BEST TACOS:
I take this very seriously. Like, very seriously. I have gone from a del taco loving noob to somewhat of an expert. Take me very seriously when I tell you that SERGIO'S TACOS are the best tacos in LA. My favorite meat is asada, and they do it impeccably. However, their pastor tacos are transcendent. Amazing. Seriously amazing. This is true of tacos in general in LA, but you can get a full meal for about 5 dollars and laugh at all the people in fancy Westside eateries paying tons of bucks for inferior food. Tacos win. Everytime. (2216 S Atlantic Blvd. Los Angeles 90040)
Here's the Great Taco Hunt's excellent review: http://tacohunt.blogspot.com/2007/03/sergios-tacos.html
Other notable tacos: King Taco is trustworthy and really fucking good. It's like the Mexican In and Out. It's always packed, and it's hard to beat. There's a lot of locations too, so it's never too far away. I was also a big fan of Cactus Taqueria in Hollywood and El Taurino near Downtown (taurino's got cheap beer pitchers, sweet).
JEW FOOD:
Before I got obsessed with tacos, I was obsessed with delicatessans. I have searched far and wide for the finest pastrami on rye sandwich. I can state with confidence that Langer's in Macarthur Park is superior to New York landmark Katz's. It's straight up the best pastrami sammich. Done deal. The surrounding area is also...interesting. It's got great murals everywhere and you'll get offered IDs, green cards, and social security cards about five times before you even get to the door. The surrounding sketchiness probably prompts the early closing time, it's only open until 4 pm. So if you want dinner, or even better a very late night snack, Canter's on Fairfax holds up as pretty good and open 24 hours. Hurrah.
BEST COFFEE:
This was one of my hardest transitions from Berkeley. I got spoiled by delicious cafes every 200 feet, then I went to Buenos Aires and saw delicious coffee every twenty feet. Then I came to LA to see mediocre chains on every block. Starbucks itsn't bad, but it's certainly not great. Coffee Bean is meh, and Peet's is a'ight. But I wanted some bullshit intellectual place with the dankest of coffee. I liked Casbah Cafe in Silverlake the best. I still can't totally tell if this area is really awesome or kind of silly, but this cafe wins nonetheless. It's next door to intelligentsia, but i think casbah is better (it's less of a douche shitshow and more cozy). The coffee is really good, like very good. I spent a lovely several hours there reading a paper and really enjoyed it. It's also a good place to check out local Silverlake beautiful people.
OTHER DOPE FOOD:
A really quick run down of my favorite non-taco food. For Cuban food, of which I'm an inherent expert, I'm big on VERSAILLES. Technically, PORTO's is better, but they don't have full meals. For sandwiches and pastries, Porto's is a hands down winner. I haven't been there in forever, but ROSCOE'S CHICKEN AND WAFFLES is still good.
BEST MUSIC VENUE:
THE SMELL is a really great place. It's deservedly received massive amounts of buzz and attention in the past year. It's been home to one of the most viable underground music scenes in the country, and some of the venue's veteran bands have put out incredible records in the past months. The Mae Shi, Abe Vigoda, No Age, Health and Mika Miko still make time to play shows here, despite otherwise moving on to bigger venues. There's tasty coffee, it's located smack in the middle of downntown, and it's always five bucks.
Other notables: The Hollywood Bowl. I love going here, it doesn't really matter who's playing. You get to make your own picnic nearby, and at what other venues can you sit down with your bottle of wine? I caught Gnarls Barkley and some old Cuban dude here this year, and it ruled.
BEST SHOW...THAT I SAW:
I didn't see very many shows, but the one I enjoyed most was The Boredoms 88 Boa Drum at the La Brea Tar Pits. Seeing the 88 drummers in their big spiral in the middle of Miracle Mile making a whole lot of noise was very very impressive. It was great seeing drummers from bands I admire and even a friend of mine all drumming side by side and equally stoked to be part of something authentically bizarre, awesome, and exciting.
Other notables: The Zizek tour at the Getty museum was pretty sweet. I also really enjoyed the Foot Village/Mae Shi/Health show I saw at the Smell. That was a perfect line-up to sum up what the smell does best.
BEST BAR:
I'm gonna have to go with La Cita, even if that makes me a trendy wannabe hip kid. This is just the dopest bar, and it's convergence of Mexican and hipster vibes is really at the heart of what makes the downtown and eastsides so great. The decor is awesome, it's shiny and dingy and lit in red and all Mexican'd out. The outside patio is great for checking out the few skyscrapers that exist in the city, and they have comfy couches. I've come here to find it packed to the brim with pretentious twentysomethings, then returned to find a ranchero band playing to middle aged Mexican couples. It's great every time. Plus the drinks are cheap and the bartenders are usually nice.
Other notables: Gallery 10 in downtown (I think that's what it's called). It's an illegal bar on Santa Fe that runs after hours, has some great music, decent drinks, and the excitement of drinking until 5 am. Also, the White Horse Tavern has sweet snacks and coffee for free.
BEST COMEDY VENUE:
I'm gonna go with Upright Citizen's Brigade. This small theater next to a big Scientology tower is very rad. The Groundling's theater is probably more well known in Los Angeles, but it's kind of resting on its laurels of having had famous members in the early 1990s. UCB is always cheap and plays host to tons of cool events. I caught Human Giant there this fall; they were great, and it was 5 bucks. Janeane Garofolo held a few readings of 'The Hills,' Sarah Silverman's done some stuff there, and Jeff Garlin hosts a weekly show. There's not many places you can catch so many relevant comedic badasses in a small space for so cheap.
