maitaitom

Since that other thread grew so long, and some of those restaurants cease to exit, I thought I'd start a new one.

Recently Tracy and I dined (twice) at a great, little Italian neighborhood restaurant in Montrose, Trattoria Allegria. Pasta dishes were all good and the prices very, very reasonable. The chef comes from a 12-year stint at Pasadena's Gale's restaurant, another good choice.

Share your restaurant tales so we can compile a good guide both for locals and visitors.

I hope other places in California and around the U.S. do the same, but it seems the U.S. Board is not frequented so much anymore.

Below is a link with some more about our two evenings there (with photos)

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/trattoria-allegria-montrose-ca/

sf7307

Hmmm, first thing I had to do was find Montrose! I love your lists, and am keeping this handy.

maitaitom

"Hmmm, first thing I had to do was find Montrose! I love your lists, and am keeping this handy."

I didn't want to make it too easy

Hopefully others will try. You can do one for SF...we'll be up in March to see Hamilton.

StuDudley

Our current San Francisco favorites:

- Nico in Presidio Heights. French. Michelin 1 star, but very casual
- Kokkari in the Jackson Square area downtown. Greek
- Thanh Long. Vietnamees in the outer Sunset. We first dined there about 10 years ago on a Fodors GTG. It is usually the first place we visit after a long trip to Europe
- Foreign Cinema in the Mission. Calif cuisine.
- Aster in the Mission. New/creative Calif. Very casual Michelin 1 star
- Cala in the Civic Center area. Mexican - but nowhere close to Tex Mex. Michelin 1 star
- Delfina in the Mission. Italian - but not the North Beach red sauce type.
- The Progress. South Fillmore area. Northern Calif cuisine. Michelin 1 star
- Padrecito in the Cole Valley. Mexican. Goat taco is excellent

We've dined at all of these in the past 4 months.

>>seems the U.S. Board is not frequented so much anymore.

Tabernash2

maitai, have you been to La Bruschetta on Westwood?

http://www.lbwestwood.com

We have been there a few times and really liked it.

maitaitom

Menu looks terrific at La Bruschetta. It's been a long time since I frequented Westwood (back in my younger days). We'll put it on the list. Thanks.

Tabernash2

maitai, we have always had great service and good food/wine there. We've taken friends there who also were impressed with our dinners and the ambiance. Street parking is easy.

maitaitom

I'll be the Poor Man's Stu Dudley and give you my Los Angeles list (only ones I think are really good) from restaurants I've dined at in last two years.

In Santa Monica...Forma...By the way, it has a wheel of cheese, too.
http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/forma-santa-monica-ca/

In Long Beach...Restauration...casual dining...fantastic food
http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/restauration-long-beach-ca/

In Koreatown...Guelaguetza...Historic Mexican restaurant...Mole baby!
http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/22459-2/

In Los Angeles Arts District...Officine Brera...My best restaurant of 2016
http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/22424-2/

In Pasadena...Union...My best restaurant of 2015 that we still frequent
http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/union-pasadena-ca/

In Eagle Rock...Little Beast...get there early for even better deals
http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/18365/

Finally...in Los Angeles...Maccheroni Republic...the freshest pasta we've enjoyed
http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/maccheroni-republic-los-angeles-ca/

sf7307

As I've told you before, we LOVED Maccheroni Republic - the best squid ink pasta I've ever had, and very moderately priced.

Tabernash2

One thing about LA is all the little, ethnic restaurants everywhere. No chain restaurants to speak of. Lots of small places to try.

Last visit we returned to an Orthodox Jewish place for grilled fresh fish, a wonderful place for street tacos, another with good shaved roast beef sandwiches, and a more upscale Mexican restaurant.

sf7307

No chain restaurants? I assume you're referring only to downtown Los Angeles, because chains abound in the outlying areas.
Chilis alone has 21 locations in the LA area, In n Out has 24, Panera has 10, etc.

Tabernash2

Sorry, I don't know exactly how to describe the areas we were in. You're probably right, sf. I understand that just saying "LA" is too broad.

Central LA, maybe? DS lives at the 'miracle mile', and we stayed in Venice Beach. So those were our stomping grounds. I should ask DS, because we drove around a lot, looking for a duplex. Really cute neighborhoods. Some just on the verge of taking off. I'm bad with names and am directionally challenged, so I don't remember. But there weren't any Chili's where we were, unless there's one at The Grove. I know DS doesn't live close to one.

Not downtown. Never been there, but I really want to visit downtown. On precious vacation time, I never can get DH enthused about it, though.

Tabernash2

I collected names of the little places we liked in November, which are simple and good.

Fish Grill (follows Jewish Orthodox schedule)
The original one at
7226 Beverly Blvd
http://m.onlineordersnow.com/fishgrill/

Trejos Tacos
http://observer.com/2016/03/danny-ma...endly-mexican/

Top Round
http://toproundroastbeef.com/the-menu/

Cafe Brasil
(their website didn't work)
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...alifornia.html

More expensive Mexican:
Mercado on 7910 W 3rd
http://www.mercadorestaurant.com

Surfergirl

I live a few blocks from La Bruschetta -- it's been around for quite a few years, so I get that a lot of people like it. But there was always something my husband and I did not like about the restaurant, so after 2 or 3 tries, we just gave up on it. Can't put my finger on it . . . my guess that it didn't match my need for high flavor.

One of my great finds of 2016 was the Little Next Door (which is a few doors down from its parent, the Little Door)on 3rd in WeHo. For those who love traditional French brasserie comfort food (i.e. moules & frites, onion soup) at a very reasonable price. Atmosphere is super as well.

The Six on Pico at Overland has managed to maintain and establish its business about 7 years ago and now has 2 other locations. The owners are young, energetic, and offer up very creative food that seems to get copied a lot by other start up restaurants. Menus change and are fairly seasonal.
http://www.thesixrestaurant.com/story/

I have a few more new finds in ever-changing Culver City, but this is a start.

maitaitom

Little Next Door looks terrific. Thanks!

Tabernash2

It's probably not fine dining per se, but we like to go to Coast, at Shutters on the Beach. It's a great location for sitting on the patio, overlooking the ocean, or inside at the window. Good food and service.

We have gone there with DS & fiancee several times.

maitaitom

We have eaten AT museums or galleries, but never IN one. Relatively new on the L.A. restaurant scene is Manuela, which is located in the Arts District, a mecca for terrific dining establishments. Manuela is actually part of an art gallery, has its own little garden of herbs and citrus plants that also houses some colorful residents that provide fresh eggs. Oh, and the food…well, we loved our dinner so much that we returned a week later for their scrumptious brunch. The accomplished chef, who has delighted customers in NYC and L.A. with his food, is from North Texas, and I would classify his cuisine as Eclectic Southern Contemporary. Whatever you want to call it, his dishes are delicious. The entire concept is a little difficult to explain, but I give it my best shot in the link below.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/manuela-los-angeles-ca/

Jim_Tardio

As someone who likes to eat, I can heartily recommend Post and Beam in an obscure area of LA.

Here is the site:http://postandbeamla.com/

Get the Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Iwan2go

We love Racion in Pasadena, with delicious Basque food. My mouth is watering over her chicken croquettes and salt cod fritters.

We live in the northern San Fernando valley, and hate driving the 405...so usually go to Pasadena or the other way, to Santa Barbara. It seems further away, but actually isn't; we drive through the farmland about an hour and fifteen minutes. Our favorites there are Olio et Limone and its open-all-day Olio Pizzaria (fabulous squid ink calamari). Sad to see The Hungry Cat closed there! Their lobster rolls were amazing. I think the Santa Monica location is still open.

maitaitom

Jim, that looks really good. I put it on my list

Iwan2go, We still have not made it to Racion, even though we live nearby. Thanks for the reminder.