Dining Reviews
Dining Review: No food barrier at Old Village
A svelte brunette croons "Besame Mucho" to the small crowd, her smooth voice accompanied by a computer-driven soundtrack. The song runs seamlessly into the next, a dreamy Russian folk tune. She doesn't mind that no one applauds. She's creating atmosphere.
Dining Review: Peacha's makes for a rockin' hole in the wall
Whiplash is one of the hazards of my job. I take unfamiliar streets when I drive around town with the express purpose of discovering new restaurants. Peacha's, a tiny place on south Victory near Alameda in Burbank, made me do a hard double-take, almost hitting the car in front of me. Luckily, I...
Dining Out: Ara's Tacos a place to build your own bowl
When the younger generation of the Zankou Chicken family dynasty decided to open a Mexican eatery, there were naysayers. I was not one of them. I was excited at the prospect of Armenian-Mexican fusion fare. Just look what Kogi BBQ did for Korean and Mexican cuisines.
Study: Hookah no safer than cigarettes, just differently dangerous
Cigarette smoking may have earned a reputation as an unhealthy, cancer-causing pastime, but water pipes seem to have largely evaded the stigma. Now, new research shows that water pipes may simply be dangerous in slightly different ways, according to a study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and...
Jonesing for a great cup of coffee
Some mornings just go better than others. This one started off badly. In my enthusiastic search for a midcentury chair, I got to the Huntington Collection thrift store an hour early. I noticed a sign on a warehouse across a desolate parking lot reading "Now Brewing." Figuring it was a new...
Dining Review: Four Café's spring menu satisfies
Four Café in Eagle Rock feels a little like walking into a pal's kitchen. (OK, if your pal had a glass dessert case and a cash register right by the kitchen door.) The vibe is friendly and relaxed and the locavore food is worth lingering over.
Dining Review: Skaf's is a great way to eat, socialize
A few years ago I wrote a review of Skaf's Lebanese Cuisine on Chevy Chase Drive in Glendale. At the time, I spoke effusively of the succulent chicken shwarma and gushed over the addictive cabbage salad. When the Skaf family, specifically sons Daniel and Christopher, decided to extend their reach,...
Beer Notes: An old-timey feel on tap in Glendale
As the L.A. area's beer scene continues to grow, the Glendale Tap makes a compelling argument that Glendale could be its ground zero. After all, the Glendale Tap is just a short drive to two of that city's most respected breweries.
La Cañada Flintridge Farmer's Market is for suburban foodies
Farmer's markets are not just for farmers anymore. Many of them, such as the weekly La Cañada Flintridge Farmer's Market, play host to purveyors of...
Mambo's Café marries food and music
A quick show of hands here: How many SoCal cities have a resident Cuban restaurant? Not many, eh? Well, Glendale stands tall in this regard. Mambo’s Café, at the corner of Victory Boulevard and Western Avenue, serves lunch and dinner, with live music two nights a week. Even the...
Dining Out: It's all about the meat at Cordon's Smokehouse & Grill
The folks at Cordon's Smokehouse & Grill are smoking purists. Their barbecue philosophy is not about sticky sauces or high-heat grill marks. It's about high-quality meats and fish smoked slowly over hard wood, seasoned by the best blend of rub spices. The meat this technique renders meanders...
Son of Zankou Chicken founder opening Ara's Tacos
A member of the family that created Zankou Chicken is staking his name — actually his brother's — on his ability to replicate the success of the rotisserie chicken chain with a new Mexican restaurant called Ara's Tacos.
Dining Out: Immersed in another world at Casa Cordoba in Montrose
Crossing the threshold at Casa Cordoba in Montrose is like crossing eight time zones. You land smack dab in southern Spain. A bubbling fountain in a Spanish courtyard lures you in. Strains of classical guitar draw you deeper inside where custom-built tiled tables and Moorish lanterns stand among...
Dining Out: Two pieces of bread put together with flair
Pity the late John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, whose snack during a card game gave name to the English culinary craze that followed. No, he didn't invent putting a filling between two pieces of bread. That had been done since ancient times. But you have to wonder whether any time someone...
Glendale has lots of options for Valentine's Day dates
So your sweetheart wants to go out on the town for Valentine's Day? Dinner can be pricey and reservations hard to get. How about cocktails, small bites and entertainment till the wee hours of the morning? Can this be found in Glendale? Absolutely. Here's a guide to the burgeoning Glendale night life...
Pulling the curtain back at Golden Road Brewery
Situated in a former Southern Pacific Railroad switching station in Atwater Village, the 18-month old Golden Road Brewery has been aggressively expanding both the distribution of its beers in Southern California markets and the capacity of its production facility.
Dining Review: Monarch of Mexican pastries
La Monarca bakery has opened a corner shop in South Pasadena. The location, a sunny corner by the Metro train track and a metal sculpture that looks like the figure on Walk/Don't Walk signs, sits alongside the tracks and cries out for customers to linger over Mexican hot chocolate and pastries.
Dining Out: Porta Via is a real palate pleaser
Porta Via. Is it Italian for “by way of the door”? Or is it the verb/adverb combo “to carry out”? Either way, you'll want to take everything home from the Italian food emporium bearing this moniker.
Dining Review: No need for beef at Green Earth Vegan Cuisine
So how are those New Year's resolutions going? Are you getting to work a little earlier? Hitting the gym more than once a month? Writing that novel? Eating more healthily? Maybe trying out a vegetarian diet?
Pasadena Cheeseburger Week runs through Friday
Get out the ketchup and mustard — and the pickles and onions, too.
Dining out: The lowdown on Bittersweet Treats
My mother preferred cooking gourmet main dishes to baking sweets. She'd much rather make a stuffed pork roll than an iced cinnamon roll. But every once in a while I'd come home from school to the aroma of spice cake or poppy seed bread. Rarely frosted, these treats were simple and satisfying.
Dining review: Galleria's colorful eatery is pho fun
Everything about 9021Pho, Glendale Galleria's newest restaurant, is lively and uplifting. Walls of windows let in light, retro-modern decor is steeped in the colors of mango and raspberry sorbet, and plates of colorful, farm-fresh foods all serve to energize weary mall shoppers. But don't feel...
Dining review: Grain Lab stands out from the chain crowd
Squeezed on all sides by chain shops and eateries in Burbank's Empire Center, Grain Lab is an independent island. The small eatery, which opened last month, has the minimal look of a hip chain, with a slightly industrial-meets-organic laboratory feel with brushed concrete floors and white walls.
Dining out: Fishing for the best taco
If someone were to ask me what food I'd eat for the rest of my life if I could only eat one food, it would have to be fish tacos. I crave them at all hours of the day. So I embarked on a quest to find the best one in a 15-mile radius. I went to old haunts, new finds and friends' recommendations.
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