Susina's Bakery & Cafe...a standard in my book

7122 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323)934-7900
Mon-Fri 7AM-11PM
Sat-Sun 8AM-11PM

Took me forever to get this to you. It's been on my to do lists for what seems like forever. In LA, I think there are few people who don't enjoy their occasional sweets even if they happen to be diabetic! That being said, we have some of the best places to treat that sweetness attack. What's great is we have something that caters to whatever your addiction demands weather it be more of a dairy type thing with MILK, or maybe cupcakes are your thing, See's Candies are all over the freaking place or high end confections can be found at places like Boule. The one place that I have consistently told people about when they want something a little more traditional but done well is Susina's bakery on Beverly. They satisfy the bakery need in my life time and time again, not to mention the fact that those I introduce it to, it becomes one of their infectious places to pass onto others.

Let me get the one thing out of the way that's been a bummer lately. Late night hanging at Susina's has become an impossibility unless you get there early. When I went there last we waited around for 20 minutes waiting for a table to open up and no one moved. This can be attributed to the fact that they have free wireless so camping can sometimes be a problem. But this was not the only instance. On another occasion 8 cops were chilling at a table just hanging out. While I love LA's finest I didn't right then. Oddly enough they used to have a sign that they used to have on the tables stating to not camp when people are waiting or something like that but no more. Hopefully they'll see this and bring'em back.

These cases were forbidden to be photographed. I had already popped all these pictures before the counter person told me otherwise.

Therefore, I took one for the team.

While they do serve up excellent cakes, pies, cookies and my favorite mocha in town, my all star favorite item off their menu is their banana cream pie. When I introduce this place to someone I invariably order up one of these if it's available (on occasion it's not there thanks to it's popularity). It's described as a pie with a "thin shortdough crust lined with chocolate; filled with coconut pastry cream, fresh coconut and fresh whipped cream. Topped with toasted coconut." This is without a doubt one of my top 5 desserts in LA hands down and I'm not even a fan of cream pies due to there overkill on whipped cream. This has not too much of anything. In other words, a perfectly balanced dessert. While decadence can be synonymous with dessert, this is light while being rich in flavor. The chocolate lined bottom cupping the always perfectly ripened bananas is heavenly! This is perfect for two people on an after dinner date (if you can find a seat).

As I said, they have classic treats to satiate your sweet pangs. Here's a sampling of their mini tarts that are always a safe bet when you can't decide.

And here's a sampling of their Italian cookies, which of course go famously with their coffee.

I'm glad I was able to get this down in writing in time for the holidays because you can of course get them to make cakes to go and this was one of the first places I fell in love with in LA heavily. Let me tell you one reason why this place holds a special place for me:

One night while me and Celeste were bringing some friends there, we were chatting and the owner, Jenna Turner, chats us up a bit and comes back with some croissants and various goodies for us to take home for free. I was no one and not trying to report on them or anything. She was just being sweet and genuine to patrons.

While some might say that the fact that they gave us something for free persuaded me to be loyal and write such good things it's merely the fact that she took the time to talk to us and ask us what she thought of things. David Myers over at (which by the way is one of the non-plussed places in my book) comes by tables sometimes and can be seen talking to customers and he's a freaking 5 star kind of guy. Personal attention and kindness go a long way in my book but it's not something that you can do at every restaurant and so when it happens it's something to be remembered.

Susina's is about merging memories of bakeries from our youth with the high end living of today while keeping your wallet a little fuller. Thanks for all the years thus far of new memories.

Free refills: no
Price ranges: even better here's the link to the menu.

Milk ... Dessert - Part 1(I'll be back for the full menu)

7290 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323)939-6455
Sun-Thu 6AM-10PM
Fri-Sat 6AM-11PM

"So," I said, "what's all the hype about this new place Milk?" as I continued to see blog after blog saying how incredibly good this new place was. So on our hot and lazy Sunday afternoon, Celeste and I decided it would be the perfect time to visit this creamery of creameries.

We got there and fussed over what to get for a while (on the picture of the menu shown below, the desserts and drinks take up two of the three panels), then got in the line which was pleasantly fast and proceeded to order entirely too much. If there are any actors reading this post that need to put on weight for a part, this is definitely one way to do it!

We started with their Bonbons (the variety changes daily) and had two mint and two coffee. Both were great little morsels of goodness. The one thing I'd caution you on though is that they've packed some concentration of flavor into these things. So if you wanted to try these, but the flavors of the day aren't your thing, save it for another time so you can truly enjoy them. That said, the ones were got were super creamy and I must admit I wanted to grab some more!

Now Celeste, the die hard that she is, got the Cookies & Cream ice cream bar, which she loved. And besides being happy that it was not too rich, this was also the first point at which we could tell how fresh and creamy their ice cream was.

Then of course, this was an awesome surprise... and yes ladies and gentlemen, there were Oreos in the center!

Before she could finish that, they brought out my towering nostalgia, a Rootbeer Float. It was like I was a kid again, except better. Two big scoops of their vanilla ice cream (which they make themselves) sat in a gourmet rootbeer, by the name of Hank's, which I'd never heard of before. Ahhh so lovely.

As scrumptious as all this was, on our way out we looked at the baked goods a little too long...

.... and walked out with 6 of these cookies in a bakery bag. Three were good old chocolate chip. Three were their Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies(consider them the cookie version of a lava cake). The center of the ooey gooey was for the people who crave chocolate with a passion, not for the faint of teeth!

We finished off our Milk filled after noon and evening when we poured ourselves some milk and sat down for a movie with our milk and cookies, and I'd highly recommend you do the same! Summer time is now upon us and I predict with the heat rising this home of traditonal creamed desserts done right will be full to the brim.

Free Drink Refills: Nope but what'd you expect free dessert ;)
Entree Price: For dessert .75 to about $6 (I'll be back with a part 2 to have some of their amazing normal food I've heard such great things about).

**************The Tag addendum*************
I'm supposed to post 7 random facts about myself thanks to Catherine over at The Urban Epicurean. The sad fact of the matter is that I don't have anyone to tag as well. She put it best. Lots of people don't mind receiving but giving out is another story. That said I'll let you knowmy 7 things and you can smile knowing that much more about me.

1) I've been wearing the same pair of sneakers for the past 5 years or so. They're a pair of Kenneth Cole Reaction sneaks I scored at an outlet that refuse to die. If I could I would find the same pair again but they don't make them anymore.

2) I could've died when I was younger when I was on a jungle gym by myself and was hanging upside down and fell flat on my head. I still don't know how long I was out for but when I came too their still wasn't anyone around.

3) I'm about to be out of debt for the first time since I was 17. Credit cards can ruin a life.

4) I can make a coin appear in your closed hand. Honest.

5) I've been to every state in the US except Hawaii.

6) I've seen lightning strike down less than 30 feet from me. Scared the living crap out of me. I was 7.

7) I have a very deep love for horror flicks. What can I say...it appeals to my being scared of people watching me when I'm alone.