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Food

Fast food & snack set isolated on white background: burger, dessert, pizza, coffee, chicken, wok, beef etc. Hand drawn sketch style, chalkboard drawing.

Cheap Fast Eats

We know. While we love living in SoCal, it can take quite a toll out of your pocket book, time and energy. That’s why we created Cheap Fast Eats — to give you a friend-in-the-know shortcut to finding tasty food you can grab quickly for $10-$15.We’ve been scouting out places for a couple of years now, and have gone as far afield as Santa Ana and the Valley, from Culver City to Pico Union. So check out our new fall edition — a curated list of places we think you’ll like for cool temps.

Cheap Fast Eats: 5 new meals to try for around $10 that are worth the trip

A Honduran baleada on a white plate, filled with mashed beans, sprinkled cheese, and topped with bright pickled red onions, all wrapped in a warm flour tortilla.

Cheap Fast Eats heads to North Hollywood for tasty food around $10

A toasted Guatemalan torta sandwich filled with shredded meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and guacamole, served on parchment paper with a side garnish of parsley and tomato. A small toothpick flag with “Muchá! Comida Chapina” is placed beside it.

Inventive, affordable bites in OC: Cheap Fast Eats visits Santa Ana

Smashburger meal served on a tray lined with classic black-and-white checkered paper, paired with a tall serving of golden fries in a playful Chinese takeout-style box

Cheap Fast Eats visits Pico-Union for globetrotting bites around $10

A plate with roasted chicken, potatoes, a salad, pita bread, and three different sauce containers against a pale blue tiled surface.

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Food Friday

Food

Duke’s Malibu survived the Palisades Fire. The mud has kept it closed

The Palisades Fire was just the first hardship the restaurant faced. A mudslide in February has meant a long, soggy road to reopening.
Food

Is Los Angeles a coffee city? We try to settle an unwinnable feud

L.A. and coffee are synonymous, but how does it compare to other major U.S. cities?

Listen 3:56
Food

TikTok told me the best breakfast burrito was at a hospital cafeteria in Torrance. I had to check it out

The breakfast burrito served up at Torrance Memorial Hospital is hearty, fresh — and cheap.

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If you could only eat at 3 SoCal restaurants for the rest of your life, what would they be?

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Rosh Hashanah traditions — how the holiday table evolves

From pineapple-shaped chopped liver to vegan matzo ball soup, we look at traditions old and new.
As LA restaurants are squeezed, Pasta Sisters is beating the odds

The popular Westside destination features quality food, affordable prices and a happy staff. What have they figured out that has befuddled so many others?
Come with us on a tasting tour of Cambodia Town in Long Beach

Where to enjoy the cuisine’s bold, intense flavors.
What we lose when we lose our dive bars

For all those times you do not want a fancy $20 cocktail at one of those fancy places, there's your reliable neighborhood dive. Here are three timeless dives along a stretch of 4 miles in the San Gabriel Valley, from San Gabriel to South Pasadena.
Has your favorite restaurant closed recently? We asked three chefs why it’s so hard out there

The post-pandemic restaurant landscape in L.A. isn’t for the faint of heart
Where to find the best — and quintessentially LA — hot dogs in the city

Other cities have long hot dog histories steeped in mustard and ketchup, but L.A. has its own hot dog culture. You simply need to know where to look.
The sweet, bitter, smooth pleasure of a good Negroni: 5 bars in LA that get it right

Whether it’s a classic or a creative variation (Darjeeling tea and cardamom anyone?), head to these spots for the perfect after-work or thru-the-weekend sip.
Bob’s Big Boy in Downey hoping to restore statue with hairdo ripped off in crash

The statue is a Downey mainstay. So beloved, one person actually started crying after learning of the accident.