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••••THE HORROR!! IT SEEMS CHARCOAL IS GONE! CLOSED FOR GOOD! SO SAD, THE BEST BURGER IN LOS ANGELES GONE AFTER SUCH A SHORT TIME!!!!!••••

Located at the South East Corner of Sunset and Ivar, with parking in the Arclight parking garage (remember to validate) for some reason I had a much different impression of this place than what it was really like. And with the quality of the food, I am so surprised that there weren’t more people there at 7:30 on a friday night, because the food is damn good, like maybe better than Houston’s good. And the menu is very reminiscent of Houstons. This burger and steak place is well worth checking out. ••• Not only that but right now they have a 1/2 price deal, Monday through Saturday, 3 PM to 6 PM, and it is about half the menu. What a great deal! •••

I course I went for the standard burger, with no cheese, because I am allergic to cheese and I think it covers the taste of meat a bit. And I order it medium rare, and this was as medium rare as can be, obviously cooked on a flame, and absolutely delicious, especially for $8.99! That is a deal, this is one of the best burgers in LA.

My only complaint is the kitchen screwed up out fries so the sweet potato fries were on my plate (blech) and my fries were on Kelly’s place, but that was easily remedied.

Kelly got the $11.99 steak and frites Medium, and it too was excellent. A great price and quite tasty.

For dessert we tries the chocolate lava cake with ice cream, with a hint of raspberry, which was just like a smaller version of the excellent chocolate dessert at French 75, but only $7 and a much more normal sized portion.

The strangest thing is their wine menu, they only have 4 bottles, 2 white and 2 red, and the bottle we got was $32, way out of price for the meal. So wine with dinner is strange. It does look like they have a nice full bar though.

The service was also very good, though it did break down a little at getting the check.

••••

This place is fantastic, with really good prices. Why isn’t this place packed all the time? Is it because it looks too expensive, because it is really reasonably priced. Why not give it a try?

The half price deal has to be because they don’t have enough customers, which I can’t figure out, because this place is totally awesome!

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My dad and I went here for lunch when he was in town off the recommendation of my uncle (something about cute waitresses is what I think he told my dad), and I have to say I am glad we went because the food is actually quite good, and has quite an eclectic menu. They also have some interesting looking drink concoctions, but we stayed away from those as it was lunch time. This is a delicious Montana eatery, just watch for parking enforcement.

I went for a chicken sandwich and a side salad, and it was quite delicious. Good bread, and tasty dressing made this sandwich well worth it. I could have gotten fries as well, but I need to start losing weight for the wedding or I will look like a whale!

•••

I would certainly eat here again, and would like to try both their breakfast and their dinner. Quite good.

(323) 666-2000
Mon-Thurs 5:30 PM-10PM Sun 10A-3PM, 5:30 PM – 10pm, Bar Sun-Wed 5 PM-12am, Thu-Sat 5pm-2AM

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Kelly and I wouldn’t even have known this place if we didn’t go with Tara and Rick. It is a cool looking place, built in the old 1920′s firehouse for the era, with hardwood floors, and craftsman light fixtures, and covered in photos celebrating the old history of Hollywood. Parking is non-existant, so pay for the parking, which is just North of it on Rowena. Their is a cool outside patio with heaters, and a huge bar, which is where the firetruck used to park, and is quite loud. And their is a smoking patio in the back, where the restrooms are. The main entrance is huge, and has a couple of chairs to wait, and check out all the old photos, they are very cool. The food and service was decent, but not great for the price. I have certainly had better, though the atmosphere was nice.

A Photo of the place from 1920.

They have a large menu of mixed drinks, and all start at about $9, which isn’t too inexpensive, but they do make a nice rusty nail.

Kelly and I skipped apetizers, but did try some of Rick and Tara’s. Tara had the crab cakes, which were pretty tasty at $8.50 for 4. And Rick hat the Moule Frite, fresh mussels win white wine tarragon broth with French Fries for $10, which was only OK. I wasn’t too impressed with either muscles or fries actually. And they had never heard of that dish before. Have to have it someplace really good.

For dinner I had the Seared Maine Scallops, with a watercress, frissee, charred haricot vert, roasted peppers and mint soy lime vinaigrette salad, which was honestly better than the scallops, which were only so so.

This place was alright, but not amazing. I would probably go someplace else instead of going here again.

•••

A side note, brought my camera with us and was taking some pictures, and forgot it in my car, and when we came down in the morning, my window was broken, and my camera stolen! FUCKING ASSHOLE! And he knew where the security cameras were, because we can’t catch his face. FUCK!!! Car is in the shop, and has been for 3 days now, and no word in 2. WTF! I have such bad luck!!

Here is the asshole who stole my camera. He has the camera and the stuff he stole from the other car under his shirt. He knew where the cameras were, and he left after he did it, but returned later in the night and threw out the bags on the second floor, so he either has friends here, or lives here! FUCK!!!

PLEASE CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE A FULL SIZE.

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Located in the amazing new food court at the South End of Century City, located next to the new AMC Theater. This is easily the nicest food court I have ever seen. This is an excellent little restaurant, which isn’t cheap, but has some damn tasty salads. I would certainly have a bite here again, and try the normal version of this restaurant which is also located in Century City. They have breakfast, salads, sandwiches, panninis, pastas and entrees as well as soup and flatbread.

My father and I each had the excellent Cobb Salad for $11.95, and both got it with NO BACON. It has lettuce, a ton of avocado, tomato, blue cheese, chopped chicken breast a house vinaigrette dressing, which we supplemented with balsamic vinegar. This is a damn tasty cobb, and quite delicious! I highly recommend it! Yummy!!!!

They have endless drink refills and the service is good. And I loved their ice tea. I will certainly eat here again.

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At the Marriott Hotel near the Burbank Airport, this place is fairly expensive, and has OK food, though actually they have pretty incredible hamburgers. I used to love the Daily Grill, when we used to pick up Nicoise salad’s with rare Ahi Tuna, and it was fantastic. Unfortunately the menu seems to have changed, and everything on it is incredibly expensive. The service is decent, and fast, but the menu is pretty pricey, and there was not too much I wanted on it.

Kelly had specifically wanted not to have a burger, but we both agreed on the hamburgers this time, and I have to say they were pretty good, though they really needed pickles. The Burger is a huge 12 oz angus beef burger, and comes with chedar cheese, 2 onion rings on it, served with tasty as can and a huge thing of cole slaw (which I am never a fan of). The burger was huge and juicy, and actually very very tasty.

To drink I had a lemonade, which was also tasty, though not as good as Paul Newman’s Lemonade.

I was impressed by the burger, but I have to say I am not sure I would return to this place again, especially because it is so pricy.

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I have been reading about this place like crazy, with a huge write up in both Los Angeles Magazine and also FOOD AND WINE magazine, and had been dying to try out this bastion of beer and burgers, which has won tons of award and accolades all over the place. This is one of the hippest places in town, and the line outside, and lack of parking add to that image. The place has a ton of beers on tap, with many obscure beers, as the owner/chef is trying to make beer the new wine. The place is tiny too, and you literally have to wait like a hawk to try and get a seat as soon as people get up, and then sneak in, and then you must order from the bar, and they will bring the food to your (though you get your drinks at the bar).

Now I really wanted to love this place, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed.

The beer was pretty damn good, but the place is beyond packed, and it is loud as can be in there, actually obscuring conversation. The menu is filled with beer, with only a very small section devoted to the food, and of course we all had to try the award winning Office Burger.

The Office Burger is made from Dry Aged Beef, and has caramelized onion, applewood bacon compote, gruyere, matag blue cheese and arugula on it, and it is absolutely huge, and for a bit more you can get fries with it, but instead we got one full order of fries and one order of sweat potato fries, both Al A Carte (literally in a small shopping cart). The fries were fantastic. The burger, not so fantastic. The burger is huge, almost the size of 2 burgers in fact, and it was cooked medium rare like I like it, and it is very, very flavorful, almost too flavorful. And I don’t know which item on it did it, but it is really salty, I mean excessively salty, and the caramelized onions make it very sweet as well, so it has this strange salty sweet to it. And since you can’t get ketchup, or any substitution, this is is how you are going to have it, and it is way too much. Most certainly not the best burger in the world, or the best in LA. In fact I think I could do better on a grill myself, and would rather chose my own toppings than have it be this salty!

The t-shirts for sale say it all, the logo is F.O.., which stands for Father’s Office of FUCK OFF, and to me it stands for FUCK OFF! The place is nuts, and impossible to find a seat, and the food is way too strong, and you can’t get anything but how the chef wants to do it. Kudos to him for having an ego, and pulling this place off, and opening another in Culver City, but I will never be returning here, as I was seriously not impressed!

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These are some of the best Hot Wings in Los Angeles, coming in 4 flavors, up to quite spicy, and the prices aren’t bad either. My only complaint is the service could be better, but what can you do when the wings are this good?

There is parking in the back on Maryland Ave at California, a pulbic lot, so bring quarters for the meters, and then proceed through the back of the restaurant and get a seat.

The place can be pretty packed, and there are only usually 2 waitresses, but the food is worth it.

I always get a large order of wings, which are extra tasty, and while crispy, still juicy and moist on the inside. If you get them hot, you might want to get some extra Ranch and maybe an extra order of veggies, though it does come with dressing and carrots and celery already.

The best part is if you get them spicy, because they are pretty damn spicy, and messy too. i always end up with sauce all over my face, and sometimes it burns my cheecks, but damn if it is not worth it.

These are some of the best wings around, and an absolute must try.

A note: There is another one of these on Melrose, but when I went I was not at all impressed, the wings were smaller and dryer and the service was just as bad, so I would go for the better wings, and the place with easier parking.

Remember to bring floss too, because this stuff always gets stuck between my teeth!

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I had been looking forward to this place, which bills itself as having the LEANEST BURGERS IN AMERICA for a while, since one of the producers I have been working with mentioned it to me. And I have to say I was very disappointed. I was not too impressed at all, though I did like the syrups and formulas you can add to your soda, though they can’t be good for you, and don’t make up for the unimpressive and borring hamburgers and fries this place serves.

I had a 1/2 lb. Black Angus Burger on Wheat Bread which includes leaf lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles and their secret sauce, and an order of their Aero Fries, which are air baked with sea salt, and have only 14g of fat, compared to 22 in their normal fries. You can also serve your own ketchup and mustard, as well mayo, and they also have a garlic ketchup I was quite excited about, but honestly it had too much garlic in it, pretty much killing the taste of the ketchup completely, might as well just be a garlic spread.

The burger was OK, but nothing special. With a name like topz, I was thinking I would get to chose toppings, something like Fuddruckers, but it has nothing of the sort, you just get to put on your ketchup and mistard. And yes the burger was OK, and I guess it was lean, but it didn’t taste that good at all.

The fries, they may have been low fat, but I am sure that is why they were so mediocre. These fries suck. What a waste! And the garlic ketchup was way too much, it overpowered them. I used some on my hamburger, but will stick to normal ketchup thank you.

Kelly, meanwhile got some sort of mini burgers order, which was very weird. They had cut a patty in quarters, and gave her 2 of the quarters, but on a strange bread. This didn’t look so hot.

They also had a Pepsi Soda machine with Dr. Pepper, and a few different syrups you could try and add, and on the wall they had some recipes to try. Personally I added vanilla and cherry to my Dr. Pepper and it was excellent, the best thing there, but with that much sugar it must have been absolutely horrible for me. And I was hoping for a plain soda to mix the syrups with, not already created sodas.

••••

Pretty much this place is a let down. Not very good. If you are going to go for the calories of a burger, why not get a better one than this. And hell most places are. I like Carl’s Junior burgers better than this (though I do know they are not low calorie).

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Right in the heart of downtown Burbank, I have been to this restaurant a few times, and wasn’t too impressed the first few times, but I must say I really enjoyed my meal this last time. This place is medium priced, and has a decent bar and beer selection, and the service is pretty decent. Not a bad chain restaurant.

I had the Blackened Mahi Mahi sandwich on a bun with Cajun Remoulade with garlic fries. The fish was a bit overcooked for my taste, but still the sandwich was quite delicious. And the garlic fries were tasty and had so much garlic on it, that I still had garlic breath this morning.

And for drinks I had a lovely rusty nail, which is whisky, scotch and honey infused whisky, and is quite tasty.

This place is pretty fun for groups, and since it is a bar you can be quite loud. Quite good for large groups, though I wouldn’t go with only 2 people.

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A quite large restaurant in what was obviously a strip mall at the North West corner of Victory Blvd and Clark Ave, this place has some great food, and is well worth checking out. In fact I can guarantee I will be going here again. Not only is this the best Philly Cheese Steak that I have had in Los Angeles, but the Pizza is pretty damn good thin crust New York style pizza. My only complaint is they seem to have forgotten my order, and so it took way too long, but I will give them a second chance.

I had the South Street Combo, for $8.50 which is a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich on a 9″ Italian Roll with American and Provolone cheese and saut