fetus, the burger joint in OB you’re thinking about is Hodad’s. And yes, they are pretty damn awesome.
Any food establishment you remember from about 5 years ago in PB is probably no longer there. Stuff cycles through that place like mad. Only a few anchors remain.
I’m trying to maintain my good nature, but this is the sort of thing that really drives me up the wall. You’re making it sound as if life here is a battlefield and the whole area is one huge gang turf.
For the enlightenment of all, please remember the following:
LA /= Compton
LA contains South Central, but is not co-extensive with it.
You actually can go outside and not get shot, sometimes even in the places I just mentioned.
Rick, there’s a street running right by the water called Coast Highway. I guess technically it’s the 101, but it’s certainly not a “highway” by any means. To actually say that the 101 runs all the way south is, IMHO, a false statement.
And to me, Coast Highway will always mean PCH, which is CA highway 1, not 101 anyway. Accept no substitutes! 
FTR, I was referring to road rage, not gang activity; to the danger of being in a car on the freeway rather than a supposed danger of being outside. Looking at my post, I can see that I wasn’t very clear about that. I apologize.
(I also was not being entirely serious, although in hindsight I could’ve used a smiley or two.)
Oh yeah–and here’s another LA eatery–Tito’s Tacos. Haven’t the faintest where it is, or if it’s in the city proper, but them’s some of the best tacos you’ll ever eat.
I’ve never heard of Coast Highway. Unless you mean Pacific Highway, where is it exactly?
On the whole, I have to say that LA is, generally speaking, one of the safer cities I’ve lived in. Outside of certain well-publicized neighborhoods, I can park a car on the street with much less expectation of it being vandalized or stolen than most areas of, say, downtown Chicago, Philidelphia, DC, et cetera. It ain’t Portland, but it’s not Harlem, either. And while the traffic can be bad at times, it’s not New Jersey Turnpike bad. Heck, I’ve been stuck in worse traffic in Minneapolis than in LA.
Now, San Bernardino, on the other hand…well, just don’t go there. But then, there is absolutely no reason you would in the first place.
Stranger
Also, any visitor should keep in mind that PCH does not hug the coast all the way along. IN many places, it curves inland to become the main street of whatever small town you’re passing through. And in some places, it completely loses itself in the grid of these places, so that you have to follow the signs to stay on it.
I mentioned it on the first page, post #33. 
To be fair, I’ve had better tacos. But Tito’s was one of my regular places. First of all, they’re pretty cheap. Nothing like a weekend with a couple of Tito’s tacos (with cheese), a cup of refried beans (with cheese) and the torilla chips they throw in! (I’d forego the salsa and eat the beans with the chips.)
Tito’s is technically in Culver City, but it’s all L.A. There are two streets there, Washington Place and Washington Blvd. I could never remember which was which, so I remembered which one Tito’s was on by thinking ‘Tacos del Norte’. (i.e., it’s the Washington that’s north.) The cross street is Sepulveda. Easy freeway access, too.
Washington and Sepulveda have three eateries on the southwest corner: One used to be called Lucy’s, but its name was changed a while ago. They have a much larger menu than Tito’s, but I would almost always go to Tito’s unless I wanted a specific burrito. Tito’s is next door to the West. Johnnie’s Famous Pastrami is next door to the South.
I thought Johnnie’s was overpriced. If I wanted a pastrami sandwich I’d go to Sorrento Italian Market on Sepulveda a mile or two South. Gods, the smell of that place when you walk in! I’m not a big pastrami fan, but that’s the only sandwich I’d buy there. (Well, I’d get a meatball sandwich from time to time. I’d eat the pastrami and save the meatball for dinner.)
Anyway: Tito’s Tacos, Washington (north) and Sepulveda.
Seeing as I can see SB from where I am…
I totally agree. 
Johnny with some of the best mexican food in the world in LA, why do you suggest that they go to some place as 2nd rate at Titos? 
Compared to some of the local places that are all over Southern California Titos is shit. Titos seems to be proof that with the right PR you can get people to think anything is good.
About Johnny’s. The guy that owns Johnny’s always drives a high end car. Jag or a MBZ or whatever. It always seemed like whenever he got a new car, the prices on th menu went up. I guess he had to make those car payments somehow.
You can get good Mexican food anywhere in L.A. But you can only get a Tito’s taco at Tito’s.
Dude. It’s like Jack-In-The-Box tacos or Wienerschnitzel chili-cheese dogs. Ya just gotta.
But I don’t agree that Tito’s tacos are shit. The other two are shit, but good. Tito’s tacos are good. Not as good as you can get in some little hole-in-the-wall, but good.
Don’t bother with Pacific Coast Highway (aka PCH aka State Highway 1 aka State Route 1 aka “The 1”) south of Santa Monica. It’s not scenic enough to bother.
For clarification regarding highway numbers and names:
The Coast Highway I’m referring to in San Diego runs through the northern part of the county. Like Encinitas, Leucadia, Carlsbad, Del Mar, etc.
I live on the Ocean Front Walk in Venice, CA. I have visited San Diego, and LA is way more fun. There will be traffic, but if you plan it right you can minimize the pain (i.e. don’t travel very far at all during rush hour, avoid the 405 Freeway as much as possible).
If you go to LA, you have to visit Venice. It’s pretty cool, and the best part is that once the novelty wears off (seen enough freaks, bought enough hemp necklaces and imitation sunglasses, Bob Marley t-shirts) I could direct you to a few cool places I’ve found now that I’m a local. If you walk a few blocks inland, there is a drag called Abbott Kinny that has my favorite tapas restaurant “Primitivo” and my favorite bar “The Other Room.” None of which are worth travelling for specifically, but if you’re in the area you should check out.
Just north is Main Street, with amazing bars and restaurants, and leads into Santa Monica, with the same, including the 3rd Street Promenade, which has cool break dancers and street performers.
Also, when you go to Hollywood, there are alot of bars off the beaten path worth checking out, like Beauty Bar and Star Shoes.
The Getty is awesome, when I was there, I stumbled into a Rembrant exihibit (didn’t know it was going to be there . . . it was amazing).
Then there is Malibu, which is northwest of the LA beaches. You can watch some awesome surfers and drink cocktails right on the water at Dukes.
Don’t waste your time with the Tarpits, they are boring and there’s nothing near them to make it worth the trip. There’s nothing to see north in the San Fernando Valley.
Overall, my opinion is that an LA trip should include Venice, Santa Monica, and Hollywood, and Malibu.
If you’re interested in any of the above places, I’d be happy to find links (out the door at work or I would have done it already).
I hear you. The monkey can be a fierce master. But sometimes, usually at 3am, only a Jack taco will do. Sad, really.
Ah, that’s why I’m not familiar with it. I don’t spend any time up there at all. As far as I’m concerned, there’s really nothing in North County worth seeing unless you live there, maybe with the exception of the performing arts theater they have up there, which I haven’t been to yet.
This website says that “Pacific Highway” refers to Old US 101 in the San Diego area. In fact, some of Pacific Highway is still intact in dowtown San Diego. It is now a street called Pacific Highway and runs parallel to I-5 to the west.
I have driven on that street many many many many times and never knew that. Great stuff!
It used to head up along the I-5 alignment on the eastern shore of Mission Bay, cut west on what is now Grand Avenue, then north on Mission Blvd., La Jolla Blvd., Torrey Pines Road, Camino Del Mar (in Del Mar), and what is now Old US 101 through Solano Beach and up to Oceanside.
A note to foreign visitors:
For the sake of all that is holy, unholy, or indifferent…
Don’t go to Taco Bell.
The southern terminus of 101 is by Hollywood. It used to go all the way to San Diego before I-5 was built.