Occasionally breakfast-time can't be a thing of luxury. Granted, it's the most important meal of the day, but it's also not something we all get to sit down for and order up a spread of tantalizing goodness, particularly if its a weekday and there are things that need to get done. Breakfast criteria then equals: Coffee, sustenance, and free wireless internet. more ›

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When the chips are down and you need cash to settle up some legal matters, unloading some real estate is a good move. more ›

For those who say you can't put a price on education, California's governor and UC and CSU officials say you're dead wrong. In fact, not only can you put a price on it, you can hike the price, making undergraduate education in the state increasingly more expensive. more ›

• Officer Down: A SWAT team was dispatched late today to a Reseda home on the 11800 block of Blythe Street where it is believed an officer was shot. The gunman has barricaded himself in the home and it's unclear whether he has been apprehended. The injured LAPD officer was transported to a local hospital. more ›

Picture it: North Hollywood, 2007. Two old pals get together to work on an installment of LAist's Neighborhood Project but are easily distracted by watching episodes of The Golden Girls on dvd. Deeply entrenched in a bout of hunger, the two turn to the internets to find a local pizzeria that isn't a great big multinational chain (one of them used to be the LAist Food Editor, after all, and has these lofty ideals about consumerism) and they land on the site of a well-known nearby establishment. The pizza is ordered, delivered, and consumed, and the two are left remarking that it was one helluva pizza. more ›

It seems every where you look in local food blogging or restaurant reviewing, the buzz word of the moment is Terroni, a Canadian import that just opened up an outpost in West Hollywood serving up affordable Southern Italian fare. Natalie Houghton of the Daily News (via LA.com) sums it up on both sides of the scale: "At its best: Prices are reasonable, sharing is not a problem here, and sampling a variety of Italian... more ›

In TV land, Tom Colicchio of Top Chef plays a kinda sorta pompous judge on the popular Bravo show. In real life, he's chef-owner of NYC's Craft (other restaurants include the Gramercy Tavern, Craft, Craftbar, and 'wichcraft in New York, Craftsteak at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and NYC). Gordon Ramsay plays another sorta pompous chef on FOX's Hell's Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares. In real life, his latest restaurant venture is Gordon Ramsay... more ›

It's certainly not the biggest farmer's market around--in fact it's pretty close to fledgling. Operational since last fall, the Toluca Lake Certified Farmer's Market takes over just one tiny block on Sancola, north of Riverside Drive. There are a few produce stands featuring excellent, although somewhat limited, selections of fresh local fruits and veggies, as well as at least one floral stand, craftsmakers with wares from soy candles to jewelry, tamales, baked goods, and... more ›

This LAist also grabbed her trusty camera and took the Red Line downtown to catch yesterday's Chinese New Year Parade. We joined the fray on Broadway to usher in this Year of the Boar 4705 in all its colorful glory, although we, too, ran into the same parade-photogging snags as our fellow LAist mentioned last night. The parade was just one part of an ongoing celebration, and there's still a window--a porthole, perhaps--of opportunity... more ›

The other day, LAist received an inquiry via email about our picks for the restaurants that have something inedible (but, perhaps indelible) on the menu: A great waterfront view. We did a little culling, and have come up with the following lowdown. more ›

Are there really only two weeks until Coachella? One week until the LA Times Festival of Books and does it really feel like summer outside? Wow, Spring allergies have been kicking our ass and we feel like we're coming out of a haze much later into the month of April then we think we should be. Oh well. Lindsay William-Ross took on the task of covering food for LAist starting this week and then promptly started the South Beach diet. Does this mean we can't expect cupcake reviews to happen any time soon? more ›

LAist doesn't know if we've formally introduced our recent crop of new contributors to the site but Carolyn Kellogg, Lindsay William-Ross, and Kevin Kelly have all started writing for us sometime in the last month. more ›