history Tiki: A California Invention Tiki culture as we know it was invented in Hollywood — couldn't have happened anywhere else. And for added fun, the real mai tai recipe.
columbo Sportsmen's Lodge: Where Hollywood Went Suburban Up until around the time it became Sportsmen's Lodge in 1942, this was a rural attraction, far away from most people at the end of a dirt road.
columbo Chasen's Served the Most Expensive Beans in L.A. Los Angeles' most glittering restaurant specialized in chili. But Ronald Reagan loved the boiled beef.
history Kelbo's: 1986's 'Funkiest Place in L.A.' One of the great pleasures of writing about food and restaurant history is all the ephemera I come across.
history Pup 'n' Taco: An Ideal SoCal Fast Food Chain Pup 'n' Taco thrived until it didn't, but it was never forgotten.
history SoCal's version of the Greek diner Though I've never eaten at a Spires Family Restaurant, I do always notice them: I thought maybe the chain was founded by a very distant relative who forgot how to spell our name.
review Review: a journey to West African food Los Angeles County is big. Sometimes a journey is in order to find something great.
hollywood Eat Here: Some New Contenders Relatively new restaurants that you need to add to your rotation.
history No Ding-A-Lings in L.A. I am aghast to find that the Ding-A-Ling ice cream trucks depicted in season two, episode three of "Columbo" were not real.
history The Hollywood barn where 3 million soldiers did the jitterbug The real one, on Cahuenga. Not the the one on Seward trying to steal its valor.
history A Tommy Lasorda Cautionary Tale Tommy Lasorda was the Dodgers manager for 20 years, which is an undeniably high-profile job, but he wouldn't have been so famous and adored if it weren't for his love of food.
this weekend Eat Here: Various Pies, and Something Unexpected Sometimes you really misunderstand a restaurant.
history An Early L.A. Catering Truck With Great Timing Of course, in the American style, it eventually turned into the "jam something in your piehole quick" food culture we have here.
review Review: Two Food Pop-Ups That Made It It's said that if a restaurant lasts three years, it's a success. These two pop-ups have gone the distance, and I suspect will stick around much longer.
this weekend Eat Here: Very Old and Very New Classics you should know about and one new spot that hey, might be a classic one day.
history The Star-Studded Chinese Restaurant Closed by McCarthyism The owners, a couple whose marriage wasn't recognized for 11 years, had incredible lives.
this weekend Eat Here This Weekend: Vegan Korean, Porky Everything Else Nearly vegan where some might least expect it. Otherwise as meaty as you guessed.
