If there’s one thing that Los Angeles is famous for it is hype.  Some would argue that LA is famous for movies, but really, what is a movie other than a hyped up play?  So, I figured I would explore the hype propaganda that exists in LA to try a few places that I wouldn’t normally (because I listed to Chuck D as a child).  What is the pinnacle of hype in the food industry? Cupcakes.  What is the most pretentious place in Los Angeles? Beverly Hills.  So, the logical conclusion for me was to visit Sprinkles Cupcakes on Rodeo (well, technically it’s off Rodeo, but still pretty close).

Despite peoples antipathy towards cupcakes, recent studies have shown that cupcakes are one of the few growing industries in this recession, though this may just be another bubble.  I have been to Magnolia Bakery, the source of the whole cupcake hype craze, and never actually thought that the cupcakes were very good.  My friend suggested that I go try the vegan red velvet cupcake at Sprinkles.  To my great chagrin, I actually liked that cupcake a lot! The icing was on the mark, not too sweet, and had the perfect icing to cake ratio so that every bite was amazing.  Admittedly, I wolfed it down in 3 bites, but each was quite pleasant.  My one criticism would be that the candy “V” that they put on, presumably to indicate it is vegan was completely inedible.  However, in my rush to devour the cupcake, it is highly possible that the candy “V” was in fact, not candy.  Unlike Magnolia, the cupcake I had at Sprinkles was really tasty, and despite being in Beverly Hills, there was almost no line to get a cupcake, so even the hype was not as big as in New York.  Furthermore, Sprinkles has a wide array of cupcakes, and multiple selections that are vegan, as well as a few that are gluten-free.  There are even dog-food cupcakes (which makes me like the place less).  Even though Sprinkles makes a great effort to cater to gustatory minorities, I still abhor the cupcake craze, so I won’t give it five cheese sandwiches.  But it will get four and a half, probably the best rating I’ll ever give for a cupcake bakery.

Sprinkles Cupcakes
9635 South Santa Monica Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90210 
310-274-8765

If there’s one thing the southwest is known for, it is Mexican food.  And yes, I am including LA in the “Southwest” (it is surrounded by desert, people!).  Aaron and his girlfriend, Kara, were unsure about where to take me (being fans of the blog and fearful of my iconoclasm towards their favorite restaurants).  They asked me where I wanted to go, and I said “I want Mexican food!”  They immediately came up with Hugo’s Tacos (a good sign), which fortunately was very close to where they lived in the Valley.

Hugo’s Tacos actually has two locations, one in Los Angeles, and one in the Valley in Studio City.  If you’ve never been to the Valley location it looks like parking lot attendant’s office and makes probably some of the finest vegetarian friendly Mexican food I had in LA.  Hugo’s Tacos is similar to other burritorium-style restaurants, they have your typical taco, burrito, quesadilla, torta combinations.  The cool part about Hugo’s tacos is that it is modular, where you can choose from one of seven different fillings, two of which are vegetarian.  They are: mixed vegetables with herbs, and soy chorizo, potato, and zucchini. I am a big fan of soy chorizo, So, I decided to get a torta with the soy chorizo option.  The torta was filled with organic white beans, guacamole, tomato and onions.  While it was very good, I still prefer the tortas from Tacos Lupita.  Unlike Tacos Lupita, this torta is vegan, as they use vegenaise instead of mayonnaise.  I think the deal breaker for me was the honey chipotle coating of the bread.  It made the torta unnecessarily messy, and I am not a fan of the chipotlification of food.

While I was already stuffed with the torta (it is very filling), I had to try the mixed vegetables filling to see if one was better than the other.  So, I ordered a medium spiced taco with the mixed vegetables.  This was a huge mistake as my definition of medium is completely different from Hugo’s.  Though the crispy shell and the mixed vegetables were very tasty, the “medium” sauce was so incredibly hot that I could barely eat the taco.  I should point out that I do have a tolerance of spiciness, so if you do not like spicy foods, stay as far away from medium as you can.

I was thoroughly impressed by the selection of foods at Hugo’s Tacos.  They certainly make an effort to try to cater to vegetarians as well as vegans.  Beyond just the two vegetarian options (which is way more than the standard “beans” option), they also have vegetarian burgers that look very good as well.  I would rate the food quite highly, though I would hardly say it is the best Mexican food I have ever had.  I am going to give Hugo’s Tacos five cheese sandwiches primarily because they make such a good effort to try to cater to vegetarians and vegans.  Though my food wasn’t overwhelmingly amazing for a five cheese sandwich review, I think I just ended up ordering the wrong dishes.  This is definitely a restaurant that I would want to come to again and again.

Hugo’s Tacos
4749 Coldwater Canyon Ave
Studio City, California 91423 
(818) 762-7771

Despite many of my previous protestations, I finally decided to make a trip out to sunny Southern California and check out Los Angeles.  I have some friends that live here that I haven’t seen in a while, and I found a really cheap JetBlue flight, so I thought I would take the plunge and visit LA before it fell into the Pacific Ocean (I seriously believe this is going to happen in my lifetime).  When I asked people in Boston who have been to LA for food recommendations, one of the most trusted people I know suggested I go to Griddle Cafe in Hollywood.  When I saw on the website that they had red velvet pancakes, I knew this had to be the first place I went to in LA. 

As I walked down Sunset Boulevard, I felt eerily pleased to be amongst the bastions of entertainment, such as the Directors Guild, the Laugh Factory, Trader Joe’s.  For some reason I was under the impression that Griddle Cafe was not a very popular place, however, upon my arrival at 10 AM (on a Tuesday morning!) there was a line of about 15 people waiting to get in.  Fortunately, the service is very speedy and they make a big effort to rush you in and out.  Unfortunately, because of this I didn’t really have time to get a good photo of my meal. 

I ordered the “Kicking and Screaming” breakfast tacos, as there are two things I expected out of a diner in LA: good eggs and great mexican food.  The tacos were scrambled eggs, pico de gallo, avocado, monterey jack cheese, with a chipotle cream sauce and served with refried beans.  The refried beans did not have lard in them (according to the waiter).  I really liked these tacos, though the refried beans didn’t really seem to fit in the dish.  I think it would work without it, but it was nice to get some beans to complement the tacos.

I ordered the tacos because I was not really feeling like eating something sweet this morning, but I did want to try their french toast.  Their pancakes were five slabs of 8” diameter pancakes and they were far more food than I was ready to eat.  So, I ordered a half order of french toast to go with the tacos.  The french toast was really tasty, and while the tacos were just faintly spicy (perked up with some Cholula sauce I added), the toast’s sweetness really felt good after the tacos.

Griddle Cafe is a really cool place, though they constantly rush you and the model/actor waiters definitely had a some attitude.  The food portions are suitable for even the most ravenous Midwesterner, and after eating this meal, I really didn’t feel like eating for several hours.  On the down side, while there are few vegetarian options, there are no obvious vegan options.  If I were to judge everything altogether, I’d have to give Griddle Cafe four and a half cheese sandwiches.  It’s definitely one of the best diners I’ve ever been to, despite the fact that everybody else has jumped on this bandwagon.

Griddle Cafe
7916 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90046-3304 
(323) 874-0377