Your Holiday Wish list: Crispy Dodgers Toast

Yep, it’s already getting close to the holidays and time to start thinking about Christmas shopping for your favorite Dodgers fans.

This $35, two-slice toaster from Pangea is on my holiday wishlist for sure – and when my family from Northern California (those darn Giants fans) come to town I will happily serve them breakfast toast or waffles, butter side up. I’m not worried our team isn’t in the playoffs, Dodger fans come all year ’round!

The Best Margaritas of Echo Park

As mentioned in my sneak peak the other week, I am in love… with Echo Park’s margaritas! A little disclaimer: I did not go to margarita school, I am just a self-proclaimed aficionado because I have had and created a lot of margaritas. There are several spots in Echo Park you can sit and enjoy my favorite mixed drink, but these are the best ways to enjoy margaritas in our small neighborhood:

Barragan's Margarita

#3: Barragan’s made the top three, but isn’t really my favorite. It’s a very, very popular spot and the best deal in town with the $2.50 margaritas served up every Wednesday night. The back patio is cozy and service is great, but the margarita snob in me keeps it from taking a number one spot. They have the necessary variety of tequila options, but the margarita mix was a stock margarita mix from a plastic, labeled bottle, so the margaritas end up being a lot sweeter while I’m more partial to enjoy a more tart mix.

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 first post 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 seems Wednesdays are the time to go to Barragan’s – we spent $9-10 for each margarita plus tip for mid-shelf tequila.

#2: Allston Yacht Club serves up a lot of delicious mixed drinks, wines, and recently 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.

AYC's Spicy Margarita

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. But with happy hour prices Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30-7:00 pm, the $5 you’ll spend is more than worth it! Did I mention they also have a cozy back patio?

#1: El Compadre. I’m pretty sure you knew this was coming – El Compadre is a given. The ambiance is well-matched for margarita drinking, Dodger games 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.

El Compadre

Cazadores Reposado is my favorite 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?

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, once the license goes through, even Rodeo Grill. Enjoy, and remember to walk home if you can!

Note: I pay for all of my drinks to ensure there’s no favoritism involved.

Sneak Peak: Echo Park’s best margaritas

AYC's Spicy Margarita

What makes a good margarita? How should you order one? Where in Echo Park has the best margaritas?

As a self-proclaimed margarita specialist, I have been touring the Echo Park bars for the strongest and most delicious margaritas our little community has to offer. Hopefully I’ll find my way home after drinking all that tequila and publish my finds later this week!

In the meantime, share your thoughts in the comments section below! What’s your favorite kind of margarita I should be sampling?

Loft living in Echo Park: Definitely a trend

Sunsets must look nice from up high at the 1030 Alvarado Street project

Another high density live/work loft building in Echo Park, this one about to open up at 1030 Alvarado (just south of Sunset). Echo 1030, according to the website, is the “newest, greenest, and most contemporary live/work loft units for lease in Los Angeles.” The 20 units just next door to the Alvarado car wash actually do sound pretty nice: 18-foot vaulted ceilings, central heat and AC, solar reflective windows, and more. What makes them “green” is that it’s LEED Certified. But how long will the development fair and will they be able to sell the lofts?

More importantly, there is an empty lot at Chicken Corner, the Durbin project, that has been undeveloped for quite some time now. Sunset Five on Sunset Blvd. and Portia was having some trouble selling its lofts when it first opened. Developers want to build a 64-unit complex on Sunset and Rosemont, and there’s also an eight-unit live/work loft unit proposed for Echo Park Ave. and Avalon Street.

Just why might we be seeing so many developments of this kind in Echo Park these days? Darren Hubert, a local real estate agent, makes a good point. “They build them here because there is a group of residents in Echo Park that appreciate and will live and work in them.  We have one of the strongest arts communities in the city. We are on the cutting edge of the Urban movement in a city that was build around its suburbs. In Echo Park you still have a sense of community, a walking district, and parks close by. It is the best of what Urban LA has to offer yet you still have a community to be a part of.” And a strong community it is!

While Echo Park-ians (rather, me) certainly welcome the “green” living movement, we tend to be more of a makeshift gray water system, self-installed solar panel type of neighborhood. Sustainable living doesn’t always have to mean brand-new and dense residential structures, and naturally I’m a fan of the California bungalows around Echo Park. But now that’s it’s up and built – someone, someday, will take a look at 1030 Alvarado and say, “That’s were I want to live slash work!”