This doesn't happen too often: A once-prominent chain restaurant that's been closing down locations in recent years is opening up a new location, taking over for an indie restaurant, in an indie-centric 'hood. Hamburger Hamlet is taking over the Avocado Grill space in Larchmont. more ›

Diners who frequent Café Gratitude on Larchmont may have no idea that the parent company who runs several locations of the vegan eatery in the Bay Area has been mired for years in legal challenges, including controversial allegations the business owners require employees to participate in an alleged cult. more ›

Devotees of organic and vegan cuisine will have a new temple at which to worship starting tomorrow, when the long-awaited San Francisco export Café Gratitude opens up its doors on Larchmont to welcome conscious eaters into their fold. more ›

L.A. is losing another bookstore, at least physically. On August 21st, Dawson's Bookshop will leave Larchmont Boulevard for the world wide web. "Starting this weekend until August 21, the store is having a moving sale with over 3,000 titles on sale for up to 75%. Expect to find a lot of photography books," notes neighborhood style blog Mondette. The once-downtown store celebrated its 100th birthday in 2005, making it the city's oldest bookstore. more ›

San Francisco-based raw/vegan eatery Café Gratitude is spreading the love down to Los Angeles, with a new location scheduled to open this winter at Larchmont and Melrose, according to Grub Street LA and NBC. The often odorific (both in food and staff) restaurant will be bringing its gospel of organic, animal-free goodness to Los Angeles vegans, along with all of those crazy menu item names like the "I Am Beautiful" nachos and the "I am Fulfilled" salad. more ›

During lunch time, at an event, or after a night out on the town, queuing up at one or more parked food trucks can give you a great sense of community. People come together to eat, to be out in the city, and to give a little bit of money to some entrepreneurs. But the food trucks aren't always welcomed by the communities in which they park (see: Wilshire Blvd. businesses) and now one community has gone as far as to tell their residents to shun the food trucks. more ›

In celebration of their first anniversary in Los Angeles, Crumbs in Beverly Hills is giving away a free cupcake when you purchase one on Friday. Well, it's not exactly the warm feeling you get when they just gave out free cupcakes, but there's more news to this. They recently opened a Larchmont location and today announced four more: Los Feliz (Oct.), The Americana in Glendale (Oct.), Malibu Lumbar Yard (Nov.) and The Commons in Calabasas (Jan.). It's all proof that the Pinkberry ripoff phase hasn't killed the cupcake world. more ›

To celebrate the opening of their new Larchmont location, Crumbs Bakeshop will be giving 1,000 free cupcakes beginning at 8:00 am on Friday. Free cupcakes! more ›

It's National Cold Cuts Day. That term has always brought to mind those not very fresh, tasteless sandwich fillers served at large functions that you eat because you don't want to eat only macaroni salad. With the beef recall, dashing to your local butcher for some cold cuts sounds less appetizing than ever. However, the term "cold cuts" can include cheese and that's where you can freely celebrate. more ›