#7: The Sprinkles Cupcake ATM

After living in Los Angeles for five years, I'm sure I've used the phrase "only in LA" more than once, as the only way to possibly justify all of the ridiculous things this city has to offer.

"Only in LA can you take a 70s themed fitness class from Richard Simmons."

"Only in LA will you see Leonardo Dicaprio in an Anthropologie." (this made my life)

And truly, only in LA is there an after-hours ATM for cupcakes.

Yes, CUPCAKES.  Because Angeleos have such tough lives that sometimes the only cure is a cupcake fix at any and all hours of the night.

And the cupcake ATM doesn't dispense just any old cupcake... it dispenses LA's boutique cupcake  du'jour, Sprinkles Cupcakes.  One could argue that Sprinkles is single-handedly responsible for the country-wide cupcake craze, and for good reason.  They are really amazingly delicious cupcakes.

Now don't get me wrong, I love me a good cupcake, but I have never quite found myself NEEDING a cupcake after 8pm (especially when there is ample fro-yo available, hello!)  But I am apparently in the minority with that thinking, as there is a line for the Cupcake ATM every single night.  I quickly learned this when my friend Kaio and I popped by the ATM at around 9pm on a Thursday in December to buy myself a novelty cupcake and check this final LA oddity off my bucket list.

I could hardly believe that there was a line, but as we waited ever so patiently while two guys five people ahead of us bought literally a dozen cupcakes (made 12 times worse by the fact that you can only purchase one cupcake at a time), we started conversations with the people in line with us.  Two young girls behind us, the must have been high-school aged, were particularly enlightening.  They both said that they were "like totally addicted" to Sprinkles cupcakes, and they come to the ATM - and wait in line - almost every single night.  They also told us that this long line we were complaining about was actually "like totally short in comparison to most nights."  A dad in front of us with his tween-age daughter told us that they waited in line, in the rain, on the ATM's opening night... FOR THREE HOURS.  I have never felt so out of place in my beloved Los Angeles, except for maybe the time I accidentally stumbled upon Skid Row during dinner time.

So anyway, after about 30 minutes of waiting, Kaio and I finally made it to the front of the line and it was time for me to order my cupcake.  Of course they didn't have the flavor I wanted (lemon, the best cake flavor ever to exist... though it is worth noting that they DO sell doggy cupcakes for your furry friends) so I settled on vanilla, knowing I would be giving it to my mom as an early "thanks for feeding me for a week over the Christmas holiday" gift.  Of course when I swiped my credit card it didn't work, and after four attempts, as I'm breaking out in a sweat knowing there is a huge line of people behind me waiting on the bozo who can't get her credit card to swipe, the in-the-know girls behind me told me to swipe down to up, and it worked.  They obviously had this down.  I selected my vanilla cupcake, and waited with anticipation as I saw the robot ATM arm reach up and grab the box, then ever so gently place it in the recepticle, which then spun around and TA-DA my cupcake was in front of me.  Not to mention that it was (naturally) about half the size of an in-store Sprinkles cupcake, but whatever, here I had a $4 cupcake in a cute little box delivered to me via an Automated Teller.

When I gave it to my mom the next day, I insisted that after ALL the work I put into it, she had to share it with me (I'm a great daughter, I know).  She said it was the best cupcake she'd ever had, and I thought it was pretty delicious too. 

You can see all the boxes of cupcakes behind the cute pink mesh

Who waits in line for a cupcake machine?! I do.

My excitement is barely contained after waiting in line for 30 minutes!

My cupcake is on its way!!

#12: The Watts Towers

I would like you all to think that I learned about the Watts Towers because I am really plugged into the cultural folklore of Los Angeles, but I most likely learned about them from this amazing 2001 R&B masterpiece music video by Watts native, Tyrese Gibson.  Seriously, do yourself a favor and skip to the 2:20 mark for an epic dance breakdown in front of the towers.

So, 11 years ago when I first saw the Watts Towers all lit up in da club in that video, I didn't really have a clue what they were.  Seeing as they are in a city called "Watts," I kind of just assumed that they were unnecessarily fancy power lines or something of the sort (Watts, wattage, get it?).  It wasn't until many years later when I first moved to LA and was reading up on LA's ghetto's histories (it's really fascinating stuff) that I learned the Watts Towers are actually an art installation.  Huh.  Who knew.

The more I read about them, the more intrigued I was to see them in person.  They are, however, in Watts, which as any self-respecting hip hop fan could tell you, is in the heart of the South Central ghetto.  And I'm not talking ghetto like "omg this place is soooo ghetto, it only serves Coors Light."  I'm talking ghetto like "that building over there is a home-base for the Crips, which might explain the bullet holes all over its walls." Certainly not a place I would want to find myself after sundown, if you know what I mean.

My friend Kaio and I have been wanting to go to Watts for years (for the towers and also to try the legendarily amazing soul food at the Watts Coffee House) but every time we were about to go, we chickened out.  It really takes a lot to ignore the South Central reputation.  Many older LA locals refuse to go anywhere near Watts or South Central in general, because they still remember the Watts Riots of 1965, not to mention the "Rodney King Riots" of 1992 and all the crimes in-between glorified by hip hop artists since the '80s.  But after reading probably about 100 yelp reviews, many of which say "get your white ass down here, you'll be fine" we finally built up the cajones to just go.  And I must say, I am SO glad we did.

As we got off the freeway at Wilmington, it was very obvious that we weren't in "Kansas" anymore... or really anywhere slightly resembling our usual LA haunts.  There were lots of people walking around and all of the buildings looked very, very shabby, but no one bothered us or even paid attention.  We had a little bit of trouble finding the Coffee House, since it is literally in a building inside another building, and the exterior building is some sort of youth outreach organization.  Luckily we saw the little sign in the window and made our way through.  The place was tiny, with probably only about 10 tables, and only 2 were filled.  One table had a well-dressed black guy and his mom ("When you say well-dressed, do you mean he was wearing a sweet FUBU track suit?" - my racist boyfriend) and the other table had a bunch of white college kids.  I'm not gonna lie, I was a little upset that it had taken me so long to work the nerve up to go here, since it was completely harmless.

Our waitress, though, was the real deal.  Low-cut shirt with cleavage up to her chin, a permanent scowl on her face and popping gum, she took our order even though I'm sure she had better things to do.  We ordered chicken, waffles, biscuits, eggs, and I ordered a Diet Coke.  Was told there was only regular coke, which I said was fine, but then the waitress brought me a Sprite, with a look on her face like "I dare you to complain about this Sprite"... so I drank the Sprite.  The fried chicken wings were AMAZING.  Like, a thousand times better than Roscoes.  They were obviously freshly cooked, and to perfection.  I was sad when the meal was over.

Mmm... fried chicken.

After we worked up the energy to move, we quickly drove over to the Towers, which are less than a mile from the coffee house.  Anywhere else in LA, we would have walked.  But I didn't want to push our luck, since things were going well so far.  I also had to talk Kaio out of taking the "scenic" route, which would have taken us right through one of the most (in)famous projects in Watts, Jordan Downs. 

The thing about the Watts Towers, is that even though they are technically a state park, they are in the middle of a very unassuming neighborhood.  Describing the Watts Towers, or looking at pictures, doesn't really do them much justice.  They really are a sight to see in person.  Anyone can drive around the neighborhood where the towers are, and you can get pretty close to them if you get out of your car.  However, there is a (see-through) fence around the perimeter, and you can only go inside by paying $7 to take a tour (you can purchase your tour tickets from the visitor/art center which is right next to the towers).  The tour was extremely informative, and it was obvious that our guide had personal pride in these symbols of his hometown.

View from the street

The story of the towers is truly fascinating.  As I learned from our guide, as well as the 12-minute video they showed us in the visitors center, Simon Rodia was an Italian immigrant, who found himself in Southern California in the 1920s working construction.  He was a very small man (4'10"), and like many small men, he was determined to do something "big" with his life.  He began building the structures in his backyard, using only simple tools like hammers, pliers, mallets and nails.  He used scrap steel from the railroad for the rebar base of the structures, then wrapped chicken wire around the metal, and covered the wire in a cement sand mixture.  He then covered the cement with "garbage," mostly pieces of broken pottery or ceramics, soda bottles, and more scrap metal.  Over 32 years, he spent every moment of his free time building a total of nine towers, with the tallest standing at 99 feet. In order to get to the tops, he would just climb up, and use a basic window-washers belt to keep himself from falling.

As the story goes, Rodia was working on the towers one day in 1954 when he fell, and he says the fall was so bad that he knew that was his cue to stop.  He was in his 70s at the time, and was content with just stopping where he was.  It wasn't long though, that neighbors started hassling him, and defacing his masterpiece.  Throughout his time building, everyone had accused him of being crazy, of building the towers to communicate with the Japanese, or aliens, or that he was building a weapon.  One day, he had had enough, and just left.  He sold his property to a neighbor for $1, and moved to Northern California to never come back again.

Over the years, the city wanted to tear the towers down, convinced that they were unsafe and a hazard to people around them, especially during an earthquake.  A few local advocates, who wanted to preserve the towers (as they had very quickly become a local landmark) asked the city to do a stress-test before tearing them down.  The city sent out a crane to exert 10,000 lbs of force and the crane broke before any of the towers moved an inch!  The engineer hired to do the test said that it could cost the city more money to take them down than they would ever get out of the worth of the land, so the towers were allowed to stay.  Soon after, a trust was set up and the towers and the lot they stand on became a state park, and is currently curated by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Every single surface of these 9 towers, as well as archways and other fountains he built, are covered in colorful mosaics.  The intricate criss-crossing of the lines shows that he had a vision from the very beginning, and that at the end everything would come together.  I was truly amazed at the scope and vision of this artist.  He really did turn trash into treasure - a treasure that is really valued by locals as a sign of perseverance, hope, and success.

(Trivia Bonus! Simon Rodia is included in the big group picture on the cover of the Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band!)

Entry archway mosaic made from Sprite and Ginger Ale bottles.

Fountain with tallest tower behind it

Fountain mosaic detail

What looks like a bunch of random pieces from far away, are all symmetric and make sense up close

Rodia actually named his installation "Nuestra Pueblo" which means "Our Town."

These connected towers are supposed to represent the sail of a ship, based on a parade float Rodia saw in his childhood in Italy.

1930's Canada Dry ginger ale bottles - Canada Dry was Rodia's favorite drink so he featured these bottles prominently throughout the towers.

Rodia signed his work with a simple "S.R." and imprints of the tools he used

Me and Kaio in front of one of many archways

We saw THIS GUY on our way out of town.  It may be prejudicial, but we both felt like our South Central experience was a bit more authentic since we saw a bad ass pimp in a bright-green lo-lo.

#15: The Standard Hotel Rooftop Bar

There really is nothing quite as lovely as a relaxing, laid-back lunch on a rooftop amidst skyscrapers, am I right? Unfortunately, the premiere rooftop bar experience in downtown LA, the Standard Hotel, is a big fan of throwing fussy, douchey parties almost every weekend. Due to this little obstacle, I had pretty much given up hope of ever enjoying myself there.

It took us some time (three attempts to be exact), but my friend Barbara and I finally realized that in order to have our perfect, relaxing lunch, (and to avoid fedora-wearing downtown posers) we'd have to go on an off-weekend. Like a really off-weekend. And we couldn't have picked a better time to go than this last Sunday. It had rained all day Saturday, the weather was predicted to barely reach 60 degrees, and it was, after all, January.

By the time we made our way into downtown at lunchtime, the sun was shining and the temp was in the high 60's. Already better than what we expected. To our delight, when we got up to the rooftop bar, there were a total of four people on the entire roof - three patrons drinking mimosas, and one bartender. We had our pick of seats, and laid back on the sofa/chair/beds that serve as the seating, and just took in the amazing skyline views.

It was a little chilly, but we sat right next to a heat lamp, which dramatically improved the experience. The lunch menu was pretty limited, with only about 6 items that were barely more than finger food. I got pork sliders (delicious) and Barb got a grilled cheese sandwich. As we were finishing lunch, the sun came out from behind the buildings, and all of a sudden it felt like a summer day.

We walked around the perimeter of the roof and took pictures of all the views. One part of the restaurant has turned into a "bier garten," which was empty at the time but looked very charming. On the back side of the bar is the semi-famous pool. I know the rooftop bar and pool have been in several movies, most memorable for me in Get Him to the Greek, where Russell Brand jumps from the roof of the bar into the pool and has his life-changing epiphany.

The best part about this whole experience was that we had the place to ourselves. We weren't cramped, sitting on a corner of a cushion that occupied 10 other people. I am pretty sure this was a very atypical experience, but I am glad that we finally planned it right. I certainly wouldn't want to go back and stand four fedoras deep, trying to order a watered-down and ridiculously expensive cocktail, but not much can beat lunch on a sunny, uncrowded day!

The rooftop lounge - completely empty!

The pool, deserted.

A great shot of the US Bank Tower, the tallest building in Los Angeles.

The signature upside-down sign out front.

Part of the downtown skyline - the US Bank Tower, the central library, the AT&T building and cell tower, and the historic Biltmore Hotel.

#25: Restaurant Row

Hardly anything in Los Angeles is "walking distance." You have to drive EVERYWHERE. But I am lucky to live within walking distance of Restaurant Row, a strip of La Cienega that is home to several high-end, well-known restaurants. They are considered some of the best of the best restaurants in the city- from sushi and Korean BBQ, to Brazilian, Mediterranean, and even one entirely devoted to garlic. I drive past the whole row every day on my way home from work, and they all look so fancy and SMELL so delicious.

I just knew that if I moved away from this apartment and I didn't take advantage of eating at all these places, I would regret it. So below are my (abbreviated) thoughts on each of the Restaurant Row spots I've been able to hit so far.

The Bazaar by Jose Andres

Tapas

PROS: Phenomenal and diverse menu, tapas style is great for sharing, beautiful interior, “mobile dining experience” where you move to a smaller room with couches for dinner, traditional Spanish flan, matchbooks (for the collection)

CONS: Very crowded valet (luckily we walked), extremely expensive

HIGHLIGHT: Philly cheese steak starter, “magic” mojito poured over cotton candy instead of using simple syrup

OVERALL : This place has definitely earned its reputation. Normally too expensive for me, their Restaurant Week menu was vast and we left incredibly full.

5 stars out of 5

Traditional Spanish Flan was amazing. I was too busy stuffing my face to take pictures of anything else.

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Fogo De Chao

Brazilian churrascaria steakhouse

PROS: All-you-can-eat, Top-grade cuts of meat, speedy service with people coming by every few seconds offering even more meat, high-end salad bar

CONS: One price - $58 - to eat as much or as little as you want. Works for someone like my boyfriend who can eat 4 times as much as me. But for me it was expensive.

HIGHLIGHT: The different salads at the salad bar, beef ribs and bottom sirloin

OVERALL : It was good food, but really expensive. I would prefer a place that would charge a flat fee but with a limit on how much meat you get, that way I would be paying for only what I ate.

4 stars out of 5

A table full of food - clockwise from bottom: plantains, mashed potatoes, and a plate full of meat.

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Woo Lae Oak

Korean BBQ

PROS: High quality meats, fresh veggies

CONS: Extremely slow service, never even filled up my water!

HIGHLIGHT: Short ribs, glass noodle appetizer

OVERALL: More expensive and less authentic than Korean BBQ in Koreatown, which is just a few miles away.

3 stars out of 5

Notice my empty water glass!

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Gonpachi

Sushi/Japanese

PROS: Beautiful courtyard garden eating area complete with koi pond, 50%-off happy hour menu, awesome soft after-dinner mints, you can watch a chef making soba noodles

CONS: Happy hour menu was limited (alcohol wasn’t included!), normal prices are over-inflated

HIGHLIGHT: Asian chicken wings, salmon and spicy tuna soy wrap rolls

OVERALL: This is a fun place to go to Happy Hour, especially since the outdoor seating is so lovely.

3.5 stars out of 5

Clockwise from bottom: Asian chicken wings, albacore on crispy rice, garlic edamame, sweet potato fries

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Gyu-kaku

Japanese BBQ

PROS: Amazing all-day Monday happy hour, generous portions of meat

CONS: Large tables with grills in the middle make intimate conversation difficult

HIGHLIGHT: Yakishabu beef was seasoned (and then cooked by yours truly) to perfection, corn and zucchini were excellent when grilled

OVERALL: The menu is actually affordable even without the happy hour prices. The meats are seasoned excellently and the whole restaurant smells amazing from everyone cooking their different foods.

4 stars out of 5

Grilled corn soaking up all the yakishabu juices.

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Tanzore

Indian

PROS: Savory and spicy food, without being too spicy, nice interior layout and décor, decent prices

CONS: Some of the dishes were less authentic, to appeal to a more generic audience

HIGHLIGHT: Lamb briani was savory and delicious

OVERALL: The food was really good, with just the right amount of spice for me. It’s not fair to compare this to my friend’s mom’s homemade Indian cooking, but it definitely came pretty close.

4 stars out of 5

Love the bright colors! Clockwise from bottom: lamb briani, nan, baingan Bharta, Punjabi chicken curry

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The Stinking Rose

A Garlic Restaurant

PROS: Fun campy interior decor

CONS: Average food, average service

HIGHLIGHT: Only worth going to see the interior and the funny vampire-like waiters.

OVERALL: The scent of garlic will haunt you for days. Ew.

2 stars out of 5

Garlic prime rib

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Matsuhisa

Sushi

PROS: Fresh fish, world-famous chef’s menu

CONS: Overly expensive, tiny servings, very crowded, completely bland exterior

HIGHLIGHT: The kobe beef taco was insane, but it was literally 2 bites.

OVERALL: For $60 a person, you’d expect to leave stuffed, but we both left slightly hungry. Quality is unparalleled, but the crowd of fedora-wearing wannabe crowd was off-putting.

3 stars out of 5

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#37: The Grilled Cheese Truck

Everyone has their own comfort food. Regardless of the weather or how bad the day has been, there is always that one meal that can make everything better. For me, that food has always been a grilled cheese sandwich. Not the healthiest or most balanced meal, but paired with some tomato soup, a cozy blanket and a chick flick, it has always been able to cure even my sourest moods. So when I heard that there was a food truck specifically dedicated to my comfort food, I had to track it down.

Little did I know, that the Grilled Cheese Truck is like the food truck of the moment in Los Angeles. If I could even find a time when the truck was in my area, I could then count on there being an hour-long line at the least. But luckily for me, three amazing things happened all at once to make my trip to the Grilled Cheese Truck possible. 1) a gas station near work recently was converted into a parking lot for lunch-time food trucks, 2) no one knows about it yet so there aren't many crowds and 3), the Grilled Cheese Truck decided to stop there one day during my lunch break.

My coworker Brett and I headed over to, as they now call it "the Truck Stop" (aka the old Valero gas station on La Brea and Beverly) for some amazing grilled cheese. I pored over the menu beforehand, and decided that I was going to deviate from my classic favorite (cheddar on wheat) for something more exciting: jabanero jack on french bread with a savory bbq pork addition. If it hadn't been the middle of August and hot and sunny, I would have added a cup of tomato soup.

The wait was only about 10 minutes, but it was downright agonizing when surrounded by the smell of various grilled cheese creations. When I finally got my sandwich, I felt like I had a hot treasure in my hands (and it weighed about as much as a brick of gold, too). I had to wait another agonizing 10 more minutes before we drove back to work, to eat our sandwiches since the Truck Stop has yet to install tables. But oh man, it was worth the wait!

The jabanero jack was spicy (but not too spicy for a weakling like me), the bread was soft but crunchy on the outside, and the bbq pork was a perfect addition. I may have gained 2 pounds, and the $8 price tag was a bit steep, but the experience was well worth it. I really hope the Grilled Cheese truck stops by again soon, because I have heard amazing things about their cheesy mac & rib sandwich, s'mores sandwich (yes!), as well as pretty much ALL their different cheeses- fresh mozzarella, gruyere, and double cream brie. O. M. G.

I highly recommend the Grilled Cheese Truck, ideally if you can find it in your area without an hour-long wait!

Luckily it was a short line when we got there!

The menu, adorned with the awesome "truck-stop girl" logos on the bottom.

Cheesy, melty, deliciousness.

#27: The Huntington Gardens

At my old job I used to get bored a lot, and one week I found myself voraciously reading about the history of Los Angeles on Wikipedia (I know, nerd alert). I read about the history of South Central, Hollywood, Long Beach, Santa Monica, and all the old rich neighborhoods like West Adams, Hancock Park, and Pasadena. There is so much fascinating history about each of these different neighborhoods, not to mention important cultural influences that are still seen today. But that's besides the point. What really matters here is that reading about the histories of these neighborhoods really made me want to explore them. I'll save South Central for another day, but at the top of my list was Pasadena, and with it, the Huntington Gardens.

The Huntington Gardens (full name: The Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens) is in one of the oldest, richest neighborhoods of South Pasadena. The land and buildings were actually donated by the Huntington family estate, and the main museum (that houses locally well-known paintings such as Pinkie and Blue Boy) was the family home. And by home I mean ridiculous 1800s old-money mansion. There is also an impressive research library, which counts a Gutenberg Bible and manuscript of The Canterbury Tales among its six million titles. Not to mention the 14 different botanical gardens on its grounds.

My friend Barbara and I headed over to Pasadena on a lovely Sunday during LA's "Carmageddon" weekend (aka the weekend they closed part of the 405 freeway and everyone thought there would be Earth-ending hellish traffic, when in fact, there were NO cars on the road) and it was the easiest drive to Pasadena I could have imagined. We paid the $10 entrance fee (it's $20 on weekends for adults but I showed my student ID to get the discount, don't judge) and began exploring. We started out walking the grounds around the main house, which included a huge lawn lined with statues, and shaded winding paths through different orchards. We stopped by the Japanese garden, which was unfortunately under construction and mostly blocked off. We then visited the Chinese garden, complete with pagodas, lily ponds and thousands of native Chinese plants. We walked through the Desert garden, the Camellia garden, and the Herb garden. They were all absolutely stunning, peaceful, colorful.... everything you'd expect from a botanical garden.

Then we headed over to the Rose garden, which was breathtaking, to say the least. Row after row, trellis after trellis of the most vibrant, pungent and creatively-named roses I've ever seen. There were roses of every color of the rainbow (and even others - like grey!) with awesome names like "Rainbow Knock-out," "Class Act," "Passionate Kisses" and "Playboy." I've been to botanical gardens before, but I've never seen a rose garden of this magnitude. It was like something out of a storybook!

After a thoroughly enjoyable (and long) stroll through the extensive rose garden, we went over to the rose garden tea room for a high-tea lunch. We completely stuffed ourselves with fresh scones (with clotted cream and jam!), tea sandwiches, fresh fruit, fancy crackers and even fancier cheeses, and various pastry treats all topped with pink lemonade. It was absolutely delicious and the perfect compliment to a lovely day in the garden. Plus, the air conditioning was amazing.

After we snuck a few scones into our purses, we headed over to the art museum to avoid the now sweltering heat outside. I especially wanted to see the view out of the back terrace, which has a magnificent view of greenery and mountains and you would never guess you were in LA! We saw all the paintings, artifacts, stained glass windows, and spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging on the shaded terrace. We leaned back in rattan chairs and looked out over all the surrounding gardens and greenery. It was absolutely lovely.

After a quick trip to the gift shop (which was stock-full of History of LA books.. I die!) we headed home, full of romantic dreams of what it must have been like to be insanely rich in Pasadena in the 1800s. I am so glad that Barbara showed me this gem of a place. It was so beautiful and romantic and relaxing and interesting and the absolute perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I highly, highly recommend a visit here (and make sure to bring your student ID!)

Pagoda in the Chinese Garden

Roses in the rose garden

The back veranda of the main house that overlooks all of South Pasadena

The shaded east terrace

Our amazing high tea meal!

Barbara and me rocking our sundresses in the rose garden

#23: Philippe's The Original French Dip

Originally, #23 on my list was to rent a paddle boat on Echo Park Lake. I think I was inspired by that one scene in 10 Things I Hate About You, even though that was supposed to be set in Seattle. Anyway. As I was doing a bit of research on boat fees, I found out that not only has the Echo Park boathouse been closed down, but the entire lake had been fenced off for a complete remodel and won't reopen until 2012. So much for that!

Later that week, my boyfriend told me about a restaurant he had heard about on one of his favorite travel channel shows, Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, called Philippe's Original. I had heard of it, but had never been there. It is one of those classic LA restaurants. Not one of those "hot right now" places, but a place that has been in downtown LA for over 100 years, and has a legitimate claim to having invented the French-dip sandwich. I do love a French-dip, and decided it needed to be on my list.

Ronny and I ventured downtown on the 4th of July, on our way to a Dodgers game. We walked into Philippe's full of high expectations, because after all, when Anthony Bourdain raves, Ronny listens. And Philippe's did not disappoint. Much to Ronny's delight, Philippe's is located near Chinatown, and it seems to be far away from all the hipster-cool downtown-chic places. Here was a restaurant with no pretentiousness, no airs, and was simply about delicious French-dip sandwiches. The menu was limited, with only I think 5 different sandwiches to order, along with deli style potato salads and coleslaws. Hanging above the counter was a sign that said "Lemonade, $0.75" and I thought it was one of those cute vintage tin signs. No, the lemonade actually cost 75 cents! I ordered the beef dip with potato salad, Ronny ordered the lamb dip with cole slaw, and we each got a lemonade. Total bill was just over $20. I have ordered cocktails that (with tip) cost as much!

Touristy as ever, I started to take pictures of our sandwiches, but was abruptly stopped by Ronny. "Really Suz, could you please stop? This is kind of a private moment." Though Ronny may have been more serious about it, I have to agree that the sandwiches really were that good. He has already asked me twice when we can go back.

Behind the counter

All the goods... Ronny's hands in the background ready to pounce!

Yaaay!!

If a restaurant can exist for over 100 years in Los Angeles, it's legit in my eyes!