In my youth, Japanese restaurants were only family-owned and typically had a menu of teriyaki, tempura, rice bowls, and sashimi. Today, you’ll often see Japanese restaurants specializing in sushi, curry, barbecue, ramen, and even udon! Only a handful of original family-owned restaurants, such as Sawtelle Tempura House, Otomisan, and Azuma, still exist. Azuma is an…
Gardena
Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop Delivers Ono Grinds
You may not expect to find quality food in a bowling alley, and if you have children, you’ve probably been to birthday parties at bowling alleys, and you may have avoided the greasy pizza. Some restaurant bowling alleys feature in-house restaurants that non-bowlers frequent. The Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop is one such destination. Gardena is…
Bowl Thai Grill Complements Nearby Sweet Rice
In 2013, Angela Sakdi bucked conventional trends and opened a fast-casual concept of an authentic Thai restaurant. She immediately succeeded and soon opened Sweet Rice which quickly became No. 8 on Yelp’s 100 best places to eat in the country in 2020. Her family’s most recent endeavor is Bowl Thai Grill, located next to Sweet…
Mom’s Touch Delivers Quality Fried Chicken Experience
Mom’s Touch is Korea’s equivalent to Kentucky Fried Chicken, with a menu solely focused on fried chicken. They serve chicken sandwiches, chicken wings, and chicken tenders and it is named “Mom’s Touch” because their philosophy is that their food is made by the thoughtful hand of a mother. Mom’s Touch recently opened in Gardena. While…
Kotohira for Heavenly Japanese Udon Noodles
Twenty eight years ago, Tozai Plaza opened on the corner of Redondo Beach Blvd and Western Ave. in Gardena. The mini mall quickly became the buzz of the Japanese community because they opened new cutting edge restaurants. One of them was Kotohira and it is still operating today. As you drive by the busy intersection,…
N Café Features Bento Boxes and More!
According to USA Today, the average lifespan of a restaurant is five years and by some estimates, up to 90 percent of new ones fail within the first year. Chef Yuichi Natori bucked the trend by working for the last 25 years at Chaya Venice. He recently went out on his own and opened N…
Week 11 – Coronavirus Dining in LA
On May 29, Mayor Eric Garcetti said that Los Angeles restaurants can reopen at 60% of their capacity and apply for outdoor dining permits, under social distancing guidelines. This caused many restaurants to scramble and figure out how to re-establish a new norm. In the meantime, many have elected to continue operating as “to go”…
Week 9 – Coronavirus Dining in LA
Dr. Christina Ghaly, director of health services for L.A. County, recently reported some good news suggesting that the effective transmission rate of the coronavirus is slightly decreasing. This is good news for all LA Country residents, but in particular, to small businesses that are weathering the storm. This week I am happy to report two…
Week 1 – Coronavirus Dining in LA
With the freedom Americans enjoy, I never imagined that our everyday lives would be impacted in such a severe way. Freedom means many things and I used to enjoy the freedom of movement or as Southwest Airlines says “you are now free to move about the country.” I thought it would be interesting to continue…
Otafuku Restaurant, Where Soba Noodle Reigns King
Otafuku is a Japanese soba noodle house in Gardena that has been around for approximately 20 years. Despite their longevity, they are relatively unknown. I happened to find them while performing a Yelp search when I had a hankering for Japanese noodles. While Otafuku has a sign in front of the building, the blinds are…