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Los Angeles |OT| GAF's Guide to the Greatest City in the Universe

Where are they in West Hollywood and are they open now?

I met the owner recently. Dude gave me a bunch of free slice cards. I think I have a few left, turns out his family is from a nieghboring town back home on Long Island.

In anycase Representing Los Feliz here. Place is amazing, the area is great, quiet and I have everything in an arms reach. Metro, bus, and not too far from most anywhere I drive. Also some of the best greek/pizza Ive found as well as italian.

If you want good italian go to Capriccios on Vermont, and El Greco pizza cafe makes a mean Gyro.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
NoRéN;34389260 said:
And that's why I don't miss Alhambra. Had some idiot bump my cutlass the got mad at me despite him running the red. Well, not that San Gabriel is any better.

Black mamba, I alway see Petrillos in San Gabriel get praise. Don't know if you're familiar with it.

Petrillo's is okay for their pizza but DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING ELSE THERE! It's a bunch of shitty fake Italian food.


If you want dim sum, best place is at New Capital in San Gabriel on Valley and Del Mar. It's in Focus Plaza. Avoid during the weekends as it gets super crowded.

Also, some of the best Chinese food ever can be found on Valley stretching from Alhambra all the way to San Gabriel.

Eh New Capital is alright but I'd rather go to Seafood Harbour on Rosemead or Elite on Atlantic both are better but a bit pricier as well (in Chinese standards though so I'm talking not that much more).
 

JLG-

Member
King Taco is so overrated.

Everyone needs to try Taqueria Zavala's. Best tacos in LA, made with fresh hand made tortillas.
 
Can anyone recommend me the best used game store in So Cal?

Also, why does everyone else in the U.S. love our In-and-Out so much. I've had thier burgers and I just don't get the appeal.

This. I found In-N-Out to be dissapointing. True the food is good and fresh. You cant beat how fresh the ingrediants are, but no bacon on a burger? Come on what is that about? Its also not worth the wait or foot traffic. After all the ranting and raving I found the experiance doesnt live up to the legend.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
If you want good italian go to Capriccios on Vermont, and El Greco pizza cafe makes a mean Gyro.

I'll bookmark those. I don't know why LA has such polarizing Italian food its either expensive as hell or shitty frozen crap.

I recently tried Maximiliano in Highland Park and found it to be pretty good for the price, not worth driving out of your way for but if you live in the East Side that is a good option.
 
what kind of pizza do you like?

The kind that use fresh vegetables and not ones out of the can...

And the crust doesn't just fall to the floor instantaneous and taste like cardboard.



I'm actually not picky with pizza. I am looking for great pizza, but pretty much all pizza from italian restaurants or places like the woodfire pizza place or whatever I'll enjoy. I can even enjoy pizza hut/dominoes/papajohns although I'll never want it. But Joe Peep's taste so bad to me. I threw it out last time.

Specifically, I eat pretty much any pizza any style. chicago, NY, whatever. Toppings, whatever. But at least taste fresh (curiously, their antipasta salad wasn't bad).

BTW, not too far from Joe Peep's is Pizza Connection. Much better IMO. Also have white pizzas. http://mspizzaconnection.com/ It's actually an extension of an Italian Restaurant which has amazing Tiramitsu on burbank.
 
NoRéN;34389412 said:
That place sounds awesome. I used to hang around north hollywood alot so...damn. So many places I missed.

yeah it's pretty cool to see all the games they got. they have games for damn near everything there. they buy back games a bit better than Gamestop but i'd check their price guide online first before you take anything. they can be REALLY picky about buying games back too
 
I'll bookmark those. I don't know why LA has such polarizing Italian food its either expensive as hell or shitty frozen crap.

I recently tried Maximiliano in Highland Park and found it to be pretty good for the price, not worth driving out of your way for but if you live in the East Side that is a good option.

Yeah they arent cheap. Ive only been out their for my birthday and for my anniversary with my girlfriend.

Also near by if you live in the area the Los Feliz 3 and Vista Theater on Hillhurst have 6.50 movies for their matinee showings. Freakin great price, 9.50 standard price. I just saw The Artist at the Vista and it was amazing, especially on those in film theaters.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
What are your favorite food trucks? I've only had it once, but Egg Slut was pretty good.

Having worked on one before I'll let you know:

Avoid Flying Pig Truck, I use to work for them in fact you may have seen me in a Travel Channel Show before as well. They went downhill after most of us left.

Do try:

Lardon: It's bacon, everything has bacon but its also very good!
Buttermilk: I'd kill for their red velvet pancake bites right now.
Ludo Truck: really good fried chicken but unfortunately they are getting rid of the chicken balls because fucking hipster Angelenos like white meat over dark. Whiny assholes.
Lobster truck: If you got cash to burn and want an authentic lobster roll.
Jogisaki: It's a freaking sushi burrito, sounds disgusting but trust me on this one it's good.

That's all I remember off the top of my head but if you want some kind of specific type of food I'm sure I can think of one.
 

NoRéN

Member
Petrillo's is okay for their pizza but DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING ELSE THERE! It's a bunch of shitty fake Italian food.




Eh New Capital is alright but I'd rather go to Seafood Harbour on Rosemead or Elite on Atlantic both are better but a bit pricier as well (in Chinese standards though so I'm talking not that much more).
Thanks for the tip. I did always find their pizza to be somewhat expensive.

In n Out, mostly hype. Fries sucks and burgers are ok. All they do is back up traffic.
 

Doomsayer

Member
The Lobster truck is incredible, I had a grilled cheese with lobster meat. Holy shit, I didn't know things can taste so beautiful.

In n Out fries are made for animal style.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
NoRéN;34389467 said:
Thanks for the tip. I did always find their pizza to be somewhat expensive.

In n Out, mostly hype. Fries sucks and burgers are ok. All they do is back up traffic.

Order fries well done and they will be crispy but I agree it's a fresh burger but nothing outstanding except Animal style but even that is whatever to me.

I prefer Five Guys if I have to choose a chain but then again I've become a bit of a burger snob after trying Umami, A-Frame, Father's Office and various other "gourmet" burgers.
 

Fidelis Hodie

Infidelis Cras
Order fries well done and they will be crispy but I agree it's a fresh burger but nothing outstanding except Animal style but even that is whatever to me.

I prefer Five Guys if I have to choose a chain but then again I've become a bit of a burger snob after trying Umami, A-Frame, Father's Office and various other "gourmet" burgers.

It's funny, I just had five guys again and it really did taste like hot garbage.

I was also really hung over, but I would've thought that would help out the experience. I've been there multiple times before going on a burger-tastic-diet in 2011 (which included all of those fantastic "gourmet" places you mentioned) and never had a problem.

It was probably a one time thing. I'm usually not that picky.
 
Btw. Took this at my new fav spot, the foot paths in the hills. Specifically the awesome observatory.

udWWMl.jpg
 

Feep

Banned
+1 for the Grilled Cheese Truck, and +1 for The Wein, where our very own Nintendoll works and serves delicious meats.
 
Having worked on one before I'll let you know:

Avoid Flying Pig Truck, I use to work for them in fact you may have seen me in a Travel Channel Show before as well. They went downhill after most of us left.

Do try:

Lardon: It's bacon, everything has bacon but its also very good!
Buttermilk: I'd kill for their red velvet pancake bites right now.
Ludo Truck: really good fried chicken but unfortunately they are getting rid of the chicken balls because fucking hipster Angelenos like white meat over dark. Whiny assholes.
Lobster truck: If you got cash to burn and want an authentic lobster roll.
Jogisaki: It's a freaking sushi burrito, sounds disgusting but trust me on this one it's good.

That's all I remember off the top of my head but if you want some kind of specific type of food I'm sure I can think of one.

Buttermilk truck is truly food of the gods....I think they still stop by Abbott Kinney on wed...
 

Fidelis Hodie

Infidelis Cras

NoRéN

Member
Order fries well done and they will be crispy but I agree it's a fresh burger but nothing outstanding except Animal style but even that is whatever to me.

I prefer Five Guys if I have to choose a chain but then again I've become a bit of a burger snob after trying Umami, A-Frame, Father's Office and various other "gourmet" burgers.
I hear there's a five guys somewhere near Santa fe springs now. Is that true?
 
i've been meaning to catch the lobster truck.

Tito's Tacos is good but overrated.

In n Out if the best fast food regular burger, IMO. Good shakes, too. I kind of like the fries.

Speaking of Grilled Cheese: The Foundry on Melrose has Chef Greenspan's award winning short rib grilled cheese. It's expensive but fucking great.

sg-grilledcheese.jpg


edit: Also the grilled cheese truck is good. Have to try buttermilk.
 
I just moved back to LA after living in NYC for a couple of months. I'm pretty surprised to see people talking about places that are pretty close to me. HACIENDA HEIGHTS REPRESENT.

Also, while on the subject of food trucks, I'm currently working part time for the slummin' gourmet. Gaffers drop by and say hi sometime.

I'd totally be down for a meetup!
 

overcast

Member
Btw. Took this at my new fav spot, the foot paths in the hills. Specifically the awesome observatory.

udWWMl.jpg
Where is this? I need to take my GF to LA and show her around (I used to live there, now I live in the valley).

My personal favorite area of LA is starting in the Arcadia (grew up there) area and taking Colorado Blvd. all the way until Eagle Rock. Walk around the Rose Bowl, go to Old Town Pasadena, go to Casa Bianca's in Eagle Rock. Hell yeah.
 
Where is this exactly? I think I have a new place to check out . .



Them and Paco's I used to get for work all the time. Always loved it.

Hop on vermont and drive north into griffith park. Keep going past the park and drive up the hill and through the tunnel to the observatory. I like to start walking around up top instead of lower, you can walk for miles up much highher into the hills and hike or take the paths. It's so awesome. Ive taken a lot of photos. Also the observatory is great. Been living just a mile or two south of it for 4 months and finally started going this month.
 
Where is this? I need to take my GF to LA and show her around (I used to live there, now I live in the valley).

My personal favorite area of LA is starting in the Arcadia (grew up there) area and taking Colorado Blvd. all the way until Eagle Rock. Walk around the Rose Bowl, go to Old Town Pasadena, go to Casa Bianca's in Eagle Rock. Hell yeah.

Love old town pasadena. Its just a ton of resturants and shops but the area is nice and the buildings have a lot of charm. I plan on taking my camera some day soon and shooting some photos there. Also Luis's (might be louies?) has amazing italian and service in Old Town, really good food.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
I just moved back to LA after living in NYC for a couple of months. I'm pretty surprised to see people talking about places that are pretty close to me. HACIENDA HEIGHTS REPRESENT.

Also, while on the subject of food trucks, I'm currently working part time for the slummin' gourmet. Gaffers drop by and say hi sometime.

I'd totally be down for a meetup!

Man they keep coming, how do you guys keep finding business? When I quit that industry it was a dog eat dog environment especially with the city cracking down hard on some spots.
 

overcast

Member
Love old town pasadena. Its just a ton of resturants and shops but the area is nice and the buildings have a lot of charm. I plan on taking my camera some day soon and shooting some photos there. Also Luis's (might be louies?) has amazing italian and service in Old Town, really good food.
Yeah, it isn't too special really. It looks nice, and has character definitely. Really good food, and nostalgia combines nicely.

Thanks for telling us the route to that site.
 
Yeah, it isn't too special really. It looks nice, and has character definitely. Really good food, and nostalgia combines nicely.

Thanks for telling us the route to that site.

Yeah it is mostly a giant street mall, but its a nice area to walk around. Also I stayed at the holiday inn on fair oaks for a week while we found our apt this summer. So it was the first place I lived in CA, so I have some fun memories there.

Also Pita Jungle has some of the best lemonade ever. Honestly it's so good. Go during happy hour get it with vodka, I reccomend strawberry or standard vodka, its so good.

Definitly go to the observatory at night sometime. I finally just went and it was great.

cmonmanreally said:
I like this! Do you have larger sizes?

Not on my iPad. Im currently in bed half falling asleep on GAFand too lazy to get up.
 
Man they keep coming, how do you guys keep finding business? When I quit that industry it was a dog eat dog environment especially with the city cracking down hard on some spots.

I like everything about this truck except the chef's ability to market and find decent events to get us out there. I don't understand what the deal is, but he always seems to be booking the same boring local high school lots, and relying heavily on word of mouth. Our website also desperately needs to be updated, especially when our menu changes every week.

That being said, he worked in financing before heading into culinary school, so it seems like he has enough saved up to keep us afloat for awhile. I just hope it gets better by springtime because I think our food deserves some recognition.

Edit:

It seems like a lot of the trucks that are "making it" have pretty niche concepts. My friend is co-owner of Waffles de Liege and they do very well despite having only been in the industry for less than a year.
 

Fidelis Hodie

Infidelis Cras
Hop on vermont and drive north into griffith park. Keep going past the park and drive up the hill and through the tunnel to the observatory. I like to start walking around up top instead of lower, you can walk for miles up much highher into the hills and hike or take the paths. It's so awesome. Ive taken a lot of photos. Also the observatory is great. Been living just a mile or two south of it for 4 months and finally started going this month.

Damn, I've hiked griffith many times, I guess I just never went high enough to the observatory. Apparently the old bat man caves are around there too.

Have you been to the abandoned zoo there? I'm going to shoot something there soon, whenever I figure out what it is I want to shoot.
 
Damn, I've hiked griffith many times, I guess I just never went high enough to the observatory. Apparently the old bat man caves are around there too.

Have you been to the abandoned zoo there? I'm going to shoot something there soon, whenever I figure out what it is I want to shoot.

No I havent, but youre not the first to ask. Im so intrigued by the sound of this. I definitly want to go and shoot stuff now. Ive only lived here for 4 months, need to see more of this place.

Also I would definitly start as high as the observatory, the paths go so much higher than that. You get amazing views..
 

Fidelis Hodie

Infidelis Cras
No I havent, but youre not the first to ask. Im so intrigued by the sound of this. I definitly want to go and shoot stuff now. Ive only lived here for 4 months, need to see more of this place.

Also I would definitly start as high as the observatory, the paths go so much higher than that. You get amazing vies.

I've hiked all through the valley and yeah, the views can be incredible. I just hadn't seen that one!

If you want to get adventurous, hiking to the top of the Verdugos' in Burbank gets ridiculous.

0038099-R2-E005.jpg


(not my picture)
 
If you guys want to get adventurous, go to gravity hill in the foothills of Pasadena. I think.
There's a section of a slanted road going uphill passed a bridge.
Park your car on the side of the road. Turn off your engine and put it in neutral.
You think your car will slide downward?
Nope.
It'll slowly go upward.
And I'm talking about at least 25degree slope
 

NoRéN

Member
If you guys want to get adventurous, go to gravity hill in the foothills of Pasadena. I think.
There's a section of a slanted road going uphill passed a bridge.
Park your car on the side of the road. Turn off your engine and put it in neutral.
You think your car will slide downward?
Nope.
It'll slowly go upward.
And I'm talking about at least 25degree slope
Wat?
 
NoRéN;34389748 said:
No joke. A lot of people pull over. Every car will go upslope instead of downward.
Not sure if its some optical ilussion.
But the slope angle begs to differ.
its on lake Blvd north of the 210.

Btw haunted Forrest is on the same street too.
Just go deeper into the hills.
 
No joke. A lot of people pull over. Every car will go upslope instead of downward.
Not sure if its some optical ilussion.
But the slope angle begs to differ.
its on lake Blvd north of the 210.

Btw haunted Forrest is on the same street too.
Just go deeper into the hills.

Its an optical illusion, check the link out. Still sounds cool, I would love to check it out to have it mess with my head.
 
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