Andy Chase

12/30/2001 - Chicken Box - "Broasted" Chicken

330 East Whittier Boulevard • La Habra, California

This road sign doesn’t feature the slogan displayed in brush script on the restaurant itself, "Broasted Chicken"

I didn’t get any Broasted chicken (World’s Finest) to go, so I can only speculate as to what’s involved in the "Broasting" process.

12/30/2001 - Jack's Whittier Restaurant
13221 Whittier Boulevard • Whittier, California

Although the coffee shop itself has lost any Googie character it may have once had, the Jack's sign has held up nicely over the years.

12/30/2001 - Dal Rae Restaurant

9023 Washington Boulevard • Pico Rivera, California

Opened in 1958¹, the Dal Rae looks like a great restaurant inside and out; See the Dal Rae web site for photos of the dining areas.

¹ The Dal Rae Story. Dal Rae Restaurant. 31 Jan 2002. <http://www.dalrae.com/about.htm>

Spumoni Restaurant: 14533 Ventura Blvd (near Van Nuys blvd), Sherman Oaks, California, 91423

(818) 981-7218

The problem with Ventura boulevard (and greater Los Angeles area in general) is that there are just too many little stores and restaurants jam-packed next to one another for miles and miles; we've been living in the San Fernando Valley for five years and we're still finding places that we've overlooked all this time.

Such as Spumoni Restaurant. I'm not sure how long it's been there, but it wasn't until I was picking up food from another nearby restaurant that I noticed Spumoni. They had some menus available outside, and I took one for future reference. Last night we decided to give them a try. Kim picked up a couple of entrees on her way back from an errand, so I can't comment as to the "dining experience" at Spumoni, but we were very pleasantly surprised by the food.

It's been my experience at most (affordable) Italian restaurants I've been to in Los Angeles that the pasta tends to be overdone, and sauces nondescript; maybe not straight out of a Smart & Final no. 10 can, but pretty darn close. Another problem when getting food to go from these places is that the pasta and piece of meat (if you get a dish like chicken parmagiana) get all soggy in transit, turning what might have been an adequate dish in the restaurant into a disappointment at home.

I ordered the chicken parmagiana entree; chicken parm is usually a pretty good measuring stick. Kim got a shrimp scampi-type dish, and we used a coupon for a free serving of spumoni ice cream.

Excellent, excellent, excellent! Both dishes used penne pasta instead of noodles, and it was done to perfection; Al Dente, to quote those stereotype-filled television ads. The marinara sauce is definitely made from scratch, the chicken was nice and tender, and the parmagian and mozzarella cheeses were amazing; I noticed buffalo mozzarella in another dish on the menu, and I suspect that's what they also use on top of the chicken parm. The parmesan cheese also tastes like it was made with non-cow milk, although I couldn't say what.

We only ate about half of our portions because the food is so filling; it will be great reheated for lunch tomorrow. We wanted to save room for the spumoni, which we split. The first thing we noticed was the way they had packed the spumoni for us; the slice was placed on a separate piece of plastic inside a plastic container whose bottom was lined with pieces of ice to keep it cold on its way home.

What an obvious idea, and yet I've never seen another restaurant do it... it really feels like you're being taken care of when a restaurant goes to such lengths. As for the spumoni itself, what an amazing balance they've struck between rich flavor and light consistency. The slice of spumi had four separate layers: Strawberry, vanilla, pistachio, and chocolate. The chocolate has a rich, dark flavor nothing like the chocolate ice cream you'd get from a Baskin-Robbins. The pistachio has a very delicate flavor which is actually a little bit difficult to pick up at first if you're used to the strong artificial flavors of American pistachio ice cream or pudding. The vanilla and strawberry layers were similarly delicate but rich at the same time. Even the maraschino cherry in the middle tasted better than most.

Good Italian food just about a mile away! I can't wait to give their pizza a try.

Darby's Coffee Shop in Canoga Park.20901 Sherman Way (at De Soto) Canoga Park, CA 91303

I had an appointment in an unfamiliar part of the Valley today (Canoga Park) and since I had some time to kill beforehand I thought I would grab lunch, preferably in a non-McFastFood type restaurant.

A Coffee Shop was what I had in mind, actually, but I didn't know of any notable ones in that part of the valley, and a Google search for "Canoga Park coffee shop" was fruitless. All it told me was that once upon a time there had been a Big Boy which has since closed.
I drove along Sherman Way, looking for my cross street and keeping an eye out for a promising place to eat. It wasn't until I doubled back to De Soto avenue by way of Valerio that I saw the bright blue sign proclaiming Darby's Coffee Shop at the corner of De Soto and Sherman Way. I made a quick right into the parking lot, and looked the place over - I do love supporting old coffee shops, but not if they're dirty and/or creepy. The health inspector had given the place an "A", which was encouraging, and the sign looked original and well-maintained, which is always promising.

I went in and sat at the counter, which was immaculate. Looking around at decor I would hazard a guess that the last major remodeling was done in the late 60's/early 70's, but the vinyl upholstery has either been kept very clean or, if replaced, carefully colormatched to the shiny avocado/moss green (stools) and brown (booths) of the last remodel.

A very cozy little place, which seems to have been there for quite some time - one of the signs out front said something about a 50th anniversary special, which would date Darby's to 1951.

It was about 1:00 when I sat down to order lunch, and there was only one other customer there. I had glanced at the hours on my way in and noticed that they only open for breakfast and lunch. I had apparently missed the lunch rush, and that was fine by me; An attentive waitress took my order, and about 5 minutes later I had my tuna melt and fries.

The rye bread was grilled to perfection and the fries had the perfect crispy/mealy ratio. The tuna salad was very tasty, if not quite warmed all the way through. Next time I'll ask to have the tuna somehow warmed up, either by grill or by microwave, but at the time I was too hungry to complain. Overall, the sandwich was good.

Total cost for a tuna melt, fries, and a coke: about $6.50. Not too bad, and better quality, bigger portions, and better service than you're likely to find at a Denny's type restaurant. I didn't find the tuna salad all that off-putting, because I got the impression that they would have been happy to heat it up for me if I'd only asked. Next time I'm out that way I'll have to stop in and try their coffee. I'll bet they do good breakfasts, too.

11/25/2001 - Bob's Big Boy, 4211 W Riverside Dr, Toluca Lake, California.\n
A Coffee Shop sign facing Riverside drive from the curved roof of the restaurant.

11/25/2001 - Bob's Big Boy, 4211 W Riverside Dr, Toluca Lake, California.
Bob's Big Boy from across Riverside Drive.

10945 Victory Blvd, North Hollywood, California
I've driven by Leon's numerous times over the last 5 years, but never
had a camera with me. I've never eaten there, because frankly the place looks creepy no matter how classic the signage.
The patrons were arriving for breakfast when I was there taking photos, and many of them looked like they had been going to Leon's since the place opened.

(12/28/2008 - Leon's has since been demolished)

10945 Victory Blvd, North Hollywood, California

“It’s a Steak House!”

“It’s a Coffee Shop!”

“Wait! You’re both right!”

(Demolished)

Burbank Boulevard
Toluca Lake, California