Largo...an evening out with the Section Quartet doing Radiohead

432 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323)852-1073
Weekdays 8PM till late close
Weekends 8:30PM till late close

I expanded my reaches this weekend. I'm in a play over at the Open Fist Theatre on Santa Monica. I play every weekend there till Mid-November, but I did have to miss last Saturday night due to a previous engagement which was to go out and catch the Section Quartet at Largo who was performing Ok Computer in honor of the 10 year anniversary of the release.


This is the Section Quartet when I caught them at the Troubadour doing Paranoid Android

The show was amazing and I'm thankful for the complete package of good food and a great show. Rarely does Largo let you down in the food department, mainly because they have a pretty limited selection of dinner entrees and so they keep things pretty consistent. The following pics were taken creatively as no flash photography is allowed in Largo. How'd I do it? 3 saucers boucing light from the small votive candle on the table. Not too shabby, but please ignore the "warm" hue.

Celeste had the Penne ALLA Vodka with salmon and chopped asparagus. She always gets pasta there and loves it...last time I think it was bow-ties with sausage. Their penne was al dente, lightly dressed with their creamy Vokda sauce, bearing the essense of tomatoes sauteed with garlic and small pieces of salmon and tender asparagus thoughout. It got a resounding yum from both of us.

One of my personal favorites is their Honey Chicken which consists of a lighly breaded chicken cutlet with their honey sauce drizzled on it with sides of creamy mashed potatoes and a spinach salad. This is by far my safest bet when I can't decide on what to eat. As many people as I've taken here, they've always loved this plate. The meat is pretty good size piece that doesn't die from the breading and balances perfectly with the honey sauce, and the potatoes aren't too heavy yet they're suffiecient for a hungry appettite. Love this meal!

Largo is an amazing place featuring some of LA's best talent like Jon Brion or the Watkins Family Hour, both which feature many of their high profile friends that just pop in to play on stage with them. It's an amazing date place and as long as you pay attention to when people appear on their website calendar (make reservations for sure) you will guaranteed have a memorable evening. I know I always do!



Free Refills: Considering it's a bar would you be surprised that there are no free refills...I'm not.
Entree Price Ranges: Entrees are $16-17 (remember there's a cover too which varies depending on the band...but happily every cent of it goes to the artist)

Lala's Argentine Grill...party of 20 please.

7229 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323)934-6838
Sun-Thu 11AM-11PM
Sat-Sun 11AM-12AM

It's odd... when summertime comes around, I find myself compelled to buy more clothes and spend more than I'm actually worth. Maybe it's seeing all the beautiful people we have in LA and going wow... I need to dress better. Not that I'm a slouch, but I just feel the need to step up my apparel. This will often bring me (and of course my lovely wife) over to Melrose which is where the "I'm not rich but I want to dress like I am" people go to. Melrose has great shopping and some great spots for food such as my pick today, Lala's Argentine Grill.

Located at the La Brea end of the trendy Melrose bazarre, this corner establishment has been blessing me and my friends for years now. Let me back up and say that is because off and on for the past couple of years I've gone there with sometimes 20+ people for lunch on Sunday and they have never had any qualms about it (they have a great size outside patio area that is perfect). This is a super rarity in LA...heck maybe even in the US.

Argentinean food is wonderful for people who are bashful about trying new foods, and yet want to get their feet wet. It has familiar enough plates, but the twist of the Argentinean spices makes it a refreshing change of pace from the standard Central American or Carribean flavors we've grown accustomed to here in the States(or at least in SoCal). What many people don't know is that Argentine cuisine is more heavily influenced by European countries than the surrounding flavors of South American countries, which really brings in a whole new concept of how food can be done. You taste and see a great deal of French and Italian in their dishes with an emphasis on meat.

If you haven't been introduced to chimichurri sauce here it is. The four big flavors consist of garlic, olive oil, parsley and red pepper(though it's generally not spicy). It is absolutely addicting. Now, I know I've said this before, but the tendency when you're really hungry is to put this stuff on the bread that they bring out and keep on doing that until your food has shown up. This unfortunately has the nasty side effect of ruining your meal by stuffing yourself on bread and chimichurri sauce. I kid you not, you have to consciously make an effort to not do it. But, it doesn't stop there, because it's perfect on almost any meat or chicken they serve. I feel like they should just leave me a vat of this stuff so I can put it on everything. For the adventurous, or for those wanting to see what it's typically made of, here's a link to peruse the typlical contents.

We grabbed one of their beef empanadas, as we always get at LEAST one. You may recall when I wrote about Empanadas Place a while back and the extreme love I have for the pastry meat pockets. This is no different. A fine example of ground beef, olives, egg whites and savory spices in a light dough pocket. Not too spice heavy, but it's good that way as it doesn't hinder the true flavor of the meat interacting with the olive .

While I could go on and on about the many meat plates that they have, I'll be brief. Their chorizo rocks, their chicken is tender and quite juicy, but their beef especially kicks butt. Shown below is their milanesa plate, my standard when I can't decide out of all their goodness what to get. Think of a spanish version of chicken fried steak in appearance, but make it a thinner steak and not as breaded. The meat even peers through the breading sometimes cause it's so light. The breading, with it's egg, parsley and flour, makes this a standout simple plate. Add to effect the fresh pico de gallo and it's a no brainer. Hence why I get it when my brain is fighting about what to get.

The also do a particularly good job on the few seafood based entrees they have. I believe the popular phase to describe their fish is "grilled to perfection". The salmon specifically is a favorite of Celeste's, never dry and always flavorful. And, though you can't fully see it in the picture, the fillet of salmon spans the entire length of the oblong plate they served this salad on. Again, a very simple.... grilled salmon covered with a creamy mustard sauce served over greens, tomato and red onion with their light as air house dressing... but balanced with each detail just right.

The beauty about this place is it's simplicity and attention to those simplicities. I congratulate them on their second location that opened in Studio City. While you shop and decide whether you really want to go to Pinkberry, just go here and fill up on a huge hunk of beef. There's nothing like it on a Sunday afternoon, especially if you want 15 to 20 of your closest friends to break bread with you.

Free Drink Refills: Yes
Entree Price Range: $8 to $17

Pizza Week on What's To Eat LA: Damiano's Mr. Pizza

412 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323)658-7611
Daily 11am-6am

This week is all about pizza. Hope I don't lose any fans in the process.


Pizza. There's so much you can say about a bread crust covered in sauce and cheese. It's simple like a taco and yet very complex with how subtle things must be for it to be anything special. I've had lots of pizza in LA, and for what it's worth, I'm not trying to declare what you should or shouldn't like when it comes to pizza. My feelings on this particular subject are that it's all how we grew up. Some people will swear by Papa John's or Little Caesars or Pizza Hut. Some people define Pizzeria Mozza as the quintessential best in Los Angeles while some still have a special home in their hearts for California Pizza Kitchen (I shudder just writing that).

Damiano's Mr. Pizza on Fairfax in the thick of the Fairfax District holds a special place in my heart for more than one reason. Let me start by saying that according to Yelp, and a few choice others, that by me saying that, I will have made some enemies. I'm not going to argue and call the Yelpers liars or anything but I just have to disagree from my own experience in eating out...often.

Let me first remark on some of the obvious qwirks of Damiano's. If you decide to eat inside be aware that they haven't had the lights on in there for what seems like possibly a decade if they ever had them on at all. So if you plan on eating in, realize that you probably only want the first table closest to the door if it's night time and possibly the 3rd table in if you're eating in the daytime. The beer selection is extensive and I do mean 40+ different types extensive(some pricier, some cheaper). The wait staff changes a lot. This apparently according to Yelpers is something to complain about. It's pizza. You don't really have to have a degree to know the toppings on the pizza, the sizes you carry, the beverages and scribbling ability for the cook. That being said, every time I've gone has been great. I'm not going to define great by being the most amazing experience, but it's been consistently good, and no drama at all from the wait staff. I don't look anything special to naked eye, so it's not like they respected me more than anyone else. In fact, I look rather forgettable in a crowd of middle class 20 something Angelenos. One last thing before I get onto the actual pizza, they deliver... and deliver LATE (they close at 6 AM!) if need be! Not to mention, when I asked what there radius was they said wherever. There is a charge for getting that pizza wherever so always ask how much extra for delivery to Glendale ;)

Their pizza, in my mind(from growing up in the Bronx and Connecticut), tastes very similar to NY pizza. How do they do it? I don't know. BUT, there is one thing that all the NY pizza I ever had that was different... certain spices. Hard to put my finger on it but I know it's missing that one key element. If I may, let me go off on a tangent. What's the deal with it being like, "Ahhh...now that's a NY style pizza" or can you believe this Chicago-style deep-dish dough. Like those are what define amazing pizza. Pizza is good if you like it. Plain and simple. In my mind it's the whole wine mentality. Drink what tastes good to you not what someone tells you tastes good or by how expensive it is. The cheese is very well cheesy haha. Not a cheese soup and the dough is almost crunchy thin crust but inside it's fluffy.

(Does this look dried out and gross as according to some Yelpers?)

As mentioned before they do deliver ultra late and there's always a delivery charge. Now here is where I will possibly talk a little down. I've heard horror stories from lots of different places with pizza delivery. Sometimes you get a sucky driver who doesn't deliver your pizza. In such an instance when you don't trust the driver, pay with cash. If the pizza comes super late don't pay for it. Or if you're really evil and don't care about ordering from them again don't open your door. It sucks but business is business. You shouldn't have to pay for something you don't want or that didn't come to you in a timely manner. Bottomline is that if you're pissed off with a delivery then call the place of business and complain. Some people just let themselves be victims and never stand up for themselves and then piss and moan about it on a forum. That's not right. I say all this cause people have complained about having bad delivery stories from Damiano's (via Yelp). If we were to see all the times Pizza Hut screwed up a delivery they would be out of business from all the bad press. You just expect it to happen sometimes. What can you do?

Do I like Damiano's? Yup sure do (so does Pat at Eating LA who writes for Variety). It's a huge (big freaking NY style slices), tasty, cheesy pizza pie that reminds me of living in New York (notice I said it reminds ME) and they've consistently given me a great pizza pie that's hard to beat for the things that are on my intangible taste list for pizza. Oh and not everyone on Yelp says they've had a bad experience...some people would take a bullet for Damiano's and some even say it's the best pizza they've had in LA. But what do they know ;)

As a very odd PS., many people love to come here at one in the morning when they've been out drinking...a lot (particularly after a show at Largo). Something about being buzzed and good pizza.

Free Drink Refills: On normal soda yes on everything else no
Entree Price Range: To not quote dollar amounts I'll give a single $ instead.

JR's Barbeque...It is summer officially!

3055 So. La Cienega Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
(310)837-6838
Mon-Thu 11AM-9PM
Fri-Sat 11AM-10PM

To set the mood. "Take it away Will"


The rays of summer are upon us and feeling the heat we remember that it's time to savor the flavor of barbecue sauce. When you speak of bbq in LA, people have varied opinions as to who is the best. While I'm not going to argue as to who I believe is the best(as it will never be decided, and can never be decided, cause it's all about taste), I will say that JR's BBQ is an outstanding entry into the annals of Los Angeles Barbecue hotspots.

When you go over to a friends place for barbecue you bring an appetite and expect to help yourself. Going to JR's is like going to a close relatives house where you feel welcomed immediately and are at home when you sit down. One of the owners (Bobby) was helping take care of us and was one of the nicest guys we've met. It seemed like every 4 minutes or so he was making the rounds making sure everyone was all good and chatting with them for a little. He had the attitude like he actually wished you were in his family.

How do I begin talking about food that leaves such a strong impression that after you've had it you still talk about it and taste it on your mouth the next day? By saying it was one of the best BBQ plates I've had ever. We got dinner plates (comes with 2 sides and both of us got the classic combination of potato salad and baked beans) of the chicken links (served medium heat) and a dinner plate of the pork shoulder meat (also served medium). The chicken links, which they make themselves, were absolutely to die for. Thinking about them right now makes my mouth water. They were tender and exploded with juicy chicken and spicy flavors. The BBQ sauce they serve it with is their own special recipe and packs a wallop of dense Memphis flavor. As I said we got the links medium and they were just that. By the end of the plate our mouths were a little warm but not in pain. As a side note, they can make them hot and if you do get them be prepared as they're NOT for the faint of heart.

The pork shoulder plate had a huge serving of incredibly tender pulled pork meat. Once again what we have here is a plate of meat that stands above the rest with each bite tasting better than the last. I grew up in both Puerto Rican and black families for get togethers. Puerto Ricans have a dish that's called Pernil, which is essentially roasted pork shoulder. I've had many examples of Pernil as well as lots of Tennessee style pork meat. This is the closest you're going to get to authentic Memphis in LA.

The potato salad was different in a very cool way. Lying somewhere between traditional potato salad and mashed potatoes with their own extra seasonings (Celeste thought maybe ground celery seed). This was something of a special signature on the plate. The baked beans were wonderful with the taste of liquified sweet bacon in the sauce. Man... intensely good! We ordered a side of mac and cheese to split between the two of us that was great. I love how it had the ever so slightly crunchy top but creamy underneath.

To finish off we had the Sock-It-To-Me Cake (as recommended by Bobby, with a scoop of ice cream) and it finished us off perfectly. Let it be known that Jeannie (Bobby's mom and the other owner along with Bobby) used to make desserts for restaurants, so she knows a few things about satisfying a sweet tooth. The Sock-It-To-Me Cake (shown below) is a sour cream based cake with a streusel of cinnamon, pecans and brown sugar in the middle that is so soft and so well balanced that you feel you just might die eating it! I do admit that the ice cream was the absolute perfect side for it as it kept your mouth from being overwhelmed with the sweetness. A single cake is a good enough size for two people. At $3.50 this things is a STEAL! The other two desserts worth recommending are the 7 up Cake ($3) which is a butter yellow cake made with yes...7 up as a main ingredient as well as cream cheese. And lastly, the sweet potato pie ($2.50) which is dynamite.

The rest of their menu meats consist of Chicken, Turkey Breast, Chicken Breast, Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, Beek Brisket, Links (chicken and beef), Small End Ribs, and Rib Tips all of which can be made into a sandwich from what I remember. A word about their beef brisket, and about the way they do their meat in general... it's all done fresh in their BBQ pit in the back of the restaurant. Brisket is a tough meat to work with requiring time to be any good. That's why they do their brisket for 14 hours! On yelp I see great reviews about them and then the occasional post that says the meat is dry and not happening. It makes me wonder if it's a random anonymous writer who happens to work for the competition. I say this for two reasons. 1) How can meat that's being done this way, randomly have a bad batch just for that person? and 2) their customer service and attention to how much they want their customers to love everything they're eating is at such a high level, that if by some miracle chance you were to get a dry piece of meat and you didn't like it, they would've asked you if everything was okay and how it tasted and they would have done so for certain since the owners are always there checking in on their patrons as if they were their own family. They would have rectified the situation immediately. Had to go into debate mode cause sometimes I have a problem with Yelp. Sometimes. This place should AT LEAST be a 4 out of 5 on every BBQ lover's list. It's even gotten raving reviews from people such as the LA Times and (one of our personal favorites) the Wally's Wines newsletter.

It's summertime, and though I love the taste of BBQ I'm not always down for doing it myself or waiting for it to be cooked up. This 4th of July why don't you call JR's and have them make you up a batch of some of the best Memphis Barbecue you may ever have! (check out the family meal deals for four starting at $23 for chicken up to $30 for the brisket & ribs)

Free Drink Refills: Only on their Tiger Woods' (raspberry ice tea and lemonade)
Entree Price Range: Sandwiches about $8 and Dinners (which include 2 sides) are about $10 to $12

The Gumbo Pot

6333 West Third Street
Los Angeles, California 90036
Mon-Sat 9AM-9PM
Sun 10AM-7PM

I LOVE The Gumbo Pot at the historic Farmers Market on Fairfax. If you like New Orleans cooking (or haven't tried it) this is the primo spot for it. My wife and I started coming here long ago when she had a cold and was feeling not her best. She wanted something that she could actually taste since her taste buds were on the fritz. We had seen The Gumbo Pot on one our previous trips to the Farmer's Market and thought it would be the perfect spot to try, not to mention you can't get much more flavorful than cajun! We went and had some of my favorite creole this side of Texas! Now let me interject with the fact that I have eaten lots and lots of Creole cuisine from my touring across America and have tried my fair share of all that has to be offered even Gator bites and The Gumbo Pot stacks up very well to the real deal.

Their menu has a wonderful assortment of Poboys (cajun sandwiches) made on the best muffalettas I've tasted that are all fantastic (in particular I love the catfish, shrimp and crawfish poboys). They have jumbalaya that is to die for and is balanced just right. Sometimes there's a tendency to make it too packed, where it's like you're eating a plate of meat and hidden in there like Where's Waldo is the rice... but not this one! This is just a pleasure to eat down to the very last bite. Items like red beans and rice and sweet potato salad are the perfect sides to the seasoned catfish.

Located in the Farmer's Market makes it a plus due to the fact that you have free 2 hour parking with validation and you can grab dessert somewhere in the Marketplace(My personal favorite are the chocolate covered strawberries next to the old crepe place... yum!). Also if you're gift shopping it's located right next to the Grove. I love the Gumbo Pot and now is the perfect time to go on down...it's raining and it's Mardi Gras week! So go and wake those taste buds up!

Free Drink Refills: No
Entree Price Range:$6 to $9

Merkato...I agree with everyone else in LA

1036 1/2 Fairfax Ave.

Los Angeles, California 90019

(323) 935-1775

Everyday 11AM-11PM

Here's some cheap, amazing Ethiopian food in Little Ethiopia. If you haven't eaten Ethiopian you're in for a real treat. No utensils. You eat with your hands by tearing off a piece of buckwheat spongey bread called injera. The meal also comes out family style on a huge piece of injera. Lots of savory meats flavored in ways you forgot your mouth could taste.

Merkato is located in Little Ethiopia just south of Olympic on Fairfax. I'd have to recommend you trying the Tibbs (cubes of beef with onion, tomatoes and green chillies), the lentils which are seasoned to be a little spicy and tenderly flavorful, the Yedoro Wot (chicken stewed in red pepper sauce with an assortment of spices served with hard boiled egg), and the Yebeg Alicha Wot (mild lamb stew, delicately spiced with garlic, ginger and other assorted spices). These dishes are absolutely to die for and are healthy servings as well! Before I forget, they also have some great vegetarian dishes (of note are the cabbage dish and the collard greens dish both flavored on the mild side) that also satisfy the vegan in you who loves cows but not the way McDonald's does.

A story, if you will, about the first time we went to have Ethiopian goes like this... One day coming home from work we just up and decided to go have Ethiopian. We had passed by the area plenty of times on our way home and thought now's as good a time as any. We picked out Merkato just cause it looked friendly and was open. We went in, got our table and started looking over the menus that were... if you'll excuse the pun, very foreign to us. We ordered a couple of items, some veggie and some carnivore, to get the full experience. After a couple of minutes we see another table's dinner coming out... and the plate was basically what appeared to be large cubes of uncooked beef! We got a little worried cause we realized that we didn't check to see that our food was cooked... we just assumed it would be. It was nice that some of the people at the table saw us getting worried and laughed it up a bit as they chomped down on the cow flesh. Come to find out later that they were eating a dish called Tere-sega. If I'm ever bold enough to buy it I'll let you know my thoughts on it.

In the end I remind you that this place is cheap... really cheap. You can have a bunch of your friends out for family dining and all eat off the same plate with your hands just like when you were a kid and spent the night at your friends place.

Free Drink Refills: No (but once again I'll say try the Ethiopian beer with it...they pair very well together and I do beleieve they have their food in mind when they are creating it).

Entree Price Range: $7 to $10

P.S. They are attached to their own market so if you want to attempt such delicasies yourself you can buy the ingredients right there!

Buddha's Belly

7475 Beverly Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90036

ph: 323-931-8588

M-Th 12-10pm

Fri-Sat 12-11pm

Sun 3pm-10pm

This is precisely what I'm talking about! Last night I drove around for about an hour and a half in LA looking for a place to eat! I have driven by this place countless times in search of food and thought..."hmmm, looks a little pricey for me right now. For this part of town and having valet...yeah has to be expensive. Maybe I'll catch it some other time." I WAS WRONG!

Let me start by saying the prices are shockingly affordable! The food, which is glorious Pan-Asian, was dynamite! The service was exceptional! This place is deceptively excellent. We had these Albacore andAvocado Spring Rolls that were crafted by masters!

(Had to take a pic with the camera phone)

The Har Gow (steamed dumplings with chinese hot mustard soy dipping sauce) was large and well balanced. Celeste had the Wok tossed vegetables and I had the Ahi Tuna Burger with Sweet Potato Fries. Everything was just great. We'll DEFINITELY be returning there for more of there amazing food.

The staff was friendly and the cooks looked like they love what they were doing:

By the way, we parked on the street and didn't do valet though valet is cheap enough if you want to use it (as can be seen by the top picture).

Free Drink Refills: Yes

Entree Prince Range: $8 to $16 (only one dish was $16 most were way less)