Highland Park
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Cypress Park: Fresh, Fast Japanese at Ayta
Apr 25 2013
While pupusas, tacos, mariscos and Jumbo Jacks abound, vegetables are hard to come by on the strip of Figueroa Street where Cypress Park meets Highland Park. Enter: Ayta Grill. The small Japanese “Teriyaki House & Tea Room” (Note: I didn’t see any actual tea on my visit) opened last month, gaining attention for its roof-bound Bruce Lee statue, but the real draw is simple plates of meat, rices and fresh veggies.
The menu has zero frills. Choices include steak, salmon, shrimp and chicken, curry or no curry, vegetables or no vegetables. Portions are satisfying, the meat is well-cooked and flavorful, and the broccoli-carrot-squash-cabbage medley doesn’t have that over-steamed mushiness you’ve come to expect from Asian fast food joints—they’re actually some crispiness to speak of. Prices range from $5-$9.
If there’s any extravagance here, it’s their fruity drinks. We sampled all four flavors and settled on the sweet cantaloupe, which brightened up the whole meal. Ask for their green sauce, a creamy mix of Serrano peppers, cilantro, and potatoes that adds the perfect spicy kick to the teriyaki flavor.
Mount Washington residents will eat this place up.
-Valentina
Ayta Grill
4017 N. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, Ca 90065
Highland Park: Brunch at Ba Restaurant
Jan 31 2013
When Ba Restaurant opened on York Boulevard almost a year ago, it gave a decided yank to Highland Park’s gentrification tightrope. Part of the new wave of restaurants and shops on the neighborhood’s trendiest street, the French restaurant came on the scene with a teeny menu of 20-something dollar entrees and without the populist bent of fellow newcomer Maximiliano.
Despite some detractors who view the relatively fancy restaurant as a foreshadowing to a Silver Lake-like future, Ba seems to have found an audience. And now, they’re even serving weekend brunch, which is a good option if you, like me, have been weary of the nighttime price points.
Highland Park’s Best Kept Secret: Brunch at Garvanza’s
Sep 19 2012
By all rights, Garvanza’s should be wildly popular, but its tucked-away location keeps it undercover. The neighborhood restaurant focuses on pan-Latin flavors with an emphasis on high quality local ingredients. The produce is fresh and seasonal, and the service is super friendly. A lot of people, including me, are rooting for it.
The bulk of Garvanza’s menu is burritos and tacos, including tender barbacoa with pickled onions, pork shoulder slow cooked in garlic and peppercorns, and flaky mango-salsa-topped fish tacos. Plates, comprised of those same meat choices and some of the most flavorful rice and beans in a 10 mile radius, are also served.
The one must of the appetizers is the Garbanzo Bean Salad, a simple mix of fried garbanzos, tomatoes, onions and cilantro. The cool veggies and a drenching of lime juice really brighten up this highly addictive dish. The chips and salsa are also notable for the same reason—the chips are thick and greasy, making them the perfect match for the tangy salsa their served with.
Highland Park: Good Girl Dinette Makes Peach Pie!
Sep 03 2012
I feel like a jerk showing you something you can’t have, but I’m also no good at keeping delicious things to myself. This pie was available for order at Good Girl Dinette for Labor Day…only. There were three flavors available: peach, apple and plum. I chose the O’Henry Peach.
If you’ve ever had a curry pot pie from Good Girl Dinette, then you know that owner Diep Tran is a crust-making maestro. This fruit pie crust was flaky and buttery with that perfect punch of sourdough. The ends were crispy while the lattice and bottom were tender, but not too delicate—it stood up to the peaches.
Highland Park: Scoops is Now Open on York Blvd.
Aug 21 2012
Here’s the scoop: Scoops is now open in Highland Park. You’d hardly know it, but the LA ice cream shop has opened its third location on York Blvd. Currently incognito—there’s no signage—the small storefront is right next door to Italiano’s and not much more than white walls and an ice cream case. There are just a few seats inside right now, but we can expect more decor in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, don’t let its plain Jane exterior hold you back. Go in and try what is arguably the best ice cream in town. Today they were serving up Brown Bread, Banana Oreo, Cherry Rum, Olive Oil Marscapone, and Chocolate Almond to name a few. I’m hoping for Guinness Chocolate in the near future.
They’re open from 2-9 Monday-Saturday, and the prices are great. Together, these two came to about $5.80 total.
-Valentina
Scoops
5105 York Blvd.
(near the corner of York & Ave. 51)
Highland Park: Fusion Burgers Fills the Super-Delicious Burgers and Fries Niche
May 24 2012
I know that two York Boulevard posts in a row is excessive. However, after trying Fusion Burgers, I couldn’t contain myself. It’s that good, and it fills a once-glaring void in the Highland Park food scene: a full-service, gourmet burger and fries joint.
Fusion Burgers sits unassumingly in a strip mall right across the street from Maximiliano, in the space that most recently housed Tacos El Michuacano. When I first noticed it, there was just a small tarp announcing the name of the new restaurant and some white paint covering that of the previous one. Intrigued, I did some research and found out the owners are Miguel Munoz Sr. and Jr., a father-and-son team who once worked in the kitchen at Umami Burger’s Santa Monica location.
That make sense because the menu is pretty similar to Umami. Some have even claimed that it’s a rip off. It might be, but for what Fusion Burgers lacks in originality, it makes up for in flavor, complete lack of pretension, and location, location, location. I’ve never been a huge fan of Umami, but I’ll probably be a regular at Fusion Burgers.
The interior lacks hyper-fashionable decor of many of the new restaurants popping up on York. The walls of the small space are pretty bare and very orange, and the only real design flair is a parrot mural left by the previous owners. The focus, instead, seems to be on the actual menu, which consists of 13 different burgers, a few salads, Mexican sodas and even ice cream sandwiches.
Highland Park:York Boulevard’s Food Scene Grows with Highland Cafe
May 14 2012
The speed at which York Boulevard’s food scene is developing has hit break-neck status recently. There’s that new French place Ba, a little place called Fusion Burgers has quietly opened across the street from Maximiliano, and now there seems to be enough room for two cafes.
That’s right. Highland Cafe has opened a few doors down from mainstay Cafe de Leche. The new place, housed in what was the Guatemalan restaurant El Chapin just a few months ago, stakes its claim with a small, Mexican-tinged breakfast and lunch menu along with a full coffee bar fueled by Downtown’s Handsome Coffee Roasters.
The new restaurant/coffee house courts a college crowd, offering a 10 percent discount to Oxy students and plenty of room (plus a few easy chairs) to hash out the deets of a class project. Even so, the crowd is mixed enough that older-than-22 patrons won’t feel out of place and probably won’t mind paying full price for above average egg dishes, pastries, sandwiches and salads.
Highland Park: Fish Tacos & Ceviche from Via-Mar Seafood
Mar 09 2012
My favorite place for mariscos in LA is Tacos Baja Ensenada in East LA. I know Ricky’s gets higher marks, but when all is considered—menu, ambiance and location-Tacos Baja Ensenada is where I want to be. That said, I put up no blinders to new fish taco experiences, and my curiosity was riled when I heard that Highland Park’ s Via-Mar Seafood also has a strong fan base.
I pass by Via-Mar almost daily, so I was excited to finally be placing my order at the window. The menu includes the expected tacos, grilled fish plates, cocktails and burritos along with a good selection of soups. I was still pregnant when I visited, so I had to play it safe with cooked fish, but I longed for an octopus cocktail and that mixed ceviche tostada pictured above.
Both the fish and shrimp tacos were done well (shrimp pictured above). Golden brown and crispy, the batter didn’t overpower the actual shrimp or fish, both of which remained moist. Condiments can make or break a fish taco, and there was no shredded cabbage overload here. However, there was a little too much crema for my tastes, but I always say that.
Highland Park: Oasis Makes the Ice Cream (and Frozen Yogurt) You’ve Been Waiting for
Feb 17 2012
If you live in the Northeast corner of Los Angeles (and you’re like me), you’ve probably been jonesing for some serious ice cream. It seems to be one of the glaring omissions in the area—if you live in or around Highland Park, and you’re in need of a scoop, you’re pretty much stuck at Rite Aid.
Not that I have anything against Thrifty Ice Cream. I grew up on Chocolate Malted Crunch, and I still crave it now and again, but a drugstore is not an ice cream parlor. For that experience, I usually trek out to Alhambra for a Fosselman’s fix because nothing really fills that niche around here.
Or so I thought…and then I found Oasis Ice Cream.
Highland Park/Hermon: They’re Only Monterey Donuts, but I Like Them
Jan 30 2012
A decent donut is a fairly easy find, but a stellar one? That can be an enigma unless you’re willing to drive to Inglewood or Glendora, which is quite a commitment to quench one little donut craving.
It’s not like there’s a shortage of donut shops on this side of town. They’re as ubiquitous in this corner as any other in Los Angeles—just pull into any strip mall, and you can probably emerge with a bearclaw or cruller in seconds. No sweat.
But, let’s be honest: it will most likely be just so-so, all kinds of ho-hum, a little waxy, on the dry side, too dense, or just plain eh.
You deserve better.
That’s why I’m letting you in on the best kept donut secret in Highland Park/Hermon (it’s right on the cusp, so I’m not sure which neighborhood it’s actually in). If you passed by it, you wouldn’t even give it a second glance. There’s no gigantic, beacon-like donut sign to reel you in, no buzz to spark your curiosity….nothing.
