Philly in Vegas

We're visiting Mother of Food in Vegas for The Holidays. We are going to be driving a lot this holiday and we wanted to replace our weak battery before we headed to more remote parts, Since we are away from home and any socket wrenches, we decided to pay to have the battery professionally installed. We ended up at a Pep Boys. It was in an unfamiliar area and we were looking for a good sandwich place for lunch. After installing the new battery, the guys at Pep Boys pointed us in the direction of Geri's Olde Philidelphia.

What we found was a sparse no nonsense kind of place with pictures of Rocky on the wall and all kinds of authentic Philly treats. I split the chicken cheese steak pizza style with Mother of Food and Husband of Food got a steak and mushroom cheese steak. I was very happy with my pizza chicken steak sandwich, it was like chicken parm in the form of cheesesteak. We all shared sides of fries and onion rings, but after ordering, I noticed that we could have had corn nuggets, tater tots, or sweet potato fries. Mom cherrily ordered an egg cream in a wave of nostolgia.   The staff were all regular folks, happy to have egg cream drinking types in the joint.

Mom shared her egg cream with the uninitiated.

Later that night, we went out to try and see the Christmas lights at the Ethel M Chocolate factory, but the car didn't start. Turns out that the Guys at Pep Boys didn't tighten down the terminals. With a bit of work, Husband of food got the car started and had to take it back to Pep Boys to finish the job. They admitted to doing a sloppy job, not doing it right the first time. We would have been really mad, but they did recommend Geri's. So, my advice is do not go to Pep Boys for work on your car, but do take their recommendations on sandwich places.

Geri's Olde Philadelphia    

3430 East Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas, NV

Tropicana Plaza

(702) 456-0864

Raising Cane's for the Fourth!

If you are in the Las Vegas area, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers on Flamingo is doing something very special for the Fourth of July.  They are giving 100% of what they make today to support the troops, so go on in and order!  It's the patriotic thing to do.

The Family of Food had a great lunch of chicken fingers with Raising Cane's special sauce, crinkle fries, and texas toast.  They do catering too, so you can pick up a tailgate box for your Fourth of July picnics.

http://www.raisingcanes.com/

Raising Cane's 
Las Vegas, NV
1120 E. Flamingo Rd
Las Vegas, NV, 89119

The Dog Haus

"The best of the würst."  I love a place like this: classic comfort food with a modern twist, funky atmosphere, friendly staff...  It's all good at "The Dog Haus" in Pasadena.  Specializing in hot dogs, sausages, and sliders, this restaurant is sure to please the nearby college crowd.

We ordered a Cowboy dog pictured at the top and an Italian Chicken "würst" with grilled onions and cheddar cheese with added BBQ sauce from the condiment bar.  Both were served on their signature Hawaiian roll buns.  My biggest complaint was that these buns make for a messy lunch.  One knife and fork later and my problems were over.

Thumbs up to this one.

Open 11am-10pm daily
t: 626 577 4287 | f: 626 577 4289
Find it on the Family of Food Map
105 N Hill St., Pasadena 91106

The Good and The Bad

That last couple of years we have not been focusing on restaurant reviews as much as we did in the beginning.  Surprise, surprise, I have two for you today.  This is for the Los Angeles Folks as both are in the LA area. 

I'll get the first out of the way, since it was a disappointment. The new Cafe 50's on Ventura has all the potential for a family favorite.  Diner style food in a kitschy atmosphere, friendly attentive waitstaff, reasonable prices, what's not to like?  The food, mainly.  Cafe 50's has never blown me away, but when they were on Van Nuys, I could always count on a fair bit of American fare, but the meal I had last week was really bland.  I had the chili. I am not one for a super spicy chili, but this was ridiculous, it tasted like spices had never come near the pot.  The meals my compatriots had were no more impressive. 

I rarely give bad reviews, but in this case it is more of an intervention, I really like this place and want to see it thrive. Cafe 50's has been a long time Valley staple. The new location is so inviting and clean; it would be sad for its improved location to languish because of the quality of the food.  Step it up chefs, you have the potential for a classic.

Cafe 50's 
15045 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

The next review is for something much more pleasing to the palate.  I had a terrific meal at The Curry House on Sawtelle in West LA.  It has been years since I've gone to a Japanese curry house, but ever since the chicken curry on top of spaghetti, I have been craving a another trip.  There is a rich complex flavor to everything tasted which also included the salad dressing and the Curry Pan, a fried dough wrapped  around curried meat and veggies.

If you have never tried Japanese curry, it is much more mild than an Indian curry, so if you like it hot, order it one or two steps above what you would normally get.  I highly recommend an excursion to one of the many locations of the Curry House.  The Sawtelle location of Curry House can be found on the Family of Food Map, at the link below.

Curry House
2130 Sawtelle Blvd # 200
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 479-8477

The Bear Pit

With amazing vintage murals of cooking bears, saw dust on the floor, and wagon wheel chandeliers, the Bear Pit is one of the most charming restaurants I have seen in the greater Los Angeles area.  The wait staff was downright country friendly. The kid's menu was cute and included a mini rack of ribs, "The Rib Tickler," which my kids split.  The meal that Husband of Food and I shared had a to go box that was heavy to carry back to the car.  These portions were Fred Flinstone huge.   The prices were reasonable, the sodas plentiful... So why am I a wee bit disappointed?  To tell the truth, the taste of this Barbecue just didn't quite live up to the rest of the terrific experience.  The sauces had no kick and without the BBQ sauce, the meat was dry and bland.  We were given two sauces, one sweet and the other tangy.  The sweet sauce was my favorite, but could have used some tang, the tangy one was fairly gelatinous and really left me cold.  The sides were better, the baked beans yummy, the hush puppies were different from others I've had, but tasty, and the garlic bread nice.  As a whole, I had a fine meal and I certainly enjoyed the atmosphere, but for great tasting meat, I'd go down the road a bit, that road being Sepulveda, to Dr. Hogly Wogly's. 

Car Wash Tacos

The other day, I got my husband's car washed. It was a "pay it forward" type of situation as my car had been suprise-washed by my Father in Law just the other day. He's so nice, right? So I decided to do the same for Husband of Food.

Anyway, I was doing this over my lunch hour, so I decided to snag a couple of tacos at the car wash cafe.

I walked into the small lunchroom, overheated from the grill, and made my order at the Playa Vista Deli. I hunkered down at the window overlooking the cars being washed and I ate my lunch. Yeah, I know, I wasn't expecting much either, but holy guacamole, Batman, these were great tacos! The cook put great care into these $2.25 a piece treats and like a fine chef, inquired about my experience after I finished my meal. Did I mention that I was at a car wash? The tacos came on two soft tortillas with flavorful chicken, cabbage, cheese, and fresh avocado on top. I got the hot sauce on the side, which I liked because it tasted great, but on the side I could control the heat to my personal perfection.


If you need to wash your car on your lunch hour, you can do it at a place with some great tacos.


(The car wash was pretty good, too)




Playa Vista Deli (Attached to the Playa Vista Car Wash)

6920 S. Centinela Ave.
Culver City, CA 90230
(310)737-1013

Found on the Family of Food Map

Tub's Fine Chili & Fancy Fixin's

Tub's Fine Chili & Fancy Fixin's is the kind of hidden treasure I try to find for the blog. Hidden is no understatement, though, Tub's is located in a small strip mall in Culver City and as of yet has no big sign over the establishment. It is tough to spot even when you are looking for it. The only sign I saw was on the window blocked by cars parked out front. Luckily, we knew it was next to Comics Ink, a nice little comic book shop in the area. If you're having trouble spotting it, think like a geek, and you'll find it in no time ;)

Inside, the shop is a little taste of cowboy with old westerns on the TV and saddle stools, all to enhance the big taste of chili. The chili is spooned into a pita like tub supported by a woodedn bowl.

Get your scoop or two topped with a Tub Topper (Pictured below), sour cream, diced onions, and cheese, or "Gunsling It" to get the whole bunch of fixin's including the delicious potato chips also pictured below.

I tried the Turkey Chili, the original recipe that inspired the restaurateur, and found it flavorful, but without much heat. If you're looking for a little bite, add a few drops of the atomic sauce kept by the register and you'll get your spice. Tubs is only a couple of months old, but if it keeps making up the good chili, it will be around for years.

Thanks to Yongwoo Cho for additional pictures for this post (he took those pretty close ups). You can see more of his work at http://www.shutterform.blogspot.com/.

Tub's Fine Chili & Fancy Fixin's
4263 Overland Avenue
Culver City, CA 90230
(310)559-8827(TUBS)
www.TubsChili.com

The Best New Kids Joint in The Valley

I have always been a big fan of the local chain of Mexican Restaurants called Poquito Mas, but the newest one on Ventura Blvd. takes the cake when it comes to dining with the kids.

Poquito Mas focuses on fresh healthy food and their newest location is the nicest I've seen. The seating area is split into inside and out, with a more modern look than the others. Clean and bright, the dining room features a tortilla bar were you can watch the tortillas being made by hand. Is that what we see in the picture above? No, that is an image of my two year old playing with the "Mexican Playdough" we were given with our meal. Poquito Mas has thought of something different than the average set of crayons, they give you a small cup of tortilla dough to mash and sculpt. My kids love it! Add in the friendly staff, the delicious food, the abundance of high chairs, the balloons, lollipops, and yes, crayons, and I can barely get my kids to leave. Poquito Mas is a great spot for kids of all ages.

Poquito Mas
13924 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
(818) 981-7500

Update! One of the Family of Food Finds has Moved

If you read our article on Cuban Food last summer, you might have tried El Criollo in the Valley. This restaurant has moved to a new location.

EL Criollo is now located at 6622 Van Nuys Blvd, between Kitteridge and Van Owen.

Enjoy the flavors Van Nuys!

Monsieur Marcel - A Sweet Surprise

An old friend was visiting this weekend and I wanted to take her to experience some of the Southern Californian sweet life. We ended up toddling around Santa Monica by the ocean and eventually wandered up to the Promenade. My friend wanted a glass of water and I wanted to get the kids some milk so we went to what we thought was a coffee bean type of place in the middle of the walk. It turned out we had stumbled into Monsieur Marcel, a wine and cheese bar.

We had wine and a cheese plate, and the girls had their milk. We chose three cheeses, a
taleggio, Saint André, and something else... This is the problem with cheese plates, you spend a while going back and forth on which cheeses to get and by the time it comes to the table, you forget what you actually selected. The best cheese plate I have ever had was found at Patina in Downtown LA and they gave us a summary of the cheeses to take home. Back to the matter at hand, at Monsieur Marcel, our waiter was very attentive and kind to the baby girls. It was a lovely stop on our journey and very So-Cal.

This Monsieur Marcel is related to the Wine and Cheese bar and Shop at the Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax.

Monsieur Marcel Pain Vin Fromage – french bistro, wine and cheese bar
Santa Monica - 3rd Street Promenade at Arizona
(310) 587 1166