Lamb sandwich or dip - westside

There's a pretty good lamb dip sandwich at Westside Tavern.

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Coconut Cake - by the slice

Magnolia and Lemonade

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Authentic French bistro/brasserie (not fine dining) Westside to South Bay preferred

I agree, the food at Le Epicerie is not great and the ambience is not really brasserie either - more like a cafe/small marketplace.
MEET is a French bistro a few doors down from Le Saint Amour on the same side of the street which I like better.

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Shaanxi Gourmet

I went two weeks ago and really liked both the liang pi (our group's favorite) and yangrou pao mo.
We were surprised to see the bread diced as small as it was in the broth, but they stayed delightfully chewy and not overly soggy until the end and we noticed later too someone tearing their own, so that's something we'll try in future.

We also got the da pan ji (big plate of chicken), but other than liking the noodles hidden underneath, the very bony chicken pieces and sauce were underwhelming.

I had read several reviews touting the lamb burger, but our server said they didn't ever (?) serve it with lamb, so we skipped it since we already had so much food.

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Hiko or Echigo???

I had a bad experience at Echigo before too, and my take on it now is that oddly enough ordering their sushi a la carte ends up better than doing omakase.
When I ordered omakase, I too got pre-sliced fish and that horrid refrigerated plate of sliced albacore fanned out on sauce.
Ordering a la carte, the fish being served a single piece at a time has always been fresh and tasty and the sushi chef seems to be slicing to order.
The last time I went was about 2 months ago - not sure if it's severely declined since then.

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Baco Mercat

Baco is a term Centeno made up at his previous restaurant Meson G for the flatbread sandwiches he created. They resemble overstuffed tacos in a puffy wrap, not unlike what you'd see gyros served in, and his fillings are always major flavor bombs.
Toron is one of the baco offerings and the name I think is his play on bull/ox (toro) since its main ingredient is an oxtail hash.

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Straight dish on the food truck scene?

If the timing works out, you should check out First Fridays in Venice where the food trucks come out en masse and all the shops/galleries on Abbot Kinney stay open late. You'll have your pick of trucks there though only a few are great. As for which trucks, Kogi (the originator of the trend), Lobsta Truck (I like their crab sandwich more), Nom Nom (bahn mi), Coolhaus (ice cream sandwiches), Get Shaved (Hawaiian shave ice), LudoBites (fried chicken), and Grilled Cheese are some of the better ones IMO.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, also visit a no-frills authentic Mexican taco truck. I like Tacos Leo for al pastor in the Union 76 gas station lot at the corner of La Brea and Venice.

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Please Advise on Dinner and Dancing/Night life

Not my first choice but since nightlife seems to be an important factor, Cleo has pretty good food and scene which is overpriced for what it is (Mediterranean small plates) but affordable nonetheless.

No dancing but still loungey are Next Door Lounge (I haven't had the food but I hear it's pretty good or you can eat at The Corner next door first which I believe has the same owners) or the Churchill (fun vibe and good drinks, okay food).

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Baco Mercat

Had a great dinner there.

We also really enjoyed the Toron baco which seems to be much better reviewed than the Original surprisingly. Can't remember the exact name of what we had from the nightly offerings list but both were great - one a braised pork ragu on a thick slice of bread (like a giant glorious bruschetta) and the other okra in tomato sauce.
Overall you can't miss ordering a non-standard protein which is what I've always thought Josef Centeno really does well.

The RB Italiano was one of the better artisanal cocktails I've had in awhile and I was convinced by the server to follow it up with a baco pop made alcoholic (grapefruit and bulleit) which was nothing special at all.

Food service was fine, but we thought our server was a bit off and suspected he might have been on coke. Seats were all uncomfortable wooden school chairs or stools, but it was nice to be able to grab a patio two-top easily as walk-ins.

I thought the food was very reasonably priced for how tasty and creative it was and would definitely return.

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Versailles

Culver City one is still good and my closest location.
I've always given the taste edge to the location on La Cienega even though I can't put my finger on why.

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Where should I become acquainted with cheese and charcuterie?

AOC came to mind first.
Although it's only mozzarella, sitting at the cheese bar at Osteria Mozza would be a wonderful intro to cheese I think.

For more casual or even takeaway to try at home, consider Cube, Joan's on Third, or the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills/Silverlake.

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Century City mall food court

In the food court, I almost exclusively eat at Coral Tree Express. Fuddruckers seem to have all but disappeared from all of the cities I frequent, so that's not bad either. Unfortunately I don't think Ummba Grill has 'por kilo' offerings anymore since they transformed themselves into more of a bar.

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Early Sunday dinner near Geffen Playhouse (Westwood)

I'll also throw out Shamshiri Grill or fundamental LA,

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Solo dining options in downtown LA

Would skip Church & State nowadays, but highly second all the rest of these recs, especially Lazy Ox Canteen.

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Finding a replacement vegie/chicken burrito on westside?

Try Tacomiendo on Gateway near Pico.
I always order their meat offerings which are very good, but remember them having a veggie burrito with grilled squash and peppers.

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PLEASE POST YOUR VOTES HERE: Ultimate Los Angeles Restaurants 2011

Over $25 --
Melisse
Spago
Gjelina
Hungry Cat (Santa Monica)
Manhattan Beach Post

Under $25 --
Langer's
Santouka
A-Frame
Mendocino Farms
Shamshiri Grill

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Restaurant with great desserts

Second Bazaar, and it does not have to be Saam.
The SLS Hotel is very trendy and the Patisserie desserts and presentation are very impressive.
I find the lobby and restaurant design very 'Alice in Wonderland'-esque and think a 20 year old would love it.

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MB Post

I've had reservations and been sat at the communal table even, so I'm not sure how that works. You might have luck that early though, but best to call and check.

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Looking for group cooking classes

I was about to suggest Hipcooks too.
I haven't been to a class there myself, but I had 2 friends that recently did the "Cocktail Party" class and raved about it.
They got to prepare several hors d'oeuvres and mixology cocktails and reported being fairly toasted at the end with how much they drank throughout. :)

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La Habra eats?

You're close enough that you should definitely go for Chinese.
There are a myriad of options in the San Gabriel Valley cities best known for this - San Gabriel, Monterey Park, Alhambra, Rosemead, etc. If you search the board for these cities, you'll get plenty of ideas and they're all very affordable and kid-friendly.

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Lunch in Little Osaka?

I'll add some names to your places. =)

The fish rice bowl place is Wakasaya, which I tried before and would still choose Sushi Stop over for cheap sushi. Yes Sushi Stop is not gourmet by any means, but for $2.75 an order, I do like the aburi/flame-seared sushi selections and whatever's on special (uni, sea scallop, real crab). Would definitely not order a curry bowl there with Hurry Curry and Curry House just steps away.

The noodle place on the second floor of Olympic Collection is Mishima which is a good rec in that price range. They do Japanese rice bowls like tanin don and katsu don, and soba and udon that are pretty good - I don't think they have ramen.

The Korean place further up Sawtelle is Tofuya where you can get the standards like galbi, bulgogi, soon dubu, bibimbap a la carte or in massive combos.

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Wakasaya
2123 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025

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Mori Sushi Vs. Nobu Malibu

Definitely Mori over Nobu.
If you are looking for a more scene-y Nobu restaurant, Matsuhisa then.

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Matsuhisa
129 N La Cienega Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211

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Lunch in Little Osaka?

For that price point, I'd go to Chabuya, Hurry Curry, or perhaps grab a ready-made bento/sushi at Nijiya market.
If you can spend a bit more, Sushi Stop is decently good for the cheap sushi variety.

The other day I noticed a newer place that I didn't catch the name of open next to Restaurant 2117 that seemed to serve a little of everything (tonkatsu, okonomiyaki, sushi) - anyone try it yet?

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Chabuya
2002 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025

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Please help 2 nights in Barcelona late November

We ate at Gelonch last year based on recs from this board, but note that we were the ONLY PEOPLE in the entire restaurant all night!
The staff was very nice and told us that they had 2 couples booked and we were the only one that showed. The service was obviously great and it was funny to see the chef peeking out through this little window at us after each course was served, but we ended up wishing that the restaurant had just told us they wouldn't open for the night so that we could have rebooked somewhere more lively.
The meal was good but didn't outweigh the awkwardness we felt at being the only reason they opened that night.
This may have been an anomaly because I think it was sometime mid-week, but just so you're aware.

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Drive between Vegas and LA

Yes and one of the ubiquitous date shakes advertised on the billboards nearby.

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A Frame Wait

Yep this is spot on - the wait time depends a ton on your party size.
For a party of 2, I've managed to be seated right away or no longer than 15 min's wait.
Went recently with a party of 6 and we waited over an hour and a half - mainly because 2 inconsiderate diners left at the table we were waiting for decided to play with their cell phones long after they were done eating. The staff however was very nice about it, apologized profusely, and brought out bowls of the furikake popcorn to tide us over.

Waterloo and City is very close and usually does not have much of a wait, but I personally find A-Frame's food much more interesting.

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Mid-City (ish), Miracle Mile? CHEAP, DELICIOUS, and suitable for a birthday? Happy hour perhaps? (sadly, NOT Robata Jinya)

No none of those have happy hours unfortunately, but I suggested them just because they're relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of what else is out there and even then they aren't at the top of my list food-wise. I tend to find happy hour specials are inversely proportionate with the quality of food sometimes. For HH, margaritas and fish tacos at El Carmen perhaps if it's not too crowded?

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El Carmen Restaurant
8138 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048

TracyS in Los Angeles Area

Mid-City (ish), Miracle Mile? CHEAP, DELICIOUS, and suitable for a birthday? Happy hour perhaps? (sadly, NOT Robata Jinya)

Some ideas:
Yabu
Monsieur Marcel
Osteria Mamma
Osteria La Buca
BLD

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La Buca
5210 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038

BLD Restaurant
7450 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Yabu Restaurant
521 N La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048

Osteria Mamma
5730 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038

Monsieur Marcel
6333 W. 3rd St. AND 3rd St. Arizona at the Promenade, Los Angeles/Santa Monica, CA 90036

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Good source for small, simple jars and bottles?

Also the Container Store.

TracyS in Los Angeles Area