The Corner Door – A great place to try in Culver City

On the west side of Culver City, right when you think ‘I’m not in Culver City anymore,’ you’ll find The Corner Door. Sleek with vintage inspired décor, this restaurant boasts a buzzing atmosphere with a well-thought out menu.

Littered with cozy booths and modern tables, this is a good place for dinner or drinks. You can tell a lot of time went into the menu; it’s rather short, but you can tell the chef has chosen carefully.

For starters, I have to highly recommend their Brussels sprouts. Fresh produce roasted to sweet perfection with feta cheese on top is just so tasty. I usually don’t find appetizers that wow me, but this one definitely does every time.

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Seasonal Cocktails?? Yes, Please!

The barkeeps at Oldfield’s Liquor Room, Bigfoot West in Culver City and Thirsty Crow in Silverlake embrace spring by infusing herbs, aromatic spices and housemade ginger beer into their new drink programs.
 
 
OLDFIELD’S LIQUOR ROOM: The Mescal Tulip & The French Lieutenant.
Popular for their shrub punches and finely-tuned cocktails, Oldfield’s new menu embraces herbs and vegetables by incorporating the ingredients into housemade bitters and syrups, perfectly light and fresh for spring. The Mescal Tulip mixes Del Maguey Vida, jalapeno honey, fresh grapefruit, lime, muddled cucumbers, mint leaves, and housemade ginger beer. The French Lieutenant combines Hardy VS, Dubonnet, lemon, in-house 5 spice syrup, creole bitters, and lemon/cardamom bitters.
 
BIGFOOT WEST: The Bourberry & The Penicillin.  
Just steps down the road from Oldfield’s Liquor Room, Bigfoot West is putting their own spin on spring with a focus on whiskey. Known for their whiskey-based libations, Bigfoot West is debuting amazing cocktails which infuse seasonal items with bourbon. The Bourberry combines Buffalo Trace Bourbon, fresh lime juice, simple syrup, muddled strawberries and mint leaves, topped with homemade ginger beer. The Penicillin takes Famous Grouse Whiskey, fresh pressed lemon, and fresh ginger-infused honey with a spritz of Laphroaig Scotch atop. “Both cocktails are great for those who want to begin a love of whiskey,” comments bartender Vanessa K.
 
THIRSTY CROW: Basil Blossom & Fleur D’Ange.
Known for their dynamic bar happenings like Absinthe Minded Tuesdays and Whiskey Wednesdays, the Thirsty Crow bartenders have created in-house infusions, homemade shrubs, sherbets, jams, and purees utilizing fresh seasonal ingredients for a brand new menu. New cocktails include The Basil Blossom: Square One Basil Vodka, St. Germaine Elderflower, fresh pineapple juice, lime juice, and cucumber with a cherry drizzle and Fleur D’Ange featuring Martin Miller’s Gin, Carpano Antica, St. Germain, and Fee Brothers grapefruit bitters.
Sounds tasty!

Lyfe Kitchen – Culver City’s New Addition

A shiny new restaurant whose philosophy is ‘love your food everyday’? Of course I need to try it! This place is all about fresh ingredients and being healthy. Not to mention, its white lights are SO bright, you can’t help but notice it in Downtown Culver City at night.

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Walk into Lyfe Kitchen, and you might feel like you were in an upscale campus cafeteria, except for the exposed brick walls and fresh herb garden. I mean, it’s pretty cool.

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I immediately stood in the order line, and to my left there was a stand with Lyfe’s menus: Lunch/Dinner, Gluten-Free, and Vegan. I really appreciated this aspect, as I know how tough it is for someone who is gluten-free or vegan to decode what they can eat on an establishment’s menu. They also serve wine and beer.

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One of the other great things about the menu was that it listed each item’s calorie count and sodium count. There were a bunch of items on the Lunch/Dinner menu that looked good. As I was waiting, a waiter passed out samples of Hibiscus Iced Tea and Cucumber Mint Cooler. Both were refreshing. I was partial to the Cucumber Mint Cooler because of the stronger flavors.

I ended up ordering Tal’s Ancient Grain Bowl. It consisted of stir-fried vegetables, gardein (made from plant-based foods and has a similar texture to lean meat) “beef tips” all over quinoa with a sweet chile-ginger sauce.

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It was good, but it wasn’t great. Maybe it’s because I’m a serious carnivore at heart, or I just wanted a little more from it. The flavors were diverse and fresh, but just not savory enough for me; I like my dinner to have a little more flavor to it. Perhaps if Tal’s Ancient Grain Bowl had a thicker and more robust sauce, I’d like the dish more.

Overall, I think this place might be better for lunch than dinner. I would go back to Lyfe and try some of their other dishes. Their quest for healthiness and freshness can’t be beat.  


By Jen Troy

Jen Troy is a Jill-Of-All-Trades.

Ugo: An Italian Cafe - Culver City

A wide selection of gelato—I’m there! Ugo: An Italian Cafe in downtown Culver City has classic Italian dishes and a variety of desserts. When you walk in, a classy and warm atmosphere greets you. Have a drink at the bar or grab a table for dinner. I’d suggest you go for dinner.

Ugo’s menu isn’t neither monstrous nor too specialized. It’s truly balanced. It has classic Italian dishes and some great takes on others. I decided to get their Rigatoni Bolognese. This dish is a staple to me. When I think about coming to Ugo, I am usually already thinking about the meat sauce.

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You know how leftover pasta dishes can sometimes be better than fresh? This is not the case with this dish. It’s great from the first bite to the last—you won’t have any leftovers. They use just the right amount of garnish. The sauce is what really makes this dish; it’s creamy and savory at the same time. The pasta soaks up just the right amount of it to really communicate all of the flavors.

Now on to the desserts! They have a few cases that display what they have to offer. Ugo has various cakes and tarts, but the dessert I must recommend is the gelato. They have so many different flavors to choose from. You can go either classic, creamy gelato or you can decide to do more of a lighter, fruit-based gelato. I find them all to be amazing and fresh, but I have to admit that the fruit flavors are my favorite. You just don’t see these everywhere. 

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Ugo is a great place to go for dinner in downtown Culver City. Parking is pretty easy with a number of nearby parking structures and street parking. Also, they have a wine bar next door. I’ll have to check it out!

By Jen Troy

Jen Troy is a Jill-Of-All-Trades.

The Outdoor Grill Santa Maria BBQ - Culver City

12630 Washington Place
Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310) 636-4745

The Outdoor Grill slings Santa Maria style BBQ, which means that the meat is cooked over an open fire of hot mesquite coals. The usual animals are represented: chicken, beef, pork. The sides are unremarkable. Like all Santa Maria joints, tri tip is on the menu. But it’s usually tough and dry. And the chicken, like almost all BBQ chicken ever, is dry and inedible. The ribs are worth trying if you like ‘em chewy. But since you’re in the neighborhood anyway, just head 2 miles down the road to Baby Blues BBQ where everything is better.

Outdoor Grill


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LA’s Best Drive Thrus

The Search for LA’s Best Drive Thru is over! And our well-deserving winner is Tub’s Fine Chili in Culver City! The owners, Rick and Margie Hodges, commented on an earlier blog post of ours. They wanted us to pull up in the alley behind Tub’s and honk. Sure enough, when we arrived in the alley, out poured a chili party. Impromptu tailgate!

Find all 21 drive-thrus on the map below:


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Since this is our #WeekWithILX (aka Acura gives LA Foodie a new car for a week), we decided to make our whip look as distinctive as possible. I give you the LA Foodiemobile (after the jump). Click on the photo to see lots more pics from our journey on Flickr.

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Tub’s Fine Chili - Culver City

Tub’s is one of those places you can’t help but root for. They’re making the best of their not-spectacular location by churning out some of the best damn chili in town and if you call ahead, you can pull up behind their place, honk your horn, and they’ll come right out and bring you some. 

That’s right, they will bring great chili to your car if you pull up in the alley in the back.

It’s all pretty damn tasty, but you’ll wanna be gettin’ some cornbread involved. The Chili Shooter, a cornbread chili-bowl filled with any one of their great chilis and topped with melted cheese is a must, especially as it’s only $3.50. Hell, you should probably just order a few of those and do a chili flight. The Chili Dingo is also pretty fantastic—a chili dog on a cornbread bun. Yep. It’s pretty much as good as you’re imagining right now. The only thing Drew and I differed on was the vegan chili; Drew could not be swayed by its charms, but I thought it was delicious. 

Places like Tub’s are the reason LA Foodie exists. Finding little mom & pop places that are just doing their damndest to get their awesome food to the masses so they can make a living doing what they love… that’s what we’re all about.

These guys just love chili. If you’ve been hankering for a bowl of warm, long-simmered comfort delivered in a moist cornbread shell, get the hell over here. This place is worth the drive.

#WeekWithILX

 

Tub's


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