11/14/01 - King's Restaurant, 2409 Artesia Blvd., Redondo Beach had a Chinese-style-food buffet and is closed and the space is available. They did have about the worst Chinese-style buffet in the South Bay.

6/12.2/01 - L.A. Times Magazine - yearly restaurant reviews this week - the "dish" review section is alphabetical and stupid, but worth a look for other stuff.

6/12.1/01 - The Teahouse moves - with ok Chinese food, after they say 45? years, to about the same? area? in Torrance. Phone 310-326-5420.

6/12/01 - Thai Cafe - new all-you-can-eat-Thai buffet for lunch & dinner. Hermosa Beach at old Big Wok location. Phone 310-372-7955.

5/13/01 - If you read S. Irene Virbila's review of Lucky's restaurant in today's L.A. Times (LAT) Magazine, you may notice a big mistake. Some waiter told her "Tonight we have flatiron steak, a piece that comes from the very end of the New York strip," and she printed it. That's very wrong. A flatiron is from the chuck or shoulder section. It you look at a shoulder, blade, or chuck steak with the "T" or "7" tip of the blade bone pointed up, the flatiron muscle is above the bone. What's left of the New York strip muscle is below the bone. They never connect. Please try to get it right. If I have nothing to do one day, I'll try to email this to her. Did anyone ever tell her she reviews restaurants where real people don't eat -- like main courses here are up to $48. Wine can be be up to $7,000. Get real, and get it right. Check "Cutting~up in the Kitchen" 1975 by Merle Ellis, a butcher, pages 64-66 if you need drawings and descriptions of the flatiron.

5/12/01 - Miss You All! Maybe in the early 1980's, on one of those diagonal streets in down-town, old-town Torrance, there was a coffee shop that did breakfast and lunch, maybe not dinner. Maybe it was called "Buffy's coffee shop," but no one was named Buffy. It was run by a Greek couple and had ok food. Actually the food was good, but mostly you went for the people. The owner's wife, was she "Mom"?, Melody, and others were very nice. Before that, I think, they had a restaurant just blocks away on Torrance Blvd., but that was bought by and became a bank. This restaurant was torn down and became a parking lot, then a housing complex. The name of that restaurant moved across the street or to the next street, but it was a new owner with new people, and I don't think I ever went in.

One of the original girls I remember was Melody. You know how bad I am with names, so she made a jingle that helped me remember everyone's name. Did it start "Mom and Mary...?" When that restaurant closed she worked for a while at another restaurant around the corner, and I think she said she drove in from Orange County every day. Does anyone know where they are today? Now the next restaurant is gone, replaced by what looks like another housing complex. It was behind the Depot restaurant, just north of a car wash which is also gone. Miss them.

5/10/01 - See today's LAT Calendar Weekend section, page 6 for a report on Little Saigon's Vietnamese restaurants in Orange County. This is the third in a series at www.calendarlive.com/authentic/. Other reviews include Korean and Armenian areas and their restaurants.

10/24.1/00 - Concerning the 3/23/00 flash below, they also do an all-you-can-eat buffet for Thur? & Fri? lunch for about $8.00. I haven't tried it, but Sunday's was good. Call for exact details.

10/24/00 - Chinese restaurant menu from "The Chinese Garden - Monday, December 9th, 1929" was reprinted in the 10/20/00 LAT, page E8. Address was 6313 Hollywood Bl., Hollywood, CA. It lists soup, tea, rice cakes, and desserts with no price. Dinners, mostly chowmein, chop suey, and foyeung, are 75¢ and $1.00. This is part of an "On Gold Mountain" display with info at www.autry-museum.org.

8/27/00 - Try www.foodandwine.com/community for the Food and Wine 2000 poll of the best North American restaurants, per 8/17/00 LAT, page C6. Good luck, I didn't see it.

8/22/00 - Want to spend $350 per person for dinner on the second floor of a Beverly Hills shopping center? Read the 8/18/00 Press-Telegram, Taste section, page 22, review of the Ginza Sushiko sushi bar by Eric Asimov. Actually, that's the lower price: $250 plus $20 for sake plus tax and tip was $352.28 for one person. In blowfish season, November to March, it's $300 plus tax, tip, whatever. He suggests it may be the most expensive restaurant in America. Reading about his experience may be more fun than eating there.

8/5/00 - Merrill Shindler's restaurant column in yesterday's RAVE! covered some late-night places to eat (or lack of them). My comments are HERE.

4/30/00 - Tried a new restaurant in Little Manila 4/29/00, about 1 p.m.: Iba'n Express, 21620 S. Figueroa St., Carson, CA 90745, 310-328-4590. That's the North-East corner of Carson St. and Figueroa, next to the Tokyo Bowl, just East of the 110 Harbor freeway. Hours M-F 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Sat 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., closed Sunday. Got a two-item combo for about $4.00 with good soup and rice. The beef caldereta (some spell it kaldereta) with a few green olives was the best dish I've had in the area. The pork adobo was very good but a little too fatty for me. Details soon, but they've move into about 2nd to 4th place. See full review soon in Little Manila restaurants 7-16, whatever.

4/21/00 - The Tikal restaurant, the hot new idea in the hot new Pine Ave. section of Long Beach, is bankrupt. The $1.5 million restaurant with Myan decor and customes was impressive. When it opened the Press-Telegram's restaurant editor called it "probably the most amazing restaurant" to open in Long Beach. It lasted ten months: opened 3/16/99 and closed 1/14/00. This is an example of what can go wrong with a restaurant, real bad, real fast. See the 4/17/00 Press-Telegram, Business section, page A17, by John W. Cox for the whole story.

4/2/00 - Charley Brown's in Redondo Beach closed Tuesday, 3/28/00, after 14 years, per 4/1/00 Daily Breeze. Haven't been there for a while, but they did an OK Sunday brunch, on the water.

3/23/00 - I've been back a few times since the buffet started and it just keeps getting better, more stuff. Don't care for the staff, except the up-front chef is ok. Nothing real expensive, but lots of good tastes. Price was lowered to $8.95, and sometimes they have $1.00-off coupons. 2/23/00 - The sign says on Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., starting 2/26/00, Alfredo's (Mexican) Restaurant will offer an all-you-can-eat buffet. Adults are about $9.95 and children are about $6.95. The sign didn't mention anything about content, but at that price they should include sparkling wine (NO!). Call to verify and for details. The phone book says 310-549-4090 and 310-549-4108. The address is 100 W. Carson St, Carson, CA; the Southwest corner of Carson and Main St. I did try them years ago, and the food was ok, but the overly-loud band drove me away. This is located in my 'Little Manila' area.

11/13/99 - Check the Friday Daily Breeze paper, around page A2, for a list of South Bay restaurant closures. A full list is available at the health department site. For 11/12/99 they listed two Chinese restaurants that I've tried and didn't care for and an English place I've only looked into, plus two more.

10/19/99 - Get the 10/17/99 L.A. Times Magazine, page 8, called "mcdiversity." They list special foods McDonald's sells in 116 countries. Like New England has lobster sandwiches. It all sounds better than what they serve in L.A. Bring some here.

8/28/99 - Elmer Dills wrote, "I sometimes wish I was a book or movie reviewer instead of a restaurant critic. The book or movie I'd review would be the same book or movie you'd read or see. We might disagree on the verdict but at least we'd be talking about the same end product."

For that reason I will include the date and time I review a restaurant. But, even if you and I ordered the same dish at the same time, we might get different products. I also have recommended restaurants and returned to be disappointed myself.

8/1/99 - LAT, page L3 reports a cheeseburger, large fries, and medium soft drink ranges from $2.69 in Warsaw to $8.81 in Copenhagen and gives other prices.

7/15.1/99 - Merrill Shindler will have a restaurant review section in the "San Gabriel valley newspaper(s)" I believe on 7/25/99. He plans to cover Monterey Park, Roland Heights, etc. There are hundreds of good Chinese and other restaurants in these areas. How can he cover them all? Listen to his radio show for updates, but don't miss the paper.

7/15/99 - Get the free 1999 Summer Restaurant Guide in today's LA Weekly.

6/26.1/99 - Be sure to pick up a free copy of the July 1999 "StreetZebra" with a reviews and comparisons of 16 area BBQ restaurants on page 41. They want comments and nominations for future comparisons. See if you agree; I don't, and more later. Their web site at www.streetzebra.com starts about September 1, 1999.

6/26/99 - Get the free June 24, 1999 "New Times Los Angeles." This is the readers' and editors' picks for the best in L.A. Lots of food stuff. It's also on their web site at www.newtimesla.com, but it's so large you may want it on paper. Don't remember any picks in the South Bay.

6/18/99 - Opens Early. With Fathers' Day soon, if you like going to restaurants early in the day, double check what time they open. I know two buffet restaurants that open an hour or an hour and a half early on the holidays. And early is best.

6/9/99 - The whole restaurant review section was reorganized yesterday, new reviews were added, and I plan to add a few new ones every week, as time allows. If I could, I'd do it every day.

6/9/99 - The LAT Food section today reports there are no Nepali restaurants in L.A., but you can get a real meal June 19, with a Hindu blessing. See page H4 or call 888-300-4918. Donations are $35

6/8/99 - The 6/6/99 "Los Angeles Times Magazine" listed the top 40 restaurants in Southern California by their critic S. Irene Virbila. The heck with the names, I'll just list some of the prices: $85, $85, $65, $85, $75, $300, $90, $65, $85, and $60. These are US prices in dollars, per person. Rush to the phone and make a reservation. Somehow, this puts slow service at the $3.75 lunch special in perspective.

5/13/99 - See new page for a detailed review of the new China Buffet restaurant. Another new page has several tips on how to select and get the best feed at a buffet.

4/22/99 - Press-Telegram newspaper says the fourth Friday of every month will contain an expanded Taste Full section with more restaurant info, etc. Doesn't say when it starts but assume tomorrow. *No, not May either*.

4/17/99 - My comments about the 3/26/99 Daily Breeze Readers Poll are available at restaurant comments.

3/26/99 - I will have comments about the restaurant picks in yesterday's Daily Breeze newspaper readers' poll. Get a copy if you missed it.

3/16/99 - I can't believe who won the "Easy Reader" readers' poll for the best Chinese and Thai restaurants. See the 2/27/99 Newspaper Flash. There are about two of each restaurant so that helped. The Chinese place on Hawthorne Blvd can't even make good soup, but otherwise the lunch specials are ok if you can avoid their worst dishes. The Thai place has an a attitude like you should enjoy their small lunch servings of indifferent food. I won't mention either name, and it has been a year or more since I've eaten in either one, so they may have improved.

3/6/99 - Just heard today on the "Good Food" radio show that Jonathan Gold will be moving to New York to work for Gourmet magazine in a few months. He has done restaurant columns and some radio in the L.A. area, and is famous for finding good, inexpensive, out-of-the-way restaurants. Can anyone take his place?

1/8/99 - The front page of the Daily Breeze reports that after 30 years, Del Conte's restaurant on PCH in Torrance will close on 2/3/99. I have been inside, but I don't remember eating there. Some friends love the place and rate as the best in the area. The owner (Del Conte) just says they will retire. The plan was to stay open for 25 years, but now they've done 30 years. No plans were available concerning the property which is owned by the Vasek Polak Foundation, and there is a car dealership with that name.
6/2/99 - Today's paper on page A3 has a picture of the place torn down. That happened yesterday. Still no plans for the property, but that whole area is full of car dealerships; like we need one more.