Dough Box Pizza & Bread-Moved

Dough Box Pizza & Bread
2734 N Eastern Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90032
323-346-6811

Back in 2016 I went to Dough Box Pizza & Bread, when they were a take out only business, using a commercial kitchen.  They would open up a brick and motor restaurant a few miles away.  Recently I read on LA Eater, they were going to close by the end of the year. 

I always take these closing notices with a grain of salt.  In late 2017 to early 2018 they wrote that Twoheys would going to close.  Then they wrote they are going to move to South Pasadena.  Yet, here we are in 2019 and they are still at that same location.  The South Pasadena building, the last time I went by, looks at least 2-3 months away from being able to serve the public.

Anyways,  Dough Box Pizza & Bread is really, still a take out place.  There is one small counter with no seats, for people to eat.

On their Instagram page, Dough Box had a large cheese pizza for $20, to celebrate National Cheese Pizza Day!  This pizza is called the Soto on their menu.  I liked the crust, well balanced, flaky, and held up to the toppings.  There was plenty of cheese.  But, the sauce is still too tangy for me tastes.  They need to balance the sauce with some sweetness!

Sicilian slice special $5- mushrooms, garlic, and red onions.

One thing I didn't know, was that Dough Box Pizza & Bread had Sicilian slices!  I decided to give a slice a try.  This was terrible.  The trust was too hard and the sauce was so tangy.  The toppings were fine.

Service was ok.  They told me after I ordered, it would take 1 hour and 10 minutes for the pizza to be ready.

I won't go back to Dough Box.  I only went to see their brick and mortar location.  But, the pizza isn't good. 

Uncle John’s Cafe-Moved

Uncle John’s Cafe
834 S Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90017
213-623-3555

I found out about Uncle John's Cafe on You Tube!  Uncle John's, located inside the Stillwell Hotell,  is part diner and part Chinese restaurant.  You can get both menus from open to close, which is 3pm.  At 5pm, they became Downtown LA's answer to Boiling Crab, it becomes a Cajun seafood place.  I knew this would be Americanized Chinese food.

The restaurant is a small galley-like setup- with tables in the front, a counter at the back, and the kitchen in the far back.  It's got an updated decor.

Spicy Shrimp lunch special- $13.50. This was terrible.  I originally order kung pao shrimp, but got this spicy shrimp instead.  I wasn't going to wait and said it's fine.  This is just an orange chicken sauce with shrimp.  The sauce was bland with little flavor.  The shrimp was deep fried and I'm betting it was frozen.  The rice was the best part of this dish. 

Shrimp fried rice- $10. As you can see, they put a ton of soy sauce into the rice.  There are green onions, and eggs in this.  A bit salty, but overall average.  I've had better, I've had worse.

Shrimp chow mein-$11.  Large pieces of onion, some cabbage, and about six medium sized shrimp were in this dish.  It was too greasy for me. I would rate this average, again.

Service was good.

I wouldn't go back to Uncle John's Cafe, for the Chinese food.  I am going to go back for their seafood. 

Update August 31, 2019

Butterfly fried shrimp, with lemon pepper fries, $12. This was frozen butterflied shrimp.  Some pieces looked as though they stuck together while frying.  Nothing special, but there were about 8-10 pieces of shrimp.  The fries were bland and flavorless! 

Shrimp with mild house sauce- mixture of Cajun, lemon pepper, and garlic butter sauces- $15/lb. The shrimp were fine, the sauce was pretty good, the garlic butter stood out the most. 

Service is good.

I was surprised when I walked in, there was nobody in the restaurant.  A group of three people came in about a minute after me.  Then two people came in about 10 minutes later.  Maybe people haven't gotten the word that Uncle John's Cafe has a seafood boil at night.  Or, since this was Labor Day weekend, everybody was going out of town!  I would go back for the seafood boil.  I thought the shrimp was fine.  I wouldn't touch the fried shrimp again.

Hail Mary Pizza

Hail Mary Pizza
3219 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
323-284-8879

After going to PoeWow Pizza , after seeing it on LA Eater's list of the 22 Essential Pizza in LA, I decided to go to another pizza restaurant on the list- Hail Mary Pizza, this is number 12 on the list.  Pizza of Venice, Triple Beam, Grimaldi's, Prime Pizza, DeSano Pizza Bakery, Settebello Pizzeria, Vito's, Pizzeria Mozza,  Casa Bianca, and my favorite pizza in LA- Village Pizzeria!  Only ten more places to go!!

Margherita pizza $12- This was a 13in pizza. If some of this pizza wasn't burnt, this would have been a very good pizza.  But, the burnt pieces and a little too much olive oil ruined it for me.  Fresh ingredients, good crust- the parts that weren't brunt.  But, if you're going to be on the 22 Essential list, you can't make this mistake.  I would much rather go to Elios Wood Fire Pizza!

Service is good.

Like I said, if they didn't burn some of the crust, this was be a good pizza.  But, they got only one chance, and I won't return.

Update August 31, 2019

Ok, I know I said I won't return.  But, Hail Mary has $2 slices of their square pizza from open to 2:30pm.  So, I got two slices, and since I was in the area, I gave them a try.  No, no, and NO!

Again, that same burnt crust, and a weird tangy taste that just ruined this pizza.  You can get a better and bigger slice of pizza at Costco!!

I will not be going back to Hail Mary Pizza again!

Broad Street Oyster Co

Broad Street Oyster Co sets up a Smorgasburg, which is near the Arts District.  Smorgasburg is a huge food court area, set into what used to be the produce warehouse.  They are open every Sunday from 10-4pm.  It can get very crowded!

Two places that had lobster rolls are now closed- Lobsta Shack and Knuckle & Claw.

Their lobster roll is very popular.  $20 served hot with melted butter, or served cold with mayo.  This was an outstanding lobster roll.  Tons of lobster meat, claw meat.  The roll was light and soft, but held up well to everything loaded onto the roll.  Maybe one of the best lobster rolls I've had!

Service is good.  The lady who took my order was nice.  One small thing, after I ordered, I was waiting for her to say the total, but she never did.  I had a $20 bill in one hand and my other hand had my wallet.  I was figuring there is tax.  I told her I thought there was tax.  This is my first time there.  Most people would figure there is tax added.  She shouldn't assume everybody knows the $20 menu price is what you pay, especially since the menu doesn't say tax included.  It's not that big of a deal, but they should just say that will be $20.

I would go back to Broad Street Oyster Co.!

Pizza Buona

Pizza Buona
922 N Alvarado St Ste C
Los Angeles, CA 90026
213-413-0800

Pizza Buona had been on the corner of Sunset Blvd and Alvarado since 1959.   But, in 2016 they moved further south on Alvarado since Echo Park has undergone gentrification, many old time stores and restaurants were hit with huge rent increases.  Currently, another Italian restaurant, which includes the name Buona, is at the former location of Pizza Buona.

Large mushroom pizza-$15 plus $2.50 per topping.  While they pile on the cheese and there was a good amount of mushrooms, the crust just ruined it.  The crust was soggy, tough, and very chewy.  I don't know what happen since the time I went there in 2009.  But, the pizza isn't good anymore.

Service was ok.  The lady, who I believe is the owner, isn't the most friendliest, and it took forever, close to 30 minutes for my pizza to be done. 

Honeybee Burger-Closed

Honeybee Burger
1820 N Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323-452-6500

I have reviewed many restaurants in Los Feliz including Rocco's Italian Market and Deli, House of Pies Restaurant & Bakery,  Palermo Ristorante Italiano , the now closed Tangier Korean BBQ of Tokyo, Little Dom's, Best Fish Taco in Ensenada, Ye Rustic Inn, Lucifers Pizza, 1739 Public House, the now closed Mexico City, Spitz, Cruzer Pizza, Anarbagh, and Fred's 62.

Honeybee opened about three weeks ago, it's right next door to the movie theater and a couple doors down from Fred's 62.  It's a small, brightly lit space with a counter space on the right and tables on the left hand side.

Queen Bee, $12.95- double pattie with both the Beyond and Impossible patties, with house sauce, house made onion jam, lettuce, tomato, a thin ribbon of onion, and Chef Jo’s house made pickles.

This was outstanding!!  Maybe the combination of the Beyond and Impossible burgers, made it the best vegan burger I've had!!  Good flavor and textures, fresh toppings.  A huge portion too.  Well worth the price.

Service is good.

I would go back to Honeybee anytime!  What a great vegan burger!

FryMadness-Closed

FryMadness
555 S Spring St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213-797-2847

Jerk Spiced Shrimp/ Mango Pico/ House Made Caribbean Nectar- $14.  The fries are made from fresh  potatoes, but they aren't cooked to order.  They are cooked and sitting under heat lamps.  The fries would have been good, if they were hot and right out of the fryer.

The two medium sized shrimp in the picture were the biggest pieces in this dish.  There were smaller bay shrimp throughout the dish.  They shrimp had the Caribbean nectar-which was basically a sweet bar-b-que sauce.  The mango pico would have been good, if the mangoes were ripe, but they were bitter because they weren't ripe.  The jack cheese was fine. Overall, it was ok.  Not worth the $14 price tag.

Service was pretty good, after a bad first impression.  I walked in.  The lady told me to pick a table.  I then asked if they had a restroom, so I can wash my hands.  She said restrooms are for customers only.  I then told her, I am going to eat here.  I just want to wash my hands.  She gave me the key to the restrooms.  She was nice and helpful while I ordered and ate.

I wouldn't go back to FryMadness.  The fries are mediocre and it's overpriced!

Lettuce Feast

Lettuce Feast

When I went to the North Hollywood Vegan Fair to try Veggietize Me, I saw Lettuce Feast.  Everybody talked about their great Nashville fried chicken.   I was too full from the V-Mac from Veggietize Me, I told myself I'll come back another time.

On May 4, 2019 they were celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Union Station.  They had about eight food trucks, and Lettuce Feast was one of them!!  So, I went by to give them a try!

Lettuce Feast got a new truck, so there wasn't any signage on the truck.  The lady who worked the 80th Anniversary event told me that Veggie Feast was the truck with no signage. 

Nashville Hot Chik'n Sammy Combo with regular fries, $16,-vegan fried chick'n with apple slaw on a brioche bun.  This was very good.  Maybe not as great as the hype, but a damn good sandwich.  The texture on the chicken pattie was spot on.  It was just like biting into a real chicken pattie.  Good flavor.  But, they could put more sauce, I got the mild, but there wasn't any heat, like none.  I expect mild to have some heat.  The slaw was a bit dry, but good and fresh.  I liked the sandwich, didn't love the sandwich so much that I would rush back.  The fries with sea salt and rosemary were good, but could have been more crisp.

Service is good.

While Lettuce Feast is good.  For me, it just didn't live up to all their hype!  I would go back, it's a ton of a food for a good price.  I just wouldn't rush back!

Update July 7, 2019

I went back to Lettuce Feast, this time at the Sunday Vegan Street Fair in North Hollywood.  I also included a picture of their truck with all the details.  It's one of the most popular food trucks, with line stretching down the sidewalk.  I waited one hour in line to order.

I wanted to try their chicken tenders and got four pieces, $14, with hot and hot honey as the two flavors, and regular fries.  The tenders have a hard crunchy outside, but inside it's mostly a small piece of veggie chicken.  There isn't much flavor with the veggie chicken, but the outside was very flavorful!  The hot was pretty mild, but the hot honey was very spicy!

Service is ok.  Like I said before, I waited an hour in line.  Part of it was there are tons of people in line.  The other part is the cashier is doing many things.  One thing she did was take a dish to one of the vendors next door!  I saw that while I was waiting in line.  When I got up the window to order, she just disappeared, nowhere to be found.  I think she was helping inside the truck.  I couldn't see inside.  But, at the very least she could tell me, I will be back.  They really need to get their act together and hire more people inside the truck and have only the cashier take orders.

Lettuce Feast is popular, but I don't see the appeal.  Their chicken tenders are below average, and while their sandwich is good, it's not the best in the thing I've ever ate.

RiceBox-Closed

RiceBox
541 S Spring St Ste 131
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213-988-7395

RiceBox came to my attention while I was walking around while waiting for a friend at Bar Ama.  Then I read this LA Eater story about restaurants using the Impossible Burger meat in other ways.  RiceBox uses the impossible burger as a filling for their dumplings.  It's not on their menu, but you can order it.  $8.50 for six dumplings.

RiceBox is located in an old theater and you can go from Broadway to Spring St, by walking through this food court-like space.  There are tons of other restaurants, including a gelato place that LA Magazine ranks as the best in LA.

RiceBox is a small restaurant with some counter seating along the window and the left side of the restaurant.  Most of the space is the kitchen and the cashier.  There are some tables outside. 

The dumplings are pan fried, with glass noodles, mushrooms, and the impossible burger meat.  It's good, but not outstanding.  There isn't that much impossible meat, and the dough is a bit tough.

Service is good.

I wouldn't go back to RiceBox for the impossible meat dumplings. 

BAR Ama

BAR Ama
118 W 4th St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213-687-8002

Bar Ama came onto my radar after reading LA Eater's 38 Essential Tacos in Los Angeles! I had puffy tacos at Arturo's Puffy Tacos, and when I heard that Bar Ama serves them, I made a trip to downtown LA.  I'm glad I did, because right behind Bar Ama, is a location of Vito's Pizza- a damn good pizza place!

Located just down around the corner from Orleans & York,  Bar Ama is one of the many bars that have opened up in downtown LA. As you walk into you're basically in the bar area.  To the left is their fairly big dining area.

The puffy tacos are on their secret menu.  You have to ask about them.  The puffy tacos are $7.  But, $4 at the bar on Sunday nights.  There are six different fillings the day I went; ground beef, pulled pork, shrimp, potato, and two others I forget.  I got the shrimp and potato.

Shrimp puffy taco-  The puffy taco was so oily.  The shrimp, cabbage, and crema were fine, but it was too heavy because of the oil.  The tacos were warm, so I'm guessing they were fried before and all the oil just soaked in. 

Potato- same oily puffy taco.  A very small amount of potato, no real flavor.

Service was good.

The lists LA Eater comes up with do contain some good restaurants.  But, they also contain some bad restaurants.  Bar Ama, at least for the puffy tacos, falls into the second category!  Not going back.
If you want puffy tacos, just go to Arturo's Puffy Tacos.

Wong's Wok

Wong's Wok
2554 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
323-922-6012

Wong's Wok has an interesting history.  Currently located in a renovated shopping center that is now anchored by a Whole Foods 365- which is where by Chloe is located, they used to be a few doors south, where a bank-that ripped off the public- currently stands, when the shopping center used to be anchored by a Ralph's, which back in the day used to be Hughes Market. 

When the shopping center was being renovated, Wong's Wok closed.  The shopping center reopened with the Whole Foods, around 2016.  But, it took until March, 2019 for Wong's Wok to reopen.  I meant to go to Wong's Wok, even stopped in and got a menu, but never made it before they closed.  There was another Chinese restaurant in Silver Lake, Song Hay Inn, that I meant to try but never made it before they closed.  That space is now a Starbucks coffee.

Just like the old Wong's Wok, the new one is a steam table filled with food.  There are two options for seafood-salt and pepper shrimp and salt and pepper fish.  They have the usual orange chicken, beef and broccoli.  They have other items like shrimp and vegetables and shrimp chow mein al carte.

One item bowl, $7.12 with tax.  Salt and pepper fish and fried rice.  I wanted to get the salt and pepper shrimp, but they were out of it and the shrimp you had to peel.  The lady said I could order shrimp and vegetables, but that was an al carte item.

I didn't expect the fish-it's either catfish or talipia, to be fried.  But, it was and very salty!  I had to drink tons of water after getting this.  The huge pieces of jalapeno were a nice touch, but otherwise this is a below average dish because it was so salty.  The fried rice was good with peas and carrots.

Service is good.

Very disappointed in Wong's Wok.  I may go back for the al carte shrimp and vegetables.  But, I'm not in a rush to go back!

Wexler’s Deli

Wexler’s Deli
317 S Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213-620-0633

Wexler's Deli is a stand at the Grand Central Market.  I've been to other stands at the Grand Central Market like; Kismet Falafel,  Prawn, and Horse Thieves BBQ- which has a very large and loyal following!

There was a huge line when I go there, but the line was for the ice cream stand across the way.  When that line was redirected to another aisle, there were only 2-3 people ahead of me.  There are about ten seats along the v-shaped counter.  There are other seating throughout Grand Central Market.

Ruskie-$11 egg salad, pickle, and a kaiser roll.  The egg salad was great.  Well seasoned, with some green onions, and mustard and mayo.  But, the kaiser roll left a lot to be desired.  Not good at all.  A bit undercooked, and the onions on top didn't work well with the egg salad.  Cole slaw, you got a choice along with potato salad, was very good.  Not much mayo, which I really like, and just a light refreshing cole slaw!

Service was good.  We got our sandwiches quickly.

I would go back to Wexler's but I may ask for a different bun.  Maybe, even on a bagel!

Plaza Fish Market

Plaza Fish Market
3282 W Slauson Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90043
323-295-9368

With the tragic shooting death of rapper Nipsey Hussle, I went down to his clothing store to pay tribute.  I planned to go Off Da Hook Fish House, which replaced, the now closed, The Fish House, but I found out that Off Da Hook is closed too.  I don't eat meat anymore, so I couldn't go to Woody's BBQ.  But, luckily I found Plaza Fish Market.  It's on the Ralph's shopping center on the southeast corner of Crenshaw and Slauson-where the new Metrorail Crenshaw line Slauson station will open up in 2020.

Plaza Fish Market is another "You buy. We fry." place.  They have a big selection of fish-everything from sole, to red snapper to catfish.  It's a to-go location, as there is no seating inside.

Lunch special shrimp combo- 4 medium shrimp, 2 pieces of dover sole fish, hush puppies, and fries-$8.50.  This was a ton of food.  The shrimp was very good.  Well fresh in a cornmeal batter.  One of the pieces of the sole was too mushy and soggy.  The other was good-with a good crunch and flavor.  There were a ton of fries.

Service was good.

I would go back to Plaza Fish Market, but wouldn't order dover sole.  I should have gotten the red snapper!

Dōnatsu-Closed

Dōnatsu
330 E 2nd St Ste C
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-265-7545

Dōnatsu is a vegan donut shop that recently opened in Little Tokyo.  It's in the shopping center across 2nd Street from Kura Revolving Sushi!  It's a fairly small shop with a few tables inside. 

Apple fritter- $3.50!  This was awesome!  First, this was freshly made, warm to the touch.  So smooth it just melted in your mouth.  Good flavor, not too sweet, and good amount of apple.

Service was good.  There were two apple fritters in the display case.  Instead of getting those, the guy at the counter went to the back and got me a freshly made apple fritter!  You can't beat that!

I would go back to Donatsu anytime!  

Burgerlords-Closed

Burgerlords
110 N Ave 56
Los Angeles, CA 90042

I went to Burgerlords in Chinatown, and while I wasn't really impressed with the vegan burger.  But, I went to their brand new location in Highland Park to try the pastrami tofu, as written by LA Eater.  But the pastrami tofu wasn't ready to be served to customers.  They said it's still being refined so they can sell it to the public.  So I decided to order the vegan tofu nuggets.

This location used to be the Good Girl Dinette, and Burgerlords opened on Saturday, March 16, 2019. 

 

Vegan tofu nuggets, $4.95.  This was great.  Very well seasoned tofu in a very crunchy batter, fried to a crunchy golden brown.  This was so good.  

Service is good.

I wasn't happy that the tofu pastrami wasn't on the menu, but the vegan tofu nuggets were great!!  I would go back to Burger Lords just for these nuggets!

California Sun-Closed

California Sun
3903 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
323-800-2456

California Sun opened up in Feb. 2019.  They serve Detroit and New York style pizza.  Across Sunset Blvd. from Flore, they offer vegan options, and have beer in cans and on draft.  Silver Lake has damn good pizza with places like Tomato Pie, Garage Pizza, and the now closed Nicky D's. So, California Sun has a lot of competition!

As you walk in there a diagonal shaped bar, and to the right is the counter to order pizza.  You can get half slices, two off menu prices.  The slices are huge.  The pizza by the slice changes daily.  You can make your own New York style pizza, but Detroit style is whatever they make that day.  They have vegan options on the Detroit style.

I had plans in another part of Silver Lake, but wanted to check out California Sun.  As I walked in the guy at the counter was very helpful.  He even gave me a card where I got a free cheese slice!!  Later that night,  I dropped in to try the pizza.

Cheese slice- $5.  This was very good.  Good quality sauce, not tangy or too sweet, well balanced. Lots of cheese, good firm, yet chewy crust.  Loved this pizza!!  A huge slice, cut from a 20in pizza.  Well worth the $5 price.

Vegan Taco slice-$8. Yellow American cheese, cherry tomatoes, olives, lettuce, pickled jalapenos, el pato, carne impossible meat.  Wow, was this good.  I could do without the olives and since they put the lettuce on after reheating, it's tough to take off the olives.  But, great flavor, tons of toppings, and again, a huge portion.

Service was great!  Very friendly and helpful staff!

I would go back to California Sun anything!!

Mariscos El Faro

Mariscos El Faro
6113-6139 N Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90042
323-359-3814

I found Mariscos El Faro on LA Eater's list of 14 Essential Restaurants in Highland.  Mariscos El Faro not far from Via-Mar Seafood Restaurant.

Known for their fresh seafood ceviche, the truck is on Figueroa Tues-Sunday until about 6pm.  They have some tables set up for you to eat there.

Shrimp Ceviche Tostada-$4.40

Many ceviches I have tried are a bit too tangy for me.  But, this had the perfect balance-not too tangy,  but great flavor, with cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, cilantro and cut up pieces of shrimp.  A very good example of a shrimp tostada.

Shrimp Taco-$2.75.  This was an interesting version of a shrimp taco.  Much like the shrimp taco from Maricos Jalico, but this example the taco shell was too soggy, they need to fry it for longer.  This was basically the shrimp tostada with a soggy tostada and some cabbage on top.

Service is good.

I would go back to Mariscos El Faro for the ceviche any time!  The two women at the table next to me, ordered the crab ceviche, and not only is it real crab, but there was tons of crab!  That's what I'm getting the next time I go!