I’ve eaten at locations on Pico, Sunset and Robertson over the last 15+ years. It’s not a restaurant I crave but every time I visit, I remember how solid the food is and how reasonable the prices are.
This time, we went to the Robertson location on Halloween. It was close to the WeHo Halloween festivities had outdoor seating. When we arrived around 6:30, we were able to be seated right away in the covered patio area so we were able to see people passing by in their Halloween garb.
I ordered a salmon dish and my husband ordered a chicken pasta dish. My salmon was super flaky, perfectly marinaded and cooked. The black beans I ordered as a side was a perfect contrast to the crispy fries I ordered as my second side. My 3rd side of roasted vegetables was a pleasant surprise. They had a smoky flavor but weren’t overcooked. My husband’s pasta dish was creamy but not overly sauced and the chicken was tender and nicely seasoned.
Equally as good as the food was the fantastic service which was so prompt and attentive. The restaurant never quite filled up while we were there so it seems like a good choice for a nice, casual, relatively inexpensive weekday meal and is great for people watching.
Bossa Nova is a solid choice for a casual, healthy or hearty meal and is easy on the wallet.
Bossa Nova
685 N. Robertson Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
1) Best fast food: Tito’s Tacos has been my go-to since 2000. It’s been open much longer than that but I hadn’t been introduced to it despite living in the neighborhood for 10 years prior. They offer tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tamales, tostadas and chili beans and chili con carne but my go-to are 3 tacos, no cheese, with a small guac. It’s the perfect cure for a hangover but it’s also a substantial enough serving and as of today, it’s $10.80 “all in.” It comes with a whole box of chips and salsa. The beef, more often than not, is tender and juicy and clearly previously marinaded before cooking. My only complaint is I wish there was more meat in the tacos. The taco shells are pre-loaded with the beef upon ordering and the remainder of the shells are filled in with lettuce for my orders. The guacamole isn’t too thick nor is it too runny. As Goldilocks would say, it’s just right. Getting there and beating the line is the challenge as the lines sometimes wrap and wind around. I think I’ve figured it out but I’m keeping those off-times secret and to myself so I can indulge in this treat at my leisure.
Tito’s Tacos
11222 Washington Place
Culver City, CA 90230
2) Best takeout: Shawarma Land is a new find for me, courtesy of the filter option on the Yelp app. I type in “cheap eats” and see what comes up and I head off to sample their offerings. This one, I have to say, is a very pleasant surprise. I have a very detailed review of it in the Local Eats section of my blog, but the quality and flavor of the food is consistent and it’s not overly oily like other similar cuisines. As I mentioned in my review, for a shawarma platter, its $12.06 with tax and it feeds 2 people so it’s $6.03/person. Such a delicious deal!
Shawarma Land
10821 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
3) Best restaurant for delivery on a Friday night: Thai Original BBQ was introduced to me by my dad when I was a kid. A waiter from the now-defunct Universal City location had hit his car and offered to pay him for the damages and treat him to lunch. He brought me with him and I’ve been in love with their food ever since. There was another Thai restaurant in Culver City that has since closed but when this location opened, I pretty much made it my mission to eat there or have their food delivered as often and as regularly as possible. Our usual delivery order is the S-1 which is a half BBQ chicken and fried rice, S-12 which is the teriyaki salmon steak, fried rice and broccoli, chicken sate appetizer which are grilled chicken skewers that comes with a peanut sauce, yellow curry with chicken which is in a coconut curry with chunks of potatoes and recently we changed up our noodle order to phase see-ew which are flat rice noodles, egg, broccoli high we order with chicken. The latter is not overly sauced but the flavors are embedded in the noodles which rounds out the dinner selection. We also get an extra side of the fried rice because it’s so addictive. Our total is typically around $68-$69 and with tip, it’s $82. For $41/person, you get dinner, next day’s lunch and possibly an afternoon snack. The volume and quality of the food is unparalleled. We have ordered from many restaurants in the area since moving to Culver City in 2005 and none of them can compare.
Thai Original BBQ
10036 Venice Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
http://www.thaibbqculvercity.com
4) Best Happy Hour: Ruth’s Chris is hands down the best of the best. Everything on their Swizzle Hour Menu is $9. Happy hour is Monday to Friday from 4-6:30 p.m. On the rare Friday night that both my husband and I are freed up by 5:30, we run over and put our name on the wait list hoping for a table or 2 seats at the bar to open up so we can enjoy a nice inexpensive dinner with nice surroundings. Our usual go-tos are either the pomegranate or Cosmo martinis, the seared ahi tuna, spicy shrimp, roasted artisan chicken sandwich with salad for my husband and the steak sandwich, no bread, with crispy fries for me. That’s $54 and with tax and tip, it’s around $72 so that’s roughly $36/person for a nice steakhouse dinner experience with drinks.
Ruth’s Chris
13455 Maxella Avenue, #230
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
5) Best sushi and sashimi restaurant: No restaurants on the Westside can compare to the quality and value of the sushi and sashimi at Sakura. They don’t have a website. It’s all word of mouth which is how we found out about this almost hole in the wall restaurant on Centinela, in between Culver and Washington. Our orders vary but with sake and beer, our per person average rate with tax and tip is about $36-$40. My order typically includes tuna sashimi with grilled salmon. My husband usually orders a 12 piece sushi assortment, a California roll, a spicy tuna roll, and a nabeyaki udon with shrimp tempura. Nowhere in LA can you order all that food and get away with paying anything less than $60-$80/person. Hands down, Sakura is one of our favorites.
Sakura
4545 S. Centinela Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90066
I am always on the hunt for delicious, inexpensive eats close to home. I set the filter on my Yelp app to find these hidden gems and one that piqued my interest was technically one city over from Culver City in Palms.
Shawarma Land sits on Venice Blvd. and is adjoined to a Turkish market behind it. Though the actual restaurant is accessible from the street, the sidewalk is painted red so one would either have to park on the side street, at the next block where street parking is allowed on Venice or in the back lot and walk through the market. They have a decent covered outdoor patio which offers a few tables and they also have a few tables inside the restaurant. It’s very casual. You place your order at the counter and they call your number.
I’ve now eaten at Shawarma Land twice, once eating onsite and today I called in my order. The same girl helped me both times. I’m not sure if the gentleman in the back is of any relation to her but they work together seamlessly. Both times, I ordered the shawarma plate but asked for a 50/50 split of chicken and beef. Just like my initial visit, today’s meal was delicious and filling. The photo only shows the top layer of meat which covered a bottom layer of rice. Both types of meat were juicy and flavorful and there was a sheen of oil on the rice possibly from the natural juices of the chicken and the beef penetrating the kernels of rice. Included with the plate was a nice helping of hummus and a cucumber and green salad. For $10.99 which ended up being $12.06 with tax, it was a very generous amount of food. I gave 2/3 of it to my husband and we were both quite full and satisfied.
For an incredibly inexpensive and filling meal, I cannot recommend Shawarma Land enough. It offers great value, massive portions and delicious quality food.
Shawarma Land
10821 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
I admittedly have never watched an episode of Top Chef so I have zero knowledge of Chef Shirley Chung and her culinary expertise. However, I do enjoy trying new eats especially in my hometown of Culver City and Ms. Chi definitely held a great deal of promise. It is housed in the space of former Korean BBQ restaurant, Hanjip, which got off to a great start but seemed overpriced and overhyped for what it was. Culver City has tried several times to welcome some Asian eats into its hood but most have failed or not been successful enough to sustain themselves in the high rent area of downtown Culver City. This restaurant though might have a shot at longevity. Its roots are Asian but it gives enough appeal to those who have never gone to a Chinese restaurant. For those who don’t know that the red and black covered round bowl with white ladle is the white steamed rice bowl that is served to every table and patron at all authentic Chinese restaurants, this is the place for you to to start your Asian food journey.
Ms. Chi offers a happy and non-threatening introduction to Asian cuisine. The restaurant is not filled with odious scents and live seafood in an aquarium holding your dinner entree hostage. Rather it melds the Americanized Asian fare and bumps it two more notches towards the American palate. The cheeseburger dumplings is the perfect example of American Asian Fusion. It truly tastes like its name and it’s quite wonderfully savory. The tater tots at Ms. Chi aren’t coated with the standard vegetable oil flavoring. Rather it has a slightly sweet red or green pepper aftertaste which seems a bit different but perfectly placed in the restaurant’s fusion cuisine. The Brussels Sprouts with the runny egg is perfectly charred but is slightly softened once the silky yolk is broken and seeps into the smoky crevices. The star of the evening, however, was the Beijing noodle. It tasted like bolognese with thick al dente Asian flat noodles resembling the Italian parpadelle pasta. The flavor explosion was quite complex and unmatched by anything I have ever tasted.
To top off this very unique and exemplary meal, the service was top notch. William was our server and just kept dishing it out which was fairly quick because the kitchen crew did not miss a beat.
Overall, Ms. Chi is top notch and I thank every person who we met tonight who helped shape our dinner experience and now I clearly need to find Chef Shirley Chung’s Top Chef episode(s). 😎
Ms. Chi Cafe
3929 Main Street
Culver City, CA 90232
Don Chuy’s had been in the neighborhood for a bit but somehow we had never managed to visit. I did, however, occasionally look at how many stars it received on Yelp and it somehow hovered around 3-3 1/2 stars so it didn’t seem like a priority. Tonight, however, was the exception. I wanted to try somewhere different which wasn’t far from home and not expensive but was savory and I had a hankering for some chips and salsa. I went on Yelp and looked for Mexican restaurant options and Don Chuy’s was the closest and the menu was reasonably priced so off we went.
I had read that they didn’t have a liquor license at the moment which didn’t matter because we lived 5 minutes away and we have our own stash at home. I didn’t think I would find parking in the small parking lot but lo and behold there were at least 3 available spaces when we arrived. We entered and saw the sign alerting customers of the lack of alcohol and inside the intimate but tastefully and traditionally designed restaurant we saw 2 TVs with the Dodgers game onscreen so we knew it had a casual but potentially fun vibe. We assumed the restaurant was nearly empty due to the lack of alcohol which really was really a blessing for us because the service was top notch. Our waitress was fantastic. I was torn between the carne asada, ribs and the fish and she immediately recommended the ribs which is apparently quite popular. My husband ordered the “orijinal burrito” with chicken which was massive and contained tender pieces of chicken with rice and a dollop of sauce with melted cheese. My ribs were fantastically tender, fall of the bone meat, with a rich, savory, dense red seasoned but not overly spiced sauce that blended in perfectly with the rice and the refried beans with ooey gooey cheese melted on top. As this was our first visit, our server mentioned that the restaurant was family owned and most days and nights, the husband and wife would ordinarily be milling about or behind the counter making sure everything was in order but Fridays are their nights off. No matter. The food and service were impeccable and I am so incredibly happy to have found a place so close to home that will eventually become my second home.
Thanks Don Chuy’s for your fantastic food and fantastic service!!
Don Chuy’s Restaurant
11800 Jefferson Blvd
Culver, CA 90230
Grace Gambin
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