On the Road: San Marcos' Mama Kats

I'll tell you a story--a story with pictures and few words.



Mama Kat's likes cats. Mama Kat's doesn't like to be open at night. Or Wednesdays. Is Mama Kat lazy like a cat?



Mama Kat's is located in a strip mall in San Marcos.



Inside, it is very friendly and the lights are extra bright, like stars.



Their apple waffle was very delicious and covered in whipped cream.



Their chicken salad sandwich was very good. The fries were very crispy and not at all greasy.



Their French Toast was very good and the eggs were wet and lumpy like my mom makes. I mean that in a good way.



Their pancakes were tasty and the fruit salad was better than you'd expect.



Their pumpkin pie was slap-you-in-the-face-for-disrespecting-your-mama good! We wanted to take one home. But they were all out. :(



So they baked us one! They baked a pie just for us.

We also took home two slices of other pies.



Their apple pie with oatmeal crust was SO GOOD!



Their cherry pie was SO GOOD! I don't even like cherry pie! Seriously, I have lobbied for the removal of "Cherry Pie" as a pie. This changed my mind.

Mama Kat's was a delicious find. It was homey and lovely and sweet. It was like going to your mom's house for a nice breakfast or lunch.

Food: So good!
Service: Like family.
Price: About $8-11
Pie: They baked us a pie! The pie is top-notch.

950 W San Marcos Blvd
(between Cribbage Ln & Park Pl)
San Marcos, CA 92078

(760) 591-4558

Du-Pars: Sub-par?

I get a lot of recommendations for places to go, especially for places that are considered standards of the Los Angeles diner "scene." Usually these come in the form of emails or a grab of the elbow at a get together or party. Delores' came from an elbow grab at a party and Jouni's Cafe came from an email. I really appreciate these tips; they let me know people are reading Dinerwood, and that's a good thing to know.

I've gotten a lot of double or triple recommendations from folks. I know I need to go to the Apple Pan on Pico, and I've been trying to plan a trip to Chip's Restaurant in Hawthorne since forever. These are places that a lot of people tell me to try out. (Occasionally, I get recommendations for places I've already reviewed and I lament Blogger's lack of an index function.) However, one place that no one has ever recommended to me, but is pretty much as old school as you can get in L.A., is Du-Par's.

Du-Par's has three locations; the newly restored original is located at 3rd and Fairfax, part of the Grove/Farmer's Market complex. I really dislike that area because of the sheer awfulness of the general population of the Grove, and I also had a really bad date there once and it's just too painful to return. So because of these feelings and to further serve my Valley readership, I decided to hit up the one in Studio City.



This Du-Par's is located not too far from the 101 off of Laurel Canyon and Ventura Blvd. #1DC Antoinette and I strolled in for a late breakfast two weeks ago. I was impressed by the size of the place--it was much larger than it looked from the outside. A giant counter and close to two dozen booths make for a spacious dining experience. I imagine only at peak times would you have to wait for a spot.

Du-Par's feels old without looking it. It seems more well-maintained than comfy, and it appears that this location was probably the object of renovation as well. The chandeliers and stained wood seem faux-classic, not authentic.



The waitresses wear some truly wonderful old fashioned outfits, complete with hats! I wasn't going to ask one to pose for me because that would have been creepy.



Loving pie as much as I do, I appreciated that the walls were decorated by pie-themed posters. This, the display case at the front, and the on-site bakery, clued me in that this place takes pie very seriously, which I completely respect.



Then, when we sat down and looked at the menu and I saw that there were roughly twenty pies on the menu, including a "pie of the month," I knew I might be in heaven.

#1DC Antoinette, however, may have been developing a different feeling. The first crack in the golden facade appeared in the menu as we looked at the prices. It seemed a bit much. A second crack appeared with the coffee. I did find it bitter, but not overly so. Antoinette thought it was awful.

Antoinette started with a cup of pea soup, made from yellow peas. I can see why they wouldn't have it listed as "Yellow Pea Soup" on the menu because the giggles of everyone inside would be deafening.



Antoinette noted that yellow peas have more of a garden, earthy flavor, whereas green peas taste more salty.



I ordered the short stack of pancakes. I thought it was pretty damn cool that they supplied melted butter--yes, real butter--for the pancakes. I had never seen that before. The pancakes themselves were pretty good: fluffy with a hint of batter taste, which I liked. These hadn't been stirred too long or cooked to a tough consistency.



For her entree, Antoinette ordered the chicken salad sandwich on raisin bread with a side of fries. The chicken salad was sorely lacking in chicken and was way too liquidy. The raisin bread was a nice touch but was toasted a tad too long and had started to burn. Looking around at the other tables, we discovered that all the bread seemed this way. The fries were greasy and had a strong oily aftertaste.

So far, I was still really enjoying my Du-Par's experience. Antoinette, not so much.

But I thought that perhaps the pie would win her over.

I asked our waitress for a slice of the pie of the month ("french pear with walnut crumb topping" according to the Du-Par's website) but was informed that it was sold out. You must have to get there pretty early in the morning to get the pie of the month. I ordered their regular pear pie instead.



I thought it was delicious. It had sliced pears with a cinnamon glaze served over a custard type filling. Antoinette was, in fact, not impressed.

In the end, our breakfast cost $37.81, which I'll admit was steep. Still, I was enamored with Du-Par's. Was I just blinded by the waitress uniforms and number of pies? Or was Antoinette right, her meal, with the exception of the soup, was not very good, especially for the price. Plus, she said the bathroom was pretty gross.

I needed to give Du-Par's another shot. Antoinette would not go again, so who could I take with me?

Enter: The Parents.

Mom and Dad, who last appeared in the Pancake Circus review, came to town last weekend and I brought them with me.

We got there early, right at breakfast time, and there was still no wait. This place should be more popular at the time, unless more people are on Antoinette's side than mine, which wouldn't be the first time.

Getting there so early meant we could order from the Blue Plate Special menu, which lightened the dollar load a bit. The blue plate specials include coffee, which is a nice touch.



My mom got a pancake, egg and bacon special. She ordered the bacon crisp, and by God she got it. She agreed that the pancakes were better than at most places.



My dad got the same thing, but with turkey sausage instead of bacon. It's interesting to note that turkey sausage is the only option; they do not have regular sausage at Du-Par's.



I ordered the french toast and turkey sausage. The french toast was pretty basic. The turkey sausage was just okay.

I do really love that the blue plate specials are not served on blue plates but rather regular plates that say Blue Plate. That's some subversive stuff right there.

I once again tried to order the pie of the month and was denied; our waitress wasn't even sure if they had had any that morning. I think that whole enterprise might be a myth. I took a gamble and went with the gooseberry pie.



Gooseberry pie is tart--more tart than rhubarb. There's an interesting touch of grape to the taste as well, although that could be psychological because gooseberries look like tiny green grapes. The crust was flaky, but dense, so it didn't turn to dust in my mouth. The waitress recommended ice cream with it which I imagine would be very good.

The total for the three of us was only $33.56.

The conclusion my parents and I came to is that Du-Par's is good, but over-priced. You will probably want to go there for breakfast and get the blue plate specials so you aren't dropping a tank of gas worth on one meal. They also have a neat gimmick of the Beat the Clock menu. From 4 to 6pm, selected menu items are whatever price the time is when you order them.

The criticisms Antoinette had are totally justified, but a place that has twenty something pies cannot be all bad. It just can't be.

Food: Overall, decent. Breakfast seems safe.
Service: Friendly...and wearing hats!
Price: High for the portions and quality.
Pie: A LOT.

12036 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City
(818) 766-4437

Spare some change for the Nickel Diner

I recieved a hot tip about a new diner opening up in downtown. Okay, it wasn't a real "hot tip." It was diner pal Paul forwarding me an article from an LA website about the opening. I knew that I had to go on the first day because how often do you get to go to a place on it's opening day? I've never experienced it, but I can imagine there's excitement, maybe some headaches and potential disappointment, but also potential amazement. It's a lot like the first time you have sex...with another person...or with yourself for that matter.


The Nickel Diner opened for its first shift on August 27th in one of those areas of downtown that's getting gentrified, but only jussssst barely starting the process. Imagine the area around venerable Los Angeles cafeteria, Clifton's, without the glitz of the jewelry district but with all the goodness of the homeless.

Joining me this time were #1 Diner Companion Antoinette and #1 Coworker Eveleen. Technically speaking, I crashed their lunch plans and convinced them to go to The Nickel. We lucked into parking right in front. A Meth head perched near the entrance provided us some parking advice when we encountered a broken parking meter,
"Don't worry, they don't bother checking." It was almost like valet!


The street locals did seem cautiously curious of this new eatery in their midst. Many of them would stop and gaze at the delicious looking baked goods in the window. None, though, even seemed to consider going in.




Arriving there at about 2 pm, I was pleased to see a healthy crowd still eating. Unless the waitstaff were total d-bags and the cooks put AIDS infected needles in the vegan tapioca, I want a place like this to succeed. I love diners of all stripes, even the nouveau diners, which The Nickel definitely embodies.

So the first of two headaches hit us pretty quickly. The menu implores you (with its placement and catchy name) to order the S'mac and Cheese (spicy with three cheeses, topped with tomato and bread crumbs). The waitress confirmed that the name was meant as a joke based on the neighborhood. The gals wanted to go splitsies on it and then the waitress had to say "Yeaaaa... we actually don't have that today."




The BBQ pork hash and eggs was probably the most old-school diner thing I could get on the menu by the early afternoon. (Pancakes stop being served at 11). It was a good choice: familiar, but with enough of a twist with the BBQ sauce and the seasonings that I felt like I was getting something brand new. I was a little disappointed with the portion. It was a reasonable portion. I am not going to lie. I like to have to make a choice about whether or not to clean my plate. I was left hungry. Luckily, I had some other delectable things to graze on.

The girls did go splitsies on some items.




The stuffed avocado couldn't be any more frou frou. It had quinoa in it. *I* only know what quinoa is because I bought an "Archer Farms" box dinner version of it from Target. It's like cous cous. I still don't have any idea how to say it. The avocado was not something I'd ever order on my own, but it was exceptionally good. I'm glad the gals got it: flavorful combination of red peppers, black beans, corn, and quinoa made this a hearty salad option.



They also got the chicken salad sandwich on wheat. I love chicken salad and although this was good, it didn't seem up the level of culinary detail I was begining to expect as part of the Nickel Diner's plan. I imagine it will go through some refinement.

The french fries were beyond belief. Thin cut, but not overly crispy, with a great flavored salt. I am going to make a "top 10 fries of all time" list, just so I can put these on it.

We were treated to a lovely display of the desserts available and even got to sample the maple glazed donut with bacon pieces (real bacon not the stuff you put on salads) sprinkled on top. Bacon and maple syrup are two things that need to be combined much more often in this world.

At this point, the second headache appeared: the credit card machine was not working and it was cash only. After trying to pool our cash and realizing we'd come up short, I jaunted out into the world to find an ATM. I lucked into finding one two blocks away in a liquor store where weird old men watched me suspiciously.

One week later, the three of us returned to see how things were going. The good news is that they seemed to be going well. We had the same waitress and asked about how business had been. She said steady and that they had gotten slammed over the weekend. I'm glad they are doing brisk business.

This time I ordered the polenta with chicken apple sausage and maple syrup.



I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had only ever had fried polenta before. This blew me away. Easily my favorite thing so far at the Nickel, I think I could eat this for breakfast at least twice a week.



The girls were finally able to get the S'mac and Cheese. Antoinette didn't feel like the three cheeses blended very well and just made a strange flavor--not necessarily a good or even an interesting one. The amount of bread crumb crust was a bit much.



Now the grilled cheese sandwich won the blue ribbon from the gals: "Phenom!" Roasted tomato and mozarella, perfectly grilled. I will note they also have another grilled cheese option with cheddar, bacon and tomato.

Still having some room for a dessert, we decided to peruse the dessert tray. Typically, I was inclined to get the delicious looking meringue, but the Berry White Cake could not be ignored.



Loyal readers will know that I am a hardcore pie man, but even I will admit that there are cakes that look like works of sugar art make kissy faces at your eyes. More often than not, they fail to actually do the same to your tastebuds. This one actually delivers on the visual promise with a deep and long perfect blend of everything from the amount of fruit, the thickness of the frosting to the amount of actual cake.

I'm very glad to have a diner near my day job so I can have easy access to my favorite style of food. An extra bonus is that this place is spectacularly good.

The only bummer: they still hadn't fixed the credit card machine.

Food: Super Great.
Service: Friendly.
Price: 8-14
Pie: Lemon Meringue (plus other desserts)

524 Main Street
Los Angeles CA
The website

Polly's Pies

Okay, it’s not a diner. It’s not even my kind of “Family Restaurant.” It’s closer to Kick Back Jack’s/BC Café. The place is Polly’s Pies, a So Cal chain of restaurants. Last weekend I hit the one in Norco.

Bright yellow barn inspired building with a faux water tower. Is it charming or slightly insulting? I can't tell. Upon entering we are greeted by the happiest greeter that ever greeted. The yellow exterior follows into the inside. Large yellow umbrellas sprout above the booths that hold down the floor. Smiley the Greeter leads the two of us over to a gigantic booth in a corner (again, slightly insulting?)

Peering down at us was a poster of Miguel and Roberto showing off their sweet onions. Not “SWEET!” onions but rather just sweet onions. All the walls were decorated with posters showing farmers and their various crops.

I assumed these were paid for by the various groups responsible, y’know, the Sweet Onion Advisory Council or the Federation Of Organic Tomatoists.

Polly’s has a lot of odd time restrictions on its menu. Breakfast specials are served until only 10:30am. After that, the breakfast selections are awfully paltry. Other specials are only available until 2pm, Monday through Wednesday.

Number 1 Diner Companion Antoinette ordered the Quiche Lorraine and the corn bread side. I ordered the old fashioned chicken salad sandwich with French fries.

The Quiche came with a nice salad with homemade croutons and a small bowl of fresh fruit with incredibly tasty strawberries.

The chicken salad sandwich came with walnut raisin bread. It was so delicious, a little crunchy, not too sloppy with mayonnaise and just a little bit sweet. I was not a fan of the french fries, though. They tasted almost bland.

Our waitress was a sweet older lady, but she disappeared for a long time after she brought our food. We waited to too long for coffee refills and had to ask twice for the cornbread.

When the cornbread did come, I was delighted that it was the cakey kind and not the crumbly kind. The crumbly is only good for chili as far as I am concerned. No honey was provided, though and we couldn't risk having her disappear again by requesting she bring some.

Now here comes the pie. Polly's Pies has over 40 pies on their menu. Unfortunately, many of these are "Time to Time Specialties," meaning they are season pies or just pies they don't make all the time. The standards are always in but the more outrageous selections are not. Olallieberries are in season right now thankfully, and I was able to order a slice of fresh Olallieberry pie. Antoinette ordered the "Banberry:" Banana cream pie with strawberry topping.

The olallieberry was good but not the best I've had. It really need more berries. The fresh whipped cream was a nice addition.

The Banberry was surprising. I've never been a big fan of the combo of strawberry and banana, but this really worked.

I should point out that you can buy fresh whole pies and frozen ones that you can take home and bake yourself, as well as an assortment of other bakery goods.

Bring your kids!

Overall, Polly's Pies was decent. The food was certainly good. I'd love to try more of their pies, but how often am I going to be in Norco? I was there and I still have no idea where it is.

Food: Good.

Service: "Where did she go?"

Price: 6-10

Pie: LOTS of it.

http://www.pollyspies.com/

Online coupons!

Dinah-wood.

In Los Angeles, taking a friend to LAX is the equivalent of donating a kidney in just about any other city. It means a lot. Picking them up there may mean even more. That’s like being a sexual surrogate. Me? I don’t mind doing either, for one simple reason—-going to LAX means I am minutes away from Dinah’s Family Restaurant.

On this particular day, I wasn’t taking anyone to, or picking anyone up at the airport. This was a special trip just for Dinah’s. Arriving mid-afternoon, I was surprised that the main dining room, with its retro booths and Formica flooring, was full. I was regulated to the annex at the back of the restaurant. I’m not a fan of the annex since it tends to be noisier (larger parties are seated back there) and the room has a large television, usually playing soccer.

My dining companions, Antoinette and Janice would be meeting me within a few minutes; I took the opportunity to let my waitress know that I would be having the banana walnut oven baked pancake. Having already had the apple version, (and loved it to no end) I wanted to try the other option. I ordered early since the oven pancakes take roughly twenty minutes.

The coffee at Dinah’s is nothing special, a hint of roasted flavor and not too strong. I will, however, recommend it for the simple reason that they give you your own pot. Refill to your heart’s content, my little caffeine lovers. This of course works best when only one person at the table is drinking coffee. You can get 4 or 5 refills from one pot.

When Antoinette and Janice arrived, they needed some extra time with the menu. I almost regretted ordering my oven pancake early. The menu at Dinah’s is quite large and covers just about everything you can imagine. They are famous for their fried chicken, which even has its own outlets around the LA area. [I was quite pleased when I unexpectedly found one located in Los Feliz on San Fernando Rd.] Antoinette ordered the chicken salad sandwich with a side of fruit and Janice ordered the Cobb salad with dressing on the side.

I took the opportunity right then to order the chocolate cream pie and Antoinette ordered the pumpkin cream pie for dessert. Janice went pie-less.

After a short time, our waitress brought out a plate with a (warmed) roll, a slice of carrot bread and a bowl of something oily and reddish. “Who got soup?” we all wondered. The waitress assessing our confusion quickly explained, “That’s the dressing. I’ll be right back with the salad.” Which she did.



Janice enjoyed her salad. Not much more to say about that. It’s a Cobb salad. Can you screw that up?



Antoinette found her sandwich bland. Too much mayonnaise and not enough chicken.



I wish I could speak better of my banana walnut oven baked pancake. The outer most edges were perfect. They had crispiness to them with just a bit of banana and perfect bits of toasted walnut. Even the occasional burned walnut piece added to the overall flavor very well. As I got closer to the center though, it became a mush of too much banana and not enough pancake. I gave up halfway through to insure that I had room for pie.



When the pie came, I was delighted. The chocolate cream was better than any I had ever had. The cream was freshly whipped giving it a lighter and airy taste you just don’t expect. It was rich without being guilt-inducing.



Antoinette was disappointed in her pumpkin cream pie because--really, she had wanted just regular pumpkin pie and found this too creamy. So you can’t really call that a bad review.



Despite the food being a tad on the disappointing side, the pie more than made up for it.

Price: $5-$16
Food: Varies
Service: Friendly
Pie: Delicious Creams and Fruits.

6521 S Sepulveda Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
90045-1592
Phone: (310) 645-0456


* * *

As a bonus I will include two pics from a previous trip to Dinah's. This was early one morning after taking my friend Greg to the airport. I was in my biscuits and gravy phase and had a delightful breakfast. The coconut cream pie was once again the best coconut cream pie I had ever tasted. It was like ice cream almost.



UPDATE: Dinah's switched to a mini-pie instead of a slice of pie. I don't like it as much.