Yikes! That makes three places I need to hit in about 2 hours. Looks/tastes like this is going to be a great trip.

Since I have a brief pie window in the morning and one in the afternoon, it looks like I'll have to save Random Order for the late session.

Thanks Leonardo.

I just found this thread...
<http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/668772>
...so it looks like I may have to hit both.

I have a few hours in Portland next Friday and I'd like to find some pie. I've read good things about Random Order Coffeehouse and Bipartisan Cafe.
http://www.randomordercoffee.com/
http://www.bipartisancafe.com/
Any opinions and/or recommendations?

Thanks.

Great idea! If I can convince some of my family to head out there this afternoon, you'll have my report on your desk tonight. By the way, Pi is somewhat famous for feeding the President: http://tinyurl.com/dk36a5. At least this is what my friend who took me there says. We'll have to see if Zelo's is President-worthy.

I know this is a stretch, but can anyone say how Zelo's pizza compares to the pies at Pi -- http://www.restaurantpi.com/about -- in St. Louis? I ate there a few months ago and fell in love with their deep dish, cornmeal crust pizza. I'm in West L.A., so St. Louis is a bit of trek, but Arcadia's doable if Zelo can hold its own with Pi.

I happened to drive by The Cobbler Lady today so stopped and tried her blackberry cobbler. It immediately went onto my list of best-things-I've-ever-eaten. As a pie person, I always looked down my nose at cobbler, but TCL converted me.

And since we're talking cobbler, Earlez Grille (on Crenshaw just a few blocks north of TCL) makes a fine peach cobbler, but with a more crumble-type topping.

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Cobbler Lady
3854 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90008

Earlez Grille
3630 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016

We're heading out that way tomorrow. I'm looking at the map and seeing two bridges heading from Memphis toward West Memphis. Do you know which one will lead me to BBQ (i.e. highway 64 or highway 70)?

I've never had the dutch apple at Costco, but I've tried their pecan, and it was easily the scariest pie I've ever had -- the top was gummy and disturbing.

Pie 'n Burger has my favorite pies in L.A. -- peach, banana cream, pecan...you can't go wrong.

Pie 'n Burger is nearby. Not sure how it would suit a vegetarian -- a couple of slices of their wonderful peach pie, maybe?

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Pie 'n Burger
913 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91106

I checked into Little Door, and it looks great. Unfortunately, though, my wife's doesn't really like French food -- the sauces are generally too much for her. How do they do the filet?

At the moment, it's between "Volver" and "Babel."

Here's what we're looking for:
Must have good steak -- my wife loves steak.
Quiet and Romantic.
Parking must be close or valet must be available since my wife has a broken foot.
Ideally it would be close to movie theaters -- we'll eat early, i.e. around 6:30, then hopefully be able to hobble over to a film.

We'd been thinking about Magnolia, but I haven't been impressed by what I've read. The Whisper Lounge is another possibility, but that doesn't look too quiet. West looks like a possibility, but it'd mean driving to a theatre.

Our two favorite places are Michael's (unfortunately closed Saturday for a wedding reception) and Vibrato (but our favorite early-set pianist isn't playing this weekend). We rarely go out, so we want to make the best of our opportunity.

Thanks for your help.