Elf Café hosting popup Falafel Night in Echo Park
Late night partying hipsters rejoice! 
Hot Knives bloggers/food lovers (Evan George and Alex Brown) are bringing the delicious street food – the Falafel – to Echo Park!
Elf Café is opening up its Sunset-facing window to service the drunk and hungry on Tuesday, February 28 from 10:00 pm – 2:30 am. The Hot Knives guys call this a “temporary autonomous eating zone,” aka a popup Falafel stand, so who knows how long they’ll be serving up these late-night treats.
There’s only one item on this menu, and it’s a Falafel. It also happens to be vegan! As a fan of the duo’s book Salad Daze, this will sure to win over hipster taste buds from all around.
New Echo Park restaurant to replace La Botana on Sunset
in Community News, Eat & Shop | 0 comments
photo via Villainy General Store
It seems like yesterday that we were chowing down at Nuvia’s Restaurant & Pupuseria before heading to a show at the Echo Curio next door, but so much has changed on that little stretch of businesses along Sunset Boulevard at Laveta in Echo Park.
Villainy General Store, which took over the old Echo Curio space, posted this photo on its Facebook page today of the former Nuvia’s and then La Botana (which closed down in October 2011 all of a sudden). The caption says the former cheap eats place is being renovated for a new gastro pub owned by local Echo Parkians.
No word yet on who, what, and when, but we’ll let you know!
Celebrate another National Margarita Day in Echo Park
We’ve spent quite a bit of time, dollars, and brain cells testing out the best margaritas within walking distance of our Echo Park pad. Since it’s another National Margarita Day, we’ll once again delve into the world of the best margaritas in Echo Park:
El Compadre
El Compadre
Enter the dimly lit establishment on Sunset Boulevard, and you won’t return to the real world until after dark. El Compadre is a given. The ambiance is well-matched for margarita drinking, Dodger games (or the Lakers) are always on, and the bartenders are the best. At a dining table, margaritas come in their famous style (flaming), while at the bar they come sans flame (which is fine with me!). I always order a Cazadores Reposado margarita on the rocks with salt, knowing the good tequila will be more expensive, but boy is it worth every penny.
Cazadores Reposado is a perfect margarita tequila: Aged in oak casks, it’s certainly not a tame tequila and becomes well-balanced in margaritas. It’s particularly delicious when you have a good margarita mix, which El Compadre definitely does. They’ve had the recipe for 30 years, and try as I might I could not coax any ingredients out of the bartender.
Why pay more than a few bucks for a good margarita? Well, let’s put it this way: one margarita and you’re feeling good, two and you’re set (plus no hangover)! Why drink the several of the cheap stuff when you can have just a couple good margaritas, and enjoy it in the process?
AYC's spicy margarita
Allston Yacht Club
AYC serves up a lot of delicious mixed drinks, wines, and even added a couple of taps for craft beers. As an ex-bartender myself, I always sit at the bar and chat with the always friendly and well-versed bartenders.
At AYC, order the Spicy Margarita. It’s mid-shelf tequila, fresh lime juice, agave syrup, and muddled jalapeños – but not too much. The jalapeño leaves a little heat in the back of your throat, and gets a tiny bit stronger and you drink it down. Overall, it’s refreshing and delicious, and worth the $9. Did I mention they also have a cozy back patio?
If you don’t see the Spicy Margarita on the AYC menu, just ask! They know what to do. If you hit up AYC on a Wednesday (like today) you’re in for a treat – Wicked Wednesdays means $5 on all menu items, and they have a great happy hour.
The number three spot used be Barragan’s, but to be honest we haven’t been there in a looooong time, so I’m keepin’ it off the list. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t go for a margarita at Barragan’s, as one of our readers pointed out in the comments section of my from 2010 agrees with a commenter who doesn’t like a high price tag: “I agree, $8 and waaay west of Alvarado doesn’t count. I’m all for Barrigan’s very LARGE and VERY TASTY margarita on the rocks WITH SALT at a decent price. And I can walk there…!” It’s completely true – margaritas can certainly get expensive! But it’s a trade off – the cheaper the tequila, the worse the hangover!
Hopefully this helps your margarita choices in Echo Park. Remember, the bottom line is this: Good margarita mix, good margarita! And I don’t want to leave out the other guys, so the other spots you can get margaritas include the Short Stop, and even Rodeo Grill. Enjoy, and remember to walk home if you can!
Echo Park spots to curb your cravings for National Pizza Week!
This week is National Pizza Week, and what better way to celebrate than with a gallery of Echo Park’s most delicious pizzas? It should, after all, have its own food group.
Masa's Chicago deep dish (vegan style). Flickr photo via veganbakesale
Masa of Echo Park lures people from all over Los Angeles with its authentic Chicago-style deep dish pizza. In addition to the amazing service and ambiance at Masa (we love you guys!), the kick-ass owners and great food, they offer a hearty selection of vegan options (which includes a vegan deep dish option).
Last chance for Pet Photos with Santa, Echo Park Pottery sale
One more chance to get those unique and local gifts from Echo Park Pottery – Sunday, December 18 will be the last open house and sale before the holiday!
The Echo Park Animal Alliance will also be having one more day of Pet Photos with Santa, where prints are $10 each or three for $25, and you can get a bag of home baked dog biscuits for just $10. Zyana Aromatherapy products will also be for sale. Proceeds benefit the wonderful Echo Park Animal Alliance!
Take advantage from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on Sunday. Echo Park Pottery is located at 1850 Echo Park Avenue.
Echo Park tamales promise a healthy, sustainable new tradition for the holidays
This Christmas, we’re really excited to start a new family tradition by chucking the whole turkey idea, replacing the traditional holiday meal with some really great, local tamales. Of course, there are a lot of great places to get tamales in Los Angeles. Celaya Bakery in Echo Park and Mama’s Hot Tamales Cafe are probably the most well-known in the immediate area, but we’re adding “White-Girl Tamale Maker” La Guera Tamales to the mix as a healthy and sustainable source for a new really tasty new family tradition.
The owner, chef, and self-proclaimed “white-girl tamale maker” is a sweet, soft-spoken but passionate Echo Park resident named Deborah. Her tamales are hand-tied, the salsas made from scratch, and none of her products have any lard, trans-fats or gluten, and are made of local, organic ingredients whenever possible. To Deborah, the corn is the most important organic ingredient – it is non-GMO, organic/pesticide-free, and really delicious. She describes the masa as being a little coarser than store-bought masa (which is highly processed), but it is definitely lighter and fluffier – it doesn’t leave that “brick” in your tummy feeling that over-processed tamale ingredients can do.
I thought I liked tamales before, but let’s face it – I’m not a traditional tamale type of eater. I don’t eat red meat or pork, and frankly I’m not a lot of meat at all these days; I grew up in a health food store, eat tofu, and probably might be labeled as a some kind of hippie/hipster. But I also know good healthy food – so we tried the Blue Corn Jalapeño tamale, and LOVED it.
Blue Corn Jalapeno tamale
The jalapeños in the Blue Corn tamale I ate are from Tutti Frutti Farms, which you can find at the Atwater Village Farmers’ Market. I topped it with sour cream and her homemade salsa (which also uses ingredients from the local farmers’ markets), adding another layer of flavor that just makes my mouth water. One Yelp! reviewer sums it up nicely for us: ” Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my freakin god these things are delicious.”
Although Deborah’s professional background is mainly in business rather than cooking, she learned the secrets of making tamales from a tamaleros family from Veracruz, Mexico. She also worked in Mama’s Hot Tamale Café through their business training program. The company tagline, “merging tradition with nutrition,” might help you more traditional tamale eaters digest her concept. It’s really important to her that the tamales are artisanal, not produced by a big factory.
It wasn't hard to finish the whole tamale....
For the carnivore, you have the choice of Organic free-range chicken or family farmed pork. There’s the Blue Corn Jalapeno and cheese for the vegetarians. The vegans (which are very excited about her tamales) have Spinach and Shiitake Mushroom Sesame Kale, Blue Corn Jalapeno and Dayia, and “Sasquash” (baked yam and butternut squash masa with sweet red bean filling). She also has vegan dessert tamales with fillings like FigNana, Ginger Pear, and Strawberry, that also make really great breakfast options.
Keep in mind that La Guera Tamales are not the cheap, frozen food aisle type of meals – although some might cringe at the $5 each price tag, it’s actually a pretty cheap meal as they will fill you up! A half dozen gets you a slight discount at $29, and a dozen for $58.
Where you’ll win at price-wise is the free delivery: Deborah personally delivers tamale orders for free to local Los Angeles locations. This works out for customers mainly because as she’s delivering to a regularly scheduled customer, she’ll let you know on her email list if she’s going to be in your neighborhood – that way she can deliver (for free) an order as small as two tamales.
Holidays are a busy time of year – but Deborah still delivers on Christmas Day. She just started offering nationwide shipping for those customers outside of LA who are craving La Guera Tamales (make sure to order by December 18). For local delivery, place your order with La Guera as soon as possible! Placing an order is easy online, but you can also find Deborah hanging out with her friend, The Flan King, at the Echo Park Farmers’ Market every Friday.
Go to gttamales.com to order and for more info!
