Trishy "put out or get out" B.'s Profile

i'm not gonna lie...  i like pizza, but i don't love it like so many people do.  when i feel like eating pizza, i don't need to spend a fortune on finding the best.   i'm quite content ordering from my local domino's.

i like this domino's, because they deliver until 2 am, always get to my place in 30 minutes or less, and my pizza is always piping hot and made to my specifications.  and a couple of 10 inch pies only runs 10 bucks.  can't beat that.  (although, i do like the california ranch chicken legends pizza every once in a while...)  and domino's has the best thin crust, in my opinion - super thin and crunchy... perfect!

this domino's used to deliver to my apartment almost everyday...  i had a housesitter-turned-couch squatter who had this place on speed dial.  the delivery drivers learned not to ring the doorbell because it would make my dog go nuts...  instead, there would be a faint tap-tap-tap on the door when they arrived.  when pizza delivery drivers cater to the needs of my neurotic dog, i'll say that's some excellent customer service!

okay, i found myself here late at night after deciding to meet up with *ahem* a friend for some cocktails (and, possibly, some post-closing time debauchery.)  it was a little bit of a strange experience for a dive bar - especially one in the valley.

first off, at midnight, there was a wait to get in.  seriously - at a dive bar...  the doorman was only letting people as others came out.  after about waiting 5 minutes, he points at me and directs me inside.  this place was absolutely packed... like to the point where it was hard to walk without knocking into a few people on the way.

then there was the karaoke...  i could barely hear anyone singing because it's so loud in there...  but people seemed to be enjoying themselves.  the drinks are good... and true to dive bar form - nice and strong, heavier on the hooch than the mixer.  

i thought the crowd was a little a interesting for a dive in the valley...  there was a fair amount of hipsters hanging out.  sort of made me feel like i was in one of the pseudo-dives in los feliz or the like.  i've done lots of valley dives, and i've always appreciated the lack of these hipper-than-thou trendsters...  but here they were at the foxfire, full force.  

this place would have been a lot more to my liking had there been a handful of haggard fatherly-looking alcoholics and some ladies with acid-washed jeans sporting feathered hair...  those are the people i like to do my dive bar drinking with...

okay, i don't know why people are hating on this taco bell location...  i think this is one of the best ones around.  if it weren't for this taco bell, there would be many a night where i wouldn't have eaten.  since it's so close to where i live, and i drive by it all the time, it's the place i hit up when i'm hungry, have nothing in the fridge to cook up, and need to eat asap.

sure, there's no drive-thru, but since i'm about to eat fast food, ain't nothing wrong with having to park and walk 10 steps to the inside of the restaurant.  the food at this taco bell is exceptionally good, in my opinion.  the chicken quesadilla always has the perfect amount of sauce where other taco bell's can be sorta skimpy.  all the other usual taco bell fare is tasty here, as well.

i personally think the employees at this location are super nice.  i have yet to have my order messed up, and i've been going to this location for years.  and nothing makes me smile more than the sweet security guard who greets everyone as he old the door open for them.

c'mon people - how many fast food restaurants do you know that have doormen?  that's a lot of service for a 5 buck meal!

i had wahoo's for the first time on their 21st anniversary.  i went in for the free meal they were offering that day - one taco with rice, beans, and salad.  i wasn't expecting anything spectacular, but i was pleasantly surprised.  

i enjoyed that the fish in my taco wasn't battered and fried.  it just tastes fresher to me that way.  and the rice and black beans were tasty, as well.  i ordered my taco with spicy salsa, and it certainly was, which i appreciate.  but my favorite thing was the low-fat creamy cilantro salad dressing!  so good!!! it was spicy and delicious.  i threw it on on not only my salad, but my taco and beans'n'rice, as well.  the beer of the month is quite a bargain, too - just $1.50 for a bottle.  

now that i know how good it is, i think i might throw this into the rotation of close-by places that i hit up when i'm too lazy to cook or too broke to go to a real restaurant.

i needed to buy my aussie, george, some kibble today and decided to roll by petco to check out their prices on some of their higher end foods.  (they now advertise that they carry many of the higher end natural dog foods.)  i've come to this petco for grooming materials (like clippers and thinning shears) when they've been on sale, but i have never shopped here for food.

well, it looks like i still won't be shopping here for food.  although they carry the natural balance kibble that george is fond of, it's a lot more expensive - 4 whole bucks more than the same size bag at centinela feed.  no, thank you!

and the staff is not friendly...  i brought george shopping with me, and not a single employee greeted either of us or asked if i needed help.  it's a far cry from the centinela feed down the street on robertson.  plus, the line to check out was long and moving slowly.

george and i high-tailed it over to centinela and were much happier for doing so...  george got lavished with treats and attention from a friendly staffer, and i saved money on his kibble and didn't have to wait to pay.  

petco, you are not the place where this dog mom's pets go...

i have tried all of the Bossa Nova locations, and i'm a fan of them all.  but the west l.a. location is my favorite, by far.  i started coming here a couple of years ago, not too long after they opened, with my now ex-boyfriend.  he is brazilian and very picky about his brazilian food, but he always gave the food here his stamp of approval.  

this location is great because it serves pizza just like the hollywood location.  but i feel like the food and service are far better than hollywood.  my favorite pizza is the portuguesa - very much brazilian-style pizza.  it sounds weird - brazilian sausage, ham, onions, green olives, and hard-boiled eggs - but it is soooo good!  this is very typical of toppings you find on brazilian pizza.  

i also think they serve a great chicken platter - either the regular grilled chicken or the marsala.  it's a huge paillard of chicken served with rice, black beans, farofa (yucca flour,) salsa, and fried plantains...  so good and you'll have food for the next day, too.  i also love the burrito and tostada salad.  their selection of brazilian appetizers is good, as well:  try to pao de queijo (cheese bread,) fried yucca (similar to steak fries,) coxinha (fried dough filled with chicken and cream cheese,) and kibbe (brazilian-lebanese fried beef and bulgar wheat meatball of sorts.)  all of these things are very authentic and well-prepared.

i may not love a brazilian anymore, but i still love brazilian food...  thank goodness for bossa nova!

i'm a BRUIN for life!  you can't go wrong by choosing UCLA for your academic pursuits.  it is competitive, has great undergraduate and graduate programs, and esteemed professors who are experts in their fields.  there are great campus events, lots of social opportunities, and a general sense of community.  and once you graduate, you will still find Bruin love out amongst the alumni!

this is the newest, and by far, the best trader joe's in the west hollywood area.  it's very spacious compared to the other trader joe's that i've visited.  it seems that during the weekdays, this trader joe's is pretty calm during daytime hours.  there is plenty of free validated parking, too.  i hate how crazy crowded the lots at the santa monica blvd and 3rd & la brea stores... this store provides a nice reprieve to all that madness.  

this store has a good selection of the usual goods that t.j.'s offers.  the produce section here is better stocked and nicer than the other stores.  

the elevator from the parking lot to the store is pretty cool, too.

i recently checked out this place for dinner.  i love hitting a pub (or tavern) for a meal of bar food.  when i lived in seattle, i ate fish and chips almost on a nightly basis at all the local pubs.  so, in remembrance of the tasty fish-n-chips i used to eat in seattle, i decided to give 'em a try here.  The fries were good, especially because i had requested them extra crispy.  The fish, however, was not terrific.  There were 3 pieces, but they were a little over-fried and dried out toward the ends of each of the pieces.  The pieces weren't very nice fish fillets...  they sort of resembled fish-sticks in size.  they had the potential to very good - if they were larger fillets of fish and not so overfried.  my dining companion ordered a burger with bacon, onions, and mushrooms.  it looked delicious, and he finished it with no complaints.

i'm not a beer drinker, which sort of limited my beverage choices at this place.  luckily, they carry a granny smith apple hard cider, which was nice and dry and refreshing.  service is very fast and friendly.  they are also kind enough to bring you samples of what they have on tap should you need help trying to pick a beer to drink.

it wouldn't say it was as good as the pubs of my glory days in seattle; but, for the valley, it was more than passable.

it's sort of looks like a dive bar in a run-down looking strip mall, but it's nowhere near as divey as it ought to be on the inside.  (it's dive factor also went down when i saw the brand new black lamborghini of one of its patron parked right outside of it.) it does have a lot of requisite dive qualities... it's a little dark, fairly quiet, has a self-serve popcorn machine, a video game machine on the bar, and really old bartenders who pour a strong drink -   pretty much all the makings of a true townie bar, if those actually existed here in l.a.

weird thing about the place is there credit card policy...  they don't let you run an open tab.  their policy is to close it out after each drink, which means you may have a handful of receipts by the end of your stay.  i say bring cash and avoid the whole hassle.

it's definitely not a place that i'm gonna crave hanging out at, but it's a decent spot to grab a drink or two and have a conversation where you don't have to shout to be heard.  and, i'm not gonna lie - i love the video game machine on the bar...  i fed dollar after dollar into that thing, all the while staring at the screen with the maniacal gaze of a senior citizen sitting at the slots in vegas.  so addictive!