Monday Blues got you down? Or perhaps it’s just the failing economy and offensive gas prices?

Well the good folks over at The Ideal Bite turned me on to a great little thing to look forward to: Luna Park’s Blue Mondays.

They’ve got a weekly rotating local and organic Blue Plate special for a measly $12, as well as drink deals (kumquat mojitos and red or white sangria for $5!!!), they’re just the thing to cheer you up after a long day in the salt mine.

And you can feel good about treating yourself, too: aside from the local organic thing, they recycle all their used vegetable oil into bio-fuel!

Click more for the info.

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Is Marina del Rey finally starting to show up on the map?

The Marina seemed for, well, ever, to be little more than a footnote on the Westside. And yet slowly but surely, it’s been attracting bigger and better eateries. Dareisay making a name for itself?

Perhaps the proximity of the new-ish EA building and new condos in the Ballona Wetlands are to thank (blame?), but the Marina is becoming a new hotspot!

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I have been waiting to write about this restaurant since my first visit there, and while it’s no longer a well-kept secret, this is still a destination for incredible food that will leave you and your wallet stuffed.

First and foremost, this place is byob and the corking fee is … nothing! There is no corking fee, and if you’re anything like me you show up with a bunch of friends, each carrying a bottle of wine and the staff is always accommodating. They take it back and chill it for you, serve it, everything that most places charge you to do!

If the byob doesn’t get you there then the food should. They serve delicious tapas plates, and even thought they’re small, I always leave there swearing I’ll eat less next time. Last time I went, for instance, there were only four of us and we ordered 6 plates, plus a dessert plate. I couldn’t finish!

Cobras & Matadors has two locations, one in Los Feliz and the other, which is the one I’ve been to, in LA on Beverly. It’s small, dimly lit with a partially open kitchen exposing a wood-fired oven. The walls are adorned with old photographs, while the tables are bunched close together, but no one seems to mind being so close to their neighbors; everyone wants to eat some good fun and drink lots of wine so the patrons are always in good spirits. You have to walk through the kitchen to get to the bathroom, so after a few glasses of wine the bright kitchen lights and the dishwashers will jolt you back into reality.

Here are some of my favorite plates:

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For a long time, I have wanted to try Wildflour Pizza on Main St. in Santa Monica. I was always drawn to the restaurant’s cheery yellow exterior and hole-in-the-wall vibe, and a sign outside says “#1 Pizza LA Times” (although it does not mention when). This week, I finally got to sample their pie. The verdict? I was hoping for better.

The inside of Wildflour Pizza is very tiny and dark. The walls are heavy brick and the floors are covered with wood shavings, a throwback to another era. A few rustic tables and chairs crowd the space. The building itself looks incredibly old, so from an atmospheric standpoint it gave the restaurant a somewhat enchanting feel.

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The Cheesecake Factory is branching out. After the mixed success of their Grand Lux upscale chain, they’ve decided to go Asia, and our Culver City will be playing host!

Called RockSugar, they’re insisting it will be a fundamentally different experience from it’s flagship Cheesecake Factory. For starters, they take reservations. As for the other differences… Well, they say there are some. I guess we’ll find out when the place opens this June.

The concept emerged as a reaction to the increasing popularity of Asian cuisine, namely P.F. Chang’s, which seems to be than just inspiration for RockSugar.

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If you’ll recall several moths back, during my search for the Best Burger in LA, one of my top picks was The Counter, a DIY burger heaven on Ocean Park. Well it seems that the owner, spurred on by the success of the original, announced last year they were planning on aggressively expanding.

Well the word is out that their next SoCal location is on track to open a Studio City location by this Autumn, located at the corner of Ventura Blvd and Laurel Canyon. According to LAist, the location was scheduled to open this past Winter, but didn’t for various reasons.

So be sure to check it out when it does open. I know it’s a lot closer for me!

Photo by Louis for Cityzine 

Feel like dining with the stars but don’t quite have the budget for it?

Well, as Caroline on Crack informs us, ultra-hip hot spot Citizen Smith is currently doing a “Friends and Family” Mondays, where all food is 50%, Lunch and dinner!

And if you’d rather go to get your drink on, wine is 50% all night on Tuesdays.

And while it still won’t make the place “cheap,” it will at least make the prices a little more realistic.

Citizen Smith
$$
1600 Cahuenga Boulevard
Hollywood
323.461.5001

Photo from CitizenSmith.com

My girlfriend is always complaining about the lack of organic burger joints. I mean sure, if you dig around, you can probably find a place that has organic beef and does a burger, amongst a dozen other things. But a real burger joint, focused on healthy organic food, well that’s a beast of a different color.

Enter O! Burger. Organic meat, organic buns, organic home-made sauce, they even have organic date shakes!

Yum!

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Akasha, the newest addition to growing downtown Culver City, instantly brought me home to New York, specifically, to the cobblestone streets of the meatpacking district. It was the ambiance that did it: the attractive clientèle, the “we’re chic without trying” decor of exposed beams and pipes, the dim lighting, and of course, the wait. Even with a dinner reservation you’ll be directed to try a cocktail at the bar until your table is ready. And the Velvet margarita, made with organic tequila and blood orange juice, is worth that wait.

The menu options incorporate organic and local ingredients with a great selection of seafood, salads and pizzas, to name a few. I saw braised short ribs and had my selection, I’ll rarely turn them down, and I’m glad this meal was no exception. The short ribs were beyond delicious and I cleaned my plate in seconds. The meat fell to pieces and was complimented perfectly with the parsnip-potato puree (glorified mashed potatoes) and the Asian style sauces. We ordered a side of the onion rings, which were amazing. I’m not sure why, but the usual fast-food selections are always better when prepared in a nice restaurant and paired with a smoked paprika dipping sauce, for instance.

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While we’re all familiar with the LA County Restaurant rating system (you know, that big blue letter all restaurants post in their window?), our brethren down south in Orange County don’t have quite the same system.

In fact, they really don’t have much of  system at all, according to a new Grand Jury report, via the OC Register. Instead of using letters, they only need to have a sign that says they’re either “in substantial compliance,” or waiting for re-inspection. Very clear and straightforward, no? Inf act, the sign itself is so easy to overlook, most patrons in restaurants werecompletely unaware thy even existed.

So while the OC still conducts very stringent and regular inspections of restaurants, it’s the results that are pretty much kept under wraps, a move many see as favoring the businesses rather than the consumers.

So if you live in the OC, don’t you want to know just how clean that kitchen is?

Photo by johnkoetsier

I approached La Cabana, which is in Venice, with a few different wants; To enjoy the margaritas, to get drunk off the margaritas, and this may be pushing it, but to eat some decent Mexican food. That’s right, it was Friday night and I cared much more about the drinking than the eating. A fun and festive atmosphere wouldn’t hurt either. I was a bit cranky when we walked in because we were running late. They don’t take reservations so I knew we would have to wait. The restaurant was what I expected. The place was dimly lit and the dark booths were crowded. It was about 8:30 and they hostess told us the wait could be about an hour for six of us, so we high-tailed it to the bar. The minute we walked through the back door my mood was infinitely brighter; the party was on the patio. I wondered why anyone would even want to sit inside.

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With Cinco de Mayo gone and done with, it’s now acceptable to be French once again (F- if you thought Cinco de Mayo was independence from Spain or *GASP* the US).

While it’s pretty much an accepted fact that the French made cooking into an art form, did you know our fair city has a large and vibrant French community?

And what better way to celebrate French culture than by delicious crêpes? Although traditionally from Brittany, crêpes are enjoyed as a street food throughout France, and have made a slow but steady inroad in the States for a while now.

Turns out Metromix has put together a fairly handy list of crêperies throughout the Southland. So treat yourself to a taste of France. And if I can offer one suggestion, it’s the crêpe complete: normally made with buckwheat flour, it’s an egg, a slice of ham and some Gruyèr… Yum!

Photo by Harris Graber