I'll have a couple of days in LA on my own (don't want to spend alot of money) and a couple days on a woefully tight expense account (can't spend alot of money). I'd like to get suggestions for interesting , quirky, casual, inexpensive places to eat in West LA/Santa Monica and also Pasadena, other locations if really worth it and easy enough for a New Yorker who hates driving to find. Anything that is a local specialty or favorite--great Mexican food , Asian(any), pizzas, salads and sandwiches. I'm not thinking about places like Pink's or In-N-Out Burger or taco stands--I'd like to be able sit down and relax . Suggestions for breakfast, lunch and dinner welcome.

The Apple Pan in West Pico Blvd. in WLA.

Falafel King on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

California Chicken Cafe on Wilshire Blvd. in SM and on Westwood Blvd. in Westwood/WLA. Not much ambiance.

Lamonica's NY Pizza on Gayley in Westwood/WLA. Also a little short on ambiance, but it's in an interesting area a few blocks from UCLA.

Poquito Mas on Westwood Blvd. near Olympic Blvd. in WLA.

Le Saigon on Santa Monica Blvd. in WLA. Cash only. Tiny space.

Pie 'n Burger on East California in Pasadena. Near Caltech.

Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles on North Lake in Pasadena. Not everyone's taste, but an L.A. original.

Baja Cantina http://www.bajacantinavenice.com/

Tito's Tacos http://www.titostacos.com/
People either love this place or hate it, but it does have a strong cult following. Check out their Tripadvisor reviews: http://tinyurl.com/ylxyktg It is "interesting , quirky, casual, inexpensive" and super cheap. It is located just under a Freeway overpass (405) and is take out only. It has zero ambiance, however the food is good...and cheap. I especially recommend the bean and beef burrito at $3.60 - one of the best you'll ever taste!

Tito's is awful. Greasy fried tacos with grey mystery meat. It's nostalgic for some people but I would never send anyone there.

In West LA you might go to Sawtelle's Japantown, Furaibo is an Izakaya Style not very expensive and has a funky vibe but there are lots of choices in all price ranges.

http://www.japaneserestaurantinfo.com/furaibo4/

If you don't want to wait for average burgers at Apple Pan (although I love the place for authentic diner vibe), I like the buffet lunch at Nizam on Pico, they bring a portion of freshly made tandoori chicken plus naan, and the buffet steam table is fine. Nizam, 10871 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles.

Old School Mexican in Santa Monica...it's been there for ever!

Gilbert's El Indio, 2526 Pico Blvd Santa Monica, cash only.

The latest craze is the Kogi Truck, not sit down but fun if you can track it down

http://kogibbq.com/

Korean food is fantastic here but I'm not sure if there is anything in West LA or Pasadena.

The magic words InNout Burger have not yet been submitted. You may consider eating every meal there.

The OP specifically mentioned no interest in In 'n' Out.

I second mlgb's suggestion of the Kogi Truck, a truly unique-to-L.A. experience, but someone who dislikes driving (as the OP mentioned) would not enjoy the task of finding the daily location.

Thanks, guys.

Yes, we have roving specialty food trucks here in NY, but my limited vacation and work time in LA won't allow me to follow those Twitter alerts all over the area
Also I'm not averse to street food, but I definitely will need some sit down time.

I'm sure there's decent CalMex all over the place (NY is dismal in that area), but suggestions are always good. Anything else that's California-y?
and my geography of the area is not good yet, so to me West LA just means more like "west of downtown" Santa Monica, area north of LAX, etc. Feel free to enlighten me.

2 random places that have come up in my searches--can you weigh in?
Philippe's French Dip (yes, I know it's downtown. Just in case I'm in the area--or doable to/from Pasadena?)
Yujean Kang's in Pasadena?

As far as California type food the word” Inexpensive” makes it hard to give you good places to eat in Pasadena. We have a ton of good restaurants but not inexpensive. Old Town Pasadena (www.oldpasadena.org )and South Lake avenue (www.southlakeavenue.com 0 have many restaurants. What we call inexpensive would be the Souplantion (www.souplantation.com) type places
A lot of people like Mijares ( www.mijaresrestaurant.com ) and Margareta (www.margaritasmexicanfood.com ), El Cholo’s (elcholopasadena.eat24hour.com) in Pasadena for Mexican food.
If you’re going to be working downtown Philippe's French Dip is best for lunch or a very early dinner. Getting to Pasadena from the Westside can take an hour or more depending on traffic.

As far as California type food the word” Inexpensive” makes it hard to give you good places to eat in Pasadena. We have a ton of good restaurants but not inexpensive. Old Town Pasadena (www.oldpasadena.org )and South Lake avenue (www.southlakeavenue.com 0 have many restaurants. What we call inexpensive would be the Souplantion (www.souplantation.com) type places
A lot of people like Mijares ( www.mijaresrestaurant.com ) and Margareta (www.margaritasmexicanfood.com ), El Cholo’s (elcholopasadena.eat24hour.com) in Pasadena for Mexican food.
If you’re going to be working downtown Philippe's French Dip is best for lunch or a very early dinner. Getting to Pasadena from the Westside can take an hour or more depending on traffic.

Just to be clear, Kogi is not just a "roving specialty food truck" but an incredibly unique, delicious and very L.A. fusion of Korean BBQ/South Asian/Mexican. They now have four trucks that hit two or three locations Tuesday-Saturday.

Rubio's -- it's fast food but good and unique to southern Cal. Go for the fish tacos

In West LA -- the Pico/Westwood Blvd. area, where the aforementioned Apple Pan and Nizam are located (within walking distance from my home), we spend most weekends walking the boulevard. Here's the Pico "restaurant row" list:

Gyu Kaku -- ok, a chain now, but super fun, cook your own food on the grill in front of you -- their Gyu Kaku salad with their own dressing is killer. Food tasty and relatively low cal.

Jaipur -- I prefer Jaipur for Nizam (matter of personal taste, I guess, having lived in London so many years my taste for Indian is more like what I'd get there). Owner is a sweetheart!

Bourbon Street Shimp -- Good bar food, like their shrimp with rice and they also make an excellent white fish in a lemon caper sauce. If you need to watch a sporting event, all the better. (Tuesdays the cheapest!)

Westside Tavern -- best signature drinks on the Westside, and a mean cheeseburger. Upscale comfort food with lots of twists. You can just go for drinks and appetizers (the pita and hummus is something special!)or the apple dessert -- oh man, they make it better than I do! www.westsidetavernla.com

La Serenada -- www.laserenataonline.com. I used to hate this place, but it has moved right up on my list over the years as they've updated and upspiced their menu.

Kay n Dave's -- very cheap, very fast and decent (not superb) Mexican. Because of the cost factor, this has a huge family draw. If the weather is decent, ask to dine al fresco -- much better. www.kayndaves.com

Anna's -- historic southern Italian, the kind you remember going to in the '50's with all the kitschy interior. House salad with blue cheese (an italian blue cheese) is filling and delicious, and their pasta carbonara is really, really good. www.annaitalian.com

Wow! Hate to disagree with other posters, but to me Apple Pan is expensive, as is Anna's. Kay n Dave's is mediocre, although the ceviche is good, and Tito's is just plain bad. My 2 cents worth.

A couple of places that I would recommend:
For Mexican -- Lares on Pico Blvd. at the border of Santa Monica and LA. If La Serenata is La Serenata de Garibaldi it has an excellent reputation. There are at least two, one in East LA and one in Santa Monica.
For Italian, Fritto Misto in Santa Monica. It's a few blocks from the promenade. I'm not sure if it's on Broadway or Colorado. Huge portions and decent prices.
Philippe's was the first place that came to mind for a classic LA experience for a decent price.
Versailles on Venice Blvd. in Culver City is excellent for Cuban food. You can easily get out for under $20 for dinner, possibly less than $15 if you just drink water.
If you like salads, downtown Culver City has a nice place called Tender Greens, with a salad plus meat for $10.50. Park under City Hall for free.

You can't go too far out "west of DT Santa Monica" - that'll put you in the ocean. Did you mean EAST of DT Santa Monica? and North of LAX would put you geographically in the Culver City, Westwood, Santa Monica area - but pretty far from Pasadena.

In Westwood, there's Shamshiri for a good Persian food experience:

http://www.shamshiri.com/

There are a number of Persian restaurants on Westwood, but i like Shamshiri the best.

A little further east of the area you have designated is the Farmer's Market at Third and Fairfax:

http://www.farmersmarketla.com/

The variety of food is very broad and lots of good choices for inexpensive food. I tried the Korean place last time (believe there is only one) and the food was quite good for a fast food Korean place.

I'm trying to remember that really great Brazilian churrascaria that's a small chain but prices are reasonable and the meats were terrific! Maybe a local can help me out here.

easytraveler ,yeah, some punctuation might have helped me here
"West of downtown" Santa Monica, area north of LAX--'
MEANING
West of downtown LA, [like] Santa Monica, area north of LAX--and other areas and towns whose names escape me for now.

Pasadena is for another day.

I am a little confused about the areas, but not so much that I'd look for west of Santa Monica

We often go to Al Gelato - on Robertson in Beverly Hills/Fairfax area. It's a great gelato shop with home-style Italian food served in the back. Four of us can eat for about $30.

Here you go.

One of my favorite restaurants in Pasadena:

Azeen's Afghani Restaurant
110 East Union Street

Start with the Aushak or Mantu appetizers $4.90 (both are fantastic)
Then have a delicious beef, chicken or lamb kabob $11.90 ($12.90 for lamb)

http://www.azeensafghanirestaurant.com/azeens.html

nyer: Gotcha!

There are plenty of good restaurants in Greater Los Angeles and Japanese sushi has become all the rage.

I'm certain the locals will give you great suggestions!

"... but to me, the Apple Pan is expensive." Compared to what? Unless you buy a whole pie, there's nothing on the menu costing more than $7.50.

As long as someone has brought up Culver City, I'll add Natalee Thai on West Venice Blvd. near Sony Pictures.

I don't think the churascarrias are inexpensive.

The one in Long Beach (Greenfields) is about $30 for dinner and they are one of the more inexpensive ones.