hollywood

Those lava tamps are too cool for school.

Rod Stewart....Martel and hot legs. Oasis....Cigarettes and Alcohol. Squeeze....Sweets from a Stranger and Black Coffee in Bed. R.E.M......bed, sleeping mask, ear plugs, white noise. Jimmy Buffett....Whrrrrrr. The Pogues.....Rum, sodomy and the lash. Donovan....Electrical banana. Spongebob Squarepants....Krabby patty.

Maybe it should have been called Gropenator.

Please provide an extra portion of all the Rossini dishes for Cecilia Bartoli.

Wouldn't that be Blue Oyster Cult?

Jason, though it's not a rose, you might want to check Domaine St. Michelle's Blanc de Noir. Not bad.

Too late for this year, but I had some 99 White Rock Chardonnay last night that I think would play well with most lobster preparations.

La Rosetta in Rome. Not cheap but such good seafood. Cheaper would be Il Drapo for Sardinian.

As far as Downey goes, it was the home of the Carpenters (hopefully there's no local culinary basis for eating disorders there). There's a place on Lakewood Blvd. called Arthur's Restaurant which is supposed to have good food (burgers, I think). But I've not been there---yet. BTW, that's a pretty stiff commute--Downey to MDR.

hollywood, could you be referring to Zabumba, Cafe Brasil, Versailles, and Chandhi? You're good. No, really.

My brain's a little foggy right now, but I seem to recall that there's a string of decent cheap places along Venice Blvd in the Culver City/Mar Vista area including Brazilian, Cuban, Indian, etc. The names are escaping me at the moment.

Sounds like you've been talking to our local Zagat voters. They'd probably tell you P.F. Changs is good for Chinese as well (not). The LA Times (on Wednesdays) has a food section that JFL digests here that also talks about such spots but the Times demographic is more interested in not so cheap places--or maybe it's just related to advertizing? Which neighborhood are you in and which do you work in? Might be easier to go that way. Or, is there some particular type of stuff you are craving?

Is this for an article, or for your own eatification? This month's Los Angeles Magazine has a fair list of Cheap Eats places. Jonathan Gold (and Michelle Huneven) regularly list such places in the LA Weekly (available online). And, of course, Chowhound thrives on such listings--just keep scrolling.

If not a Muscadet, how about a Sancerre? Or perhaps a Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc?

For the best ethnic food (Chinese, Thai, Oaxacan, Mexican and Japanese, etc), you'll need to travel out of the area. In the area, I'd check out Josie for her new American-French and stuff with game, Mori Sushi for aesthetic high end sushi, Chinois on Main for Puck's take on Chinese, Ivy at the Shore because it has a real vacation feel about it, and--though I haven't been--the renowned burgers at Father's Office in the evening.

We ate at the branch at The Grove in LA. The food was big and bland as described, BUT they did go out of their way to treat us and our friends and our respective rowdy toddlers with kid gloves. That--not the food--impressed me.

There was a guy sitting next to me on a flight recently touting something I recall as Tahitian Honey (?) drink. Claimed it cured everything, even his mother's cancer. Probably a multilevel marketing thing.

Loteria also gets a shout out in the cheap eats section of this month's Los Angeles magazine.

Are you confusing Jitlada with the Gritti Palace?

Another good reason to eat bacon.

Years ago when it was first "taking off" I recall an agressive broker trying to get me to buy Noah's. Even then it didn't pencil out.

There's a pretty good chain centered on the East side of town called King Taco. In fact, I had one of their tacos al pastor, one carne asada taco and one carnitas taco along with some Tamarind drink from one branch (Washington and San Pedro)at lunch today.

As for wine bars, you've probably heard of Willi's. There's also a French "chain" called L'ecluse which has nice snacks and lotsa wine. For seafood, I recommend Taira.

The Grove (remember, we used to have lots of orange groves all over this town) is a new commercial development immediately adjacent to the Farmer's Market which took over a lot of FM's parking lot space so it could install Nordstroms, Wood Ranch, FAO Schwartz, Gap, etc. It's the brainchild of Police Commissioner/developer Rick Caruso. Basically, it's the source of lots of gridlock and may eventually squeeze out the FM. Loteria Grill is a Mexican place. Good tacos, frescas, etc.

Loteria Grill!