goldenticket ..'s Profile

Out of the Closet are normally good. The store just opened so all the stuff is shipped in from other stores and they had so records. I ended up buying a book and leaving. Im sure as time goes on and residents use it it will turn out to be a good spot. I plan on checking it out on a regular basis and donating stuff i dont need anymore.

Went here for the first time a few week ago with a friend. The service was terrible. Maybe because we aren't of latin descent i don't know. But both of us had stuff we ordered that they didnt bring us when the food came me a shake and her a taco. After i mentioned this the waitress she didnt correct it and bring us the stuff later. Also these things were on the final bill when i started looking at the bill she said she was sorry and gave us a correct bill. Our table was right in front of the cash register but she never came to get the paid bill. So when i got up and essentially turned around she was like oh sorry but she knew what was up she was just being lame for no reason.

Horrid service.

i still tipped a few bucks because I'm not Mr Pink but will never go there again.

So its the weekend and i was walking around doing errands. I decided to get some caffeine in my system so off to the store for some soda and or pop depending where you are from. Passing my normal spots and decided to go to this asian grocery store i pass all the time walking to dodger games. It was more just an excuse to check it out. ive been walking by for years but since i have a closer grocery right across the street ive never been to this one.

Was I in for a surprise what strange land did I enter. They had a wide variety of asian food/ingredients. Their snack aisle they had things like shrimp chips and a bag of watermelon seeds. They had freaky drinks as well like cans of chrysanthemum tea and chocolate flavor energy drinks. I got one and it tasted like yoo-hoo i was kinda disapointed. I wanted like a chocolate rush on energy to overcome me like the soccer player on the can but nope.

If i actually could cook things seems like the place to go for any asian food you want to make. My father would love this place but since cooking to me is pouring milk on my cerial I cant appreciate it as much.

They also had a aisle or two of dishes and cooking instruments. i ended up grapping my pop, energy drink, some kind of grape gummy candy and a bag of snack mix stuff. Checkout was pretty slow but prices were good. Oh also got a pack of those green cleaning sponge things for 79 cents. Its like 3 for a buck at my store. I plan to go back and check it out more and stock my apt with stuff so when people come over it will be like

"Hey want a drink and something to snack on?"

"Sure what ya got"

"Well lets see i have watermelon seeds and chrysanthemum tea."

O_o

I walked around looking at their stuff for a while but i prob missed somethings there is no telling what they have there. I bet you could buy dragon meat or fried leprechaun toes.

This is a nice little market. Im usually go a few times a week to pick up something like cerial/bananas/water. I do my main shopping at the nearby Vons. Their prices are pretty good. But im not a big cook and most of the stuff they sell are for people you cook stuff not push buttons on their microwave. One thing i noticed they don't have much like reduced fat stuff like fat free sour cream for example they just have sour cream. And it might have changed but when i looked they didnt have low fat/fat free cream cheese just regular cream cheese. Recently they did start stocking bagels. Not sure when they get them and they seem to sell pretty good but most days they are there.

The check out people are ok. Their first language is spanish which isnt surprising since its echo park. When i moved into the neighborhood a few years back i thought the ladies that checkout would give me the stink eye because im not latino but i think thats just how they are. There is one lady i always try to get into her line she is always nice to me so i seek her out. In the back is a deli and sometimes you will get to hear the guys behind the counter singing along with the spanish radio, can be entertaining. Sometimes they listen to a spanish radio station that plays american music that has been converted to spanish. So you will be buying your cerial and hear dude singing journey songs in spanish.

But you have to go by the deli because sometimes but not often they have homemade guacamole. And oh my god is it great! It actually tastes different like its their own recipe but when they have those tubs of guac get that and some chips and you are in for a treat. But its good they dont have it all the time because i can never turn it down if i see it.

Echo Park Lake is great. I live super close so i always walk around the lake listening to music. It has its share of homeless/sketchy people but its never been a problem. There are signs posted that the area at night its patrolled by plain clothes police officers.

On weekends its usually jumping. kids playing soccer in the grass. families having cookouts/parties, vendors selling food or toys for kids. also on weekends people usually set up around the sidewalk selling stuff like kinda of a garage sale.

Its a good place to hang out and relax and read a book or just go for a nice walk.

I think with the Brite Spot you have to go in with low expectations. The staff is pretty relaxed and prob serving you between shows or auditions or whatever. They aren't really fast but usually when I go its with someone and you are talking and junk so you don't realize. The food isnt great but isnt bad either, prices are acceptable. I think if they were a tad lower it would help. If you are in Echo Park late at night its pretty much the only place to go. They usually have good music playing and outside by the door in window they have tons of fliers for shows/events. If i'm by myself i usually go grab something at the taco truck and Sunset and Logan. But if you want to go to somewhere to talk with someone or coming home from a show its a good place to hang out and get some food.

So I usually don't bother going to this Trader Joe's since I have closer options but sometimes you gotta break down and fight for a parking space  and check it out. When you get inside its just as crowded as the parking lot. Trader Joe's is good for something though they have some quality and good priced already made things you just have to throw in a microwave such as lasagna. Also they have their own items like guacamole with a layer of hot sauce on top. They give it some Trader Joes name like flaming alien or whatever, who cares its good. Also a big fan of their cherries when they are in season. In fact thats usually what gets me to go there. Their prices are pretty good like Kashi cerial is cheaper here then at normal groceries but when you go to Trader Joes you may end up buying extra stuff you didn't plan on. People that work there always seem friendly. Also they use paper bags.

Santa Monica Video make duplications of media like digibeta tapes or DVDs and they can be a vault for you as well with your media, on their website is a list of their services. I'm sure others may have had a better time with them but I brought them three HD DVCPRO tapes to capture and put on an external hard drive. The second tape they stopped the capture too soon and it wasnt discovered until we were in editing. So we had to have them recapture the part they messed up which took another day and they didnt even seem to care that they made a mistake. There are other places in the area that do the same thing which i will try, they can't be any worse then Santa Monica Video

Fiesta Discount is one of those stores that has a little bit of everything. From bath towels to cereal to kids toys to tools to a dvd players. The prices there are good (not always name brand stuff). It's not a 99 cent store but so many of their things are 99 cents. You can walk out with two bags of stuff and have change from your 10.

When I moved to Echo Park a few years ago I started hitting all the local spots and checking out the food. This taco truck kills the competition. Their burritos are really good but now I'm hooked on their tortas. If you are in the neighborhood (such as going to or coming from The Echo) stop by the truck. If you don't like it I feel sorry for you.