Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [149]
Homegirl Café (Map; 323-268-9353; 1818 E 1st St, East LA; dishes $2-8; 8am-4pm) ‘Jobs not Jail’ is the motto of this artsy Eastside café run by young at-risk women and serving homemade and healthful Mexi-faves. Great choices include the wicked jalapeño-pesto chicken sandwich, unbelievably complex mole and various vegetarian dishes. Wash it down with delicious spinach-mint lemonade. It’s right on Mariachi Plaza.
La Abeja (off Map; 323-221-0474; 3709 N Figueroa St, Highland Park; mains $3-7.50; 8am-2pm Mon, 8am-4pm Wed-Sat, 8am-3pm Sun; ) The booths are torn, the decor silly and the air-con absent, but the food, oh, the food, is truly some of the best Mexican in town. Brave the drive and inevitable wait to taste their enchilada verde swimming in a tangy green sauce, the juicy machaca (shredded beef) and the spicy carne adobada.
La Serenata de Garibaldi (Map; 323-265-2887; 1842 E 1st St, East LA; breakfast $7.50-9.50, mains lunch $10-16, dinner $12-25; 11:30am-10:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-10:30pm daily; ) In a pretty hacienda near Mariachi Plaza, La Serenata is a good choice for barrio first-timers and one of the few sophisticated sit-down restaurants in East LA. The accent is clearly on fresh fish and seafood, beautifully prepared in umpteen ways and served with cheer. The margaritas, though, need work.
Exposition Park & Leimert Park
Chichen Itza (Map; 213-741-1075; 3655 S Grand Ave; dishes $2-6; 6:30am-8:30pm; ) Part of the Mercado La Paloma, this casual eatery near Exposition Park is the go-to place for excellent and authentic food from Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula. Everything’s delicious but don’t miss brazo de reina, a banana-leaf-steamed tamale stuffed with spinach, ground roasted pumpkin seeds, egg and drenched in tomato sauce. Yum.
Phillip’s Barbecue (Map; 323-292-7613; 4307 Leimert Blvd, Leimert Park Village, South Central; meals $5-12; ) The pork and beef ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender and the sauce smokey at this soulful hole-in-the-wall, and we’re not whistling Dixie. The latter comes with various degrees of heat, so go easy. The 7-Up cake makes for an unusual finish. Cash only.
San Fernando Valley
BUDGET
Bob’s Big Boy (Map; 818-843-9334; 4211 Riverside Dr, Burbank; meals $6-9; 24hr; ) Bob, that cheeky pompadoured kid in red-checkered bib pants, hasn’t aged a lick since serving his first double-decker burger in 1936. This Wayne McAllister–designed Googie-style 1950s coffee shop is the oldest remaining Big Boy’s in America. On Fridays hot-rods crank it up in the parking lot, while car-hop service brings in families and love doves on Saturdays.
Zankou Chicken (off Map; 818-244-2237; 1415 E Colorado St, Glendale; mains $3.70-8.50; 10am-11pm; ) Wake up and smell the garlic after feasting on Zankou’s lip-smacking rotisserie chicken slathered with vampire-repelling sauce. Half a bird costs just $6 and comes with creamy hummus, salad and pita bread. Cash only. Leonardo DiCaprio and Heather Graham are fans.
Dr Hogly Wogly’s Tyler Texas Bar-B-Que (Map; 818-780-6701; 8136 N Sepulveda Blvd, Van Nuys) Serves some of the best Texas-style barbecue this side of Dallas.
MIDRANGE & TOP END
Minibar (Map; 323-882-6965; 3413 Cahuenga Blvd W, Universal City; small plates $6-15; 5:30-10:30pm Sun-Thu, 5:30pm-1am Fri & Sat; ) The stylishly dressed seek out the mod tones and tasty morsels after a hard day in the studio mines – under somewhat disconcerting portraits of wide-eyed waifs. The menu, divided into This, That & The Other sections, offers a global piñata of flavors, from venison mole to salmon-brie strudel to gouda-stuffed yucca bread.
Ca’ del Sole (Map; 818-985-4669; 4100 Cahuenga Blvd, Toluca Lake; mains $13-22; 11am-3pm Mon-Fri, 5-11pm Mon-Sat, 11am-9pm Sun; ) Bordering NBC/Universal’s busy Gate 3, the ‘house of the sun’ keeps Industry powerbrokers happy over tantalizing antipasti, bigoli (Venetian-style seafood spaghetti) and the unfortunately named stinco di maiale