I gave up most* fast food about ten years ago after reading “Fast Food Nation.” I loved my Mickey D’s french fries and quarter pounders, but it only took a very short time to adjust and I don’t miss them at all.

How could I when there is Versailles garlic chicken so nearby! I started calling it my new fast food as ordering and pick up are a snap. They have so much ready to go all day that it takes no more than five minutes from ordering to walking out the door. But unlike a bag of fries sitting in your passenger seat, you can’t start digging in until you get home. And it is torture to smell that garlicky garlicky chicken as you drive.

I started going to Versailles’ Venice Blvd. location in the early 90′s when I started working at Sony. Culver City was a backwater then (hard to believe these days) and so the options for a close lunch spot off the lot were Versailles, Bamboo and the Sagebrush Cantina. The chicken or pork lunch specials at Versailles were cheap (probably about $5.99 back then) and speedy. And I’ll be honest and say I’ve never, in all these years, tried anything other than the chicken and pork lunch specials. Ever. It’s crazy, I know. There is a two page menu and I’ve heard tell of delicious ox tail platters and squid ink rice but I’ve never strayed.

When I was single, the lunch was basically two meals in one. I mean look at all that food! You’d eat your incredibly satisfying meal at lunch, then take the rest home for either lunch the next day or dinner the next night. What a bargain. Today’s lunch special is $8.99 on week days only. I ordered this on Sunday and it was $12.99. However, for the $13 you get a half a chicken, rice, beans, plantains and grilled onions. The lunch special is usually just a quarter chicken, but still plenty of food for two meals.

And there is something in that garlic sauce. My husband swears he just doesn’t like it–too salty, too garlicky. And yet…I’ll come home, salivating at the thought of my leftover chicken for dinner and when I get to the fridge, it’s gone. GONE. I was planning three meals out of the above box of food this week. But I’ll only get two as the hubs asked politely if he could have some after all…it’s that good.

Versailles is in five locations around the southland. Check out all the details here.

*I still eat at In-N-Out occasionally as well as Poquito Mas…

The scarcity of late night dining options has been a sore spot for me since I moved to Los Angeles in 2003 from Atlanta, “where parties don’t stop ’til 8:00 in the morning.” So, naturally I am enthusiastic when I find a restaurant that serves food late, like Silver Lake’s newest taquería, Tarascos.

Silver Lake's Newest Taquería

Tarascos is a very pleasing, minimalist taquería. No obnoxious sombreros hanging from the ceiling or mariachi crooners hovering over your guacamole. You walk into a small foyer and order at the counter. The menu is handwritten on chalkboards on the walls – and the prices are minimalist too! $1.50 for tacos, $5.50 for burritos and quesadillas – your choice of charbroiled steak, charbroiled chicken, cochinita pibil, or carnitas. For a smaller taquería, they have an unusually generous vegetarian selection and salads too. They also have some rather delicious flautas, which are not on the online menu right now, but very tasty and not too greasy. Read the rest of this entry →

Last night, FriendFeed user Live4Soccer posted a photo of carne asada fries. After wiping the drool from my face, I realized that I hadn’t had carne asada fries in probably 7 years. Today, I had a goal to rectify that problem. For lunch today, we hopped in the car and drive over to Chano’s in Lincoln Heights. Now, I’m not generally impressed by Chano’s food overall, but they’re close to us.

I ordered my carne asada fries with no substitutions just to see what came on it. It was carne asada, guacamole, refried beans, tomatoes and grated cheese. I’m used to having it with pico de gallo, lettuce, sour cream and no beans. Since I was starving, I dug in eagerly. Very tasty, despite the beans, but defintely needed more spice, lettuce and sour cream. I got the last two items on the side and mama was happy, though I could have also used more cheese. The order was $6.75, but I could only eat about half of it before I was stuffed.

Now my mission is to remember which place in Echo Park had it with the crinkle fries because that was memorable.

Chano’s
3309 N Mission Rd
Los Angeles, CA 90031
(323) 276-7981