KJs Diner and Restaurant--Gutter ball.

I was really excited when I pulled up to KJ's Diner. It is attached to a bowling alley--how great is that? Growing up, we had a Chinese restaurant attached to our bowling alley. Sadly, KJ's proximity to the lanes was the greatest thing about it.



I got there a bit early and as I waited for Charlie to arrive, I ordered a coffee (weak) and looked over the menu. It covered the standards, but also had an "International Breakfast" section with chilaquiles and lox--not served in tandem. An Asian themed menu was located on little laminated placards at the counter. The dinner menu was broken up by different "Flavas:" Spanish Flava, Italian Flava, and Savory Flava.

A nice couple chatted with me a bit about motorcycles and scooters (I had ridden my scooter from Silver Lake). They were enjoying a slice of apple pie with grated cheddar cheese on top. It's a Northeast thing.

Once Charlie arrived, we got down to business. When our waitress asked what we wanted, I asked if she recommended anything. "After eating here? Nothing! Hahahaha." I was really hoping she was just kidding--really hoping. I ordered the Cream of Wheat Pancakes and Charlie ordered the Ham Pan Sandwich, without the pan but with french toast instead.

A nearby table featured a dad and a gaggle of pre-teen girls celebrating a birthday. Divorced Weekend Custody Dad really needs to step it up. Bowling and a diner for your girl's 11th birthday? That's tragic. The staff did sing "Happy Birthday" in awesome oddly accented English.



It didn't take long for our food to arrive. I was surprised that I was paying over $8 for a stack of four pancakes. I assumed there would be hash browns or bacon or a slice of orange. The pancakes started off well, albeit a little undercooked, but as I continued down the stack they got more and more grainy and runny.



Charlie's french toast was okay and the ham slab was dry.

When we were finished, I asked our waitress what pies they had. She said "No pies, just cake."

Now, I knew they had pie. I had seen it. A slice of pie had been within five feet of me. I looked up at the counter and I could see a pie in the display case. Only one, so I could safely assume it was apple pie, which I wasn't in the mood for. Why would the waitress lie about the pie? She had told the truth about the food. Why lie about this? I shrugged it off.

KJ's Diner is not a place I'd recommend. If you are already bowling, pop over for some flava, but don't make it a destination. It's definitely not worth it.

Food: Disappointing.

Service: Okay.

Price: $6-$12, but ask exactly what you are getting for the price.

Pie: Yes, but they lie about it.

KJ's Diner

8731 Lincoln Blvd.

Westchester CA 90045

(just a short distance North of LAX)

http://www.kjsdiner.com/

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 and building are a marvelous example of Googie design which became popular in the 1950s. Inside, the design is second to none. There is no Johnny Rocket's or even new style Denny's phony retro-styling. 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

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


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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.