Rae's Restaurant

It had been quite awhile since I had been to the west side. Charlie lives there and recommended Rae's as a good example of an unheralded breakfast joint on that side of town. He was available to shoot pictures, so off we went.

We rolled in for a late Sunday lunch and I was surprised that it wasn't very crowded--not a ghost town by any means, but not packed. It turns out that the restaurant is deceptively large. Its main counter and booth space is augmented by an annex full of tables in the back. It was also decidedly non-douchey with a healthy mix of hipsters, locals and families. The douchey quotient is kept down by the proximity of places like Snug Harbor and Bread & Porridge, which act as a magnet for those types (Not saying there's anything inherently douchey with those places; they just happen to be more popular.)


Rae's was clearly an older place (est. 1958 according to their menu) and luckily hadn't a seen a renovation in quite some time. The colors change from a green and blue to a decaf shade of orange. Architecturally, the interior is all hard angles with the globe light fixtures and counter edges being the only exceptions. We sat in front of the picture window by the door. The large window let soft afternoon light just pour in, which gave everything a nice glow.



First off, I ordered a coffee, which was incredibly good--nice and strong without any bitterness. I found it very amusing that they served it in plastic mugs made to look like classic ceramic coffee cups.

The menu is small, comprising only one page. It covers the staples well and is peppered with interesting items and odd section placement. Under"Sandwich Specialties" it lists sundaes and malts and ice cream topping for sodas. I was sorely tempted by something called the "Denver Sandwich" which consists on two eggs, ham and pineapple. Now eggs and ham go together and ham and pineapple go together. Eggs and pineapple though? Why call it a Denver sandwich? Apparently it's a thing, although the pineapple appears to be an exclusive to Rae's thing.

Ultimately I went with the other most intriguing option: the bacon topped waffle.
Charlie ordered the Chorizo.



The chorizo had a mild spiciness to it, just enough to give it a tiny kick.



I expected to just find bacon bits sprinkled on top of the waffle, but what came was even better. The bacon had been added to the batter and cooked into the waffle itself. The syrup was nothing special but overall the combination was very good. My potatoes were adequate.

Something we both noticed about the food is that it is perfect "drunk food." It looks decent when on your plate in the daylight, but would look amazing if you were really drunk and trying to sober up. The slight sheen of grease would look delightful reflecting in the streetlights from outside.



At the end of our meal I decided to indulge with the blueberry pie. The edges of the slice were dry and sticky, which happens to fruit pies when they have been sitting out for awhile. Once I got closer to the center, it was much better.

Rae's was an enjoyable place. It had a nice atmosphere and decent food, but its biggest asset may be the price. For two breakfasts, coffee, orange juice and a slice of pie, our bill came to only $19.00. I look forward to going back there and enjoying more of that great coffee and maybe trying that Denver sandwich.

Food: Decent, bordering on good.

Service: Very friendly.

Price: $5-$8

Pie: Various.

Rae's Restaurant
2901 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 828-7937

The Horseless Carriage: Buy a car, get some pie...or not.

The American auto industry has been in the news a lot lately. For once, a diner review is somewhat topical. The Horseless Carriage Restaurant is a unique type of diner. It's unique because it is in a car dealership--the Galpin Ford car dealership in North Hills, right next to the 405, in the heart of the Valley.

Yes. A car dealership's own diner. It opened in-well, why should I tell the story? Let's let Mister Galpin tell it.

For a closer look at the pic, click here.

For this visit, I brought #1Diner Companion Antoinette, #1Diner Photog Charlie, and #1Gwen Stefani Fan Cammie. Cammie grew up in the area and her parents always bought their cars from Galpin. The salesmen would give the kids tokens to take to the restaurant to exchange for sodas. Only one salesmen still does that, Stuart Sank, according to our waitress, and you should totally buy your car from him because of this.

One thing we noticed about the Horseless Carriage was that the interior was immaculately clean. The stainless steel and faux-deco fixtures gleamed and sparkled in the summer twilight. This was, hands-down, the cleanest diner I have ever visited.

We started with coffee even though it was 7pm on a Sunday. I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised at how good the coffee was. So far we were off to a good start.

Looking at the menu, I noted that it covered a lot of the basics but wasn't overwhelming. There was just enough of every category to give some variety but without any 'wastes.' I feel like a lot of restaurants have 'wastes' on the menu--dishes that you just can't imagine anyone actually ordering...like the salmon at House of Pies.

Cammie ordered the Cobb salad. Which looks absolutely beautiful in that picture and tasted just as good.

Cammie also ordered a side of biscuits and gravy for the table, just to try it out. The biscuit was good--not great, and the gravy was a little watery.

Antoinette ordered the Sourdough Special and cup of french onion soup, but they were out of soup, so she just got the sandwich. The sourdough special is basically the beefeater at House of Pies or a beef melt at other places. It's roast beef, tomatoes and cheese melted on sourdough. It was good, but not as good as other versions of it that we've had.

Charlie and I both went with the reuben. It started out alright, although it was a little dry. Charlie had the wherewithal to order sides of thousand island dressing. Once we were able to really slather them with sauce, the enjoyability of the sandwich went up considerably.

We all ordered desert, well three deserts for four people. #1DC and I were going to split the pumpkin pie, which was the only pie they had left that day. Cammie ordered the cheesecake and Charlie ordered the strawberry cake. Charlie was the winner. The cake was especially pretty and delightfully sweet. It could have been a little fluffier, but was good overall. The cheesecake was decent but unspectacular. Our pumpkin pie was, well--it was a piece of pie that tasted like pumpkin, but not pumpkin pie. There seemed to be no nutmeg, no cinnamon, no spices. It just tasted like mashed up, kind of burnt, kind of soggy pumpkin on a pie crust.

In addition to the pies and cakes, they have something called the "Galpiccino." This consists of coffee ice cream, mocha powder and milk, blended with ice and topped with whipped cream. Just for the name it deserves to be ordered...just not by us... at least this time. And of course they had jello and whipped cream. How could they not?

With only a few minor bumps along the way, from the coffee all the way through to the end, it was well worth the drive. The only truly disappointing part was the pie. Even forgetting that it is probably second only to the Police Academy diner as far as unique locations goes, I can truly recommend the Horseless Carriage for a great experience.

Food: Good.

Service: Very friendly and helpful.

Price: $6-$11 with dinner entrees being a tad more.

Pie: Various cream pies, fruit and pumpkin. Stay away from pumpkin.

15505 Roscoe Blvd

North Hills, CA 91343-6503

(818) 892-3707‎

Again, special thanks to Charlie Chu for his great photography. He is available for weddings, bat mitzvahs and celebrity funerals.

Dinerwood On the Road: Fred's Grill - Morro Bay, CA

Continuing our Memorial Day vacation adventure, which last time took us to Jerry's Coffee Shop, we found ourselves in Morro Bay on the central Californian coast.


The desk clerk at the Motel 6 recommended Fred's as having the best breakfast in Morro Bay. Having had one of the worst dinners of my life the night before, my expectations for the food in this town were very low.






I normally wouldn't have been drawn to this place. The exterior looked homey with the flower boxes and beige paint job, but the golf ball on the sign was a sure indicator that something odd was going on. The "Grill" in the name didn't set my mind at ease either. "Grill" always makes me think of bar food and hamburgers. Or the Macaroni Grill, which is just plain stupid.






Inside it was quite odd. There were various golf themed pictures on the walls and golf tchotskies on the table tops. I did not like it because I do not like golf. I also had no clue if golf was a thing in Morro Bay (apparently it is: "a poor man's Pebble Beach"). I don't remember seeing a golf course around town (apparently there's about four within a few miles).

The counter seemed more like a bar's bar. In fact, the whole place had a vibe of sports bar trying out a breakfast menu. I've come to find out through my keen detective skills--okay, okay, I just called and asked--the opposite is true. Fred's started as a breakfast joint and expanded all the way to dinner then, because of the economy, scaled back to being a breakfast joint. Although the outside didn't change, I imagine the inside decor had been altered to reflect the new emphasis, but then never changed back.

The service was very nice. We took a long time to order since we were trying to juggle planning the rest of our trip, making notes about what had already occured, and then trying to figure out if we wanted to split something or not. We were annoying, scatter-brained patrons that morning but our waitress handled it fine.



We started off with some coffee. It was quite possible the worst coffee I've had in recent memory. It was oddly metallic and bitter tasting, and had to be drowned in cream and splenda.




I ordered a hearty breakfast with pancakes, eggs, potatoes and ham steak. I had been spoiled with damn near perfect pancakes the day before, but these were still very nice restaurant pancakes. My potatoes were a bit salty as was my ham steak. The ham steak was also very thick, which was nice. My eggs, ordered over-medium, were fine except for the orange flavor transfer from the garnish.




#1DC Antoinette ordered a sausage and cheese scramble. The scramble was too cheesy but the sausage was good.


Fred's Grill was perfectly fine. The only bad part was the atrocious coffee. The place did lack any of the charm that I seek out in diners and coffee shops but it quite possibly is the best breakfast place in Morro Bay, and you know, good for them.



Food: Good.
Price: Reasonable.
Service: Very nice.
Pie: "Peach and Apple, but not all the time. And chocolate cake."




Fred's Grill
1698 Main St
Morro Bay, CA 93442
(805) 771-9811

Jerry's Coffee Shop

On our way out of town for the recent holiday weekend, #1DC Antoinette and I had planned to go to the historic Munch Box in Chatsworth. Being crazy Huell Howser fans and having just watched the episode where he went there, we were really looking forward to it. When we arrived, though, the place was shuttered and there were no signs of it opening soon or ever again. Seriously, no hours posted, no 'open' or flipped over 'closed' sign, no nothing.

We asked GPS what we should do and GPS said "Jerry's Coffee Shop" in that snooty accent of his.

GPS took us out to Simi Valley, which I only know from the OJ Simpson trial...or was it the Rodney King trial? Either way, it was something having to do with injustice.



The moment we pulled up, I knew this place was something special. It looked like a dump, and dumps are either the worst or the best.



Jerry's is small, having maybe ten tables (with a few picnic tables outside). The carpet is stained and frayed, and the kitchen, which you can pretty easily see from the tables, is cluttered and messy.

The most interesting thing is...



...saran wrap on the radio and covering the outlets.



A lot of the booths have these really fascinating chairs. They look like they would have been a semester long project in a high school shop class or a side project by the Bauhaus...no, not that Bauhaus, this Bauhaus.

The coffee was only $1.65 and it tasted like $1.65 coffee. It was decent but a bit weak.

The menu was short and simple but had all the traditional favorites.

Antoinette ordered a simple breakfast of two eggs and a ham steak ($6.50). She liked the eggs. The ham steak, which looks obscenely phallic in that picture, was good but the some of the fat should have been trimmed off of it. The home fries were great.

I ordered the pancake sandwich ($5.50). The eggs were a greasy, which I predicted they would be. Despite that, they were pretty good. The sausage patty was a nice change of pace.

The biscuit was drier than I like and that was a whole lot of gravy for just one biscuit. Antoinette did not like the gravy at all, but I really liked it. It tasted--my hand to God--exactly like peppered beef jerky.



The pancake was close to perfection, like the best pancake you ever made at home on a Sunday morning. It was wonderfully moist and doughy.

After we finished eating, Antoinette got up to use the bathroom. I was probably spacing out thinking about lovely things or gas mileage or something, when I noticed someone staring at me. I shook out of it and realized it was the cook. He gave me the cook head nod that always means "Was the food okay?" I gave him a thumbs up. He smile and nodded and gave me a thumbs up back.

Jerry's was a great out of the way find. Because of its distant location, I can't imagine we'll ever be back though.

Food: Very good.
Service: Very nice.
Price: Very reasonable.
Pie: Very no pie.

Jerry's Coffeeshop

4817 E Los Angeles Ave
Simi Valley, CA 93063

(805) 526-1652

Piesta - June 14th

CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS ANNOUNCES ANNUAL PIE BAKE A’LA BEVERLY HILLS AND PIESTA! WHAT: Pie Bake A’la Beverly Hills and Piesta Pie baking contest and festival all about pies WHEN: Sunday, June 14, 2009 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. WHERE: Beverly Hills Farmers’ Market 9300 block of Civic Center Drive, Beverly Hills

2-hours free parking Civic Center – 450 N. Rexford Drive WHO: All can enter the pie baking contest for best tasting and most pieutiful.

Cash prizes awarded - $75, $150, $275. Applications available at www.beverlyhills.org

Piesta! A free festival all about pies for children including: *Juggling by Mike *Pieathalon *Pie eating contest *Pie making *Sifting for treasures Plus pony rides and petting zoo for nominal fee

FURTHER INFORMATION: 310.285.6830

I took third in the Pie eating contest. Almost threw up twice.

Pann's: A deserved classic.

Pann's was going to be the first place I reviewed even before there was a Dinerwood. Plans were made, plans fell through, and it took two years (I've been doing this for two years!) to finally make it there.

No doubt about it, Pann's is a classic. Just looking at the sign, you can tell this is a restaurant that "gets it." It has clearly 'kept up' but has stayed true to its origins as place to get good, quick comfort food. The sign is a marvelous example of Googie design that became popular in the 1950s. Inside, the art deco design is second to none. There is no Johnny Rocket's or even new style Denny's phony art deco here. It's straight legit. There's a reason Pann's is listed on LA Timemachines. The only style that has changed here in the last 51 years is the clothing.

Three friends and I came here at about 11 am on a Sunday, which is prime post-church time, but the line wasn't too bad. We were seated in no more than ten minutes.

The menu had a decent amount of variety, pulling a lot of influence from southern cooking, as well as traditional diner standards. I was really surprised by the extensive milkshake selection. Although personally I thought it too early in the day to order one, I did ask our waitress which one she preferred. She recommended the blueberry shake. For me, the oatmeal raisin cookie shake sounded awfully tempting. It's just some oatmeal raisin cookies smashed up and poured into a vanilla milkshake--and those of you who know me well know that I am a firm believer that everything is better when smashed up and put in a cup with milk.



Rachel and Charlie both ordered the Rena's Favorite (named for the co-founder): chicken and waffles and eggs. The chicken was incredibly juicy while the waffle was unspectacular but good. The eggs were tasty. They appreciated the melted butter. You don't often see that on the table unless someone orders lobster. I usually don't go places that serve lobster (and if they do, you should never order it--like ordering salmon at House of Pies) so I never see melted butter.

Tony ordered the Louisiana Omelet with a side of fresh fruit. He ordered it egg whites only but when it arrived, it clearly was not. They didn't charge him for it and he didn't care that much, but they did get it wrong. Inside the omelet were three different kinds of sausage. The "Louisiana sauce" appeared to be a tomato base with just a little bit of heat.



I ordered the hot link and eggs. I was really surprised that the hot link was, in fact, hot. It was spicy, southern-style beef sausage. There was no taste of grease at all. I had my eggs over medium, which is becoming my new default, and they were very good. My country potatoes were simple; not bland, just simple.



I chose a biscuit as my bread option; it was homemade and good, with just a bit of powdery flavor and easily peeled in half. The sign of a good, moist biscuit is this ability for it to be split without breaking up or leaving too many crumbs.

Rachel also ordered a root beer float. She's appears to have really taken a licking to it--I mean a liking to it. I made a funny!

Pann's was built up in my mind as such a classic place that it might have been hard to match my expectations. Food-wise, it certainly did--not because it was amazing or anything. I just expected good food and Pann's delivered. Style and atmosphere is where it really made me feel like it was deservedly a Los Angeles legend.

Special thanks to Charlie Chu for taking the food pictures on this outing. He's a real photographer and hot damn he makes this food look even better.

Food: Very good.
Service: A little slow on refills but otherwise quite good.
Price: A bit more expensive than it should be. $9-$13
Pie: Apple and Cherry.

Pann's
6710 LaTijera Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045

Open Mon-Sat 7am-11pm; Sun 7am-10pm

Pete's Burgers Family Restaurant.- Burger stand or more?

We had driven past it several times. It says 'family restaurant,' looks like a burger place, but also touts its eggs and bacon breakfast and fried chicken dinners...but it looks like a burger place! Mysterious? #1DC insists that it must have been an old Long John Silvers with the bell tower and widow's walk on the roof. I maintain that it looks like a haunted Kentucky Fried Chicken thanks to the rundown and tattered look of the exterior and the red and white color scheme.



We finally decided to to try it out for lunch one day. When we walked inside, it was pretty squarely a burger joint: all booths, ordering at the counter, one giant ketchup tub dispenser, with no public restrooms to top it all off. I don't normally review places like this, but since we were here, I soldiered on.



I'm glad we did, but not because it proved to be a magical experience or anything. There was more to Pete's than just how it looked on the outside. It has a pretty extensive menu for what looks like a divey burger shack. They have omelets, burritos, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, pastrami, salads, and a selection of dinner specials.



While in line to order, I snapped this shot of the kitchen staff. Although most reviews of Pete's that I've seen have referenced its being cash only, I saw a credit card machine by the register. Maybe it is decorative? Or perhaps it's a haunted credit card machine that they don't like to use because of the y'know, haunting.



Antoinette says that all that she remembers about the tuna melt was that it was crunchy. Not good, not bad, just crunchy.



My hamburger looked nice and thick when I first unwrapped it. I then saw that this was because of the hunk of iceberg lettuce in the middle. The burger patty was a decent size, but the bun was toasted a bit more on the burnt side than it should have been. It tasted alright.



We agreed that the fries were the only really noteworthy part of our visit to Pete's. They were pretty good, came seasoned, and were just a little soggy.

So in conclusion, Pete's is a burger shack that also happens to have other kinds of food--much like Jumbo's Clown Room is a bar that happens to also have strippers. I can't imagine you'd want to specifically seek this place out, but if you are stuck in the area and need some variety, Pete's can supply it.

Food: Okay
Service- Serve yourself.
Price $4-7
Pie- No pie, but they do have milkshakes.

Pete's Burgers
2400 S. Hoover St.
Los Angeles CA 90007
6:00am-11:00pm