Sharky’s: A Local Chain We Can Get Behind

You know… there’s something special about chains. There’s this attraction to Subway and McDonald’s. No matter where you are, you feel that magnetism around something familiar and it draws you in. Whether we’re driving cross-country or I’m studying in Korea, I know that there is something I like here, but dang, do I feel bad eating it. Imagine there were chains with that sense of familiarity and comfort, that you didn’t feel bad visiting?

Fortunately for all of us, those chains are emerging and while they might not have 100 billions customers served yet, they’re steadily growing. One of those chains, for those of us in Los Angeles is Sharky’s. In short, Sharky’s provides you with healthy and delicious Mexican food options so that you can enjoy all of the classics at their many convenient locations, without worrying about eating unhealthy.

Jun132017

Wonder Woman Review: Empower a Generation

Wonder Woman. Wow! What’s all the hype about, you ask? Well, let me tell you. It’s a superhero movie like one I’ve never seen before. However, before I continue, I want to make a suggestion of who you see it with if you’re a female. I went with Hungry and my parents and thoroughly enjoyed it. However, they weren’t affected in the same way I was because they aren’t up-and-coming women. This movie is subtly and in-your-face empowering all at the same time. To them, it may have been just another superhero action movie, but to me it was a lot more. I’m not saying they’re wrong, but I’m telling you why I believe myself and other females like me were more affected. Let me back up and give some context of what this movie was about.

Apr082017

Frostbeard Studio Candles: Coziness You Can Smell

My friends at work make fun of me all the time for my new-found love of candles. Well, maybe not that I just love candles, but my weird rules that I make up for using them. I like different candles for different seasons (usually just centered around Fall and Winter), but I also don’t put a candle away until it’s done–I must burn it all the way through! I had underestimated my winter candle’s length of burning time and I was two weeks late for my Spring candle I’ve been so excited about (weird, I know). I recently got into candles in the past year. I started out with normal candles you’d find at Marshall’s or whatnot, but I found a wealth of more fun-themed candles online. These include nerdy candles (duh, have you ever met me?!). I’ve found a particularly excellent collection over at Frostbeard Studio.

Apr052017

SMS Headphones Review

Headphones are a very important part of first world society; they are a conduit to music which aids us in many different ways. They allow music to be personal which helps us workout, to be inspired, to focus, to express ourselves, to let loose. I would say that almost everyone in the first world owns their own pair of headphones whether it be earbuds, workout headphones, wireless around-the-head headphones, or old-school headphones–as technology as developed, so have different headphones. They play an important role in our life.

So what did Hungry get me for my last birthday? A pair of SICK Star Wars-themed headphones. The official brand is SMS Audio headphones, but I got the Rebel Alliance themed ones. Let’s start with the look: these just look cool with the orange and gray colors of the Rebel Alliance as well as the Rebel logo on each ear. The metal padded band that connects each ear is slick and doesn’t get in the way.

Mar232017

Seasalt Fish Grill

After looking up churros on Yelp and finding that this place offered churro waffles, we decided to check out Seasalt Fish Grill. It helped that it was a seafood specialty stop because we both favor fish-based diets. We expected to be walking into some busy and posh new spot in downtown Culver City, but that isn’t the case. It’s easily accessible and even has free parking. The spot itself offers both outdoor and indoor seating with your very casual order and take a number system. Again, this wasn’t what we were expecting and while I thought there was going to be a small, specialty menu, I was wrong again.

Fit’s plate (the garlic fries were for both of us)

Mar142017

The Ramen Joint (Westchester, Los Angeles)

Ramen in LA is as common as concrete in K-town. It’s everywhere, and every single place, claims to be the best. Every single place has a cult following of people who will tell you the same. This happened when I went down to visit a friend who worked in Westchester and wanted to go to The Ramen Joint and I told her… this better be good.

Nov132016

The Crustacean: Restaurant Review

Can we just avoid writing any words and let you eat with your eyes for a moment? As you can tell from all the pictures below, the food here is beautiful and a considerable amount of extra time is spent on presentation, which we appreciate, because it’s a testament to their high standards. The elephant in the room is that The Crustacean, owned and operated by the House of An from Vietnam, is a little on the expensive side, impossible to get a reservation, and requires you to dress up like you’re heading to a wedding, right? Wrong and none of these are necessarily true.

While you can’t walk in off the streets on a Friday night wearing sandals and a fitted cap, expecting to be seated quickly and fill your stomach with a $10 bill, The Crustacean is a lot more than a “fancy restaurant” in the heart of Beverly Hills. Its atmosphere can be magical with the elaborate indoor setup that makes you feel like you’re in the Vietnamese equivalent of a castle grand dining hall. As the host walks you through the entry into the two-level main room, passing over bridges made from beautiful wood, it’s impossible to ignore the glass-covered river underneath the floor filled with large koi. You’ve been successfully transported into a different part of the world and then you eat.

Nov102016

Pizza Press Restaurant Review

Another contender enters the ring, but this isn’t Super Smash Bros although you might think a Mario and Luigi have something to do with this. Good one, right? Looking back through the blog, we’ve talked about pizza… a lot. Can you blame us? We’ve highlighted our favorite pizza ever, our favorite pizza in LA, simple homemade pizza, a healthy homemade recipe, and much more. We even wrote a blog post about pizza on our other blog. More recently, we realized that there’s a growing market here in LA that is heavily influenced by the success of Subway, Chipotle, and other “build your own” food stops. At the time, we tried Pieology and Pizza Rev, and we wrote about our comparative review HERE.

Jul262016

LA’s Best Breakfast Sandwich

Pizza, bagels, deli sandwiches, Italian food… it’s hard to find an adequate option outside of the Tri-State area around New York City. It’s something in the water, right? Or some old Italian-American secret? Either way, that’s not necessarily the case anymore as Fat Sal’s and other great pioneers have brought us more than satisfying options to hit the spot at the right time. Despite the leaps and bounds we’ve seen over the past few years alone, there seems to still be a serious lack of quality bagels out here, and more importantly, breakfast sandwiches.

Sam’s on Sunset and The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel in Beverly Hills have tried replicating the NYC bagel experience but have failed miserably. (That might be a BIT harsh.) When it comes down to it, you can’t find a bagel the right size, texture, and value out here. They’re either too small, too dense, or too expensive. That effect only multiples when you look at breakfast sandwiches. The best breakfast sandwich I’ve ever had is from Bagel Emporium.

Jul132016

2016’s Best Pre-Workout

You might remember 2015’s Best Protein Powder and 2015’s Best Dog Food. Reviews.com has published a new study where they tested 309 different pre-workout supplements to find the best product on the market. We’ll give you the very abridged version and let you read the article here for yourself. Essentially, they used a filtration system to narrow down the big number through process of elimination. They would remove anything with banned/potentially harmful substances, then proprietary blends, then a certain amount of caffeine, then any artificial flavors/colors to figure out the cleanest product.