Hey all,

I need the best breakfast place in the relative downtown area that serves breakfast early! I'm trying to be seated at 6 am, and need to be at USC no later than 7:30 for graduation. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards Pacific Dining Car, but am open to anything.

I have no qualms with eating on the westside, but am just nervous that I will not be back to school in time if work traffic is bad.

Thanks for the help!

Well Picca is very good for Peruvian. Not really sure how the Peruvian is up in the bay, but I definitely recommend that.

Right next to USC is Chichen Itza which is admittedly Mexican but it's Yucatan-style Mexican which has a much different flavor profile than most Mexican in my opinion. Certainly the best restaurant in very close proximity to USC.

How about the beef meatballs at Sapp Coffee Shop. Certainly not my favorite, but interesting and they do work quite well in the boat noodle soup.

Was just about to recommend these bad boys! They are fantastic. While I like Sotto's pizza more than Ortica's, I have to say I prefer Ortica's meatballs. I could do three orders of those and call it a meal.

How about Alma? Very intimate, fun space. Fantastic food. Even if you go the Tuesday tasting menu, price won't kill you. Plus it's downtown.

Tacos Baja Ensenada fish taco (do not understand the CH hate!)

Hey y'all, do you think Gold's 2011 99 essential Los Angeles restaurants list still merits much respect? Has anybody finished the list?

Just wondering what my fellow chowhounders think! I've been working on it for 6 months or so and it has definitely led me to some outstanding places, but I do feel the fact that its two years old is certainly not ideal.

I've been to Donut Man, but now you've got me salivating to try the other ones. Any idea why so many good donut shops are in Arcadia?

Glad the Wood Spoon macaroons worked! Out of curiosity, how many did you order? I never thought of ordering their macaroons in relative bulk.

Funny that you say that... I live in Newport and a Chinese corporation just bought the house next door to me... So we will have to see how that goes.

Chichen Itza is right by USC. Check it out if you have time

Hey all, so I was wondering, what food does LA do better than anywhere else in the country?

The reason I ask is because I feel LA is not lauded as a top US food city but it sure seems like we do some ethnic cuisine really good.

I seriously have no knowledge of other cities' food scenes, mainly I'm just curious.

But, it seems to me that we must do Thai pretty good, given that we have the largest Thai population outside Thailand. I especially imagine LA does regional Thai really well with restaurants like Jitlada (southern) and Spicy BBQ (Isaan.)

How about Vietnamese? I figure our main rival is the bay area?

Mexican? Jewish Delis? Ethiopian? Persian? Help me figure this out!

I second Huarache Azteca, the super huarache with red, white, and green sauce is incredible.

Also, give Good Girl Dinette a try. "Vietnamese comfort food" according to the owner--good bahn mi, fantastic fries. Good spring rolls. Very fun vibe.

Does Sotto even have the best Napoli-style pizza in town? I think Settebello in Pasadena has to be better...

I highly recommend Alma's tasting menu. If you just grab a later reservation (8:00 or later) you should have no problem with traffic.

Another thing you could do is Baco for lunch then hang around downtown (check out a museum, Chinatown, Disney, etc.) and then just head over to Alma for dinner.

Heck, if you were feeling really ambitious, you could do Nickel Diner for breakfast/donuts, then Baco, and then Alma and in total move something like 5 blocks.

Also, considering you'll be so close to Boyle Heights, it might be worth it to head over the bridge and try Guisado's for very solid tacos. If you're a big eater you could do something like this:

9am: Nickel Diner
11am: Grab a taco or two at Guisados
1:30: Baco
6:00 Alma.

Anybody else been to Figueroa Philly? I think it is fantastic, certainly my favorite philly cheesesteak spot I've found in California.

If you're in the downtown area (by USC specifically) it is definitely worth a shot IMO.

Damn, that sounds delicious. I'll have to give it a shot sometime.

Hey everyone, since coming back from four months in Bangkok, I've been craving grilled pork neck. What are the best spots in LA?

Thus far, I've only tried Night + Market and Palms' renditions. Really enjoyed N+M's version, I thought Palm's was decent, a little too tough.

Also, do any non-Thai (or Asian) places experiment with pork collar?

Thanks for the help!

Complete shot in the dark and almost certainly not worth your time, but if you happen to be in the area, you could potentially give Wood Spoon a try. While I have no idea if they are like Whisk LA's, the macaroons at Wood Spoon look pretty darn identical to those of Whisk LA's (based on pictures I found on yelp) But seriously, most likely not worth your time.

Macherroni Republic was really good in my opinion. It just opened in late 2012 but its chefs/owners have supposedly been doing Italian in LA for 25 years. Definitely worth a shot in my opinion. But then again I also really like Spice Table. Not sure you can go too wrong with that

I second Beachcomber. The location is incredible and the food is good. Plus, it's fun to either walk down to the beach of take the little trolley they run from their parking lot

I live around USC and it is awesome. Figueroa Philly makes a really good cheesesteak imo. Best I've had outside of Philly. Maybe not worth driving across town for, but if you're by USC definitely stop in for lunch at some point. You really cannot go wrong with Wood Spoon in downtown. Small, intimate place. Shortribs are perhaps my favorite meal at the moment, but most people swear by the chicken pot pie. Guisados is good for tacos and that ain't too far. Definitely hit up Chichen Itza. I love their soups and their pollo pibil.

Wurstkuche is really, really fantastic. Go rattlesnake/rabbit sausage and you will not be disappointed.

SHORT RIBS

Interesting, that does sound like it might be different enough to warrant trying. Thanks for your help!

Servorg--It's not that I did not like the pizza at Ortica, just that I did not find it at the level of Serttebello. But I have to say recently at Ortica the crust has been a bit on the drier side, and therefore not as chewy as I'd hope. If that makes sense? I'm just getting into the "foodie" scene so I still have a hard time figuring out what exactly I do not like about things!

Has anyone been to both Pizzeria Ortica and Sotto? I am a huge Settebello fan (although I maintain the Henderson, NV location is better than the Pasadena one) and would love to try Sotto based on the reviews suggesting Sotto tops Settebello.

BUT, I have been to Ortica probably five times or so (from Orange County) and in my opinion these pies don't hold a candle to Settebello or even Pizza E Vino... which I'm surprised the OP did not like.

So the question is. Are Sotto's and Ortica's pizzas pretty similar? If so, I'll have to pass.