New to LA (Mar Vista)

[ErinB]

As, I've mentioned in other posts I've just moved here for the next two months. I'm living in Mar Vista, and am looking for some suggestions for places in the Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Culver City area.

Takeout suggestions, thai, mexican, indian, chinese etc.

Coffee Shops: best coffee and/or tea selection ... I like my mocha lattes and green tea.

And anything else you can think of. I think i've got grocery stores and farmers markets covered from previous posts.

[hollywood]

26 Beach Cafe, 26 Washington Street, Marina del Rey for the 26 Special--a double cheese burger at $12. A lotta food. With fries or salad.

[hollywood]

Just once you should line up at Tito's Tacos at Sepulveda & Washington Place. Get a couple of tacos with cheese and either red or green (hotter) salsa and something to wash it down with. Dress down. Check the crowd. Then for comparison, go to La Cabana at Lincoln & Rose in Venice and try their food especially the homemade tortillas.

Drive a little further to Yabu on Pico in West LA for Japanese with Green Tea and Green Tea Ice Cream. Head over to Westwood Blvd. for really good Indian at Ambala Dhaba. Recommend the Ludhiana chicken. Pick up some wine at the Wine House on Cotner in the same vicinity.

[hollywood]

For coffee, tea, breakfast or snacks, check the Rose Cafe on Rose Avenue in Venice. Sort of a pleasant throwback to the 70s.

[FoodZealot]

Welcome to the West-siiiiiide, ErinB!

When you say take-out, I'm guessing you mean neighborhood-type places, more for dinner than lunch. hollywood already mentioned some places that also I enjoy a lot , but I'll add a few more:

• Mexican: Guelaguetza (Sepulveda & Palms), Lares (Pico near Stewart), Poquito Mas (Westwood & Olympic), El Tarasco - inexpensive fajitas, burritos, etc (Washington & Pacific), Tortilla Grill (Abbot Kinney & California). BTW, I'm not a fan of Tito's.
  Cuban: Versailles (Venice & Motor), Rincon Criollo (Sepulveda, south of Washington Place)
  Indian: All India Cafe (Bundy & Santa Monica), Nawab (Wilshire & 16th?), Hurry Curry - inexpensive, good naan (Venice & Beethoven)
  Soul food: Aunt Kizzy's Back Porch (mall near Von's, MDR)
  Italian: C&O Trattoria - basic pastas (Washington & Pacific), Bay Cities - deli sandwiches (Lincoln & Broadway)
  pan-Asian: Typhoon (Santa Monica airport)
  Chinese: JR Seafood (Santa Monica & Armacost, West LA), Magic Wok - inexpensive (Washington & Ocean)
  Thai: Bamboo Thai (Wilshire & Barrington), there are several on Lincoln near Washington that all have Siam in their name, all decent
  Pizza: Abbot's (Abbot Kinney & California)
  Coffee: I'm not a big coffee guy, but Joni's Coffee Roasters (Washington & Ocean) has good breakfasts
  Japanese noodles: Mishima (Wilshire & Westgate), Yashima (Olympic & Sawtelle), Asahi Ramen (Sawtelle & La Grange), the food court at Mitsuwa market (Venice & Centinela)
  Brazilian: Cafe Brasil (Venice & Westwood)
  

Good luck!

Edited December 8, 2003 by FoodZealot (log)

[JFLinLA]

You've got lots of good info so far but here's another.

For a good Italian deli, try Sorrento in Culver City -- on the east side of Sepulveda, 2-3 blocks north of the Marina Freeway.

[hollywood]

Find out where the nearest Trader Joe's is and check it out. You'll be glad you did.

[JFLinLA]

Find out where the nearest Trader Joe's is and check it out. You'll be glad you did.

There are 3 Trader Joe's relatively close by -- Westwood/National, Sepulveda/Palms, & Pico just west of Cloverfield.

[mixmaster b]

For coffee, I think Peet's is best. (I am from Berkeley, after all!)

There is one on Main st in Santa Monica and one on Beverly Drive below Wilshire in Beverly Hills.

La Dijonaisse at 8703 Washington Blvd in Culver city has the best croissants that I know of in LA.

[arkestra]

Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to find good coffee (at least of the espresso variety) in L.A. That said, here is one recommendation:

Cafe Balcony -- This is a nice cafe in West L.A., about a block east of the Santa Monica/L.A. border. It's rarely too crowded and, IMHO, has a nice noncorporate "feel." They have pretty good espresso drinks and excellent coffee of the nonespresso variety. (They use vacuum coffee makers -- sometimes known as syphons -- for nonespresso coffee. The coffee tastes great and it's nice to watch them making it.) They also have a decent selection of tea. (The owners are from Taiwan, so they have an appreciation for tea). Here is their website:

Cafe Balcony

[jschyun]

The Coffee Klatch in San Dimas is a little far, but they've won awards for their coffee Article in San Dimas News

--i believe the barrista was something like 19 years old when she won an international competition for her espresso pulling. I'm in a hurry, so you'll have to google for that info.

Edited December 9, 2003 by jschyun (log)

[mongo_jones]

Indian: All India Cafe (Bundy & Santa Monica), Nawab (Wilshire & 16th?), Hurry Curry - inexpensive, good naan (Venice & Beethoven)

i'm going to disagree here. if you're going to go to santa monica in search of indian you should go to chandni, an all-vegetarian place on wilshire at 18th (opposite the thai dishes and next to the house of billiards).

in my cranky opinion, all india cafe is over-rated and nawab is crap. look for indian grocery stores: i think there's a india sweets and spices in mar vista. if they have a deli counter, attack it like a plague of locusts.

there's also empanada's place (spacing the exact location): great selection of empanadas, but cash only.

[ErinB]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. This is why I love Egullet.

I've already found Trader Joes (Sepulveda & Culver City), Whole Foods, and Wild Oats, and investigated the farmers markets.

[DavidJS]

Erin, I personally also moved from NYC to West L.A. 3 months ago in search of coffee/ eatery hangout. I'm not too far from Mar Vista so these areas are a drive away.

Coffee: Erth Caffe -- its trendy so good luck finding parking and seating

Peets Coffee -- Brentwood location

Japanese: Yabu -- W.LA location

Nijiwa grocery -- Sawtelle blvd. (for their bento lunch box)

Korean: Korea Galleria -- for the food court

MidEastern: Sham -- Santa Monica location

Thai: Siam Chan -- W.LA location on Colby ave.

Chan Dara -- W.LA location on Pico

Indian: All India Cafe -- W.LA location for their lunch buffet

French: Provence -- Santa Monica on Wilshire

Food Court: Whole Foods --- Santa monica on Wilshire (lamb sandwich are tasty)

[dfunghi]

I am suprised not one person mentioned the best coffee on the westside. GCW = Gourmet Coffee Wharehouse on Rose just west of Lincoln. If it's coffee and not social you are looking for this is the real deal. They direct import and roast there beans. Also for take out try Tamaras Tamales on Wash accross from Costco.

D