http://www.laweekly.com/99-essentials
Everybody loves lists. Head scratchers for me
Fresh Water Dumpling & Noodle House - never heard of this place but there must be more essential Asian or Chinese places.
Javier’s Century City - really?
STRFSH - never been but not a lot of lower priced options and this doesn’t seem like a top 99 place.
the List is not a good one, all the credible food writers are no longer with LA Weekly.
try the Rogue 99 list:
http://www.lataco.com/restaurant-guide/
written by two food writers who used to be employed by LA Weekly.
Agreed. I looked at it for 2 minutes.
Swork, Cafe del Rey, Javier’s, Catch, Tosai Sushi, Derive, AR Cucina. Hm.
Hock & Hoof is so new their website still says “Coming Soon” and they have no Yelp listing or reviews, and yet it’s on the Essential 99.
they’re probably gonna be at LA Weekly’s 'The Essentials"
Maybe they recycled some of her work, but she quit last September and moved back to Australia.
I don’t think LA Weekly currently has any experienced food writers or editors. Michele Stueven’s experience is as a photo editor.
Wow. Just - wow.
And not in a good way.
Fukin lmao at Javier’s!!!
How much did they pay for that?
I think the somewhat tragic outcome of this new Essentials list is that while it has some very, very good restaurants, it doesn’t encompass the “best” places LA offers from a food point of view. Tosai Sushi is clearly an upscaled pre-packaged sushi spot from the guy who helped put those premade sushi packs in Whole Foods and other grocery stores. It’s a far cry from the best that LA can offer. I speak with honesty in saying that when I look at our lists at Eater, especially marquee ones like the Essential 38, I’m thinking of visitors and tourists coming here and wondering what the best places for them could be. Mall sushi (or Mexican food) just doesn’t really offer the best, most compelling experiences for visitors (and locals). I hope they can take the feedback to heart and improve on it next year.
My understanding is the whole point of an “Essentials” list, as opposed to a “Best of” list, as Gold originally envisioned it, is to provide a broad swathe of restaurants/cooked food purveyors that encompass what he saw as being quintessentially representative of Los Angeles - not the single best sushi experience, but one that exemplifies a specific element (or elements) of what LA offers.
That said, I think the list put together and published by LA Taco (thanks for the link @Hungrydrunk!) is a lot closer to the original intent of an Essentials list than what the Weekly just published or what I’ve seen of the Eater Essentials lists (with the caveat that I’ve only skimmed a few of the latter).
@PorkyBelly, thank you for cobbling all the names together - I’m continuing to avoid giving the Weekly any traffic, so this is much appreciated.
Hopefully no more than Casa Vega, which is on both lists.
For those that live in glass houses, best not to throw stones.
I really enjoy that @KatherineSpiers put Steak N’Stein on the list. It’s one of my haunts when the fire pit comes out during fall and winter. Nothing better than some drinks and snacks whilst watching the fire roar.
Is it the best steakhouse? No, but I love the ambiance…and to me, that’s comforting.
seems the LA Weekly Essential event has been cancelled.
Thank you! I love it there in December when it’s decorated. And its seems like it’s a special-occasion restaurant for families.
To your point, I agree, food-wise it isn’t the most amazing, but it’s an essentials list, not a best list. I think you get it, but I’ve been surprised over the years (starting long before I was at the Weekly) about how … aggressive people are about not understanding the difference. It’s always talked about in the intro, too!
Oh and for anyone reading, attran99 is talking about the L.A. Taco list (The Rogue 99 ~ L.A. Taco's 2019 Essential Restaurant Guide - L.A. TACO) … the one where every restaurant on it is actually open! Oh lord, what a place LA media is in right now.
Keep fighting the good fight. Seems you’re The Last Jedi and those takeover noobs are The Empire.
hmm. does eater have any data (clickstream analysis, etc,) to confirm that the majority of people viewing those lists are the target demographic?
also, i noted that for the recent vietnamese update there was a caveat suggesting that the ‘best’ food was really down in little saigon, and there were a fair percentage of choices (about half IIRC) listed in the SGV. OTOH, no such caveat is mentioned for chinese food, and it’s seemingly predominantly non SGV selections. i’m having a problem understanding what seems to be an inconsistency. perhaps you could clarify that for me?
