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Since Amoeba has moved into town, the indigenous L.A. record stores have taken somewhat of a hit. Aron's records on Melrose is closing, which is sad. Rockaway Records on Glendale & Silver Lake...
Since Amoeba has moved into town, the indigenous L.A. record stores have taken somewhat of a hit. Aron's records on Melrose is closing, which is sad. Rockaway Records on Glendale & Silver Lake remains a good store, though, and should not be forgotten despite the behemoth on Sunset & Vine. Their collection is less comprehensive, but it is still pretty solid. And, unlike Amoeba, there are a lot of real bargains to be found in the stacks. They pay good for used music, too.
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Belmont Pets is a great store for pet owners. They sell speciality food, leashes, toys, treats and all the paraphernalia you need to keep you dogs and cats happy. They also have groomers and tubs...
Belmont Pets is a great store for pet owners. They sell speciality food, leashes, toys, treats and all the paraphernalia you need to keep you dogs and cats happy. They also have groomers and tubs where you can wash your pets yourself. They also have the "PetSpa," basically a washing machine for your dog. You put your dog in and he/she gets a bath and a drying. It's pretty cool. Prices aren't too bad, and they have a lot of speical offers available in local papers and email.
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Kinga Gortel is the Skin Vet, a veternarian specializing in dermatology. Her practice in Marina Del Rey is expensive, but if your dog has skin problems it is worth it. She has a good petside...
Kinga Gortel is the Skin Vet, a veternarian specializing in dermatology. Her practice in Marina Del Rey is expensive, but if your dog has skin problems it is worth it. She has a good petside manner and really knows what she is doing. She helped my dog a lot. If your regular vet doesn't know what to do with your pet's skin allergies, this is where you need to go.
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The Wine House in Los Angeles is an amazing wine shop, truly world class. They have a huge selection of wines from around the world, broken up by region and varietal. The prices are fair. They...
The Wine House in Los Angeles is an amazing wine shop, truly world class. They have a huge selection of wines from around the world, broken up by region and varietal. The prices are fair. They have some tastings and classes, though they are on the expensive side. Good selection of liquor as well. Lots of different cognacs and tequillias, and a good selection of half bottles as well.
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Catalina Bar & Grill moved to a new location a year or so ago. It's much bigger than the old place, but bigger is not always better. Though they still book great jazz, the food is no longer a...
Catalina Bar & Grill moved to a new location a year or so ago. It's much bigger than the old place, but bigger is not always better. Though they still book great jazz, the food is no longer a relative bargain and the room has lost a good deal of its prior intimacy. There is usually a cover plus a minimum of two drinks or dinner; the food is too expensive for what it is, so I can't recommend eating there. Beer and cocktails are too pricey given the cover as well, but there are a few bottles of wine that are worth buying. Catalina's is still pretty good and they still book outstanding artists, it's just that I really liked the old place and the new location suffers by comparison.
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The Library coffee house is in a great location, on Broadway just east of Redondo. They serve good sandwiches and coffee at reasonable prices. The chairs are comfortable, and the stocked...
The Library coffee house is in a great location, on Broadway just east of Redondo. They serve good sandwiches and coffee at reasonable prices. The chairs are comfortable, and the stocked bookshelves and adjacent magazine store are a nice bonus. You can buy the beans to go for something like $10 a pound, not too bad. I would say that it's clientรจle consists of twice as many gay customers as straight, but as a part of the latter group I've never felt particularly uncomfortable there.
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The Provence Boulangerie is kind of tucked away off 2nd St in Belmont Shore, but it's well worth seeking out. They serve a pretty good imitation of French style bread and cuisine. I'm not sure...
The Provence Boulangerie is kind of tucked away off 2nd St in Belmont Shore, but it's well worth seeking out. They serve a pretty good imitation of French style bread and cuisine. I'm not sure they really understand what they are doing, but they do it well enough that the point is moot.
On Saturdays, the Boulangerie serves a multicourse dinner that is always really good and usually comes in at a modest $14 or so. For instance, you might get a green salad with balsamic vinegar, fresh-baked French bread, a generous helping of pot roast and mashed potatoes, and a rich desert. Pretty good deal, and the food is delicious. They don't sell beer or wine, but they don't charge corkage if you bring your own. The also make delicious coffee drinks.
About the title. They put out an email that explains what the weekly special is going to be, and one time it read Coco Van. Now, that's how you say it, but it kind of makes you wonder what they think they are doing. There's no cocoa about it, though maybe the chicken is delivered by van. In any event, they cook the food right, so who cares if they won't win the spelling bee?
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They say you get what you pay for. Well, they could have been talking about Steak O-Rama in Belmont Shore. I'll give them this, they give you a lot of steak for your money. If you are jonesing...
They say you get what you pay for. Well, they could have been talking about Steak O-Rama in Belmont Shore. I'll give them this, they give you a lot of steak for your money. If you are jonesing for meat and are broke, you could do worse. If you can afford better, I suggest you do so.
There's not much ambiance to the place. Look, it's called Steak O-Rama. You can't be shocked when you get iceberg lettuce in your salad and hear KLOS in the background. But, even so, you would hope that the beef might be a little more tender. They don't serve shoe leather, but expect your teeth to get a good workout.
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Vin De Pays is a wine shop that any wine drinker in Southern California should be aware of, from novices to the more serious connisieur. The philosophy of Vin De Pays is to sell great and good...
Vin De Pays is a wine shop that any wine drinker in Southern California should be aware of, from novices to the more serious connisieur. The philosophy of Vin De Pays is to sell great and good wines for less than $15 a bottle. So, if your tastebuds have graduated from two buck Chuck but your wallet hasn't, this is the place for you. There are plenty of fine wines here, some as cheap as $3-5. If you are willing and able to spend more, the store always has an astonishing selection of wines for much less than you would pay somewhere else.
The wines available cover all regions of the world and the US, but there is a particular emphasis on wines from France. Because the store is relatively small, they are able to get great deals on odd lots of wine, and sometimes you will get, say, a premier cru Bordeaux for $15 dollars there that would cost $40 under normal circumstances. A distributor who has wants to get rid of the last couple of cases of a particular wine from his warehouse will sell them to Tom (who runs the store) at a steep discount, and because it is a small operation he can turn a profit on it, whereas it might not be worth the effort for a larger business.
Vin De Pays also sells a selection of artisinal cheeses and meats and holds tastings throughout the week. The tastings are fun and a pretty good value for $10 or so. You usually get eight or nine themed wines (wines of Oregon, Spain, etc) for that price.
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Taix is one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles and one of my favorite places to go. The food is good, French style cuisine, but they don't charge an arm and a leg for it. They have a...
Taix is one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles and one of my favorite places to go. The food is good, French style cuisine, but they don't charge an arm and a leg for it. They have a different, very reasonable special for every day of the week.
They have an excellent wine list, large and diverse. Even better, the mark up is very light, maybe $5 dollars or so a bottle over retail. They have beer on draught and a really nice selection of liquors as well.
They do a little bit of everything there. They have an elegant dining room and several banquet rooms. They also have a really friendly bar that shows sports on a big screen TV and, naturally for Echo Park, have pretty good bands that play in the evening. It can be a romantic place to hold a date, a hall to hold a party or, the way I usually use it, a nice place to kick back in the evening and get a drink and a bite.
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