Results tagged “watergrill”

            

I get asked more often than I can handle for recommendations for where to eat in Los Angeles. And it's a hard question to answer because there are not only a staggering number of excellent options, but also it's so often a matter of personal taste and finding the right spot for the right occasion. For the past four or five years, however, if you ask me what my favorite special occasion restaurant in Los Angeles is (not counting the epic $500 sushi of Urasawa, mind you) I will without hesitation say The Water Grill.

      

The Water Grill in Downtown LA has a reputation for being a world-class seafood restaurant with accompanying prices to prove it. Since our budget runs more along the Red Lobster line, we jumped at the chance for the $44 DineLA* opportunity for a three-course Water Grill dinner. It’s practically a bargain, right?

Launched last October by Neil Kohan, Max Wanger, and Margaux Elliott, Just One Plate is pretty self-explanatory. They select one plate from some of the top restaurants in town, including Grace, Fraiche, Bastide and La Cachette.

Warning, Los Angeles foodies: reading Michael Bauer's article on the Los Angeles dining experience might cause your eyes to roll back so far in your head that you will become permanently blind. Bauer, who is the executive food and wine editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, deigns to visit ten of the city's "top" restaurants, and comes away with these insights: In the Bay Area, food is the driving force of successful restaurants. But...

A couple of months ago we hinted that we wanted to dine at dowtown's Water Grill, perhaps in a celebratory capacity. Well, our wish was indeed granted, and we made our first visit to what many herald is a top spot for seafood in the city. Because we were coming off a sugar high most likely induced from one too many slices of "Happy Graduation (insert name here)!" cake consumed in those days, we didn't get to lapse into the food coma we so treasure after a meal in such a place. So we did what any smart food fan might do: We went back.

We're pretty stoked about the recent launch of the LA version of MenuPix.com, the online database that features scans of the menus of hundreds of local eateries. The interface is quite user-friendly, and allows you to search or browse for what you want by name, neighborhood, zip code, or cuisine. After you've culled a list to work with, you can then further refine your search by the availability of a menu scan, delivery, or a combo of both. Once you select a restaurant you can see the MenuPix page that breaks down the important details, like address and phone number, official website, hours of operation, delivery options, and any user ratings and/or reviews that have been submitted. As an example, here's the page for downtown's delectable Water Grill (which, incidentally, happens to be where this LAist wants to be taken to celebrate getting her Master's this week).

Well, it's another month in magazine publishing, so it's another month's list from the folks at Los Angeles Magazine. This time, like they do every year, they're apprising their readership of their picks for the "Best" in LA. We've noticed over the years that there's no particular method to their madness, just for them to make mention of 101 things that have struck their fancy this year in this city. In looking at their food and drink selections, we're frankly not surprised. They invoke a handful of the currently most dished about spots for dining in town; places they've name-dropped as recently as last month's "Cheap Eats" feature, like KP'S Deli, and places we've talked about, like The Farm of Beverly Hills (renowned here for their brownies), and The Border Grill (amazingly, for a non-alcoholic cocktail, the Minty Lime Cooler). We noticed a heavy favoritism towards restaurants in the Beverly Hills and adjacent areas, with only the ethnic entries coming from elsewhere around town (Middle Eastern at Mandaloun in Glendale, Tamales at Tamales Liliana in Boyle Heights). Naturally the inclusion of a "Small Plates" category was to hail the popular A.O.C., and we're also basking in the obviousness of the "Best Chowder" choice of downtown's Water Grill, highly reputed for their seafood. Some, like us, may balk at their assertion that Canter's Deli serves the best waffles, that the higher end Jar is the spot for french fries, and that a Curry House in Little Tokyo is the best spot for kids. So what was missing? We wish they'd settle our "Best Burger" debate, and also offer us insight on eats near and dear to us, like cupcakes (no mention, despite frequent foodie talk on the topic), ice cream, group dining, happy hour, and sushi. While we know that LA Mag's LA is not our LA, or that there's no such thing as one LA, but we sure wish they would up and surprise us.