Tiara Cafe has a dinner with the former Starry Kitchen folks, I don't know if it qualifies as a pop up, though.

Wonderful! I'm not the OP, but I am going to a cheese tasting there tonight. I'll report back.

Oh!

I loved the chili burger with egg on top. What a nice little piece of LA, I'm so happy he got to run the business he wanted, and then got some time off.

Thank you everyone for the recommendations!

Mom will be staying with me for a week. She's been to LA before, but has not spent much time this far west.

I'll report our wanderings.

Hello all,

I'm moving from Glendale to West Los Angeles. I'll be living at SMB and Sawtelle, or a hop, skip, and jump from the West LA library--depending on your frame of reference.

Mom's coming to help me unpack. While I'll be at work during the day, she and I would like to explore my new neighborhood at night. What I'm looking for:

Moderately priced
Civilized noise levels
Seating that's appropiate for someone in their 70s
In my new area!

I love a place in a mini-mall, and if I can get some kind of wine in my glass, that's great too! (Did I mention mom is staying with me, too? Yes. I might need wine with dinner.)

She loves food, but has never really loved sushi. I'm allergic to shellfish, so I think that's out for this trip.

Places I'm thinking about--Il Grano for a nicer dinner, and how about Darya? I really like Tsujita, but I can't see making mom mill around and wait for 30+ minutes.

I've heard great things about Milo and Olive--how about their seating and noise level? I don't want to take her someplace where she's sitting on picnic bench (hi, new Bludso's!).

I know she wants to check out the SM Wednesday farmers market while I'm at work. Any and all restaurant, dishes, and parking suggestions welcomed!

Vegan Trip to India--really really good.

I also like their Life's a Choke artichoke salad.

Their current featured salad--Chinese Chicken Salad is a true miss. There's nothing special about it, and at $10, made me feel like a stupid head for purchasing it. (I feel okay when I overspend on food I like, but when it's on nothing special, I get horribly annoyed.)

Does Ray's take reservations? If so, get them, this exhibition should be big. If you want to stay casual, there are usually a ton of food trucks parked on Wilshire, directly across from the museum.

If you don't want to eat at LACMA, and you can walk a little, you're fairly close to the Old Farmer's Market and the Grove--I think it would be a 10-15 minute walk.

Tom Bergin's is also fairly close, but I've never been a fan.

Thanks all! I will report back.

I'm gathering names of places for an upscale private dinner in DTLA.

I have on my list
Patina, Drago

I have eliminated from my list
WP24 and Water Grill (neither restaurant was accepting private dinners on my date)

My requirements:
Fancy-Pantsy
DTLA
Privacy is preferred, but if there could be a designated part of a larger dining room, we'd comproise.

Any ideas?

How about Casa Bianca? I love their eggplant on my pizza, and they offer eggplant parm as either a sandwich or an entree.

I tried out Heywood Grilled Cheese for lunch last week with some co-workers.

http://www.heywoodgrilledcheese.com/

You can create your own, or try one of their suggested sandwiches. I got the Italian Bleu Jeans--Freshly sliced mozzarella topped with a creamy blue cheese, topped with fresh walnut pesto and sundried tomatoes.

I liked it, at $11 it's quite a big sandwich, and came with a very good cup of tomato bisque, and a small green salad.

The bad: this place is slow, and worse than being slow, they seemed really underprepared. We were there at 12:30. They didn't have smaller bills to make change, they ran out of silverware, and the 10 minute wait we were promised was closer to 20-25. When the orders did come up, the staff didn't seem to know which customer got which sandwich (despite taking our names when ordering).

My verdict? I'll go back, but at an off time, and I'll probably stick to the half sandwich meal.

CaCao Mexitessan in Eagle Rock

I like Raffi's but their lovely garden is walled off with construction. I would wait until things are back to normal.

Nope, you'll be posting your feedback here on this trip first, right? :)

I've been to Faux Pas, which reminded me a little of a high end chain restaurant. Nothing that special.

Mendo sandwiches and salads are really good, but it's hard to spend less than $10-15 for lunch.

Son of a Gun was great, but too loud.

I love pizza and have been to Settebello. No biggie.

The only other (anti)pointer I can give to the OP is to avoid the Crispy Crust chain. That chain is remarkable in that I cannot get their food down my throat, and I can eat some bad, bland, greasy, mediocre food.

Yes to both--yesterday found me at Bulgarini, and truly, on my weekly to-do list, is "visit Famous Frank's for peanut butter and chocolate ice cream."

I probably won't be making Jeni's a habit, but it's still really good.

Good grief! I meant Gelson's--I've edited my op.

Gelson's in Silverlake has pints of Jeni's ice cream (10.99 EACH).

I remember seeing

Brambleberry Crisp
Dark Chocolate
Brown Butter Almond Brittle
Salty Caramel
Whiskey & Pecans

I don't know if this is news to anyone else, but it was a pleasant (and indulgent) way to spend my Sunday afternoon.

Nick N Stef's--they have a nice happy hour menu that's served in the bar.

Shin Sen Gumi--my favorite Ramen place in Little Tokyo. In the same minimall as Yogurtland.

Columbo's in Eagle Rock--since 1954.

http://colombosrestaurant.com/

Mc Michael,

The link from that event is dated 2007. On the Alex's home page, the only event listed for Sunday, February 26, is the LA Chamber Orchestra matinee performance.

I've been to that Coral Tree Express a couple of times. Since I'm usually trying to hustle along and make a movie, the slooow service (the amount of time it takes to get the food) is pretty frustrating.

I'm looking for a place that serves thoughtful, well made cocktails in the SFV.

Ideally, there'd be good food, but I'm willing to eat pretzels that I smuggle in my purse, to have drinks made with fresh juices, topshelf liquor, and an attentive bartender.

A co-worker suggested Firefly in Studio City, but I don't particularly remember their drinks.

Any ideas?

They moved.

333 S Boylston St
Los Angeles, CA 90017

That's me!

I can't eat shrimp, lobster, scallops, etc. At times I'm more sensitive than others--probably due to whatever other allergens I've been exposed to and amount of drink I've had. That's when I notice a mild case of the hives after having dishes with fish or oyster sauce. Nothing that a pill or two of Benydryl or Zyrtec can't knock out.

When I go out to the SGV, I usually find it worth my while to smile and make conversation with the table manager, usually that's the person who can speak the best English. I ask him to make a note on our table ticket that the woman with glasses (or whatever color top I'm wearing) can't eat shellfish, but can eat everything else.

Having that written note for the cart-pushers really helps out.

I saw them for the first time at today's Atwater Village farmer's market. I believe it was in the South Central farmer's stall--$4/bag.

A dear friend swears by the offering at Il Moro.

-----
Il Moro Restaurant
11400 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064

I'm a regular at Topline, due to proximity and this board. But for the OP, it's no where near Laguna Beach. I don't think many things in life are worth that drive...

Thanks everyone for the ideas.

I haven't been to Park's, and don't think we've taken these visitors to KTown. Langer's is an old favorite--and with their lunch crowd hours, I don't know if we'll be able to stop over there after work.

I haven't been to Rivera, Wood Spoon, or Wurstkuche yet--so I'm looking forward to it!

-----
Wurstkuche
800 E 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Wood Spoon
107 W 9th St, Los Angeles, CA 90015