Prominent Food Historian Says In-N-Out Reflects LA at its “Absolute Worst”

Strong words

Native Southern California cultural critic (and author of the seminal book Taco USA) Gustavo Arellano takes In-N-Out to task in his latest piece for Alta Online. The prolific greater LA chronicler calls the food just “so-so,” and says in many ways the expanding company represents some of the worst aspects of Southern California. Those are strong words from Arellano, to be sure, but he comes at the topic as a native Southern Californian and longtime food critic for OC Weekly. Arellano was also just announced as a new full-time features writer for the LA Times, where he will also be contributing to the food section.

Ruth knows

Over on her blog, Ruth Reichl has been taking the time to break down some of LA’s most important restaurants of the past several decades, from the groundbreaking Campanile to Talesai.

Ice cream escapades

Great news for Long Beach tourists, as it seems that CVT has installed one of its CVTeeny standalone soft serve machines at the Midship Marketplace inside the Queen Mary ship.

Goodbye to one more

Large-scale Long Beach Chinese restaurant Forbidden City has closed. The Long Beach Post says that the near decade-old restaurant, which spanned some 7,000 square feet, and was filled to capacity with various knick knacks and odds and ends, including lots of hand-carved marble.

Roberta’s reads

Robb Report takes a closer look at the recently-opened Roberta’s at the Platform development in Culver City, and asks out loud just what it means for one of Brooklyn’s most beloved restaurants to move to Culver City.

Roof wine

Rooftop specialist Filifera has a few new happy hour deals to know about, including half off bottles of wine from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Wednesday night.

First one

YouTube sensations Rhett and Link sent their team out to Preux & Proper to help chef Samuel Monsour craft a burger for someone who has literally never had one before. They aim for simplicity in the end, smashing a patty and adding lots of cheese. The verdict? Catch the video below.