Is Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles still around? It was a popular spot many years ago when I lived in LA. Ditto Buffalo Club. |
India Sweets and Spices - that's it! The one along Fairfax in West LA. My recollections are a little bent. To bad I'm in AZ these days, because AZ sucks big time for food and all I have are memories of much, much better. |
Bongofury
"Apple Pan is great."
Like Musso & Frank's it's a time capsule. When I lived in La La land we would go there for the atmosphere. I don't think the food is anything special, and I've had most everything on their menu. I read somewhere that a couple of Apple Pan employees had been working there since the Nixon administration. My all time best burger was at the 21 Club in NYC circa 1980's, but that's an unfair comparison against diner/fast food varieties. |
L.A.'s still got plenty of the old school eateries and eateries. House of Pies comes to mind. Plenty of those crappy diners like you see in Pulp Fiction. Oh Los Feliz, how I miss thee - The Greek Theater, Griffith Park, the traffic, the air quality.. |
Rcprince,
Next visit hit The Pantry for breakfast, a hot dog at Pinks, and dinner at Musso & Franks. Those wouldn't rate on the L.A. haute foodie scale, but you'd sure have done your part for old L.A.
If you can imagine it, L.A.'s probably got it. |
Bongo,
Fatburger was decent in late 80's/early 90's - they must be gone or crap now cause no one ever mentions them anymore.
..no more credit from the liquor store |
Steak and Shake's in Atlanta area circa 1970's oh my gawd those vanilla shakes and burgers. |
Bongo,
Good call on Phillipes for the old. Bay area is food n drink nirvana. I can think of several mom & pop joints in North Beach alone that trip the salivate meter. btw, I'm a Palo Alto, Cali native. Can't afford living in the town or the state anymore. Just scatter my ashes off the coast of Big Sur and they'll say he came home. |
A hamburger thread has more responses than most audio threads. What does that tell us?
Bongo:
"I'll scatter your ashes but who keeps your rig?"
Me:
It isn't worth much. I've downsized or sold almost everything I have except my 100K crap stucco box, my old Subaru and my 7K stereo. Two serious cancers in my life. One took my wife/life partner, much of our savings, and now I'm dealing with another. Sis has a bad cancer battle now too. All of us had decent health plan (we had Blue Cross PPO), but I guess the Republican's have their solution, "let people die if they do but don't raise the taxes of us rugged individualists who take care of ourselves very well without stinking federal interference thank you very much, and we'll keep stalling and stalling ("F" the nation) until we get one of our own in the WHITE house." |
Tvad:
"I was a big fan of Fatburger when they had hand made patties. When they switched to pre-made patties that were pressed too densely, the magic went away."
Good point. Believe it or not crappy Wendy's used to have fresh formed patties that tasted like real backyard grilled burgers (still the same lousy buns though). I remember it well at one of their locations near the BIG CHICKEN in Marietta, GA back heyday of Bachman Turner Overdrive and Boston. |
Take another blood pressure pill Fries (large)
1,464 calories
71 g fat (14 g saturated)
213 mg sodium
add a shake of salt when packaged = 600 mg sodium
add ketchup = 1200+ mg sodium
You only live (and die) once. |
Jody Maroni's stand in Santa Monica/Venice area had pretty good sausages. Back in the day I'd buy one and walk over to watch the guy juggling chainsaws, or talk to the skater playing his electric guitar. The Peoples Republic of Santa Monica indeed. Loved the farmers market there, but not as good as the one in Berkeley. Now if only I could find a killer mussel & frites place outside NYC. |
"The skating guitar player was Harry Perry"
Thanks Dekay - I had forgotten his name.
Found this on search: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Perry_(musician)
Which reminds me of my favorite thought on humanity:
"We are all connected in one way of another" |
Rcprince:
"Surprised no one has mentioned the Big Kahuna burger (from Pulp Fiction"
Actually I referenced PF in thread, so perhaps I planted a subliminal thought in your mind. Don't ever underestimate a $5 dollar shake. |
I used to like Rockenwagner's in Venice in their early days. Never forget their thinly sliced, super tender seasoned lamb loin piled high on a pretzel bread bun. No burger/sandwich outside of the NYC 21 Club burger came close to that. IMO of course. |
I'm game for guacamole on my patty, but don't if its Roquefort, Saga, Danish, or Gorgonzola - blue cheese on burgers is gross. Double that for pineapple on pizza. Dude! |
Darkmoebius
"Tito's Tacos is also right next door.."
Yum.
When I had work in the area I'd either go to Tito's or an Indian cafeteria/store (20 pound bag of Basmati rice and fresh cardamon anyone?) kinda place further away (name escapes me) with tasty lentil and grain dishes, exotic fruit lassies, pistachio sprinkled desserts, and Bollywood posters on the walls. Loved the smell of spices walking in the door of some of those ethnic grocers. Ditto in NYC as well. Tito's chips fried in lard sure tasted good. Food pyramid be damned. |
This best burger OP has gone off the rails, but that's cool by me since catering, F&B, fine dining, hotels, etc. were my life for thirty + years. Following up on the sushi posts ,my late wife and I used to rent in Calabasas and we really dug Shibuya over by the post office. Very special, no shortcuts taken sauces/dips/salads and of course their fish. This was back in the mid-1990's. I haven't been back to that area in ages, but an old acquaintance in L.A. tells me that most every place I loved has gotten pricey since my stay. |
No fan of In & Out. On a travel stop verses Mickey D's they win out (unless you want breakfast). Commendable for "no freezers", but little else there to get excited about. As another poster mentioned, it's the condiments that add what taste those burgers do have. No juicy medium rare, no taste of the grill, no thickness to the patty. A cabal of attorneys have deemed those qualities risky food service practices - better to overcook food than risk one food borne illness lawsuit. I'd rather pay a little more for a thick, grilled, juicy (not steamed off on a flat-top) indulge in saturated fat. Going inside an In & Out I feel like I'm visiting people at a tabernacle with that squeaky clean image. All they need are the Mormon pamphlets on the counter to firm up the experience. |
Hey Azaud,
I'm down for Lebanese food. Love it. I had an Iranian brother-in-law who'd take us to all these delish places in Atlanta. I didn't say In & Out wasn't good, I'm just no fan. They are very consistent in the product they deliver and that's saying a lot. Watching them put the spuds in the cutter is cool, but I've had better fries at several Suisse places, and better fries at many mussel & frites joints in the big apple. Don't get me started on noshing, black & whites, Nova, Borscht-in-a -cup, and kugel. I'm a sick puppy for that stuff. Barney Greengrass on Amsterdam has taken (actually I gave happily) a lot of my money. Today I overheard a group of thirty-somethings at the mall oohing & awing over their visit to Picasso's in Vegas, and I thought about what a letdown my experience was there after places like the French Laundry in California. I mean if you're going to spend real money, why not take ethereal over hoo hum. Sad that most of my foodie memories are just that. Dude! |
Azaud,
Tam O'Shanter. Heh, heh. Another old LA place. Had a rental in Los Feliz for awhile, so the drive along Los Feliz Blvd. through Atwater Village and on to Glendale is imprinted on my memory. The golf place to the left, Tam to the right, up to Dinah's and take a left to main drag Glendale. Not that long ago Burbank used to have a lot of old food hangouts that remind me of Hollywood in the Carson years before places like Fred 62 started sprouting up along with the 68 Dodge Dart tattooed driving clientele. Time to get out my DVD of "Things that aren't here anymore" and revisit old LA. Better go before another audiogon-er bitches about the old fart and his twenty sentences. |
