Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Famous L.A. Food Places: how to order...

Los Angeles is famous for its food. Ask a native or long time resident, and they'll tell you the most "L.A." place to eat, from the Original Pantry to Tommy's to Tito's to Pink's to Philipe's to the Pacific Dining Car to El Cholo to Spago's to the Grill to Casa Vega to The Hat to Tam O'Shanter to Papa Cristo's to Musso & Frank's to Duke's to - I think you get it.

Well, knowing where to eat is great, but a true L.A. City Nerd - like yours truly - has to know how to order at these venues. Now, it's not how to order everything, but the little things that take the experience to the next level. It's almost impossible to describe why these extra steps should be taken, but when they are, you know it was a good move. So, I won't go into lengthy description of why - just try it. Take my word, the word of a City Nerd.

For now, I'll share two tips on ordering at two of the most famous in L.A....

1. Tommy's - when you order a regular chili burger, order with "double tomato." It cuts the strength of the chili (which officially contains no meat) just enough to make consumption unintimidating without compromising the best burger-eating experience in Los Angeles.


2. The Original Pantry - Former Mayor Riordan's 24-hour eatery is known for heavy food whenever you need it. As a bonus, they provide free cole slaw and bread when you're seated. Next time you go in for a bite, take the time to ask for the bread to be grilled (not toasted). No butter is needed when it gets to the table - it's great!


This is a good place to start; two quintessential L.A. eateries. Try these tips and let me know what you think.

4 comments:

CaliforniaStyle said...

Thanks for the info. I live in LA and eat out all the time. I'll also be posting some stuff about food shortly.

Bri Ana said...

Nice Tommy's tip- your are certainly an angeleno... Food for thought: once you've ordered your bread grilled and recieved your coldslaw, what else at the Pantry is edible? And I'm not talking about health conciousness, I mean, edible as in: tastes good. Man I love that place, but I stare at the menu boards in horror everytime we go. Drunk or sober.

LA City Nerd said...

At the Pantry- I usually suggest the breakfast menu. If not that, then i go with simple desserts. Everything else is ok, but really - would you want to order a steak there?

Anonymous said...

Large fries at The Hat are considerably large.
Trust the man if he asks if you maybe want small fries, or do what I do; take the large fries home and split them up into several sandwich bags and freeze them.
Then, when you think fries would be a good idea, reheat them in the oven, and take them out when they're crisp and delightful.