The Brief

Breakfast is certainly having a moment in Los Angeles, at least according to listeners of LAist 89.3’s daily news program, AirTalk.

We asked listeners to share some of their favorite breakfast spots across Southern California, and host Larry Mantle spoke with Nick Starr, the owner of Cofax Coffee — known for their breakfast burritos and signature drinks.

Starr told Larry about some of the challenges of running a breakfast-forward business, especially now with the rising cost of eggs and coffee beans.

“It feels like a perfect storm,” Starr said of the rising costs. “One thing we try to do is just keep our prices steady because egg prices — they go up and then they go back down. Being a breakfast place means being a dependable place. And so we want to give our customers as much predictability as possible.”

As they discussed burritos, listeners began chiming in with their own dependable and favorite breakfast joints across the region. Fair warning, you’re about to get real hungry.

That old school vibe

If you’re looking for some old school, stick-to-your-ribs, home cooking vibes, the AirTalk audience has you covered. Jonathan in Long Beach gave a shout out to Crazy Otto’s in his hometown of Lancaster. The restaurant’s been around for more than 50 years, but has moved from its original location, which he says sat right near the train tracks.

“And when the train would go by, your plates would almost shake off the table,” he said.

Each time a train passed, he said, “they'd spin a wheel, and if it landed on your table, you'd get a free breakfast.” According to Jonathan, the food style is “homestyle gravy and chicken fried steak, and plates that will feed you for a week.”

If you’re looking to step up your diner game, Mabee in the Crenshaw District recommended you check out Tak’s Coffee Shop near Jefferson.

“It has delicious grits and eggs for breakfast. Also, it has Loco Moco, which is a Hawaiian delicacy.” The dish is comprised of white rice that’s layered with a hamburger patty and a fried egg smothered in gravy.

Alongside the delicious breakfast, she said the coffee and service make the place shine.

Taiwanese breakfast

For those looking to expand their breakfast outside of diners, callers also highlighted some of the best Taiwanese offerings in the region. Jennifer in Silver Lake gave a shout out to the Taiwanese breakfast spot Huge Tree Pastry in Monterey Park. She said their go-to item is the Fan Tuan, which is a dish served on a long stick and combines fried dough, pork floss — a kind of stringy jerky — egg and pickled vegetables, all wrapped in rice.

And Jessica in Eagle Rock vouched for the Taiwanese restaurant Yung Ho Dou Jiang in Alhambra as her favorite morning joint. She said their soy milk and dumplings are beyond amazing.

Just give me the eggs

When it comes to egg dishes, omelettes are a hit. Jeanette in San Pedro said the Omelette and Waffle Shop in San Pedro is a fantastic, locally-owned queer business with a wonderful atmosphere. Melinda in Seal Beach mentioned Crema Cafe off Main Street in Seal Beach.

“Everything is delicious," she said. "The best omelette I’ve had anywhere. Wonderful selections from coffee to the food and a great patio for sitting and eating.”

And Phil in Newport Beach gave a quick shout out to the Galley Cafe where the eggs are always cooked to perfection.

Also, if you're a breakfast fanatic with a sweet tooth, he added, “They’ve got the best malts and shakes…sometimes I’ll have for breakfast, as well as my eggs.”

Breakfast burritos

The most happening breakfast item right now? Hands down, breakfast burritos.

Levy in East Hollywood made mouths water with the mention of Bolt's brisket breakfast burrito. And Kim in El Segundo recommended Baran’s 2239 in Hermosa Beach, which, she said, has breakfast burritos so popular and amazing that, “you basically need to order your burrito in advance if you want to get one.”

However, if you’re in need of a world shattering breakfast burrito, Christy in Garden Grove had just the spot for you — La Rancherita Tortilleria and Deli in Garden Grove, which is attached to a tortilla factory.

"Their breakfast burrito with bacon, beans, and egg — it’s life changing," she said. "When people come to visit, I say, ‘Would you like to go taste a life changing breakfast burrito?’” And according to Christy’s husband, the salsa is top-notch.

Just how mom makes it

Liz from South Gate brought us right back to her childhood with her favorite spot.

“Every Sunday we go to Maria’s Tamaleria down the street in Lynwood," she said. "And their chilaquiles are the closest I found to the way my mom makes them from scratch.”

Liz added that they have a wide selection of fresh and grilled tamales, but warned you might need to call ahead as they can get pretty busy on Sundays.

If you’re in need of more recommendations, you can listen to the full conversation with Cofax Coffee’s Nick Starr and listeners' favorite breakfast restaurants here.

Anyone will tell you that these are tumultuous, borderline-apocalyptic times for the film industry. Box office is down. The threat of AI looms. Billionaires and tech giants are laying waste to what remains of the major Hollywood studios. I'm not entirely sure how to square all this bad news with my own good news, which is that I saw more terrific new movies this year than I have any year since before the pandemic. True, most of those movies weren't from here, but all of them played in U.S. theaters in 2025, and all of them are well worth seeking out in the weeks and months to come.

1. Sirāt

The best new movie I saw this year is a breakthrough work from a gifted Spanish filmmaker named Oliver Laxe. It's a nail-biting survival thriller, set in the desert of southern Morocco during what feels like the end-times. It's a little Mad Max, a little Wages of Fear, and all in all, the most exhilarating and devastating two hours I experienced in a theater this year. Sirāt also features the year's best original score, composed by the electronic musician Kangding Ray.

2. One Battle After Another

Paul Thomas Anderson's much-loved, much-debated reimagining of Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland is an exuberant mash-up of action-thriller and political satire. One Battle After Another stars Leonardo DiCaprio in one of his best and funniest performances as an aging revolutionary drawn back into the field. He leads an ensemble that includes Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn, Regina Hall and the terrific discovery, Chase Infiniti.

3. Caught by the Tides

Caught by the Tides is an unclassifiable hybrid of fiction and nonfiction from the Chinese director Jia Zhangke. Drawn from a mix of archival footage and newly shot material, it's a one-of-a-kind portrait of the myriad transformations that China has gone through over the past two decades.

4. Resurrection

Resurrection, another structurally bold Chinese title, is a bit like an Avatar movie for film buffs. Placing us in the head of a shapeshifting protagonist, the director, Bi Gan, takes us on a gorgeous, dreamlike odyssey through various cinema genres, from historical spy drama to vampire thriller.

5. My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow

My No. 5 movie is the year's best documentary: My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow, from the director Julia Loktev. It's a sprawling yet intimate portrait of several Russian independent journalists in the harrowing months leading up to President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As a portrait of anti-authoritarian resistance, it pairs nicely with my No. 6 movie.

6. The Secret Agent

The Secret Agent is an emotionally rich, sneakily funny and continually surprising drama from the director Kleber Mendonça Filho. Set in 1977, it lays bare the personal cost of dissidence during Brazil's military dictatorship.

7. Sound of Falling

Although not a horror film, exactly, this German drama qualifies as the best and spookiest haunted-house movie I've seen this year. Directed by Mascha Schilinski, Sound of Falling teases out the connections among four generations of girls and young women who have passed through the same remote farmhouse.

8. April

April, from the director Dea Kulumbegashvili, is a tough, bleak, but utterly hypnotic portrait of a skilled OB-GYN trying to provide health care for women in a conservative East Georgian village. It may be set far from the U.S., but the difficulties these women face would resonate in any setting.

9. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

Directed by Rungano Nyoni, this Zambian film is a subtly mesmerizing drama about a death that takes place in a middle-class household, setting off a chain of dark revelations that threaten to tear a family apart.

10. It Was Just an Accident

It Was Just an Accident, which won the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, is a shattering moral thriller from the Iranian director Jafar Panahi. It centers on a group of former political prisoners who are given a rare chance at retribution. In the past, Panahi has been a prisoner in Iran himself, and earlier this month, the government sentenced the director in absentia to a year in prison. I hope that Panahi never sees the inside of a jail cell again, and that his movie is seen as far and wide as possible.
Copyright 2025 NPR

In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena and Pasadena’s music community have really shown up to support fire survivors, especially fellow musicians who lost instruments and record collections.

That effort continues this weekend with a special donation concert at a Pasadena record store, with the aim of getting vinyl records back in the hands of survivors who lost their collections.

“You know, our name is Healing Force of the Universe, and I think that gives me a pretty clear direction… especially after the fires,” said Austin Manuel, founder of Pasadena record store, where Sunday’s show will be held.

The record donation effort is the brainchild of musician Brandon Jay, who founded the nonprofit Altadena Musicians after losing his home and almost all of his family’s instruments in the Eaton Fire. Through Altadena Musicians’s donation and registry platform, Jay said he and his partners have helped some 1,200 fire survivors get their music instruments back.

Brandon Jay.

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Robert Garrova

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LAist

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Now, that effort has fanned out to restoring vinyl record collections.

“All of that stuff evaporated for thousands of people,” Jay said. “Look at your own record collection and be like, ‘Wow, what if that whole thing disappeared?’”

You might know Jay from several bands over the years, including Lutefisk, a 1990s alt-rock band based in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, composed music for TV shows, including Orange is the New Black and Weeds.

Jay plans to play some holiday tunes at Sunday's record donation show (which LAist is the media sponsor), along with fellow musician Daniel Brummel of Sanglorians. Brummel, who was also a founding member of Pasadena’s indie-rock sensation Ozma, said he was grateful to Jay for his fire recovery work and to Manuel for making Healing Force available for shows like this.

Brummel, who came close to losing his own home in the Eaton Fire, recalled a show he played at Healing Force back in March.

Ryen Slegr (left) and Daniel Brummel perform with their band, Ozma, on the 2014 Weezer Cruise.

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Even Keel Imagery

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“The trauma of the fires was still really fresh,” Brummel said. After playing a cover of Rufus Wainwright’s “Going to a Town,” that night — which includes the lyrics “I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down” — Brummel said his neighbors in the audience told him the rendition hit them hard. “It felt really powerful. And without that space, it just wouldn’t have occurred.”

Details

Healing Force of the Universe Record Donation Show
Featuring: Quasar (aka Brandon Jay), Sanglorians (Daniel Brummel) and The Acrylic.
Sunday, Dec. 14; 2 to 5 p.m.
1200 E. Walnut St., Pasadena
Tickets are $15 or you can donate 5 or more records at the door. More info here.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."