Pine State Biscuits

While most of my posts are about my food experiences in Los Angeles I've had plenty of foodie adventures in other places. Portland Oregon is one of my favorite food cities and any chance I get to visit I take. Pine State Biscuits started out of a house on the Northeast side of town. My first experience at Pine State came early in the morning and after a very long bus ride. My local connection and best friend Sean picked me up and brought me to Pine State. He told me since it was my first visit I had to order the Reggie . What's the Reggie you ask? This might be the most frequently asked question in Portland. Cut a fresh baked biscuit down the middle, top with a fried chicken breast some bacon and smother with cheddar cheese and gravy. Make it a deluxe with an egg on top.

Dave's Chillin N Grillin

One of my favorites in Los Angeles! I eat at Dave's allot and always see different friends in there. I recently took a bunch of great photos for Dave and decided to share a few with you guys. Dave's Roesmary's Turkey is one of his most popular sandwiches. It starts with fresh baked rosemary bread, then they pile on turkey, avacado, tomato, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, spicy mustard & mayo. The hot hippy is one of my favorite vegetarian sandwiches in Los Angeles. It has hummus, grilled onions and Dave's Hotts Peppa spread that makes everything their taste amazing.

New Pizza in East Hollywood

Not too far from recently opened Tex Mex stop HomeState, East Hollywood is getting Neapolitan pizza. This February DeSano Pizza Bakery will be opening at Santa Monica blvd and Alexandria. This is also right up the street from Scoops and Helio Cafe. Looks like I know where I'm taking my next dinner date. Expect a 900 degree oven pumping out Margherita's with San Marzano tomatoes. They will also have two sizes, individual or grande for "groups". That's a nice change from most artisanal pizza shops who only provide the individual option.  Turns out DeSano is a mini franchise, this is their third location behind Nashville and South Carolina. Check out the link below for their Nashville menu.

http://www.desanopizza.it/files/desanopizza-menuPDF.pdf

My Top 3 Sandwiches in Los Angeles

There are three sandwich shops in the greater Los Angeles area that I swear by.

1. Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery in Santa Monica
Bay Cities has a wide assortment of every imported Italian goodie you might want. With all the choices at Bay Cities I'll help you narrow it down to my favorite sandwich, THE GODMOTHER. Let me tell you it deserves to be in all caps. They pile genoa salami, mortadella coppacola, ham, prosciutto and provolone on a house baked roll. Make this your last stop before you hit the beach. It gets a little busy so give yourself some time it might take a while.

The Godmother

2. Dave's Chillin-N-Grillin in Eagle Rock
Proprietor Dave Evans has been churning out the best sandwiches in the Northeast for almost nine years now. While I'm a fan of everything he makes the turkey melt deserves special recognition. With fresh baked bread, sliced whole turkey, tomatoes, mustard and mayo Dave turns the basics into something special. If your not in the turkey mood, try anything else and expect the same great flavor.

 Turkey melt

3. Langer's in MacArthur Park
It doesn't get anymore old school than Langer's Delicatessen. Founded after World War 2 in a predominately Jewish neighborhood Langer's quickly became a staple for east coat ex pats.  In the late 50's they added a pastrami sandwich labeled the Original #19, onto the menu. The #19 is hot pastrami, cole slaw, a slice of swiss cheese & Russian dressing on a hot crispy Rye.  While everything around Langer's has changed completely over the last 65 years the #19 is still exactly the same.

 The original #19