Joe Blowe

I just stumbled across this thread a few days ago, and was intrigued by the suggestion. I had always considered Evan Williams (and some other 1.75 liter bottlings) to be of, hrmmm, questionable quality. Well, I saw the Evan Williams 7 y.o. advertised in the Sunday local RiteAid flyer. Twelve bucks for a jug. Had to go out and pick some up, and you know what? It's purdy damn good! Definitely worth adding to the bar... P.S. It was named as the "Value Whiskey of the Year" by Malt Advocate Magazine.

Well, thank you for that. Very nice of you to say, I'll be sure to pass it along! We'll be going out Saturday night for an early Mother's Day meal, hopefully something new I can post about later. Back to the topic: I gotta say, I always treat JG's reviews with a bit of skepticism, but I view most everything in life with skepticism. (What can I say, I'm grumpy beyond my years.) He is good at digging up places that haven't hit the radar yet (what he's paid to do), but even that role is diminished with boards like this. Like mongo said, his reviews are best suited for those who are too lazy to do their own research, or need someone to guide the way...

ding ding ding!!! spot on.

I'm Joe Blowe, and I do not endorse this diner.

Well, let's see here... -- Skylight Books is at 1818 Vermont, 90027 -- Hop on over to the Dept. of Health website and enter "vermont" and "90027" -- Scroll down the list, and find: MAKO RESTAURANT 1820 N VERMONT AVE LOS ANGELES, CA 90027 http://tinyurl.com/2p6u6 -- Which happens to be next door to: LOS FELIZ THEATRE 1822 N VERMONT AVE LOS ANGELES, CA 90027 You, too, can be a restaurant sleuth.

The L.A. County Dept. of Health website may be of some use to you -- name and zip code searches, reverse directory, etc. Good way to scour an entire neigborhood for spots... "OKI DOG 3" 860 N FAIRFAX AVE LOS ANGELES 90046 02/11/2004 -- 92 "OKI DOGS" 5056 W PICO BLVD LOS ANGELES 90019 07/18/2003 -- 80

I guess I'll offer up the dissenting opinion here. Chick-Fil-A sucks, at least the location in Del Amo Mall (Torrance, CA) does. My last visit, well over a year ago, was just miserable. Microwaved chicken, limp/translucent lettuce, mayo that was questionable. I took the sandwich back and asked for another, but it was only slightly better. However, I'm always willing to give any restaurant multiple chances to make up after a screw-up like that. The next time I'm in Irvine, I'll give it a shot...

I've been meaning to write a seperate review on this place, but this seems as good of a time as any. B&R is a seriously good, home-made, hand-made burger. It's a divey little mom n' pop store, located in a sketchy strip mall. Even though there's an "A" rating hanging in the window, there's a detectable film of greaziness all over everything. I prefer to think of it as a patina. I didn't have the nerve to try the Royal Burger that Cognac keeps touting (multiple protein sources stacked high on a bun), so I went with the standard cheeseburger. It was only the size of a small childs head. Very straight forward, large hand-made patty (nice irregular shape), slab of cheese, toasted bun, lettuce, tomato, mustard, ketchup. About as simple as you can get. Very tasty. Until I get my CCW, I'll only go to B&R during daylight hours...

Careful -- I've heard and read enough negativity about this place that I wouldn't rush right over... Then again, if I found myself in the neighborhood, I might check 'em out and get it over with.

A nice little story about See's in today's (02/11/2004) L.A. Times... http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo...ll=la-home-food (free reg. req.)

Oh, I knew someone was gonna ask me this someday! Unfortunately, the places they eat at are nothing special -- 888, NBC, CBS, AAA, and so on, and so on. Whoever's got a special going on. I'm not going to even mention the $1 joints they get take-out from. Ai-yah. One of the problems (I'm theorizing) with being a traditional Cantonese is the reluctance to go out and eat Chinese from another region. The last time I wanted Islamic, I begged everyone to go to China Islamic. But in the end, I was out-voted and we ended up at Tung Lai Shun, which just isn't as good. To them, though, TLS is a safe place because it's "in that big mall, right next to Sam Woo." You know what I mean? P.S. I'm still working on them to give Sea Harbour a try. I think they think it's too new or somethin'...

From our last visit, my wife and I concluded that Stokes Adobe and Passionfish were the two best dining experiences from our 5-day road trip up north.

I'll post what I've posted elsewhere: According to my Chinese mother-in-law (located at ground zero, Monterey Park), the original chef that was hired at Mission 261 split after only a month after the grand opening. She ate there with friends during the grand opening, and said it was awesome. That right there is high praise indeed. However, she never made it back for a second visit. Her friends soon reported that a new chef was in town. All of them reported that the food at that point was "just average." They're now back to their regular haunts. You can use that info however you want. I haven't been myself, although I wish I did go during that first month.

Wow. Just had a major NYC flashback. Can't tell you how ticked I was when I found out I couldn't shop for booze on a Sunday...

I forgot to mention that they sell two or three different types of egg tarts. Don't ask me what they are... If you do end up at Kee Wah, check out some of their other baked goods. Whenever I end up at a Chinese bakery, I must have a palmier. Kee Wah's is pretty damn good; not the best I've ever had, but maybe the best in M.P. They also make a pretty good pullman loaf, thick or thin slice. Nice and yeasty.

I don't care for egg tarts at all. Can't stand 'em -- I have no explanation why... However, my wife is an egg tart freak. She has sampled them all over L.A., S.F., and N.Y.C. Her all-time favorites are from Kee Wah Bakery in Monterey Park.

My question to you is: When's the last time you were in New York, and did you have an H&H bagel while you were there? The B.H. H&H you described sounds just like a current N.Y.C. H&H bagel...

Yes, I implore all of you to cross Seaworld off your lists. I went two weeks ago for a family birthday dinner, and I was sorely disappointed. I'm guessing that the food is even worse at night -- maybe a different crew, different chef, I don't know. I've had better Chinese at mall food courts! [Please note: There was a massive wedding banquet going on (taking up 2/3 of the place), and I'm sure the staff was very busy just taking care of that nightmare crowd (it just happened to be a rowdy bunch of drunken misfits and so on).] Anyway, all of my Chinese in-laws/extended family were not impressed and will not be going back.

what do you mean by "long gone"? as in that place is so over (past its prime), or as in boarded-up-outta-biz? because i drove by there last week, and it's still open...

Check Usinger's -- I picked that name up from a conversation on another board. Their "Certified Angus Beef Franks" are supposed to be incredible, but I haven't had the chance to order them yet... If there's an Albertson's grocery store close by, check to see if they're carrying Sabrett dogs. Not every store has them but you might be able to special order them, or you might get lucky and convince them to regularly stock them. Good luck.

well, who didn't see that one coming...

It's true. When I lived in NYC, and used to make trips with the wife to NJ malls, I spotted a couple of them. You're right -- it's all pre-packaged stuff...

I used to belong to the See's Marshmint Club (still have my membership card )...

If you're up for Korean, and want to spend around 8 bucks: Sokongdong Tofu 2716 W. Olympic Bl., #104 Los Angeles, CA 90006 213-380-3737 lil' map

extremely short list: for wood-fired bbq, try Soowon Galbi or Soot Bull Jeep. for soon tofu, try Sokongdong Tofu. addresses available at http://lapublichealth.org/rating/.