends to Palihouse in West Hollywood. I’d been to Palihouse once before, late at night when it was trying to be a bar/club. It’s also a hotel. But on this night, it was simply a restaurant to us.

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10/12/2011 Los Angeles

Breaking the Fast at Greenblatt’s

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Damn you, pickle!

After a long day of repenting and fasting, I needed a good Jewish meal to remind my body and mind what eating felt like. Since we were attending a comedy show later that night at The Laugh Factory, we decided to go to an ancient little deli next door called Greenblatt’s. And when I say ancient, I meant it’s been there since 1926. That means when my grandma was living in LA in the late ’40s, it was already old and she remembers its existence. To survive for 85 years anywhere, let a lone a big city where change is the only contant is quite impressive. I was eager to find out what kept Greenblatt’s ticking and to satiate my fully empty stomach.

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9/20/2011 West Hollywood

Sketching Out at Hollywood Pies (RELOCATED)

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Best storefront ever.

EDIT: I haven’t been back since they moved into a real place, but the experience here was so special I’m not sure it’s worth it.

You make a call and show up in a back alley 45 minutes later. When you arrive, your guy comes out carrying about five pounds worth. You hand him your cash, then take your purchase wherever you want and inhale it. If this sounds like a drug deal to you, get your mind out of the gutter. Unless your drug is pizza, in which case you should head to this back alley in West Hollywood immediately. This is the way it works for Hollywood Pies, the sketchiest pizza place in LA you’ve never been to. You may have eaten their pizza, and you may have even picked up their pizza, but you have never been there because there is no “there.”

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7/26/2011 West Hollywood

A Birthday Burger at Comme Ça (CLOSED)

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Well, it is melty…

Ever since I conceived of the notion of a to-eat list, Comme Ça (pronounced comb-eh sah) has resided on that list. The reason is because once upon a time, Jane Sigal of the New York Times called The Comme Ça Burger “perfect.” That is no small claim and no small publication. But how would it fare against my unvegan palette? Would it crumble to the ground and beg for mercy like the Father’s Office Burger or would it leaving me begging for more like Umami Burger? I hoped it would be the latter.

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