Pages Tagged “South Bay”

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Reviews

• Coffee Cartel ★★★★★ Offbeat local coffee house with atmosphere that makes you want to hang out there.
• The Comic Bug ★★★★★ Open, inviting, and kid-friendly, with friendly staff and a wide selection. Frequent artist/writer signings.
• Curry and Pizza ★★★★★ Halal pizza fusion, right off the freeway. You can get pizza and calzones, you can get curry and tandoori, or you can get them combined. And they’re really good combined.
• Doma Kitchen (Closed) ★★★★★ Used to be a great Eastern European restaurant. Bounced around the South Bay for most of a decade before closing.
• El Amigo ★★★★★ Great spot for takeout Mexican food. I particularly like their Chile Relleno. Dine-in, limited parking.
• El Tarasco ★★★★☆ Small local Mexican fast food chain in the South Bay area. Great for takeout. Lots of outdoor seating at Artesia and Hermosa locations.
• The Empanada Shop ★★★★★ Great selection of both meat and veggie fillings, plus desserts (the chocolate one is intense).
• Entradero Park Loop ★★★★☆ Relaxing walk through scrub habitat around a basin with restored wetlands. Not much shade, good for spotting birds.
• Hopkins Wilderness Park ★★★★☆ A good place to bring your kids or just take a shady walk in something that feels like nature. Lightly wooded, some hills, trails, a stream and a duck pond, plus picnic areas and camping.
• King Mediterrano ★★★★★ Mediterranean/Mexican fusion, right at the 3-way border between Torrance, Lawndale and Redondo Beach. You can get a wrap with shawarma or falafel at a lot of places, but where else can you get a shawarma burrito with mozzarella, jalapeños and chipotle sauce?
• Lavender & Honey ★★★★☆ Good coffee, pastries and sandwiches, maybe a bit expensive. They also sell artisan honey and beeswax products.
• Madrona Marsh Preserve ★★★★★ One of my favorite places to walk in the South Bay, the preserve is the last remnant of seasonal marshes that once covered the western part of the LA basin.
• Natureba ★★★★★ Tiny small business, great smoothies and tropical juices, plus Brazilian-style grilled sandwiches and Açaí bowls.
• Neighborhood Grinds (Closed) ★★★★☆ This used to be a great local coffee shop.
• Pure Bean ★★★★★ An indie coffee shop and roaster that opened in a space vacated by CBTL a few years back.
• Redondough (bakery/cafe) ★★★★★ Bakery with coffee, tea and sandwiches. I usually get one of their cream cheese and fruit-filled croissants. Breakfast sandwiches are also very good.
• Taishi Hainan Chicken ★★★★★ Variations on chicken and rice, all of them good.
• Two Guns Espresso ★★★★★ Serious coffee. Small chain in LA’s South Bay that introduced the Flat White to the region in the early 2010s.
• Union Pizza ★★★★★ Thin-crust pizzas are good, deep-dish pizzas are REALLY good. My favorite is the Classic Deep Dish (spinach, roasted garlic, ricotta and mushrooms) - and normally I don’t even like mushrooms.

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Blog Posts

• In the Land of the Indie Donut

  Apparently it’s National Donut Day, and WaPo decided to look at regional differences in which chain is on top — if any. We’re solidly in indie-land here. Even the Winchell’s I remember growing up became a mom and pop shop back in the 80s (though I think it *might* have been a Yum Yum at […]

  (Jun 2023)
• Seasons of Madrona Marsh

  I went back to the Madrona Marsh Preserve for the third time this year, and combined a Spring/Summer/Fall photo of one of the seasonal pools.

  (Oct 2015)
• Seasonal Wetlands: Before and After the Summer

  Before-and-after view of the seasonal pools at Madrona Marsh, full of water in spring and grasslands in summer.

  (Sep 2015)
• Back to the Marsh (what’s left of it)

  I returned to Madrona Marsh at the end of summer to see how much it had dried out since hiking there last spring.

  (Sep 2015)
• Glass, Steel, Rails and Wildflowers: A Walk in Manhattan Beach

  Lately whenever I take my car in for maintenance, I end up taking the car-free morning away from home as an excuse to walk down to the Manhattan Beach Pier. The last time was right after a Halloween storm, which was gorgeous, but this time it was a gloomy morning, and I took the opportunity […]

  (Jun 2015)
• Constructed Wilderness: A Tale of Two Parks

  Madrona Marsh Preserve and Hopkins Wilderness Park take opposite approaches to being islands of nature in the middle of the city.

  (May 2015)
• Restaurant Crossover

  Two Guns Espresso in Manhattan Beach makes a mean flat white and the perfect mocha. This month they’ve also been hosting pop-up dinners by Doma Kitchen.

  (Nov 2014)
• California Drought Sim, Water Use, and Preserving Open Space

  According to simulations, California could adapt to long-term drought. We just have to actually do it. Meanwhile, the Irvine Co. sets some limits on sprawl.

  (Oct 2014)
• The Phantom City

  Years ago, I’d catch glimpses of what looked like a distant city while driving the 405 freeway at night, but it always vanished from view before I reached it.

  (Mar 2012)

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