- Original Tommy's Hamburgers, Beverly at Rampart, LA; beware the wicked jalapenos in the jars at the counter

- Pacific Dining Car, 1310 W. 6th St, LA

- Musso & Frank Grill, 6667 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood

- Pink's Hot Dog Stand, 709 N. La Brea, LA

- Phillipe the Original Restaurant, 1001 N. Alameda Street; the French Dip mecca.

Someone else mentioned the Farmer's Market. Love the place. The french crepe joint mentioned is probably The French Crepe Co.---yum. FMLA, 3rd and Fairfax.

DS's apartment during the years before he was married, was right around the corner from the Overland Cafe, Surfergirl, so I know Overland Avenue well!

And BTW, that is a good addition to this list. We have had some great, and super reasonably priced Saturday/Sunday breakfasts at the Overland Cafe. It has a really great laid back vibe and very good food too!

Another thing to remember when eating like a local in LA, is the KCRW discount card that those of you who live there might know. I just checked it and it says that for Overland Cafe the discount is 15% which is pretty amazing considering how reasonable the prices are!

Pinks is an institution, but plan on waiting for a while for your food. I've never been there, but I understand that the lines can be really long.

@cferrb, you are correct. The lines can be downright numbing, even sometimes at 1 AM on a Monday morning. The chili cheese dog is arguably worth it. And who can pass on going to a venue where legend has it that Orson Welles ate 15 of them in one sitting---at least once?!? The place is steeped in stories of Hollywood royalty stuffing their cake holes with Pink's chili dogs whilst engaging in various celebrity shenanigans...

The Curious Palate at Santa Monica Place. This is the mall at the intersection of the 3rd Street Promenade and Broadway. If you go upstairs to the MarketPlace you will find the Curious Palate. (Don't look in the food court, you have to go to the Market Place). The owner shops at local farmers markets 4-5 times a week, and the fresh produce in their food is delicious. If you are there between 5 p.m. and 7 pm. you will hit happy hour, with wines at 50% off. Dinner for two (we split a salad and a sandwich) and two glasses of wine was about $37.00.

Thanks, cferrb, we are in LA now and will be sure to try it! What an amazing bargain!

To Surfergirl, we just came came back from Smith and Co. DH was bowled over by the beer selections! On your (husband's) recommendation, I had the chicken and spinach. It was yummy, esp the spinach. I am still sad about Houston's though......

We used to love a little spot that ended up on the Food Network. Then, lines around the block. We regulars stopped going, it was insane. The new people who'd found it on tv were appalled at the long lines and gave them really bad reviews for things like long waits and running out of food. Next thing we know they're out of business, geesh loueesh.

My favorite brownies went from 2.25 to 2.95 after I opened my trap about them one too many times. Now if I find something we like, I keep my yap trap shut. Sorry!

Well, tracy, while I understand your trepidation, our little LA food thread here will probably not be picked up by the AP. :)

As DH and I are only here for 3 months, if there is a special place that you would like to share, you could email me at socialworker71 at gmail.com I promise not to (using one of our favorite lines from the original movie Arthur) alert the media.

Jean mentioned my all-time favorite in Century City which I did not want to mention because I don't want to ruin the place. I just thought I'd go ahead and give it a second vote. Go there for lunch or take-out. Fabulous. It's very tiny and parking is hard to come by, so if you can walk, that'd be perfect.

Thanks, elknap! We do more takeout here than when we are at home so we will be sure to try it.

Over the holidays, I ate way too much. Here are recommendations (I'll have better descriptions on my website with photos when I can find the time):

Celestino Ristorante - Pasadena - Great Italian with a special Limoncello Ball dessert I could kill to find the recipe. Killer seafood risotto!

Cafe Bizou - Pasadena - always consistently good food at a reasonable price ($2 corkage is a nice touch, too).

Zugo's Café - Sierra Madre - small, intimate space. Owner is from Rome. Really good meal. Pasta was terrific. Sat at a table next to Laffit Pincay Jr. so we had to jockey for position.

Bistro De La Gare - South Pasadena - We had couple of uneven meals a couple of years, but just returned last weekend. I'm happy to say the service was terrific and the food delicious at this French restaurant. One block from Mission Gold Line stop.

((H))

Jean mentioned my all-time favorite in Century City which I did not want to mention because I don't want to ruin the place

So when you come to NYC please go to Carmine's, Ellen's, Tao, Serendipity, and Joe Allen's, so you won't run into any Ny'ers.

Many thanks to tracy!! :)

@socialworker.

Worry no more -- if you liked Houstons, go over to South Beverly Grill on Beverly Drive, just south of Wilshire where the old Hamburger Hamlet used to be. They are part of the Houston's group and have all of the same food you've been longing for! I had dinner there for the first time just before Christmas, and was there again with my husband this past Friday. Plan to go again this Friday night. Aside from the best fall off the bone ribs in town, their oak-roasted artichokes are so perfect, you will want to run home and google the recipe! The artichokes are on their "special" of the evening, but point in fact is, their daily specials always include the artichokes!

Very reasonably priced, great atmosphere, and if you don't have a reservation, it's a fun 40 minute wait at the bar.

That whole section of South Beverly (in the non-tony part of Beverly Hills) has a ton of up and coming neighborhood haunts, definitely worthy of checking out!

If you're around and want to meet up for ribs this Friday, let me know.

That would be great, Surfergirl! I really want to and I hope that you will ask again! :) That would be so nice for us to meet you and your husband.

Right now, I am experiencing a skin reaction that is a stress-induced response to what we have been going through in the aftermath of my son's very serious car accident. It should clear up within the next week or 10 days. So sometime after that would be wonderful!!

So sorry to hear about your son's accident. So stressful! I hope he is recovering and that things will improve for you very soon.

OK, update to Surfergirl---actually my skin issue seems to be clearing up faster than I feared it might, and is such that I feel fine about going out. If that still works for you for this Friday, what time is good? (If for any reason things have changed in your schedule, just let me know.....) It would be great to meet a Fodorite and to find a Houston's replacement all in the same evening! :)

7 -- 7:30 is generally best for us. Let me know the time that works best for you and the number of people (just you and your husband?) and I'll see if I can get a reservation.

They have valet parking, but close by is also lots of not too expensive public parking lots.

PS Sorry to hear about your son -- hope he's recovering -- my husband went through that in 2006 and UCLA Emergency became his second home.

Great! Anytime is fine with us. The good thing about my husband being a visiting scientist at UCLA is that he has less time pressure than he does back in Boston. At home, b/c of his work demands and never being sure what time he can leave work, we can almost never make plans for a Friday night!

There will just be the 2 of us, should we wear red carnations?

Got reservations for tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. Check your gmail!