Food Page

Food Page

Great food places, listed generally in order of my preference.

In-N-Out Burger. By far the best hamburgers anywhere! Here is their official website. They've been around for over 50 years. Their first stores were in the San Gabriel Valley (#1 is at I-10 and Francisquito). Today they're all over California and expanding into Southern Nevada and Arizona. Whoever runs the place is a genius. No fad foods like steak sandwiches, corn dogs, and chicken nuggets. Just a basic menu of three kinds of burgers, french fries, sodas, shakes, etc, which hasn't changed since they started out. (Except for the fact that they used to have Pepsi and now have Coke.) For the last fifteen years or so, all new locations have been set up in high-traffic locations at intersections of two major streets, or some major street and a freeway. They are open past midnight every night (until 1:30am weekends). Their people are the most friendly and courteous you'll find anywhere. When you visit, ask them for some free bumper stickers. (There's a stove-hood in a Union City New Jersey apartment which has one of the stickers; my sister put it there. We have wondered what the tenants who came after thought of it, assuming any of them knew it's a California burger chain.)
Tommy's World Famous Hamburgers. This is another chain that started locally back in the 1940's, predating In-N-Out by a year or two. Their original location is still at Beverly and Rampart in L.A. They serve chili on nearly all of their food: burgers, hot dogs, tamales, fries. Messy but good. They have the fastest serving line you'll find anywhere. You walk in, tell them what you want, they tell you the total, you hand them the money, and before they can give you the change, your food is ready! Here's their official site. Beware of their many imitators with names like "Tommie's", "Thoma's" and "Tom's." They may dump chili all over their food but they are not the same place.
Jack In The Box. The chain has really improved since Jack came back in 1995. They still have Jumbo Jacks for 99 cents. Their Ultimate Cheeseburger has got to be the best value around. Here is Jack's web page.
Carl's Jr. Their "Famous Star" is 99 cents at most places but they don't seem to publicize it too well sometimes, so ask them. Their food is OK but real messy. They put too much goop on the burgers. I guess they can't help but be sloppy as they make them, so they decided to advertise them as if they meant for them to be that way. This chain started in Anaheim CA decades ago and is all around the western U.S. now. Here is their Official Site. The rest of the country is finding out what Carl's Jr is like because they ate up Hardee's in 1997 - thus becoming the 4th largest chain in the country.
Del Taco. This chain started in the high desert town of Barstow CA in the 1960's, and the original stores are still there. Some years ago they took over the Naugles chain, which also had good food. They make a burger that rates OK, but most of their stuff is Mexican food. They have 39 cent tacos which are quite good. Here's their website. Many of their locations are open 24 hours, but some of the night crews are real lazy, telling me "no burgers" at 3:00am, just because they didn't want to have to cook anything. I've thought of writing to the company, but decided it wasn't worth it.
Beep's Drive In. This establishment, started in 1956, has lots of good food in a 1950's decor. The giant burger offering is "The Big Beeper." They're on the corner of Sherman Way and Woodley, half a mile west of the 405 freeway. Well worth the visit. There are other places around like "Cafe 50's" and "Johnny Rockets" which also do the 50's thing, but Beeps has been much friendlier in my experience over the years. (But, if you go to Victorville or Yermo CA, be sure to check out "Peggy Sues"!)
Law Dogs. Only in Southern California... where else can you eat a hot dog, and get free legal advice from the hot dog vendor? At Law Dogs, a hot dog stand on Sherman Way near the corner of Hazeltine, 1/2 mile (800 meters) east of Van Nuys Blvd. Drop by on Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm with your question. The hot dogs are quite good, too. They all have "legalistic" names, and range from The Plaintiff (plain hot dog) to The Judge (with the works).
Cupid's Hot Dogs. Here is another small local chain of hot dog stands. The one in Van Nuys is on the corner of Victory and Tyrone, a couple of blocks east of Van Nuys Blvd. From what I've heard, a lot of people like them. I have never tried them so I can't give you a personal review yet.
La Mina. This is part of a small chain of Mexican restaurants. The only one in this area is the one at Woodley and Saticoy in Van Nuys; all of the others are in Kern County near Bakersfield. I've been to La Mina many times and they have excellent food there. They have all kinds of interesting meat they can cook too; you have to see the menu to believe it (here's a clue: spell "La Mina" backward). They have a certain gigantic burrito I have never dared to try. It's called Arturo's Mucho Grande. If you can eat two of them, it's free, and if you can eat three they'll pay you $50! (I assume that if you eat four, they'll cover your hospital bill?)
Western Bagel. Their bakery and store are on Sepulveda Blvd at Stagg Street. You can buy fresh bagels 24 hours a day (isn't it nice living in Southern California!). Their bagels are known far and wide and are stocked at many area markets.
Burger King. What can I say? Every so often the Whopper goes on sale for a buck or so.
Taco Bell. Not to be confused with the Mexican phone company, they have some decent fare, although I prefer Del Taco's selection at times. Taco Bell likes to put sour cream on too much of their food so they can charge extra; me, I hate sour cream.
And of course you have the other old standbys like KFC (Kentucky Fried Colonel), McDonalds (billions of burgers sold, that's over one whole cows' worth of meat!), Wendy's (that guy Dave Thomas shouldn't be so smug, the food isn't that great), El Pollo Loco (they really could use more variety), Arby's (bland beef in bulk quantities), Fatburger (sorry, but no thanks) and so on.

Revised June 28, 2000

Dave Bartholomew This page is written and maintained by David Bartholomew.
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