Lancers--Where the "Greatest Generation" Eats.

I went to Lancers a couple of times, many years ago--before I had even started Dinerwood. I had forgotten about it until just recently, and at that time it became an, "Oh yeah, I should go there again" place. It was pretty low on my priority list but then I found myself in Burbank a couple of times and in a position to grab a quick dinner, so this review covers two trips.

Lancers is a traditional family restaurant/coffee shop. Pastel colors cover the plush booths and the walls are adorned with awful motel room art. The restaurant is very large with a long counter and two full size dining rooms, not to mention the cocktail lounge (accessible through it's own entrance or through a door from the dining room).

On both visits, I was surprised at how packed it was. I was there at 6pm on weekdays and if I hadn't just been by myself, I would have had to wait a few minutes to be seated.

I noticed two distinct kinds of people at Lancers: old people and the not-quite-as-old people dining with the young people. There were quite a few families enjoying together time. There were greasy teenagers having awkward, stilted conversations with their parents over pancakes and patty melts seated right next to blue haired biddies talking about artificial hips and what a looker Roosevelt was...TEDDY Roosevelt. Heyoohhh!

One gray panther regular looked a little peeved when he saw me seated in the tiny booth. The waitress buzzed by him and said "We didn't think you were coming tonight." I guess I took his spot, so he sat down at the booth next to me. I'd like to say he glared at me or mumbled threats, but he didn't. He just hassled the waitress about tea and what soups they had.

Speaking of soups, I was able to look into the kitchen from my seat and I saw that they microwave their soups. I found this really odd. Most places have their soups in big heated pots or tubs or I'm not sure what they are called. I watched several times as a waiter would appear with a bowl of soup and pop it in the microwave for a minute or two and then take it to a table.

On both visits, the wait staff was just amazing. They were always there with a refill and a friendly smile. I think I was asked three times by three different waiters in the span of a minute if I needed anything to drink.

As the cover (seen above) demonstrates, Lancers has a traditional menu that covers everything anyone would have wanted to order in 1985.

Although I didn't think of this at the time, I guess I am commemorating the 3 year anniversary of Dinerwood in this review as well. I ordered a fried egg sandwich, something I hadn't ordered since the 101 Coffeeshop review three years ago. I was very surprised because this was literally just a fried egg on toast. No mayonnaise, no tomato, no cheese, no nothing. It was good, but obviously really dry. The coleslaw I got with it was very good, not too sweet and not at all soggy.

The next week I tried to be a little more adventurous. I tried the Liver and Onions dinner. I figured this was an old person kind of restaurant, I'd order an old person's of dinner.



My salad was good.

What? It's a salad. I'm not going to wax poetic about it.



The liver and onions came with a choice of sides. I went with rice and steamed vegetables. The veggies were very good: large chunk of carrot, large chunk of zucchini, large chunk of cauliflower, little bite of broccoli. The rice was tasty as it was obviously cooked in butter and chicken broth. The onions were good and caramelized. The liver...well, the liver was weird. It had the taste and texture of venison. I can take or leave venison. I've had good and I've had overly gamey. I ended up only eating about half of it. This experiment did not pay off.

I will note, that while I was leaving, I saw that, at two separate tables, people had also ordered the liver and onions. They seemed fine with it.

Now, I didn't get pie on either trip, but I have had their pie before and it was good. I remember really liking their chocolate cream pie. They also have a decent variety of cakes and muffins.

Lancers isn't exciting. In fact, it's the opposite. It's very safe and comfortable, which makes sense since after all, this is what we call "comfort food."

Food: Decent
Service: Excellent
Price: $5-$16
Pie: Yes

Lancers Family Restaurant
697 North Victory Boulevard
Burbank, CA 91502-1628
(818) 843-3433

Goody's: The end...

I'm not a journalist. I'm a blogger. Even worse, I'm a FOOD blogger. I'm never in the position to really "report" anything...until today.



The sign was out. We didn't think much of it. Signs are often out at restaurants, although usually it's not the whole sign--just a letter or two or three (there's a "E Poll co" near where we live). The sign was out and the sign will be out forever. Last night was the last night at Goody's Restaurant.

We didn't know that when we walked into the beautiful wood paneled diner. A sweet looking, matronly waitress greeted us and told us to sit anywhere. We slid into a plush booth near the front, although just about anywhere would be "near the front" of Goody's. It's really not that big.



It was a quiet night at Goody's with more staff on-hand than there were patrons to serve when we first sat down. #1DC Antoinette and I were customers 4 and 5 at 7pm and it would max out at 10 while we were there. Business was slow.



I instantly fell in love with the mascot of Goody's. This beleaguered looking chef hanging on the wall and an even more down-trodden looking version adorning the menu.



I loved that the menu had almost a greeting card quality in its message to the patron. "To serve you is a real pleasure" may not be all that different from any other menu's promises, but the paragraph below it seemed sincere and noble. It reminded me of a Father's Day card I got my dad once. Its message was that, although I may have forgotten to say thank you all those times, know that I do. There's a kindness and familiarity in the message on that menu.



The menu itself is very small, only two pages. Slightly over 50 items if you count all the sides and drinks separately. They have a selection of a few hamburgers, a few sandwiches, a few salads, a few dinners, a few breakfasts, a hodge-podge of other items, just like a true diner. In some ways, a small menu may makes things harder because you are jumping to different categories. Do you want eggs or do you want a sandwich? They are nothing alike so you really have to weigh the differences. A more extensive menu will make you hone in by section. Do you want pancakes? What kind? Buttermilk, buckwheat, stuffed, strawberry, banana, silver dollar or flapjack, with whipped cream or not? It can be daunting.

We ordered coffee to start while we decided.

It was then that our waitress told us the news, which I am now passing on to you. Goody's was closing. After fifty years in this beautiful building, they were closing their doors. The landlord was raising the rent and the owner was moving on. And it was sad. Antoinette and I had stumbled into not just witnessing a bit of history, but being a part of it.

The neighborhood and the economy had changed. Was there no room for Goody's in San Gabriel? It is no doubt that in a few short months a new pho or dim sum place would open in this building. Now, I love pho and I love dim sum but you know what Las Tunas Avenue doesn't need? More pho and dim sum.

Goody's was winning us over already based on more than just sympathy. How would it fare with the coffee test though? Well, okay. It did poorly on that front. It was bitter and had clearly been sitting on the burner for too long. Antoinette traded hers in for tea. I soldiered on and I must say that after that initial cup, fresher coffee was made and was much better.

Antoinette ordered the Chicken Pot Pie with a salad and side of green beans. I ordered the "Dutch Treat" with spicy red cabbage.



The bread was a small, fresh baked loaf that tasted amazing. So good, in fact, we took three loaves home. The salad was simple bag salad.



This is my poor attempt at photog foodrotica close up.



The green beans were canned with some bacon and onions added. Now foodies, let me speak on this. Do not fault Goody's for using canned green beans. This place is a straight, traditional diner that uses short-cuts when necessary. It's like lambasting a ramen restaurant for having a "C" rating. It's doing it right by doing it "wrong."



The chicken pot pie plate looked amazing. The mashed potatoes were good and the gravy was probably some of the best brown gravy I have had in a very long time--salty and rich and perfect. The pie itself had a nice flaky crust and was also delightfully rich with large chunks of chicken.



The Dutch Treat was quite good. The sandwich was nice and thick with good quality ham sliced incredibly thin and layered with Swiss cheese. It could go toe-to-toe with any Canter's deli sandwich (although the pickle wasn't as good). The french fries were standard restaurant fries and therefore good. The "spicy" red cabbage was interesting. It wasn't "spicy" it just had a strong bite from the vinegar. It was also very good.

Goody's definitely won us over truly with the food. It was hearty American diner food that delivered comfort and deliciousness.

As we were eating, patron number 10 arrived: an older gentleman who sat down at a booth kitty corner to us. The waitress commented that she thought he hated that booth. He shrugged and said "Might as well." He ordered coffee and a slice of pie. I want to be that old man when I'm an old man.



Our pie options were limited to two by this time of night: chocolate cream and custard. We split a slice of chocolate. I have to say, chocolate cream pie is probably my least favorite pie. At its best, it tastes like really good Jell-O pudding on a flaky crust and at its worst, it tastes like off-brand pudding on a piece of crap. This was a good piece of pie.

Talking more with our waitress, we learned a bit more of the history of Goody's. The current owner, Salvador, started at Goody's as a busboy at the age of 14. He moved up to being a baker and then eventually bought the restaurant. It's the American dream. Sadly, he couldn't afford to buy the land and now Goody's was closing...at least at this location.

The owner is already hard at work building a new Goody's just down the road in El Monte. Next to the courthouse and the city hall, Goody's will live again. The story does have a happy ending, although I can't imagine what its like to look at the building you grew up in and have to walk away. I suppose, though, that someone else will be living their own version of the American Dream when the building reopens as a noodle bar or Vietnamese sandwich shop.

You have one last chance to see the original Goody's location in all its diner glory today, 1-26-2010. They will be serving breakfast and lunch and possibly even dinner for the last time. I would call ahead since our waitress said they will most likely close early today.

Food: Good.
Service: Friendly
Price: $6-10
Pie: Various.

For today only-
Goody's Restaurant

865 E. Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776

(626) 286-3515



Opening in February

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.

Spy in the House of Pies

Let me say one thing first- I love House of Pies. This is my favorite establishment in all of Los Angeles. I dare say my favorite establishment since the establishment of democracy in Greece. Let me say a second thing second- I do not go to House of Pies for the food. I go for the pie.
The food at House of Pies can be good, don’t get me wrong. It can also be awful. It can be a great patty melt with delicious crispy french fries. It can also be a hair fried into a Monte Cristo sandwich. I’ve had breakfast lunch and dinner, morning, noon and night and you never know exactly how it’s going to be.

These are the things you can always count on at House of Pies-
Coffee. This coffee comes from God’s own South America. It’s always good. Strong and never burnt. The staff is always there to fill your cup. If I lived closer to the House of Pies, I would come in everyday just for the coffee.
Pie. The best pie this side of the Hollywood sign to be sure and possibly the whole state. I've never had a disappointing slice of pie here. The fruit pies are heavenly. The cream pies are devilishly good. They recently added a peanut butter cream pie that is so wonderful I often wish I could abandon my human form and become a slice of it. Why would I do this? Sounds strange doesn’t it? The reason- I know that I could never bring as much joy to another person as I’d give if I were that pie. That’s how fucking good this pie is.

These are things you might experience when you go to House of Pies-
Service of various quality. Your service at the House of Pies depends entirely on your waitress. This isn’t like the 101 Coffeshop where you can count on bad service because that’s how they do it. At House of Pies I’ve had good service and I’ve had lacking service. I hesitate to use ‘bad" to describe it. I’ve had times where getting the check was an ordeal. It tends to be very consistent with specific waitresses. There’s the older lady with the bum leg who is great up until its time to get the check or order another slice of pie (Yes, I said ANOTHER slice of pie). There’s the obese woman who reminds me of an unhealthy version of my mom who is sweet and never forgets about you. There’s the young Latina with the tight curls pulled back in a severe ponytail who always seems just two steps behind.

Closed for health code violations. A few months ago it was unexpectedly closed for a few days. If that isn’t hardcore diner eating I don’t know what is.
And finally, Captain Pimp. He is an elderly black man with a sweet leather jacket with small chains hanging off it and a captain’s hat and large sunglasses.

This particular morning I sat at the counter. I don’t do that but today was a day for counter service I believe. I was there early enough for the Early Bird special. These are meals for old people. Usually an egg, an english muffin, plain omelet, etc. Light stuff and cheap at under five dollars. I got the diced ham and egg and english muffin. The eggs were a little slimy as usual but certainly edible and enjoyable.




When it came for pie, I had to figure out what kind of mood I was in. Fruit of cream? I’m most often squarely in the cream pie camp. I thought about a chocolate cream pie, which I had not had in some time. The pull of the peanut butter cream was too much and I had to have it.


They serve the peanut butter cream pie with two pecans on top. Why? No clue. Am I curious enough to ask? Nope. This is an incredibly rich pie. The peanut butter flavor might be too much for some but those people are weak so disregard them. If you are one, I have disregarded you. The crusts on the cream pies are crumbly, not flaky. This is how I prefer my pie crusts. Without a tall glass of milk I just can’t do a flaky crust. I have been known to leave the crust uneaten if that’s the case.

Two interesting things from this particular time at House of Pies- An old man put pepper on his cottage cheese. I had never seen that before. I'm sure that man was CRAZY.
A woman sent back her chicken fried steak because she ordered it well done. Which is completely her prerogative, however she also thought her chicken-fried steak was actually chicken, so there you go.


UPDATE: 7-15-2010


I went to House of Pies with my friend Skylar last night. I had not been there in a couple of months and I recieved quite a shock.

What the hell was this? They completely redid the counter. They added two flat-screen tvs and lights and silver. It looks incredibly out of place and bizarre. I can't tell if this is just an odd design choice or if this is the first step in a slow conversion of House of Pies into Ten-Forward from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The pie was as good as ever. We had the fresh peach and the german chocolate cream pie. The peach was amazing. It had thin slices of fresh layered peaches and was naturally sweet. I always forget that the cream pies they serve you are basically a fourth of a pie. It was rich and I only ate about 3/4 of it.

I am starting to dislike the whipped cream tops on the cream pies though. It's too dense and I often find myself scraping most of it off to get to the good stuff beneath it.

Price: $6-14 for most entrees
Food: Hey, it's your call dude.
Service: You take the good, you take the bad.
Pie: Well, yeah!


1869 N Vermont Ave
Los Angeles in the Los Feliz - Silverlake District
(323) 666-9961