Monday, June 24, 2013

LA WEEKLY Blog post - Clifton's Mistress

Clifton's Cafeteria is set to reopen later this year after a massive overhaul and a new owner. Originally, I was less than enthused about this project but the more I hear about it, the more at ease I get.

Unrelated to the overhaul, the LA WEEKLY published a story about an interesting bit of history involving the original owner Clifford E. Clinton.

It's kind of sexy.

Read more...

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Not a diner, but still damn good- Top Round Roast Beef

Sup? Long time no see? That's pretty much the story of this blog for the last two years isn't it? Sorry, guys.
Writing about Top Round will provide the opportunity to write about something a little different. 

I have to thank Eater LA for this one. I read about it on Friday and knowing that #1Dinerwife and I were planning on being over on that side of town on Saturday, we decided to do lunch there. Now, if you read the Eater link you'll notice a detail that I had missed. Top Round technically opens... tomorrow.

#1Dinerwife Antoinette and I crashed the Top Round invitation only soft open.



It certainly looked open to us. There was a ton of people there. We parked in the lot, I snapped this picture and we walked up. It looked open and busy and except for a small sign on the order window there was no hint that it was by invite only. They certainly weren't hassling anyone, which makes me think it "was invitation only" in that if you knew to go, you were in the know.

The menu is small, but I prefer to call it direct. Top Round is about three basic things- roast beef, curly fries and frozen custard. The menu is just a few variations based around these items.
I went for the Beef on Weck, a traditional east coast beef sandwich served on a caraway and sea salt bun.  Antoinette ordered the Horse & Hole which came with provolone cheese and mushrooms with horseradish cream sauce. We also ordered two orders of curly fries, one plain and the other with gravy. 


The curly fries, which by the by, are fried in beef fat, were delicious. I don't think I've ever had fries done in beef fat and I was shocked by how not greasy they were.  

The Horse & Hole was a solid sandwich. The only negative was that the mushrooms seemed slap-dashed on which, you know, #firstworldproblems.












The Beef on Weck was simple. The roast beef  was so tender and light and tasty. I think I inhaled it in five bites.

We were too full to try the frozen custard, which means we'll be back. I think the nearest frozen custard place of note near here is Las Vegas.

So to sum up, starting tomorrow eat the holy hell out of some straight-up tasty roast beef sandwiches.

Food: Good.
Service: Friendly
Price: Cheap
Pie: No, but one of the custard combinations is "blueberry pie."

Top Round Roast Beef
1000 S La Brea Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 549-9445