LAist has had some well documented cases of searching for that elusive “hidden bakery-café” in Burbank, or that extra parking spot at the Porto’s on Hollywood Way and Magnolia. And my suggestion? It doesn’t provide a solution for either of those problems, but an excellent alternative in Cake Monkey. It’s a nondescript bakery (basically a kitchen and an office, they are looking for a retail spot) wedged between a locksmith and a flowershop on Burbank......

The first annual Cupcake Challenge on May 18th will put the lip-smacking in a foodie smackdown. In this event sponsored by CozmoDeck, Fiji Water, and K and L Wine Merchants, 13 of the best local cupcake bakeries--cupcakeries, if you will--are putting on their oven mitts and throwing down the best they have to offer in the hopes of determining whose cupcake is the tops in town. The event is open to the public, because you......

No, this isn't Care Bear Puke, but that would be pretty cool (in a strange way). This is the peppermint ice cream cookie sandwich ($4.25) at Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store, attached to the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. People go nuts over Diddy Reese's cheap ice cream sandwiches ($1.50). And those snacks are definitely not to miss when in Westwood Village or hanging around UCLA's campus. However, and as cheesy as it is......

Brunchtime is one of life's great ironies. You want to go out, relax, enjoy the company of other people, eat enough to fill you up two meals' worth, sip your beverage slowly, and take your time. And because you are not alone in this pursuit, you tend to go where lots of people go, because they want the same thing. But all those people means all that waiting. But what happens when you find a......

The first sign of Spring isn't a lavendar crocus gently peeking out of the snow. This is Los Angeles, and it's time for strawberries! Which means strawberry pies are back! The greatest pie of them all is the Banberry Pie at Polly's Pies. Sometimes strawberry pies can be a bit overwhelming, and sometimes they are way too tart. Banana cream pies are just a little dull. The geniuses at Polly's Pies combined them to......

Photo by brainylagirl via flickr LA Mill finally (soft-)opened its "boutique" in Silver Lake last Friday and we were lucky to get there in time to sample the goods -- for free. The space is impressive but the environment -- almost pretentiously over the top. But let's discuss the coffee: I had two clover-style (filtered French drip) cups, one Kenyan, was an average medium-dark blend, with an acidic yet moderately rich, roasted coffee bean......

The line. For cupcakes. Joy, my ass. I've never tried Sprinkles Cupcakes before, but I'd heard they were the cupcake shit, and I was hoping to send them to my mom for her birthday (happy birthday Mom!) as kind of a "love from LA" type of gift. So I get to the cupcake place, and lo and behold, there is a line. Out the door. 30 people deep. For CUPCAKES. I'm just saying--really--a line?!......

Last Sunday night, whilst many Angelenos were trying to make complete sentences out of what was left between all the bleeps heard during the MTV Movie Awards, I was down by the beach at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, checking out an event called "Dessert Decadence." Billed as a sunset poolside minglefest, the event featured neither a sunset (too overcast and ran from 5-8, just a bit too early) nor a poolside (we......

Call it overpriced. Call it overrated. Call it crappy, sour-priced crud. But call it deceptive? Bryan Williams thinks so, and that's why the West Hollywood "legal recruiter" is suing Pinkberry, the newest craze in frozen dessert treats. Williams' lawsuit does not ask for punitive damages. He simply wants the wildly successful yogurt chain to tone down its claims that the product is frozen yogurt. A statement from a California Department of Food and Agriculture......

With news of more locations poised to serve, it's about damn time we did a little investigative journalism. Pinkberry: Come on, now, really? Isn't it just frozen yogurt? What's the big deal? Pinkberry is the little yogurt shop that could--and has--bloomed into a behemoth of local franchises, and with all the hype, they seem set to convert you to be one of their kind. Every trend loves its skeptics, and we count ourselves among the......