Rodeo Mexican Grill

If you want good Mexican food, you gotta head East. Friday night, my wife and I did just that and found ourselves in Echo Park and hungry. It being a Friday of Lent, we had to go vegetarian to avoid purgatory or hell or something like that, so we were going to be limited in our options, but knew we could do well with Mexican. And do well we did: We stopped at Rodeo Mexican Grill.

Now some people might look askance at the health department's A on the door, but cleanliness doesn't prevent the food from being good (after all, Poom Thai in Santa Monica also has an A). So we went in and were confronted by their 65-item menu on the wall. Not very many vegetarian options so Nalleli got the quesadilla (and a side order of guacamole) while I had the chile relleno. Our food was quickly available but not before we sat at the table and discovered that the chair rail around the room was a wonderful carved western scene (it turned out that the planters outside also had western-themed decoration).

The chile relleno was wonderful. Cooked just right with an extra thick layer of egg batter surrounding a succulent chile stuffed with white cheese (in fact the whole restaurant was, as it should be, devoid of yellow cheese (except on the cheeseburgers).

Nalleli's quesadilla received a thumbs as well along with the rice and beans. But best of all were the tortillas which came along with my chile relleno. The best tortillas I've ever had were made by a Guatemalan widow in a refugee camp in Chiapas. The second best tortillas I've ever had were these. So good that we asked where they came from. Tortilleria Santa Fe, we were told, and I hoped that I'd find a market where they were sold. Until on the way out, I saw that the tortilleria that we'd seen on the way in was, in fact, Tortilleria Santa Fe.

Go east, eat and enjoy.

Rodeo Mexican Grill, 1721 West Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026, 213/483-8311

Adventures in alternate universes

Remember Angel? The Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff set in Los Angeles? It posited an L.A. in which there was a hidden subculture of demons and vampires. Demon massage parlors in the back of Koreatown shops, vampire nests in South Central, icky things in the sewers, and of course the Demon Karaoke bar.

I kind of feel like I've got a sense of where that comes from the past couple days. Thursday night I played a gig with Marie MacGillis that was part of Lolita La Vey's Burlesque and Sideshow Cabaret. Some details are at my music diary (go read it while you can, there are no permalinks). Alternate universe number one: It's more 1926 than 2006, except for the jokes about myspace (I kept telling my wife, who works at aforementioned company, that she ought to stand up on the table and yell out, "twenty more profile pictures for everyone!"). I'm pretty sure that even without the strippers, jazz and freakshow acts, Count Smokula belongs in an alternate universe just for being himself.

Then last night I saw a show by Roundabout, a Yes tribute band from San Diego (it was to have been a double bill with Gabble Ratchet, a Genesis tribute band who turned me down, not unreasonably, for their lead vocalist position, so I knew that the singer was at least not as bad as me, and I'd heard the rest of the band and was impressed). It was one of the bigger crowds I've seen for a club band. The set list was comparable to what Yes performed on the 90210 tour (Yes, being, after all, the most successful of the Yes tribute bands). But to see a full room of people enjoying old prog like this and even dancing made me feel like, again, I was in an alternate universe.

Bleg: Top shops near Olympic/La Cienega

There's a gajillion top shops in west L.A. it seems. But which ones are good versus likely to rip me off? The previous owner of my BMW 318i convertible was a moron, and among other things, he apparently had a Mustang(!) top put on the car rather than a BMW top, which was done poorly (and apparently using a used top as well as its been quickly deteriorating). So can anyone recommend a place to take my convertible? I'd like to not be drowned in the car next time it rains.

Oh, and recommendations for BMW service shops would also be welcome.

Fry's in the City of Industry

First off, I will always have a preference for the Fry's in Manhattan Beach. Yeah, it's small and the parking sucks, but it was my first Fry's. But come on, I'm enough of a big nerd that almost any Fry's (except Anaheim) is a wonderful experience. The themed decorations, and all the many many toys.

The only SoCal Fry's that I've not visited is the one in Industry, so, since we needed a new wireless router, Nalleli and I decided to stop there on our way to a party in San Dimas. The decor theme is apparently machinery (as evidenced by the giant plastic gears both inside and outside the store. The lines are long, but like at every Fry's, they move quickly.

Strangest of all is the restaurant in the middle of the store. Had we not been on our way to a party, we would have eaten there since our quick trip in ended up taking about 90 minutes (we got the router, a remote for Nalleli's iPod and a $10 flash drive). Scariest thing though: Although it looked clean, the Fry's restaurant had a C.

Sabores de Oaxaca

We'd seen it many times driving through the intersection of La Cienega and Venice. Sabores de Oaxaca. As Rick Bayless would say, "Oaxaca, my spiritual home."

So we decided to try it this evening.

I was expecting something quite a bit different. The interior is closer to fast food joint than dining establishment (although they do take credit cards). I ordered the Chile Relleno de Picadillo and Nalleli ordered the Enchiladas de Mole Rojo. I thought that her Mole had a sort of bad beer taste although she liked it. The picadillo in my Chile Relleno appeared to really just be big chunks of chicken with an occasional raisin. But, I figured, perhaps the licuado de fresa I'd ordered would be the salvation of the meal. Nope. After waiting an awfully long time to get it, I discovered that they had no strawberries and thus no licuado for me.

We'll probably skip the return trip.

Sabores De Oaxaca, 6136 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, (310) 559-7003

FULL SERVICE!

Heading into Santa Monica to meet my wife for dinner, I stopped at the Union 76 on Lincoln, just north of where the Marina Freeway dumps onto it. Waddaya know, they actually have full service islands. I passed on that though and filled my tank at the much cheaper self service pumps, as did every one else there. The full service guy wandered over and offered to check my oil, but I was almost filled up, so I passed.

I haven't bought full service gas since the last time I was in Oregon.

St Victor's Church

I almost didn't write this post (the actually writing date is later than the post date), but I had someone comment about St Victor's in an earlier post.

The short version, I arrived late, but the parish seemed awfully conservative. Kind of like St Dennis in Diamond Bar was back in the early 90s. They had a communion rail, and everyone in the sanctuary was male and dressed like a priest. Quite frankly, the liturgy didn't speak to me.

St Victor's Church, 8634 Holloway Drive, West Hollywood, California 90069

Dangerous, but satisfying

This morning, I saw someone toss some trash out of his SUV as he drove past our apartment building. I ran into the street, picked it up, and tossed it back in his open window.

House of Thai Taste

We needed food and we decided that we were in the mood for Thai. Heading down Venice Blvd through Palms into Mar Vista, we decided to stop at House of Thai Taste which we'd seen a few times before.

There was a tiny parking lot in the back of the restaurant which is just big enough to provided parking for the tiny restaurant. We were seated almost immediately (they did have to clear a table for us).

Nalleli ordered fried rice and yellow curry, I had the roast duck curry. Alas, I made the mistake of asking for brown rice. After an awfully long time, they eventually told us that they had no brown rice. It was still longer before they brought us my white rice.

The food was good, but the service was pretty awful.

House of Thai Taste, 1824 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles

Upcoming gig

I'm going to be playing bass for Marie MacGillis on Thursday, March 23rd.

This looks to be a very strange and bizarre show. I'm not even sure what "Sideshow Burlesque" entails, but I guess come March 24th, both of my readers will have some idea (sooner if they actually come to the show).