Just got back from holiday in LA

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by kaisen

Grocery store prices are the same or less as the midwest
Fast food prices are the same
Dive diners are the same
Moderate/chains are the same
"Nice" places are the same

Only the most elite, esoteric "places to be seen" are extravagant.... but then they can be stupid expensive anywhere in the world.

not really true. the price of food is higher here. gas, grocery stores and fast food cost more here. significantly more. any type of bottle has the BS CRV tax added on. I've lived around the US and the prices are higher than the midwest, excluding Chicago. Vons and Albertsons are a ripoff. Vallarta, Superior Groceries, and Walmart are the cheapest places. A easy gauge for grocery cost at Walmart......look at the price of a Totinos party pizza or a standard Banquet tv dinner. 99 cents is the standard price in most of the US..anything more than that is inflated. Here, they are 1.49. If you go to a mcdonalds here, the dollar menu doesn't exist...OR the items are different. A large diet coke at mcdonalds in the midwest is 99 cents. here, it's something like $2.29.

i know the california guys have to justify living here, telling themselves how great it is. Ethnic food is ok here...but then again, I've eaten just as good ethnic food in any major city. Chicago, NYC, Seattle, Miami, etc.

the weather and terrain are nice....

[stealthn]

Sorry weather was great

It has been nice here lately as well, and I found that when it's hot in LA the same temp in Calgary feels a lot hotter, I guess because it's so dry here, is that where they get the dry heat thing

The only thing price wise that was different was the booze and smokes because Canada taxes the crap out of that. My favorite wine was $8, in Calgary it's $18

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Embraer

look at the price of a Totinos party pizza or a standard Banquet tv dinner. 99 cents is the standard price in most of the US..anything more than that is inflated. Here, they are 1.49. If you go to a mcdonalds here, the dollar menu doesn't exist...OR the items are different. A large diet coke at mcdonalds in the midwest is 99 cents. here, it's something like $2.29.

i know the california guys have to justify living here, telling themselves how great it is. Ethnic food is ok here...but then again, I've eaten just as good ethnic food in any major city. Chicago, NYC, Seattle, Miami, etc.

the weather and terrain are nice....

dude - none of the stuff you listed is considered food

No need to justify living here - I was born here. But if you've ever wandered around Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel - that breadth and depth of Asian cuisine does not exist in other US cities. If you've gone to some local high desert Chinese joint then I agree, that quality food exists elsewhere in the country.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

I'll have to go back too. It was about 30 or 35 years since I was there. I remmember it was just an ordinary looking town that just went on and on and on and on and on on on.....

When you go back, have Speeder provide you a map. I grew up 40 miles north of LA and the last time I was in LA with him, two turns off the mundane with him at the wheel and we were in some achingly beautiful neighborhoods.

Places I never heard of much less seen.

Knowing the local course rules is gouge.

[scottmandue]

Food and traffic in Cali are all relative... all about knowing when and were... to be and where/when NOT to be...

Native Californian... don't need to justify anything... if I knew of a better place to live I would move there. At 54 years on this planet still haven't found anything better.

YMMV

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by nostatic

dude - none of the stuff you listed is considered food

No need to justify living here - I was born here. But if you've ever wandered around Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel - that breadth and depth of Asian cuisine does not exist in other US cities. If you've gone to some local high desert Chinese joint then I agree, that quality food exists elsewhere in the country.

i visit in the basin/valleys every single weekend. it is, in fact, a good selection of asian foods. i've had better asian food in san francisco and the pacific northwest, but i digress. perhaps you can you PM me some of your favorite places?

[nostatic]

Easy:

for dumplings (but the noodles with spicy sauce are amazing): Din Tai Fung - Arcadia, CA

for dim sum (there are some better places but this is classic Hong Kong style): NBC Seafood Restaurant - Monterey Park, CA

for Vietnamese catfish: Phong Dinh Restaurant - Rosemead, CA

I lived in San Francisco and have been to China four times. My fiancee is from Hong Kong and has been all over Asia and the US. San Gabriel valley is the closest you'll get to China outside of China.

[Embraer]

thanks! i'll check one or more out this weekend

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Embraer

thanks! i'll check one or more out this weekend

If you go to Phong Dinh, you have to order the whole catfish - it is *the* dish of the place. You get the fish and the fixings to roll your own spring rolls. It is sublime.

If you go to NBC, you really need to go in the morning on a weekend for proper dim sum. If you're late morning you could have a wait. But if you've never had the classic cart-served dim sum you really should. And any number of places in Monterey Park blow anything in "Chinatown" out of the water. Almost all of the legit Chinese restaurants and businesses have moved out of Chinatown (the area just east of downtown).

Part of the reason to go to SGV and these places is for the cultural aspect. There are places that you walk into that are essentially the same as being in China. There are blocks where there is little if any English on the signs. Mandarin and Cantonese are the primary languages although most everyone understands English. You get a fair amount of the adventure without the 13 hour flight

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by georgeinhere

LA is a tough city if you don't have a local to show you around...even then, people tend to stay on their "side" of town.

If you want an easy city, try San Francisco...tough to get lost and even if you end up in the wrong side, you'll be out in two minutes...however, San Francisco isn't nearly as interesting as LA.

I was with you until the last part.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Native Californian... don't need to justify anything... if I knew of a better place to live I would move there. At 54 years on this planet still haven't found anything better.

You're upside down on your house too, huh?

Sorry the OP didn't see as many exotics (and P-cars) as advertised on the internet. It often is a car show here on a daily basis.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by Noah930

You're upside down on your house too, huh?

Sorry the OP didn't see as many exotics (and P-cars) as advertised on the internet. It often is a car show here on a daily basis.

See the $50K from home thread!

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

When you go back, have Speeder provide you a map. I grew up 40 miles north of LA and the last time I was in LA with him, two turns off the mundane with him at the wheel and we were in some achingly beautiful neighborhoods.

Places I never heard of much less seen.

Knowing the local course rules is gouge.

Oh exactly. I would be driving along one of those big boulevards and see a resturant, opps too late to stop, there's another, opps, too late. Local knowledge a must. My young niece went there (actually she's back there again right now) and met up with an internet buddy who was a local guy and had the time of her life.

I did get to drive around Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Bel Air

[timchar]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

LA, where else can you buy Ethiopean food from a Korean, cooked by an Salvadorian?

That's too damn funny, and also true... Tim

[look 171]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Easy:

for dumplings (but the noodles with spicy sauce are amazing): Din Tai Fung - Arcadia, CA

for dim sum (there are some better places but this is classic Hong Kong style): NBC Seafood Restaurant - Monterey Park, CA

for Vietnamese catfish: Phong Dinh Restaurant - Rosemead, CA

I lived in San Francisco and have been to China four times. My fiancee is from Hong Kong and has been all over Asia and the US. San Gabriel valley is the closest you'll get to China outside of China.

...or Vancouver.

[speedracer]

Weird about no interact. I have been there several times in the last few years for work and never had an issue with using my bank card and it is from a smaller credit union.

[speeder]

This is of course, my personal opinion...I am into the arts and San Francisco is extremely limited while Los Angeles is one of the greatest cities in the world. That's all that it was meant by it.

Quote de Zeke

I was with you until the last part.

I agree with you 100% George. And I've spent time or lived in other great cities+ San Francisco. SF is the greatest place to visit in America for a weekend, IMO, but I don't choose to live there. Los Angeles is just incredibly diverse, beautiful and rich in culture but it's also extremely layered and not easily apparent to visitors usually. People who live in surrounding environs like Zeke often don't really know the city all that well other than in broad strokes based on geography and limited experience working or hanging out here over the years.

I've lived here 30 years as of 2012 and I'm constantly reminded of the limits of my knowledge of what goes on here. But it's rarely dull.

[varmint]

Originally Posted by nostatic

You didn't go to the right parts of town.

Well, unless you're comparing to Beijing, Tokyo, Eritrea, etc

very nice ethiopian/eritrean places down at the end of fairfax.

the best restaurant in town is near cahuenga and franklin. the sign in the window simply says "chinese food and donuts".

[speeder]

I'll have to check that out. I don't share your guys' enthusiasm for all things Chinese but keeping an open mind.