Westside Intelligence Report

One of the cool things about moving is finding all the new local spots. I've made a few thus far...

1. Furaibo - Excellent. Phil calls it Japanese Tapas. It's basically a mix of Japanese and Korean bites. Sapporo is $10.50 for a big pitcher and you can order snacks, beer, and sake. Not too expensive. Fun atmosphere because you are seated close to lots of other people. The type of place you end up chatting with the folks around and getting more drunk than expected. We went on a Thurs nite at 9:30 and had to wait for a table.

2. Rae's Diner - also excellent. Cheap, greasy, diner off Pico. One of those old timey Americana style places where they probably film a lot of commercials. The good was good, tho, and I should I find myself awake in the early AM with time to kill or nursing a hangover, it's the first place I'll drop by.

3. Omelet Parlour - On Main St. Nice interior and looks like it would be great, but I don't know if it's because I don't like omelette's or the way they tend to get made in restaurants, but I found the food pretty mediocre, especially for how overpriced it is. One of the neat things is that the omelette's are half price between 6am and 7am, but I don't see how I'll ever be able to take advantage unless I've been up all night. The coffee, however, was unbelievably good.

4. [Place Where I Watched Monday Night Football Last Night] - Sucked my ass. There was a dart league that showed up and played darts while a bunch of other sausages watched Monday Night Football. There was a happy hour with half off appetizers and beers, and the bill for two was only $30 for 4 beers, 2 apps, and a burger. Not bad, now that I think about it. But the food was gross, will make you fat, and there was exactly one female in the bar the entire night and she was married and in the dart league, if that gives you any sense of what we're talking about.

5. Renee's - I work there. I practically live there. I like the ambiance. The lunch menu is better than the dinner menu. Regular price, the drinks are a total rip. $14 + tip for a Budweiser and Nob Creek. Not like the old broadway bar $5 deal for a shot of whisky and beer, eh? Waitresses are consistently cute although I don't ever make progress with them. Decent place all around.

5. Bay Cities Deli - best place on earth.

6. Wild Oats Grocery Store - weird place. I got a lot to buy supplies for our office and it's so close, I end up getting lunch there a lot. And breakfast. They have great blueberry muffins. The deli is okay. Overpriced and not very good and bad service. The meatball hoagie is not bad. The soup menu is okay. Once they had a green vegetable soup that was awesome. The rest of the time, split pea is okay, chicken noodle is too spicy, the red vegetable soup is gross. The best item is the LaBrea sourdough bread crunchy toast things which I love for their subtle Parmesan flavoring.

7. Panera - Fairly priced and all around decent. Bad coffee, but I never get it because we made coffee in the office that tastes better. Secret: Sparklett's water and Peet's Grounds. Good combo. Panera has a good deal on the everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato - only costs $2.50 and is a good breakfast. They have these new egg souffle things that are good, but a bit overpriced. Chocolate croissants and the rest of the pastries are fine, average overall.

To Be Continued.