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Spending Thanksgiving week near San Diego but we're flying in to LAX on Sat 11/22. Will have lunch in LA before driving down to Solano Beach. Saw something about Ford's Filling Station [New arrangement as of 2014] on Bizarre Food, which looks right up my alley. Anyone's been? Anything else near LAX that we should try? My wfie's not into sushi.

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Spending Thanksgiving week near San Diego but we're flying in to LAX on Sat 11/22. Will have lunch in LA before driving down to Solano Beach. Saw something about Ford's Filling Station on Bizarre Food, which looks right up my alley. Anyone's been? Anything else near LAX that we should try? My wfie's not into sushi.

I ate at Ford's just under a year ago, and I was underwhelmed. And since then, I've eaten several times at the place directly next door--Tender Greens--which has fresh, inexpensive salads/grilled meat/eat outside, very Southern California. The crowds next door at Ford's are very loud and young. Much better food can be had nearby at Beacon [Closed Jan 16, 2011], which is Asian fusion (no sushi). The owner-chef spent 20 years running the kitchen at Chinois, Wolfgang Puck's place in Ocean Park.

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Din Tai Fung (Ericandblueboy)

Ford's Filling Station (Hannah)

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Going to be in LA for work and will only have one day (plus one more dinner) - need recs a bit outside the city? I'm staying at an airport hotel at LAX and was thinking of going to the "south bay" area - Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and then the next day will be down in Palos Verdes Peninsula. Thanks.

If you have time for a lunch, Tsujita is pretty close to you and has unbelievable noodles (only at lunch). The ramen is good but you want to go for the tsukemen noodles - thick and chewy and you WILL want to get an extra order. Both soups - the pork and seafood are incredibly thick and you'll need the hot water topper to make it all the way through. I daydream about this place. If you go, there might be a wait, so earlier is better. No dinner recs - haven't made into town at night yet!

Well, one more suggestion. We've had great luck working our way through this article from the LA Weekly. You can also search geographically through the map linked in the article.

 

11/10/11 - "Jonathan Gold's 99 Essential LA Restaurants 2011" by Jonathan Gold on laweekly.com

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Heading to LA next week and staying near the airport with a car. Besides the recent talk above any other places I should consider?

FWIW 10 or 12 minutes north of LAX is Marina Del Rey. You can take Lincoln Blvd. to go there-you do NOT have to take the 405.  I've stayed at/near LAX dating to the early '80's.  At some point I started staying at the Doubletree aka Marriott (which is what it is today) on Admiralty in Marina Del Rey. Ask for a harbor front room. Difference between an airport hotel and this one is the difference between a business trip that you will dread and a memory you'll look forward to revisiting. The Venice Beach boardwalk (i.e. concrete) starts two blocks behind the hotel. Venice Beach and the nearby area are extremely interesting in and of themselves. Santa Monica starts 5 or 6 minutes north of there. Between Venice and Santa Monica there is a huge choice of interesting places to explore for dinner.

You'll also pass by an In-n-Out Burger en route.

Last, my wife and I will return in two weeks for an anniversary (we were married in Malibu). Our wedding meal in '96 will be our dinner two weeks from tomorrow sitting at the Food Counter in the rear of Chinois. Similar to Roberto's Eight or the kitchen counter at Rose's everything is prepared directly in front of you. The positive is that my wife believes that Chinois lobster with flash fried spinach is the best lobster she's ever had. The negative is that the lobster station is three feet on the other side of the counter from where she will sit.  An interesting perspective... Still, Wolfgang Puck's best restaurant.  Other meals on the trip are Nobu in Malibu (see Sundae in the Park above); note that Nobu books up one month in advance but for one you might have a chance) and Osteria Mozza (Pizzaria Mozza next door has the best pizza crust I have ever had; Osteria you can eat at the bar which is ground zero and a good seat) along with Santa Barbara.

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I'm going to have about 8 hours to kill at LAX between flights.  As luck would have it, an old friend works near LAX and offered to pick us up and take us to lunch and help kill the time.  He's not much of a foodie, though he's willing to take us just about anywhere.

So, what's a good place for a mid-afternoon meal not too far from LAX?

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Rustic Canyon (Joe H)

Tsujita (mdt)

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I'm going to have about 8 hours to kill at LAX between flights.  As luck would have it, an old friend works near LAX and offered to pick us up and take us to lunch and help kill the time.  He's not much of a foodie, though he's willing to take us just about anywhere.

So, what's a good place for a mid-afternoon meal not too far from LAX?

These recommendations are quite old, but they are worth a look based on the fact hat these places are not the type to change.... ever.  The menus are exactly the same as on my last visit.

For a typically LA Beach experience, El Tarasco for a super Jr Delix Burrito and an order of guacamole.  Funky, surfer vibe, a flashback to the 70;s and very good sloppy burritos and tacos.

316 Rosecrans Ave

Manhattan Beach(310) 545-4241

Korean BBQ over real charcoal.  Best KBBQ I have ever had.

Soot Bul Jeep

3136 W 8th St

Koreatown

Shabu-Shabu only

Shabu Shabu House 

Little Tokyo, Downtown

127 Japanese Village Plz Mall

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Phone number

(213) 680-3890

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Please define mid afternoon? 

The flight lands at 12:30 (3:30 body time).  We'll have to claim our luggage; with luck the counter for the next flight will be open and we can check in and deposit luggage there.  Without luck, we'll be schlepping our luggage around with us until we return to the airport.  The next flight leaves at 9:00.

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The flight lands at 12:30 (3:30 body time).  We'll have to claim our luggage; with luck the counter for the next flight will be open and we can check in and deposit luggage there.  Without luck, we'll be schlepping our luggage around with us until we return to the airport.  The next flight leaves at 9:00.

Rustic Canyon opens @ 5:30 - that would put it tight. I thought 5:00, but I just checked and it's 5:30.

If you can check your luggage:

Serious:  I'd take a cab to the foot of the boardwalk at Venice Beach (ten minutes), get out and walk and get lost.  After an hour or two I would find a place that was open.  We were there six weeks ago for our anniversary. I love the place. At 7:00 I would find/call a cab and return to the airport. I would seriously build the time over the adventure of exploring Venice Beach which is one of the most interesting places on earth. You may even walk as far as Santa Monica (from the start of the Venice boardwalk) which is about 2 miles. But it is an INTERESTING two miles. A half dozen places to meet a doctor for a prescription, a half dozen to fill it...for weed. Heavily advertised. A very real effluvia in exploring the boardwalk; fragrant, actually.

Numerous bong shops. Wherever you have dinner it will taste good!

If you can't check your luggage...and can't find a locker to put it in then I'd probably, to be safe, stay in the airport.

...which would really be boring. But safe.

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Don't forget that you will likely have dinner at the airport, unless you come back to the airport right before your flight. So check here and here (eh, summation: go to the international terminal and pig out) and decide what you're having for dinner before you pick your lunch place. Also, if you can't check your luggage, these options might be your best best, as per Joe's warning.

If you don't have to deal with luggage and have some more time, Joe has some great suggestions, and Don suggests Fishing With Dynamite above thread, which is open for lunch through dinnertime. If your friend has limited time and you feel like eating Asian food, I would head to the Sawtelle area and eat at Tsujita (be like mdt!) or its Annex (get the tsukemen), or any of the myriad options on the strip. This Eater article is from last year and is already outdated but can give you an idea of what's available there (and Beard Papa's for the plane ride?). Ooh, this article form the LA Times about Sawtelle is slightly less outdated (Jan 2014). Also, it's not entirely Asian food there, as they have a new Bachi Burger and Plan Check.

Attari Sandwich Shop, which isn't too far away from LAX, is also open all day, I believe, though parking in that area is rather hideous at any time of day. It's worth the hassle, though, for the excellent kabobs, breads, stews, desserts"¦everything, really.

Chego (a Roy Choi place) used to be close to the airport and worth a visit, but it moved locations a while ago :(

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Attari Sandwich Shop, which isn't too far away from LAX is also open all day, I believe, though parking in that area is rather hideous at any time of day. It's worth the hassle, though, for the excellent kabobs, breads, stews, desserts"¦everything, really.

Chego (a Roy Choi place) used to be close to the airport and worth a visit, but it moved locations a while ago :(

I LOVE Attari sandwich shop! Try the Kashk-e Bademjan (eggplant with whey and crispy shallots). And Saffron and Rose ice cream is across the street for AMAZING Persian ice cream (saffron and pistachio and rosewater, along with traditional flavors.) They will let you try as many flavors as you want before you choose. I love this block of Westwood.

ETA: This area will be on of my first stops when I get to LA at the end of the month.

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A colleague and I grabbed lunch for the plane at Homeboy Cafe in LAX Terminal 4 near Gate 40. I had the cobb salad, which was huge and made with good green leaf lettuce, grilled chicken (a smidge salty), bacon, feta, grape tomatoes, red onion, and came with ranch; and a cranberry orange muffin. Both were tasty, but set me back about $15. Google tells me that Homeboy Industries, the parent organization, is a nonprofit that provides job training and other services (including legal services, which makes the former legal services attorney happy) to ex-gang members looking to start over.

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Thanks to all for the recommendations. Sadly, because of airline wackiness our 9 hour layover became a 3 hour layover, and we didn't get to see our friend or dine outside the airport. Guess now we'll have to plan to go and stay in LA instead of just passing through.

800 Degrees in the international terminal makes a damn fine pizza, nearly as good as any of DC area's best.

Wolfgang Puck Express in terminal 7 does not.

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