Phillippe the Original

 

 

Fresh Coffee!

It’s 2025, and four bits isn’t really a lot of money. But $0.46 is enough to get you a cup of coffee from one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles. Phillippe the Original is the best place to go for a French Dip, invented here 100 years ago. The atmosphere of the place is timeless, and the food preparation is still handled the same way it was when I was a small boy, which is the same way it was done when my father was a small boy, too. There are still wooden phone booths lining the wall and sawdust on the floor.

The prices, though are not the same, and have gone up proportionally over the years. Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s a great value for the money, but it doesn’t cost what it used to-except for the coffee.

Grant it, my first memories of coffee at Phillippe’s was a nickel, the price it remained until 1977, when

Everyone seems to look at the phone booths

 

it jumped up to a dime. The dime held until 2012, when the price more than quadrupled to the current price of $0.46.

How is the coffee?

Actually, not too bad. It’s Gaviña, which is a brand that shows up in many restaurants, as well as Don Francisco and Cafe La Llave. It’s strong, with a smokey flavor and no bitter after taste. Certainly worth $0.46.

The coffee is a great value, but not the reason that people come to Phillippe’s. They come for the French dip. For the uninitiated, a French dip is a roast beef sandwich on a French roll that has been sliced and had the open face dipped in au jus. You can add cheese, and there’s house made spicy mustard at the table. That’s it. The roast beef is always lean and fresh, and still is prepared right in front of you by women who look like they’ve been there since Phillippe’s moved to this location in 1951. Phillippe’s will also make you a similar sandwich from pork, lamb, pastrami, turkey and ham, all dipped in their appropriate au jus. I’ve had the roast beef, pork and lamb, and they’ve all been good. (Interestingly, though I love pastrami, I don’t think I’ve had the pastrami here-I’m going to need to try it the next time I’m in the area).        

My usual.

Phillippe the Original is one of two places in Los Angeles that claim the creation of the French Dip, the other being Cole’s. Both have a great sandwich and claim to have created it in the same year, but I give the edge to Phillippe the Original. I like Phillippe’s Cole slaw and pickles, and my wife enjoys their potato salad. They also have a good cheesecake and carrot cake. Plus, it’s cheaper. Cole’s does have pretty good French fries, and a speakeasy in the back.

My family has been going to Phillippe’s for at least three generations (four if you include my children), and much has been written about it. It’s a great stop before or after Dodger games, or if you happen to be in Union Station.

 

For The Win Smash Burgers/Kettle Glazed Doughnuts

 

A rainy day road trip with my son and a craving for a good hamburger led us to For The Win for smash burgers.

First, what is the difference between a smash burger and a regular burger? The smash burger is a patty cooked on a hot grill, smashed down with the spatula so that more of the patty is in contact with the high heat. The idea is that more proteins in the meat break down, giving the meat a more charred flavor, while still retaining some of it's juiciness.

 

 A Double with Cheese

 

Apparently, it's proper to use a soft bun as well, and keep the extras to a minimum.

 

For The Win started during the pandemic, the remnants of the owner's high end restaurant. It's a small space, but since it was raining, my son and I were easily able to find in door seating.

He's a young man, and ordered a triple cheese with bacon. I just can't eat that way anymore, and wanted to get a doughnut from the place next door after, so I went with the double with cheese. We bought french fries and brussel sprouts, too.

So at twice the price of a comparable In-N-Out burger, was it worth it?

Maybe. The smash burger technique does add a more complicated flavor, toasty across each bite instead of just the edges. I liked the potato buns better than In-N-Outs, too. The cheese was nothing special and might have benefited from being a sharp cheddar. The fries were ordinary. 

The brussel sprouts were very good, though. They were grilled and had a very strong hint of citrus that really set off their flavor, and I wish we'd have gotten a second order of those and skipped the fries altogether. 

 

The staff was friendly, even allowing me to buy a Mexican Coke from the liquor store next door and bring it in since they were out. The service was fast, too.

I won't make a special trip, but if I'm in the area and don't feel like a Tommy Burger, I'd definitely eat there again. They're open until 9 PM.

Kettle Glazed Doughnuts, next door, was also good and not too expensive. My son went with the s'mores, which he said was good.

I had this, which was also good. We were there late in the day, and the doughnuts were still soft and fresh, not like a stale doughnut that's been sitting in a case all day. With the burgers, it was a tasty, high calorie meal.

 

 

Pablito's Tacos

Pablito's Tacos

Coronavirus or no, I still love tacos.

In the background, here in my backyard, the soundtrack to some 'Bollywood' film is playing. Not sure why I have this...

Pablito's Tacos is across the street from the Red Barn Market, in the parking lot of Iglesia Apostolica. (this church would sometimes serve tacos out of a pop-up). The Red Barn actually rates it's own entry, and maybe I'll get to that soon. They've got good meat and a good deli section. 

I'd initially planned on getting a bean and cheese burrito from the Red Barn deli-the beans are good, made in manteca, the way my grandmother would have, and it's only $3.50. But I noticed that Pablito's was open, and so changed up my plan.

I ordered the birrias taco, and I was just going to get an asada taco to go with it. The kid at the window suggested the gordita, and if he felt good enough to suggest it, I figured that I'd give it a whirl. I also got a can of Dr. Pepper to wash it down, for a total of $7.50.

At that price point, the bar is pretty low-if it's edible, it's probably worth it. I noticed that on their signage, they mention $1 Tacos on both Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons, which I'll have to come back to try.

The wait seemed a little long, but not bad, and the food-well, it was pretty good. Everything was fried, of course, but not too greasy, and the birria sauce had a good smokey flavor with just a bit of spicy. There was plenty of meat in both items, and enough birria to dip both. The gordita looked more like what I would call a crunchy taco, with cheese and lettuce, but with some birria sauce, it was quite tasty. And he fished the Dr. Pepper out of a cooler of ice and water-Nothing quite like an ice cold Dr. Pepper.

No chairs or tables were out, so I plopped on the steps of the church in the parking lot. The lot was in the center of a complex of buildings-the taco truck is owned by the church-and several men walked by, seeming to do different things and all asked if I enjoyed the food and thanked me for stopping by. 

So, does it match up to my favorite taco truck on the Avenues of Ventura? No, but this one is open in the afternoon, so I'll be back.

 

Limon y Sal

Limon y Sal
598 E. Main
Ventura CA  93001

My wife and I would pop into the old Watermark for Happy Hour snacks and cocktails. It was a classy setting, with a 1920's, art-deco vibe that we enjoyed while sitting at the bar, and the food and drinks were served quickly and everyone was friendly. We always said that we should go for dinner sometime, but never made it.

Then the placed closed.

The owners of El Pescador bought the place and reopened as an upscale Mexican restaurant, Limøn y Sal. 

So first, I must confess that I've never eaten a meal here. But it's a great place for margarita's, and Margarita Monday is a great time to come. On several occasions, groups of friends and I have enjoyed appetizers and cocktails on their beautiful rooftop bar. It overlooks the roofs, mostly, but Main Street, the hillside, and the ocean as well. There is something special about being up high and enjoying a cocktail. The old Watermark bar is still downstairs, and it's rich art-deco flourishes make it a classy place to sit, but here in Ventura, the rooftop just seems better. The roof is enclosed, but with the ability to open and shut many doors and windows, depending on the weather.

The art-deco vibe is still in place, but with that is a reminder of the dark woods that I remember in the Mexican restaurants of East L.A. that my father would take us to when I was growing up. The food always smells good, and there's usually a crowd.

Friday and Saturday nights the joint is generally jumping, with lines going outside, so I've never been on those nights. Midweek is still kind of crowded, but the service on the rooftop bar is generally quick, and comes with chips and salsa. On my last visit, there was a dj as well as big screen tv's showing both the Dodgers and the World Cup. There are always signs in for Rico and Mambo, morning jocks on a local hip-hop station, who make regular appearances, as well as occasional mariachis. 

A good, margarita vibe.

Tamales Alberto, Echo Park

I've been writing a book about a guy from Echo Park in the '40's, and though nothing may come of it-I've tried to write books before and nothing has come of them-I have an idea and a timeline, and now I just have to get it all done.

So I've walked Echo Park a few times since the summer, and what I'm seeing is a neighborhood in transition, what was a somewhat frightening part of town in the 80's now being filled with both hipsters and homeless. I'm getting good ideas and background for my book, and that's all good. Maybe in a few years, I'll have it finished and my blog will be looked at as my early writings, and isn't it obvious how talented I am. Or not.

I was hungry as I walked the area last week, and I was going to go to a food truck that I'd seen every time I was there. It's always crowded and smelled pretty good, but when I walked up to check it out, I noticed that the health inspector gave it a 'B'. I'm not opposed to eating someplace with a 'B', but something has been bothering my stomach the last few weeks, and I didn't feel like risking it.

I continued on, and noticed Tamales Alberto. They had other items on their menu, and since I'm not a big tamale fan, I figured I'd try something else.

I walked into the small dining area and up to the register, ready to order a burrito, which I saw on the menu. I noticed a tray of tamales, and they smelled good, but I still wasn't planning on buying one.

I should mention why I'm not a tamale fan. My wife buys them, and I'll eat them, but I always find them a bit dry. Sometimes they're too spicy, sometimes they're nothing but masa, and sometimes they just aren't good. There's a tamale man who comes through my neighborhood from time to time, and we usually buy, but mostly because he seems very nice. I'm never sure what he's going to have, and there's nothing that I feel I really want. For Christmas this year, we bought some tamales from somewhere in Oxnard, and they just weren't good at all.

Tamales, I could take 'em or leave 'em.

I was hungry, though, and they had a place to sit down, so I picked out two, pork with red sauce and pineapple.

The pork with red sauce was excellent! The masa was moist, with a strong corn flavor. There was a good amount of pork, and the red sauce had a hint of heat.

Then the pineapple...I had a flash back to being an 8 year old boy. My grandparents on my Father's side had a place that they liked going to, but I don't know where it was. They would bring back tamales for my family once in a while-I think my father liked them, but I don't remember now. I was a little, fat kid who didn't like anything spicy, so they would bring me sweet tamales. I seem to remember those have cinnamon and raisins, and weren't spicy at all.

This pineapple reminded me of that. The corn tasted almost like a cornbread, and with the pineapple, it started to take on the qualities of a pineapple upside down cake. It was great!

So after devouring both (with a can of Coke), I decided to have one more. I went for the chicken mole. The mole had a bit of heat and a bit of sweet, and it soaked into the masa, spreading the heat/sweet combination into every bite. The chicken also picked up some of the mole flavor. Another excellent tamale.

And I was out under $10.

Tommy's

Tuesday Night Crowd

There isn't a lot to say about Tommy's that hasn't been said. An LA institution, serving up sloppy chili burgers for over 70 years, I've personally been hitting Tommy's since the early 80's, when my girlfriend and I thought it was the height of cool to have a Tommy's burger and then head to the Cheesecake Factory in Beverly Hills for a piece of cheesecake and two drinks-they didn't card.

Since that time, I've never needed much of an excuse to go to the original location at Beverly and Rampart. They were fast in those days, with burgers hitting the counter before you finished ordering, the counter manned by a couple of old guys at the register, and a bunch of young Mexican guys at the grill. There were no fries-you had chips. Also, no fountain drinks-you got a can from the many coolers. The lot was crowded, and I would always stake out a spot next to the paper towel/napkin dispenser because I used 10,000 or so. I had a girlfriend who once asked why I stood there, and I said to specifically have as many napkins as  I wanted.

At the time that I started going to Tommy's, there were two others that I knew about, one on Roscoe in Van Nuys (not there anymore), and one in Fountain Valley between Warner and Magnolia. They were both good.

While attending Cerritos College, we'd often race to either the Fountain Valley or the Original location, power down two double cheeses, and then make it back to Water Polo practice. In those days I could put away some food and I was still skinny. I had a friend who would say she could eat a Tommy Burger and not make a mess, and use only one napkin. She often did, and somehow never messed her make-up, a feat I appreciate far more now than I did then.

A True American Classic!

At UCLA, we would sometimes head to the one that used to be located across from the Anheuser-Busch plant on Roscoe in Van Nuys, but sometimes after a hard night of drinking the smell from the brewery would strike me as unpleasant, so we usually ended up at the Original.

A Tommy's opened here in Ventura a few years back, and unlike many of the Tommy's in the chain, the food is consistently good. I've eaten at the ones in Ontario, Hollywood and Eagle Rock, and I wasn't impressed. In fact, when the Ventura location first opened, they were also so fast that my food hit the counter before I finished paying. They're still fast, but not that fast.

So, Tommy's Ventura is good, but there's something about standing at Beverly and Rampart, as I have for some 35 years and having a burger. It's a single, now instead of the double, only one, and now with fries and a fountain drink, but it's still good, and I think of the many friends I've dined with there over the years.

Like I alluded to up above, it used to be all men behind the counter. On this trip, it was all women. The food used to hit the counter before I was done paying, and this time I got a number and had to wait-not long, but I waited.

But I'd still eat there. It was still good.

Cordello's Pizza, Ventura

Cordello's Pizza

1700 E. Thompson Blvd, #E

Ventura, CA 93001

Every neighborhood I've ever lived in has had a neighborhood pizza joint, one of those places that specialize in take-out and may or may not have a few tables. They serve sandwiches, pasta and some sort of anti-pasto, and generally aren't too expensive.

For the most part, I've always felt that like potato chips, no matter how bad a pizza is, it's still a pizza. So what if a Little Ceaser's pizza and the box it came in taste about the same-it's still a pizza. The pizza taste bar is pretty low. 

The best pizzas in town are probably those served at Toppers (good salad bar, too) and Ferraro's, but both can be a bit pricey if you just want a basic pepperoni or cheese pizza. Santino's (one of my early posts, before I learned how to add pictures) is where the family goes if we want to have pizza out. But if we're having pizza in, I'm usually sent to Cordello's.

Cordello's is everything a take-out pizza place should be. Reasonably priced, quick turnaround, and they'll deliver, though I usually just pick it up. They usually have specials, and you'll see coupons around town. At differet points, I've also had their sandwiches, wings and antipasto salad, and all are pretty good.

One thing to note-Cordello's is located in a sketchy looking stripmall. It's kind of like the Avenues, and though I've never been bothered in any way, I thought I should mention it. The liquor store next door usually has an array of odds and ends if you need to kill a few minutes.

I'm not saying I'd drive a long way to pick up a Cordello's pizza. However, it'd be worth a 10 minute drive if you're staying at one of the hotel/motels in town.

Taqueria Vallarta, Ventura

Taqueria Vallarta

278 E. Main Street

Ventura, CA  93001

Most of the places in the downtown area of Main Street are expensive, and not that expensive is bad-it's just that I can't always afford it. Sometimes I want to eat fast, cheap and not in a chain. There's a Subway on Main, but who wants to eat there?

My wife turned me on to Taqueria Vallarta years ago, going there with some friends of hers who worked at City Hall, which is a few blocks away. Taqueria Vallarta is across from the Mission, and is very reasonable for the area.

The service is fast and friendly. It's a clean space, too, though it has a worn look to it. They have a fresh juice bar, which my wife has ordered from. It's not a Jamba Juice kind of place, though, with no added sugar, just the blended fruit flavors.

But I wasn't there for juice. I had a ceviche tostada and an two asada tacos, along with a small Dr. Pepper. It came out to just under $9. 

When you order, they hand you complimentary chips, and the salsa bar, though not extensive, serves up a bit of fire.

I put my chips down at an indoor table (they have some outdoor seating, too), and went to the salsa bar, serving myself some pickled, spicy onions and one of their salsas. I brought them back to my table, and was just settling in when my order was up. 

Not worth a special trip, but I find that I end up there often, and might come even more if parking were a bit more convenient (free parking is located around the corner). My family will eat there, and I can feed them for around $40, which is a plus, too. It's certainly the best lunch deal on Main Street.

The Roxbury Deli, Port Hueneme

The Roxbury Deli

443 W. Channel Islands Blvd.

Port Hueneme, CA  93041

Back in LA, I loved going to Canter's Deli on Fairfax. Open 24 hours with a wide variety of good tasting food, it was a a great place to go after hitting the clubs in Hollywood, or any time that I wanted to look cool on a date. Occasionally a celebrity could be spotted dining-I saw members of Guns n' Roses, Nicholas Cage, and Rodney Bigenheimer (who became a regular after the closing of Ben Franks). More often, I'd see people that looked familiar-the character actors that got enough screen time to make a living. But really, being a 20 something in LA, I prided myself on having a handful of go-to places open 24 hours-a-day (Tommy's, The Harbor House Cafe, Gorky's, The Atomic Cafe) that weren't Denny's spread all over the city.

I don't really need that knowledge anymore, but I never lost my taste for a good deli. I'm a regular at Danny's Deli and have been since it opened. It's across the street from my church, and we go at least one Sunday a month. And though they're friendly and fast, I don't know that they are really good. Convenient, yes, and certainly edible, but not really good.

Roxbury Deli opened in Hueneme about the same time I moved to the area 18 years ago,  and though I've driven by, I've never had occasion to stop. It's across from the SeaBee base, and I'm just not down that way very often. But my daughter wanted a sandwich for lunch, and we were nearby, so we pulled in and gave it a try.

It was a good call.

There were only a handful of diners on a recent Saturday afternoon, and we were seated, interestingly, in a booth that backed up to another booth of diners, instead of being spaced out, like I expected. That being said, the space is filled with Broadway play posters (I've seen this at other delis, being some sort of New York thing, I think, but having never been to New York, I can't say for certain), and what seemed to be a zillion TV screens showing college basketball. Service was fast and friendly-my water glass was kept constantly full, and the menu was extensive.

Even though I had eaten at the Oinkster earlier in the week, I opted for the half pastrami (watching my figure, you know) which came with an option of fries, cole slaw, potato salad or fruit. My daughter went with a half BLT, and we split an appetizer of garlic and parmesan fries.

Service was quick and friendly, and my half sandwich was quite good. Not Oinkster good, mind you, but good, and with the coleslaw, which was much better once I added salt, certainly was plenty. My daughter said her BLT was good, and the fruit, fresh.

I have to confess that I was a bit disappointed on the garlic and parmesan fries. I expected the flavors to be blended more, but it seemed like they cooked the french fries, and then put garlic and parmesan on top. The french fries weren't bad, but tasted like french fries with garlic and parmesan on top.

That being said, I'll certainly come back. I saw a pizza at another table that looked quite good, and some of the other plates looked tasty too.

San Restaurant, Pasadena

San Restaurant

124 E. Colorado

Pasadena, CA 91105

Though I've been busy, I haven't really been busy doing anything that is blog worthy lately, and I'm falling behind in my "One Post a Week," goal. I've been to some pretty good places a long way from home, mostly because I've been driving my kids hither and yon, but for whatever reason, haven't written.

Today, I was in my old home town of Pasadena, and I knew that I'd find someplace interesting to eat.

I lived in Pasadena back in the 90's, and was just at a point in my life where I was starting to explore the interesting places there, and then I moved. Pasadena is very dynamic, so though I was on Colorado, I was more surprised by stuff that was still there than by stuff that was gone.

Anyway, there's no saying how many restaurants occupied the space where San stands since I moved away in '98. But it looked good, and my youngest thought the picture of the udon looked tasty, so in we went.

It's a Korean/Japanese fusion, with sushi and Korean dishes. K-pop was playing in the background of the small restaurant, vaguely familiar sounding except that I couldn't sing along. I'd guess about half the tables were occupied at 2 pm on a Sunday afternoon, and we were seated in a booth immediately.

I just glanced at the Yelp reviews, and they seem to run the gamut. I found the service to be quick and attentive. The waiter did forget to bring my edamame order, but after I pointed it out, he immediately brought it out and told me it was on the house.

My daughter ordered the small tempura udon, ($5.95) which was plenty for her, and probably would have been an okay light lunch for me. There was a sweetness to the udon which I really liked.

I had the Hot Stone Bibimbap, which came with miso soup. I've had Bibimbap once before, in the Red Pepper in Koreatown, and remember it being good. This one, at $10.95, was a bit more expensive than the Red Pepper, but everything in Old Town Pasadena is that way now. I've wanted to try another Bibimbap.

The food came out fairly quick, with the servers often asking if I needed my water full, something that I always appreciate. I think there were more things in the Koreatown bibimbap, (no mushrooms in this one) but this was still good. Again, it's still cooking when it hits the table, and it's important to start stirring right away or you'll end up with crunchy rice. I put everything that they give me into it and mixed.

Going on the two times that I've now had bibimbap, I now feel something of an expert, and I've decided that I enjoy the mix of flavors in one bowl, as well as the simplistic nature of the dish.  As for the San Restaurant, I'd certainly eat there again. The other things I saw come out of the kitchen looked pretty good, too.

Jimmy's Slice Pizza, Ventura

Jimmy's Slice Pizza

586 E. Main Street

Ventura CA 93001

Walking home from a recent doctor's appointment, I was thinking "Sandwich, Sandwich" over and over, and looking at all the restaurants to see if someone served a sandwich. Looking at the doorway of Jimmy's Slice, I saw this sign. Half sandwich, salad, drink and cookie? The perfect lunch items. And all for $6.99? Even better!

I've eaten at Jimmy's slice once before, coming in with my son right after they opened. Then, I thought the pizza slice was too small and too expensive for what it was, and with the other good family pizza places in town (with better parking and lower prices), I'd never bothered to come back again. 

This time, though, the price was right and I was on foot.

It wasn't crowded when I walked in, but it was just before noon and more people came in after. I ordered from the friendly girl at the counter ("The chocolate chip is really good!") and went to a table over by the window.

The space itself is kind of funky. A repurposed building with high ceilings, brick walls and hard wood floors, it has a large front window with counter seating overlooking Main Street and the Century 10 movie theatre. They serve beer, have a happy hour, and really on appearance I don't know why I don't eat there more.

I had a Caesar salad, which was just lettuce and Caesar dressing, but it wasn't bad, and the garlic toast was very good. The sandwich followed immediately after, and the waitress refilled my soda, even after things got busier.

The sandwich was okay-I thought it was a touch dry and overly bready, but the cost balanced out what it lacked. The pickle and pepper were both good, too.

So, for a quick, cheap lunch in downtown Ventura, it was good. Does it make me want to come back and try something else? I wouldn't be opposed, but I don't know that it would be my first choice.