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<\/a>The neon sign used for the opening of my former TV show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue. The words light up in pink while the outline of the “TV” lights up blue. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n
Lately, I\u2019ve been eating out a bit again, and something else has been happening in the food arena for us. And that is\u2014delivery! Where Mr. X and I live, we can\u2019t even get pizza<\/em> delivered here anymore! And I don\u2019t trust any of the general<\/em> delivery services, (meaning not from the eatery itself,) because of all the horror stories I see about them on the news and in writing. However, we recently found-out that, as Amazon Prime members, we get free delivery from some places, along with an occasional deal, so, for Mr. X\u2019s sake, who mainly eschews going-out while also desiring good food, I decided to try it from time-to-time.<\/p>\n So now I figure that it\u2019s time to weigh-in on some of my recent dining experiences. I\u2019ll give you just the highlights, (or in more cases than not, low<\/em>lights,) on each.<\/p>\n By the way, there\u2019s a newish wrinkle in the world of eateries, even to just pick-up<\/em>. One old<\/em>-ish wrinkle is the new<\/em>-ish practice of forcing us to tip, when we order<\/em>, no less, which is crazy because we have no idea how good or bad the service is going to be!!! But since we\u2019re getting food<\/em>, which we can\u2019t see being cooked or packed, most of us feel that we have<\/em> to tip. And the bigger the tip, the safer our food will be! What a shame.<\/p>\n But the new<\/em> charge is even more<\/em> infuriating. It\u2019s a smaller percent for something none of us understands. As one place I frequent puts it, \u201cWe have added a 3% Happy and Healthy Surcharge to your bill. This charge is not a gratuity, but rather supports our ability to provide sustainable earnings and benefits for our team. This charge is optional so please let us know if you\u2019d like it removed from your bill.\u201d I encourage everyone to request that it be removed, so maybe we can make it go away. It will make you look like a cheapskate, but that fear is what the owners are counting on.<\/p>\n Okay, here are some dining experiences I\u2019ve had lately, starting with the best, followed by the worst, and then everything in-between.<\/p>\n BEST: LAVO<\/strong><\/p>\n A couple of Lavo’s perfect servers placing the dessert on my table. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n My friend Marc took me to a beauty business dinner at this very hip and happening place, (which turns into a dance club later on in the evening,) which is located at the intersection of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. There were about forty of us divided among four tables in a private room, and let me tell you\u2014the service could not have been better!!! There were about eight servers, and to a man, (or woman,) they could not have been more accommodating. I wanted to get a big house and live with them all!<\/p>\n Most of the very expensive food was just okay, but the Verde salad, consisting of cucumber, avocado, marcona almond, and honey-rosemary dressing, was out of this world! I\u2019d go back just for that dish, and to try the very inviting pizza, which was not a part of the extensive event menu that night. As long as the same personnel, (my future roommates,) are working on my return visit.<\/p>\n WORST: TRATTORIA DEL SOLE<\/strong><\/p>\n I had been to this basic \u201cneighborhood\u201d bistro, (in Sherman Oaks in the Valley,) once before, and remember thinking it was less than meh. But, it was on the Prime list, so, on Mr. X\u2019s birthday a couple of weeks ago, when he was craving pasta but didn\u2019t want to go out<\/em> to celebrate, I figured I\u2019d give it another chance, thinking that perhaps I had been misremembering their fare.<\/p>\n Trattoria del Sole.<\/p><\/div>\n But no\u2014this time it was even worse! Both of my<\/em> dishes were so awful that I couldn\u2019t have more than a few bites, and even then, only because I was hungry. My pappardelle bolognese was creepy. The meat sauce was passable, but the thick noodles were just mush. Ugh. And I couldn\u2019t even choke down the Verde salad! It was described as \u201cOrganic baby mixed greens, caramelized pecans, goat cheese and balsamic dressing on the side,\u201d but it was basically wilted greens with not even a sprinkling of feta and two\u2014count them, two\u2014pecans! (When even Mr. X mentions that number, you know I\u2019m not exaggerating!) And they charge $15. for it!!!<\/p>\n Mr. X said his penne arrabbiata was \u201cjust meh.\u201d And his Caesar salad was \u201call right,\u201d which is definitely not<\/em> all right when you\u2019re paying the big bucks for it!!!<\/p>\n SECOND WORST: ANTONIO\u2019S<\/strong><\/p>\n I actually feel bad about their food being so awful\u2014we really wanted to like it. It was so bad, in fact, that we had to throw the pizza out!!! That\u2019s a first for both of us. We really tried, trust me, but we couldn\u2019t choke it down.<\/p>\n Antonio’s iconic sign.<\/p><\/div>\n The place has been in Sherman Oaks for sixty-eight years! We\u2019ve often passed their iconic \u201cgreen boot of Italy\u201d sign when we\u2019re in the Valley, but had never ever had even an iota of a thought to try it. And then it was the first place we ordered from on Prime because the descriptions of the fare were so good. And when I called with questions, the woman on the phone could not have been nicer. She even said that she hopes we love the food that\u2019s delivered, so that we\u2019ll join them to dine-in the next time. I was hoping so, as well. But it will never come to pass.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t even eat more than the first bite of the two pastas we ordered, both with different meat sauces. I don\u2019t know who \u201cMonica\u201d is, but she must have weird taste because her eponymous pasta was brutally bad. I\u2019m nauseated just thinking of it!<\/p>\n THIRD WORST: TWIN DRAGON<\/strong><\/p>\n A friend was taking me out for Chinese food before a show recently, and left it to me to choose the place. We needed somewhere between WLA and DTLA, so outside of Chinatown, we didn\u2019t have many choices. (Yes, I know that I should have chosen someplace in that authentic<\/em> area, but neither of us was familiar with it, and we had a curtain to make, so we thought better of it. Our bad.)<\/p>\n Twin Dragon. See the little white twin dragons in front?<\/p><\/div>\n I should have realized that Twin Dragon wasn\u2019t a good choice by the fact that they don\u2019t know that the word \u201ctwin\u201d means that \u201cdragon\u201d should be plural<\/em>!<\/p>\n This place, in the Pico-Robertson area, has been open since 1962, and let me tell you, it looks like it! We both thought that we had been there once before, many years ago, each with a much older friend, which makes sense.<\/p>\n Some of the food looked downright nauseating, (my friend\u2019s tofu, for instance,) and all<\/em> of it had very little taste, to boot. It\u2019s actually just about the worst Chinese food I\u2019ve ever had. At least the restaurant is historic.<\/p>\n HONORABLE MENTION, IN A GOOD WAY: PANINI KABOB GRILL\u2019S PERFECT PACKAGING<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. X and I have always picked-up meals from the various locations in this chain since before the pandemic! So, clearly we\u2019re fans of their food. Together, we recommend their kabob meals, (he does salmon, I do chicken,) and we both choose the bulgar as a different, more healthful side dish to rice. We also adore all of their salads, but these days, the Caesar is the winner.<\/p>\n A kabob meal from Panini Kabob Grill, in their perfect container.<\/p><\/div>\n However, the reason they\u2019re on my list here is because of\u2026their packaging! It\u2019s beyond perfect! We had a recent delivery from them, (from the Prime deal, of course,) and not only are their trays the keepers of all time, (and recyclable when you accumulate too many,) but they actually sealed<\/em> their shopping bags! Yes, sealed them! That is the best, so that the delivery drivers cannot be tempted to help themselves, as we see on TV, and read about on Next Door, way too often!<\/p>\n DINELA DEALS:<\/strong><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t know about it, DineLA is LA\u2019s version of New York\u2019s Restaurant Week, in which twice a year, for two weeks, many eateries offer specially-priced two-or-three-course menus. They\u2019ve gotten less special over the years, but these are three I recommend when it comes around again in January. (As of this latest DineLA, which is over now, this trio all feature three<\/em> courses for just $25.!)<\/p>\n GRANVILLE<\/strong><\/p>\n They have a handful of locations all over the city, (actually, the various<\/em> cities!,) but we continually return to the Studio City branch.<\/p>\n Just part of Granville’s big interior.<\/p><\/div>\n Not only is their food delicious, but they proffer more choices than the norm. And they also include craft sodas, including vanilla cream! Yum.<\/p>\n Most importantly, their ever-changing personnel\u00a0are always nice. Our latest server, Andrew, was\u00a0especially pleasant.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>