i like this photo for many of the reasons i mentioned yesterday, but what stands out is the old insignia on the buildings. the fashionably dressed cyclists almost blend right in with their surroundings. and a brick crosswalk? were we really in los angeles? wonderful.
the growing series of photos from this ride can be found together right here.
5 comments:
Your articles have peaked my interest. My wife and I headed downtown last night taking the Gold Line metro. Switched over to the red line, headed for Pershing Square. Im really interested in the Renaissance going on in downtown L.A. and wanted to experience it some more. Since downtown had started gutting old buildings and building lofts out of them, I was interested in the of revival that was going on. Its been a number of yours now since it all started... probably a good 8 years or so? I think we are just starting to see the downtown taking shape finally. There are a bunch of nice restaurants popping up all around.
Some links here...
http://historicdowntownla.com/where/
We headed a few blocks away to the Nickel Diner. Yes, its on the edge of the seedy side of downtown, but the area is all getting cleaned up finally. New, still saran wrapped, light posts being installed, new sidewalks being put in, etc.
I had made a list of places we might want to eat for dinner, then made a decision after we got out of the metro. The Nickel Diner sounded interesting.
http://nickeldiner.com/
My wife loves the color red so this was quite perfect. If you can get past the few bums walking around and slip inside this diner, you will get transported back to the 1930s. Everyone working there had a Seattle grunge look about them. Not bad, an artsy look. Everyone was very friendly. No beers, so I had to get something with the name beer in it. I was served an old fashioned micro brewed root beer. It was excellent and went perfectly with dinner. Red is the theme color for this restaurant and the interior feels like a true 30s style hangout. Dinner was priced right and excellent portions. We were both full. And then the (from what Ive read) famous dessert plate arrives with some very interesting delights. Homemade pop tarts, homemade ding dongs, maple bacon donuts, peanut butter, chocolate, potato chip cake, and the ohhh delicious red velvet cake. The red color of the cake was striking so we ordered it. It was so perfectly fresh and enjoyable. I was thinking we should have had some ice cream with it, but after tasting the rich cream cheese icing, I almost thought it was ice cream. Excellent cake. Will order it again.
The night ended walking back to Pershing Square and hitting the ice rink for some fun. Well, maybe its only fun if you know what you're doing!
-1916home
Oh man, thanks for that update Dave! I am getting hungry just reading your review. Sounds like my kind of place - unique, yet delicious soulful cooking.
The food was pretty good. Sorry if my post sounded like a "review". The food really tasted home made... not some mass produced frozen entree. The Yelp website has a lot of reviews there... Mostly 4 or 5 star rating... a few one star ratings for either bad service or the bums outside. There wasnt a wait to get in on a Tuesday night, but maybe the service might get slow if its on a crowded weekend morning which sounds like a popular time to go. Maybe even a weekend night. Cool place anyways.
Im looking around downtown for some good beer places, so if you happen across any, let me know! While I dont really miss the grub at Gordon Biersch in Pasadena... I REALLY miss their fresh marzen beer.
I posted this over on your blog, but for everyone else -
Beer spots...
Well, in Pasadena I like Brix 42, Lucky Baldwins, and although I wonder how fresh their beer is - the Yard House in a pinch.
Santa Monica has some excellent places - Fathers Office, the Library, the Daily Pint. Downtown is kind of a tricky area, but I've been wanting to check out the beer and sausage bar, Wurstküche. I've heard good things about Blue Palms in Hollywood.
Have you seen the beer mapping project? - http://beermapping.com/ - a pretty good way to explore the country by beer.
Quite an interesting site, thanks. I'll use it on our next trip!
Post a Comment