Cheap eats in the LA area
 

DH, DS and a friend leave Thursday morning for the Rose Bowl. They'll be in the area for 5 days staying in Santa Clarita. But they're hoping to roam around and take in as much as they can. DS is quite psyched to try In 'n' Out Burger. Any suggestions for similar "local cuisine" that would appeal to college age guys?

DS is planning to use Yelp to find places wherever they happen to be when they're ready to eat. But suggestions/advice from locals would be much appreciated. Especially regarding cheap ethnic restaurants.

Thanks!

Cheap & ethnic = Titos Tacos
http://www.titostacos.com

A local institution. You either love it or hate it. Personally, I love their beef & bean burritos.


11222 Washington Place
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 391-5780


_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Thanks, Vic! That's exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for!

Vienna Cafe is a joint we like for breakfast or lunch when we're in LA: http://www.viennacafe.com/contact.htm

HTTY

Thanks, HTTY! Will definitely pass that along.

My friend who lives near the Rose Bowl took me to "The Oinkster." http://theoinkster.com/

It's called "slow fast food" and it's kind of fun.

Yelp is a good resource. The food trucks are something else they should try. They can track them via one of the websites like this one
http://www.findlafoodtrucks.com/

Personally I can't stand Titos Tacos. Just warn them that it is grey mystery meat in a greasy fried shell. I'd take any random taco truck anywhere any day.

To each their own.

Fast food chains that are cheap and pretty good:
Wahoo's Fish Tacos www.wahoos.com/locations.php
Rubio's Baja Grill www.rubios.com/
I'm sure there are locations in the Santa Clarita area, and on the way to Pasadena

LA Institutions (but not close to Santa Clarita or Pasadena:
Pink's Hot Dogs www.pinkshollywood.com/
Phillipe's the French Dip www.philippes.com/
Tommy's Burgers (the Original) http://originaltommys.com/

Great info, Kailani, mlgb and Ivk! Thank you so much!

L.A. is so wide and spread out that it's not really a great place to plan ahead or make reservations if you're not sure just where you'll be...the yelp idea when you're in the neighborhood is an excellent one.
Make sure they get over to the Griffith Observatory around sunset and into the evening, lots of great dining in the Los Feliz/Silverlake neighborhood just south of the Observatory. The observatory is closed on Mon this week.

Note that Santa Clarita into LA will be a terrible post-holiday mess of traffic on Monday morning until 10am , and returning between 4:30 and 8pm at night.

Tito's was my first thought, though I haven't been there in years. :-)

Lee Ann

Thanks, Tracy and Lee Ann!

Believe me, Tracy, they're not planning to dine at many places that take reservations! :-D

Two more places we like are Nate 'n Al in Beverly Hills (http://www.natenal.com) and Bossa Nova in West Hollywood (http://www.bossanovafood.com/site/index.cfm)

HTTY

Thanks again, HTTY!

I think overall the prices in restaurants in S CA aren't too bad - even some of the better ones. Some others that are pretty inexpensive are Marie Callendar's, Polly's Pies, Coco's and all the others listed by other posters. Hope they have a great time. What got them to Santa Clarita? Not impossibly far from Pasadena but still quite a ride in traffic.

Hi, Cali. Thanks for the birthday wishes on FB! I'm guessing you got your white Christmas?!

Thanks too for the info here. They wound up in Santa Clarita for a number of reasons, certainly not the least of which was cost. The place they're staying had very good ratings and is very reasonable. They wanted to be out of the thick of things and in an area where they could get to Pasadena without driving through LA.

While I'm on the subject, they've read that there are places you can park and take a shuttle to the Rose Bowl. Do you (or anyone else reading this) know anything about this? Their understanding is that parking at the Rose Bowl is a bit of a nightmare.

Have fun, CAPH52. HTTY

Thanks, HTTY!

If they can access the Metro Gold Line there will be plenty of extra shuttle busses. Apparently the rain has done a number on the Rose Bowl parking it will be a real mess.

http://thesource.metro.net/2010/12/2...ment-of-roses/

The above list parking lots. I don't know if they would be able to also take the train from Santa Clarita.

Thanks, mlgb! I'll pass along that link.

They drove to Pasadena today and got a parking pass for a place along the parade route where they can take a shuttle to the game.

So they are bunking down along the parade route! That will be a New Years they won't soon forget.

Well, not exactly bunking down, mlgb! They just drove over to check out the situation and bought a pass for tomorrow. But they're back at their hotel for the night.

I'm glad they drove over today so they'll know where they're going in the morning. They're planning to get started around 6:00 or so.

Sounds like they had a very nice day today. After Pasadena, they went to Dodger Stadium, went in and checked it out. And then drove along the PCH to Santa Monica and Malibu, having dinner at a seafood shack in or near Malibu.

Meanwhile, I got my CA fix by doing a Veronica Mars marathon on Netflix instant! :-D

Versailles on Venice Blvd. in West LA is very popular, good Cuban food, really large portions and reasonably priced. I have never been impressed with their other locations.

Personally, I can't stand Tito's Tacos. We are very fond of Lares on Pico Blvd. for Mexican food. I think it's in Santa Monica, but it may be just east of the Santa MOnica border in LA. I also love Don Antonio's on Pico Blvd. for Mexican food. If they end up on Hollywood Blvd. there is a place called the Loteria Grill on Hollywood Blvd. a few blocks east of Hollywood and Highland that is excellent.

There's a wonderful chain of bakeries called Porto's, with one each in Burbank and Glendale. Cuban pastries, cakes etc. (No, I'm not Cuban, just like the food).

Coco's and Marie Callenders are chains. They can be OK, but you can do much better in LA.

We love to hang out at the Farmer's Market on Fairfax Blvd. next to the Grove shopping center. It's old time LA, and has a bunch of choices for food. Our favorite there is Pampas Brazilian churrascaria. Excellent grilled meets with lots of side dishes. The food is sold by the pound. Loteria Grill has an outpost there as well.

Thanks, cferrb!

I agree that the Farmers Market next to the Grove in LA is a great place to go. Lots of food places to try there too.

Bookmarking

Fans of Tito's Tacos won't be surprised that their burrito was recently named the best in America. http://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/amer...eshow?slide=36

_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

One of DS's favorite quick stops is Top Round. I've been there and liked it, too.
http://toproundroastbeef.com

And a fish place, I think it's the Fish Grill on Beverly. It's Kosher, closed on Saturdays. I think they have opened another one on West Pico. DH and I have eaten here, too, and liked it. Another place where you order at the counter and they bring it to your table.

I'll ask DS about another little place he took us to on Venice Blvd.

It's Cafe Brasil I was thinking of. I couldn't get their website to work, but it's a fun place. There are other little cafes in that neigfhborhood that are interesting, also.
https://www.zomato.com/los-angeles/c...il-los-angeles

5 year old thread

Cheap Eats are always needed.

I guess Orlando Vic topped it to report about Tito's burrito.

If that is #1 I won't read the rest of the list!

I think there was another thread on local eats. I will try to find it since I have a new find.

Good idea, mlgb. We visit LA often, because DS is there, so we are always on the lookout for good, cheap eats.

mlgb, I saw you posted on the 'eat like a local in LA' thread. Could you also post it here? It's nice to have a thread dedicated to 'cheap eats'. I think that other one has a more expensive slant.