Glendale, CA

Glendale, CA

Lodging: $135.00
M&IE: $71.00

Lodging

Hilton Glendale
100 West Glenoaks Blvd
Glendale, CA 91202
818-956-5466
http://www.hiltonlosangelesglendale.com/

I was able to reserve this room with one week advanced notice for $199.00 a night (please keep in mind that I don’t qualify for the government rate). I was able to get my room for about $15.00 less a night than the neighboring Embassy Suites. I got a fantastic AAA package that gave me free internet and free breakfast every day of my stay.

The hotel was clean, the staff was friendly, and I had a view of the downtown from my large picture window. The beds were not too hard which is one of my issues with hotels. Overall it was a great experience, although I am not sure why they get fewer cable channels at a Hilton than at a Hampton Inn. My Netfilx didn’t stream all that well at the Hilton Glendale. I usually had to wait about 15 minutes for the movie to buffer.

The room service was fine but nothing to write home about. If you do not get a guest package that includes the breakfast buffet, I wouldn’t pay the $18.95 to eat at the Trofi Restaurant buffet. The hostess always looked slightly perturbed that I wanted to eat there, although the wait staff was delightful. The food is not of high quality or flavor but it is edible and passable if it is free. I must admit I was disheartened when the omelet chef pulled out a giant bag of pre-processed egg mixture from the refrigerator. It just shattered the illusion for me that my omelet was made with fresh eggs.

Dining

Spark Woodfire Grill
11801 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604
818-623-8883
http://www.sparkwoodfiregrill.com/

Spark came up on some Urban Spoon-esque website as a one of the top ranking places to eat in the area based on cuisine, decor, quality steak, and service. Since the majority of my dining experiences in the LA area (I am from Northern California originally) consisted of homemade sandwiches and the food at Disneyland, I am by no means an expert on dining in SoCal.

I liked Spark, although it took forever for the waitress to take my order as she was under the impression I was waiting for someone (ah, the woes of the lone diner). I ordered the special asparagus and onion soup that was quite good (and dairy free if you care). According to Spark’s website, they specialize in woodfired steaks. I had just been to a steak house a few weeks before and I wasn’t in the mood for steak. I ordered the Potato and Rosemary pizza. It was wonderful and I ate the whole thing. The potatoes and rosemary blended well together and made for a nice earthy flavor. I was worried about the pizza being a bit carb heavy, but the potatoes were thinly sliced and the pizza crust was so thin it was almost transparent yet still delicious. With the soup, pizza and a Diet Coke, I spent about $26.00.

Parking is terrible, so plan on using the valet service. It is only $3.50 per car. Just make sure you have the cash on you because it took me 20 minutes to find an ATM.

Porto’s Bakery & Café
315 N. Brand Blvd
Glendale, CA 91203
818-956-5996
http://www.portosbakery.com/

Porto’s was a wonderful discovery. It is a Cuban bakery and café, and I do love Cuban food. It was so good, that I went there twice. I would highly recommend trying their potato balls – which is like a ball of mashed potatoes stuffed with seasoned ground beef. I swear it is scrumptious. I also had a Cuban sandwich which was good, but I don’t recall it being pressed, like a traditional Cuban sandwich. For the side they serve plantain chips. I liked them, my dad did not. My one issue with Porto’s that it was a bit confusing to tell the pastry purchasing lines apart from the sandwich purchasing lines. The place is so packed at lunch that it was a chaotic process of placing the order and finding a table. I spent about $8.00 for a sandwich and a drink.

The pastries are delicious and the lines are long, so give yourself enough time. I happened to strike up a conversation with the manager and he gave me two of their famous pastries, the cheese and the cheese and guava, for free. They were heavenly.

¡Lotería! Grill
12050 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604
818-508-5300
http://www.loteriagrill.com/

My dad loves the show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” on the Food Network and he wanted to try some of the places he saw on the show. Word on the street is that ¡Lotería! Grill is famous for their chicken mole. While the restaurant featured on the show was Hollywood location, we found a location in Studio City.

Finding ¡Lotería! Grill turned out to be a challenge. My GPS kept taking me to a small strip mall containing Trader Joe’s, PinkBerry but no ¡Lotería! Grill. I must have driven around the block multiple times with no success. ¡Lotería! Grill is on the backside of the strip mall in another shopping complex. To complicate matters it is on the second floor and the signage is hidden by palm trees. Just go to the corner of Laurel Canyon and Ventura and it is the white, two-story shopping complex with free underground parking.

Strangely enough, my dad didn’t end up ordering the chicken mole. He ordered the Burrito Carnitas, which he said was average. The nacho appetizer was one of the best I have had as the cheese (and not the fake orange nacho cheese) was nicely melted and the tortilla chips were a bit toasted by being under the broiler. I ordered the “Probaditas,” which was a sampling of the 12 taco varieties on the ¡Lotería! Grill menu in mini form (think of silver dollar pancake size). It was a fun way to sample the taco varieties and I enjoyed the experience and was totally full. I will say the Chicharron en Salsa Verde taco looked disgusting (I don’t like chicharron anyway, but this looked like a dollop of slime on a tortilla). My dad took one bite and spit it out. Because of his culinary bravery I let him have the famous chicken mole taco and he said it was good (he didn’t use a lot of his words on that description).

Go and try the Probaditas and plan on spending about $30.00 for an appetizer, soda, and entrée.

In-N-Out
119 S. Brand Blvd
Glendale, CA 91204
800-786-1000
http://www.in-n-out.com/default.asp

There are not words to accurately express how I feel about In-N-Out. It is a SoCal institution and beloved by Californians. Now that I am on the East Coast I find myself craving an In-N-Out burger. If you want a popularity comparison (although the styles are completely different), Five Guys is like the In-N-Out of the East Coast.

Just ask any Californian and they will tell you what and how to order. In-N-Out has a “secret” menu. If you hear someone at In-N-Out referring to “Animal style” do not assume they are a pervert. Go to the In-N-Out website to see the secret menu and see for yourself.

This particular In-N-Out does not have a drive thru, so plan to park in the garage behind the building or find street parking. Plan on paying around $5.00 for a cheeseburger, fries and soda – what a deal!

BJ’s Brewhouse
101 N. Brand
Glendale, CA 91204
818-844-0160
http://www.bjsbrewhouse.com/locationdetail.aspx?lcID=77

To be perfectly blunt, the food here was no better or worse than Chili’s, TGI Fridays or Olive Garden or any miscellaneous chain restaurant. I will say that they were able to quickly accommodate a party of 6 without a reservation at lunch. The service was quick and we were able to sit down, eat, and pay all within about 45 minutes. So with speed in mind, I would probably have lunch there again.

Lotus Chinese Cuisine
511 N. Glenoaks Blvd
Burbank, CA 91502

I am very picky about my Chinese food and have yet to find an adequate place back East. So by way of a review, Lotus isn’t bad Chinese food. I really liked their potstickers. I don’t know if I would go out of my way to eat there, but it does the job of the neighborhood Chinese restaurant.

They do not accept American Express.

Round Table Pizza
321 E. Alameda Ave, Suite A
Burbank, CA
818-842-9888
http://www.roundtablepizza.com/rtp/hi/

When I go back to California I always want to eat at the chains that I love. Round Table pizza is one of the chains. They have a fantastic gourmet vegetarian pizza that I wish I could replicate (and I am not a vegetarian).

Most Round Tables have an all you can eat pizza and salad buffet for lunch. Ordinarily I would order my favorite pizza, but I was pressed for time and I got the buffet. It was full of pizza goodness, but they usually serve their most popular pizzas as part of the buffet so I didn’t get my gourmet vegetarian. The buffet and a soda runs about $9.50.

Koi
730 N. La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90069
310-659-9449
http://www.koirestaurant.com/home.html

I had been craving sushi for a while so I though LA would be just the place to quench my hunger. I went to Urban Spoon and Koi came up as one of the Top 10 sushi places in LA. Somewhere, somehow I had heard of Koi so I decided to go there. I called ahead and I was able to get in (as a party of 1) with no reservation on a Friday night.

Koi turned out to be way fancier than I was prepared for. I eventually figured out that I had heard of Koi because celebrities go there. That being said, I did walk in and immediately had a table at the sushi bar. The waitress recommended the Crispy Rice – which is rice that has been fried in butter and topped with spicy tuna. It was fantastic – it has been several weeks and I still fondly think about that dish. Since I didn’t want to get a California Roll, I decided to order the Koi Dragon Roll. I have no idea what was in the roll, but it was the best sushi I have ever had - hands down! The panko topping really made a difference in the taste and texture and was a welcome addition. Go to Koi.

Koi is a per diem buster. I could have ordered more food, but it is pricy. Two dishes, a soda and tip cost me $46.00. The valet is $8.00.

Gladstone’s
LAX International Airport

It is the only option in the terminal except for Burger King and Starbucks. It was very, very overpriced. I had to wait an inordinate amount of time before I finally tracked someone down to seat me as the hostess completely disappeared.

Gladstone’s is open for breakfast, but they don’t serve breakfast food – which should explain my dining choices. The clam chowder has a nice creamy texture, but the fish and chips were absolutely forgettable. I won’t eat there again unless I have a crazy long delay.

A cup of clam chowder, fish and chips and a soda cost me $37.00. I am mad that I spent so much on such mediocre food. When all was said and done I wish I would have eaten at the Burger King.