La Taquiza

La Taquiza
3026 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90007-3711
Phone: (213) 747-4849
Mon-Fri 8:30am-11pm, Sat-Sun 8:30am-12pm

Some of the best mexican food in Los Angeles surround the USC campus, La Tequiza is a neighborhood and USC student favorite.  The food is rich in flavor, unique in taste, and always busy, which is surprising since Chanos one of the best Mexican stands in Los Angeles is across the street.  I would highly recommend getting their burritos and getting them “wet.”  They actually have a very big menu, plenty of seating, but parking sucks because the strip mall is always busy, so bring quarters for the metered parking. 

Vegetarian Burrio Wet! (Wet = Ranchera Sauce, Cheese, I added onions and cilantro)

Blu Jam Cafe

Blu Jam Cafe
7371 Melrose
Los Angeles, CA 90046
323-951-9191
Open Daily 8 AM to 5 PM

If you are looking for a great breakfast in the Hollywood area and don’t want to deal with all of the cheesy scensters and tourist waiting for celebrities, then go to Blu Jam Cafe.  Located in the heart of old school Melrose, Blu Jam Cafe has an excellent healthy and tasty breakfast selection served by a friendly staff.  I would recommend the breakfast sandwich or wraps, really f***in good.

“Wraps On Fire” Scrambled eggs w/ chipotle peppers, black beans, cilantro, tomato, bell pepper, and cheddar, servied with country potatoes.

Best Ice Cream/Yogurt in Los Angeles

Since it is so damn hot, I wanted to give you my favorite places in Los Angeles to have ice cream or frozen yogurt:

1. Ice Cream Plus (Try the Chipmunk)
2. Pinkberry
3. Brentwood Yogurt (Get your Yogurt toppings blended!)
4. Rite Aid (Chocolate Malted Crunch)
5. Diddy Reese (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Cafe Metropol

Café Metropol
923 E. 3rd. Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 613-1537
www.cafemetropol.com

Open Weekdays 8:30am-10pm; Sat 9am-10pm; Sun 9am-2pm

If you work and live around downtown Los Angeles, you are aware that there is an explosion of new restaurants in the neighborhood, unfortunately not all of them are good.  Fortunately, Café Metropol which has been around for many years in the heart of the artist district is great healthy and spacious eatery.  I love to go there for salads, pizza’s and sandwiches, because they are really light and tasty.  My favorite dish at Metropol is there Oven Baked Paprika fries.

 
Oven Baked fries w/ Paprika

Goat Cheese Salad

Dan Tana’s

Dan Tana’s
9017 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Hours 5pm – 1:30am Daily
http://www.dantanasrestaurant.com

Dan Tana’s is an iconic Los Angeles Italian restaurant where the movers and shakers of the city to mingle and feast.  In fact the last couple of years my close friends and I eat every New Years Day a memorable meal where we discuss the happenings of the previous year (aka talk shit).  I recommend this restaurant for small groups, not more than 4 people, because the restaurant is to small and always crowded.  It is great place to go when you are really hungry and want to eat like a king, because the food is very heavy and immediately puts you into a comatose.  If you really want to impress get the far left corner table of the restaurant which my friend and I call the Tom Ford table since we saw him eating there once.  Anyways, here are my favorite dishes:

Garlic Toast

Fried Onions

Chopped Salad no Meat

Fried Ravioli

Manicotti

Cheese Tortellini

Capuccino Ice Cream (Amazing!!)

Don’t Eat Tomatoes!!

Apparently there is Salmonella in our tomatoes and it has affected 17 states, so stop eating tomatoes immediately!!!

Read more here

Tere’s Mexican Grill

5870 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038-3700
Phone: (323) 468-9345
Hours Mon-Sat 9 AM – 9 PM

Tere’s Mexican Grill is the only good mexican restaurant in the Hollywood area, the food is on another planet compared to El Coyote and El Compadre.  All of the tortilla’s, chips, and beans are made fresh there, which clearly enhances the flavor.  They also have a wide variety of vegetarian options and a very good salsa bar.  The only downfall of this place is that it closes at 9 PM(closed Sunday) and they actually take a fairly long time to serve food, but thats because the food is made fresh.  The only reason you would go to another restaurant is for the full bar and maybe a more lively atmosphere.

Vegetarian Nachos

Enchilada Verdes with Rice and Beans

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies in Los Angeles

In my 27 year lifespan I have eaten thousands and thousands of chocolate chip cookies, so I wanted to make a list of my favorite places in LA to get the greatest desert known to humankind.  Here are my top 4!!

1. City Bakery
2. Clementine
3. Diddy Reese
4. Grand Lux Cafe

If you think there is something I missed or something I haven’t tried, let me know, I am always down to have a cookie, chaching33@gmail.com

 

Bond Street LA

Bond Street Sushi

9360 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Phone: (310) 601-2255

Bond Street Sushi sits at the bottom of the newly opened Thompson Hotel in Beverly Hills, the atmosphere is very New York, similar to the original in Greenwich Village New York.  The food is pretty good, service is great, but for a group dining expereince be ready to spend a lot of money.  I recently went for a friends birthday and keep in mind we ordered a lot of food and sake but we each coughed up a few hundred bucks.  Here are some of the dishes I tried:

Dinner table

I dont remember what this was called but it was similar to a Miso Soup with tofu and noodles.

Sun Dried Tomato and Avocado Roll

Hot Chocolate Cake with Ice Cream

Sorry, dont remember what this was but it was an amazing desert!