B.D.L.A.

GOT THE END OF SUMMER BLUES? PICK YOURSELF UP WITH LUNA PARK’S $10.00 BLUE PLATE SPECIALS

Neighborhood: Miracle Mile

Luna Park Restaurant has always had a special place in my heart. A sister restaurant to the SanFran original, it is one of the few LA hotspots that have managed to be both popular and trendy, but not take it all too seriously. I fell for Luna months before I was actually able to visit. Why? Just check out the menu online – the focus is not only on quality food, but serving it up in fun and inventive ways. Is there any place else in town where you can order up a drink called “You’re a Pepper” – and receive a tray with a miniature (and adorable) bottle of Dr. Pepper, a pocket-sized Vanilla Absolut vodka, and a tiny jar of organic vanilla syrup? It’s you that gets to mix up the ingredients – and there’s enough here to make two glasses worth.

Luna Park has always kept the entrée prices reasonable for the quality of cooking you are getting – the delicious BBQ glazed pork chops with cigar onion rings are the most expensive item on the menu, and they’re only 20 bucks. Everything else – the pastas, the pizzas, the fish and the chicken – are all around the 15 dollar range.

Now, the menu just got sweeter – Luna Park has introduced their dinner Blue Plate Special – a select entrée from the regular menu, for just $10.00-$12.00 . In the beginning, this was just a Monday deal. However, the night proved so popular that they’ve expanded on both sides – you can now order up the blue plate Sunday through Tuesday. Talk about helping you over the start of the work week.

The pork dish I mentioned has been known to pop up here, becoming a half price steal. The delicious Moroccan spaghetti – pasta with lamb and beef meatballs served in a hearty red sauce – has been given the blue-plate treatment too. Vegetarian? They’ll always have a blue-plate option waiting for you as well.

In true Luna style, the blue plate special is served on an actual blue plate… and offered with a rotating $5.00 drink special, served in matching blue glassware. Isn’t it worth it just for the fun of it all?

No matter what night you dine here, or what you end up ordering, I must mention the dessert that made Luna Park famous – the Make Your Own S’mores. Before haute menus everywhere began introducing their own fancy-pants version of the camping favorite, Luna Park’s guests were dipping homemade graham cracker cookies into marshmallow fondue. Inevitably, someone I’m dining with will remark “it’s just not the real thing”. Maybe, but unless you have convenient access to a roaring campfire in your home, this dish remains a must-try for S’mores lovers everywhere.

So, let’s review – fun atmosphere, kooky cocktails, $10.00-ish entrée specials, and S’mores you can make as gooey and chocolaty as you wish. My Monday-workday blues are definitely forgotten about here – all it takes is a blue plate, a good price – and melted marshmallow.

(P.S. – need a good Sunday brunch spot, but don’t feel like dealing with a crowd? Somehow Luna Park’s Sunday brunch remains undiscovered by the masses. Great menu, cheap mimosas, and pretty close to empty. Eat it up before the secret gets out.)

Link: http://www.lunaparkla.com/

Cost: Blue plate special entrée offered Mon-Tue, dinner only $10.00 - $12.00. Blue plate special drink $5.00. "You're a Pepper" cocktail $9.50. S’mores dessert (for 2-4) $8.25.
See website for regular menu/cocktail prices.

Note: Metered parking (free after 6pm) available on La Brea, but sometimes tough. Valet parking is offered at Luna Park and is worth the price if you can’t find street parking in the immediate area.

THE WEEKLY JET RAG $1.00 SUNDAY SALE

Itching to go on a clothes-shopping spree, but feel guilty about spending the cash? Maybe it’s time you worked your way over to resale giant Jet Rag to check out the Sunday sale that’s always happening in their parking lot.

First you’ll see the tents, then the swarms of thrifty hipsters scrambling this way and that. At their feet is the treasure – piles and piles of clothes of every variety, all priced equally – $1.00. You think they’re gonna hang clothes that cost this little?

If you like hunting for that one-of-a-kind shirt at the lowest price this side of free, then let the games begin. Every Sunday, starting at the 9am hour, clothes are literally dumped into 4 long piles in Jet Rag’s parking lot. The loyal and devoted are already there, ready to jump in and start digging. There’s a rumor that the best items are dragged out at this time (though the piles are refreshed all day).

There’s a whole lotta fabrics in those piles – I’ve never felt so much nylon-polyester blends in my life. T-shirts, button ups, bellbottoms, prom gowns, track jackets – even to my friend’s horrified surprise once – underwear (a slip up, I want to believe). If you see something you are considering, hold on to it tight. Those in the know won’t dare leave their finds anywhere but clutched in their arms like a baby.  Once, I witnessed a Levi’s tug-of-war break out as two hippie boys unknowingly each pulled a leg from the pile, then after sizing up their opponent, battled each other for the dollar denim. Fantastic.

If this style of second hand isn’t your thing, understood. Some of us do like dressing rooms and air conditioning. However, no matter your taste, I suggest all Halloween costume planning start here, as I’ve personally witnessed disco queens, 80’s rockers and zombie bride outfits all creatively resurrected from these vintage ashes.

For a year or so, my friend Ray and I would make a pit-stop here part of our Sunday routine. It was fun to dive in to the fray, and have no financial regrets about dumping a pile of shirts in front of the cashier. Then one day, when we both reached a certain age, we looked at each other, and with a nod, knew we were done. We had outgrown the thrill of the hunt…

Now I enjoy driving by, and observing that both hippies and hipsters, punk rockers and funky fashionitas, have carried on the thrifty circus without us.

The Jet Rag $1.00 sale happens every Sunday, rain or shine, 9am to about 5pm.

Jet Rag
825 N La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038-3340
Phone: (323) 939-0528

Cost: All items in parking lot are $1.00. Sodas/water also $1.00.

Note: Metered street parking on La Brea is free on Sundays, and usually available between Melrose and Santa Monica blvd.

THE HOLLYWOOD SCENE WITHOUT THE VELVET ROPE: THE BELMONT HAPPY HOUR

Neighborhood: West Hollywood

If you’ve been to The Belmont Café on a weekend night, you’ve seen what it is capable of becoming: a long line wrapped around the sidewalk, beautiful Hollywood girls dressed to the nines, and the men that will follow them anywhere. The music gets loud, the crowd gets drunk, and the bouncer gets slightly strict – I was denied entry once for donning flip-flops.

That’s fine – I prefer The Belmont during its more casual time – the daily happy hour from 4pm to 7pm. Here, the doorman is absent, the perky hostess is happy to seat you, and flip-flops are the attire du jour. The entire drink menu is served at half price. The real deal though is the appetizers, normally priced between $11 - $15.00, also given the half off treatment. This is no stale chips and canned salsa joint. The chef is working hard on these apps – sushi-grade ahi tuna chopped and mixed with diced avocado, served with delicately crunchy wonton chips. Beef filet skewers cooked to tender perfection, just right for dipping in the accompanying peanut sauce. Hungry for something heartier then hors d’oeuvres? Order up the beer battered fish and chips – it’s truly a complete dinner. Nothing here has ever disappointed – and a constant crowd pleaser is the mac n’ cheese – that’s blue cheese they are using, as well as scrumptious smoked applewood bacon. It’s heavenly… and even for a starter, heavy. Split this one with a friend.

This happy hour is so good, I fear the secret is getting out.  Lately, I’ve found the hostess asking if I had reservations for the porch. The deck is fun – breezy, shaded, and an ideal people watching position over La Cienega’s smoking hot restaurant row (Spanish Kitchen, Area, Republic) The drawback for some? Smoking is permitted, and a good portion of the crowd is lighting up. If smelling second hand isn’t your thing, make sure to grab a table inside.

The service is adequate if somewhat short - I’ve found the young, attractive waiters usually have a look on their face like they’d rather be drinking with you then serving you. The crowd is undeniably trendy – I’ve mistaken 3 women for Jessica Simpson, if that paints a picture for you.

Still – it all comes back to the food and drink. My friends and I shared a variety of appetizers and drank our fill of frosty draft beer while the sun set on our weekend. At about 7.00 for each dish, and 3.00 per drink – we left full and buzzed and, with paying so little, quite happy. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Cost: 2 beers, 2 appetizers =  About $21.00 before tip

Link: http://thebelmontcafe.com

Note: The only appetizer not discounted at happy hour are the crab legs.
More deals outside of happy hour – arrive before 10am, and breakfast is $6.00 or less. The make your own Bloody Mary bar on weekends is a fun compliment to your omelet.

GET THE FULL SALON TREATMENT FOR $20.00! TRIM SALON'S 1st TIMERS DEAL

Neighborhood: Venice

OK, so, the last couple haircuts at my regular barbershop left my less then thrilled. My usual hairdresser had left, and his replacements weren’t, uh, cutting it. I needed a change, but wasn’t ready to roll the pricey dice yet on an expensive salon.

Thankfully, Trim Hair Salon in Venice came to the rescue – practically beckoning me to give them a shot with their money-saving 1st timers deal – only $20.00. That price, by the way, is for the full salon experience. Let’s be clear – this isn’t a barbershop. It’s a casual, but upscale, salon located in the heart of the Venice's Abbot Kinney district, and only blocks from the beach. When I came in I was greeted with my choice of a complimentary wine or Diet Coke. I waited only mere moments in the comfortable lounge until my hairdresser, Dina, came to take care of me. She was polite and, thankfully, she was talented – after my shampoo, scalp massage, haircut, and style, I left more satisfied with my new ‘do then I had been in months.

The most important thing to note here is I wasn’t treated like a cheapskate, but rather, with the upmost attention. After all, this twenty-dollar offer is Trim’s way of enticing you to be a regular. If you become one, know that men’s haircuts are raised to the standard rate of $45.00, women $65.00.  Or maybe you’ll note the style they give you, like I did, and be able to better describe what you want for your next haircut elsewhere.

I know many of you have your regular hairdresser, and leaving them for another salon is akin to breaking up a marriage. However, if the beauty budget has taken a beating this month because, say, you just had to buy those expensive jeans… maybe taking advantage of Trim’s deal this once will help redress the balance?

Trim Salon
1424 Abbot Kinney, Venice, 90291
310-396-3330

Cost: $20.00 + gratuity.

Note: Street parking is free and plentiful on Abbot Kinney and surrounding streets - even on weekends. Trim is a full service salon, offering highlights, coloring, and nail treatments for an additional cost.