Posts Tagged ‘los angeles’

5 AMAZING slices of pizza in LA? (Yeah. in LA!)

By KCRW DJ Mario Cotto

There are pizza pie places and pizza slice places…I’m talking about the latter. Lots of people talk about NY or Chicago pizza and I can readily admit that those places have pretty good pizza. BUT I can also say, without hesitation, that they are generally over-rated. (Yeah, I said it.) A good pizza (especially by the slice) is hard-to-find, but not impossible. I have a friend who claims that the REAL pizza-city is New Haven, CT. I’m from Philly, and I got my pizza education at DiLorenzo’s (soft dough, sweet gravy,) Gianfranco’s (thin hard crust, tart gravy) and Tacconelli’s (descriptors do not yet exist.) I have remarkably high standards and, believe it or not, have found that even our fair City of Angels, yoga, & sushi, has its slice selling diamonds in the rough. Mind you, I am aware that there are plenty of great pizza pie places that will go unmentioned… but my goal here is to give you 5 AMAZING slices-to-go. Seriously, these slices are so good, you don’t even need toppings. Enjoy. And be ready to buy more than one.

(more…)

5 Deja Vu Movie Sites

Marc Porter Zasada, KCRW Host.

John Marshall High School, 3939 Tracy Street, Los Angeles
The façade of this classic school showed up in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Mask, Wonder Years, Rebel Without a Cause, Grease, The Fisher King, Naked Gun, Reservoir Dogs, Space Jam…well, you’re certain to get that funny feeling.

1300 Block of Carroll Avenue
This little street of lovingly-restored Victorian homes in Angelino Heights appears constantly onscreen. A short list: The Thorn Birds, Earthquake, Salem’s Lot, Nickelodeon, Of Mice and Men, Deuce Bigelow, and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

(more…)

My 5 Favorite Tacos

Matt Holzman, KCRW Host.

Now I’m not a food connoisseur, but I do know a good taco when I meet one. Here are some of my top picks.

Alameda Swap Meet (44th and Alameda, LA, 90058)
An incredibly festive place and there are so many places to score awesome tacos here, it’s tough to know where to start. The main “restaurant” alone sells so many kinds you’d need a month to try them all (the fried potato tacos are special!) – though most of the “variety” meats (buche, anyone?) don’t appeal to a gavacho like me. They also make fantastic aguas frescas (watermelon is my fave) and sell bags of freshly made churros.
(more…)

5 Best Walking Streets by Kevin Roderick

Kevin Roderick, KCRW Host.

Los Angeles grew up as a driving city, and I’m as guilty as anybody of using my car for recreation and convenience more than necessity. Yet, I enjoy savoring a city’s sights and smells and personality on foot when I’m traveling — and lately I’m enamored of just parking my wheels where the mood strikes me and exploring L.A. from the sidewalk. Some of my favorite strips are obvious, some more of an acquired taste.

1 – Wilshire Boulevard.
OK, this may be too obvious. But America’s most quintessentially Automobile Age boulevard is appreciated in a whole new way while out and walking. I especially like the mile or so from Lafayette Park to Western. You stroll past dozens of storefronts that have seen decades of L.A. history, plus you can peer through the windows of the sublime former Bullock’s Wilshire department store.

(more…)

Five Secret L.A. Pleasures by Marc Porter Zasada

Marc Porter Zasada, Host of The Urban Man.

Every Angeleno keeps a list of secret pleasures, the "locals-only" joys we try not to share with tourists. Since KCRW listeners are like family, I’m offering five of my favorite places to sneak off and relax.

Drinks at the Casa Del Mar
This great 1926 hotel, with its high, wood-paneled lobby and elegant, slightly stuffy bar, overlooks the modern Santa Monica Beach with big picture windows. The whole thing exists in a deep, if expensive L.A. time warp. I order vodka martinis and read Raymond Chandler here.

(more…)