The Hollywood Way

Hola! And Holla! Yes, it's my turn (Cory) to write the bulk of the blog this week, and that usually means that readers have to wait extra long for me to get things together & get this posted. Well, let this week be no exception. The work has piled high over the past several days, but I'm finally able to see the light, and thus, the blog shall be written.
Last week's lunch outing found us parked on a back street behind The Hollywood Way on, well...Hollywood Way. There, near the intersection of Hollywood Way & Burbank Blvd, lies the shell of for the former Mr. B's. A ramshackle roadside watering hole which was, in its day, a fine establishment favored by the locals for steak, lobster, and other dining delights. Apparently it was around for over 50 years and time took its toll on gool ol' Mr B's.



The once popular bar/restaurant slowly lost the "restaurant" part & became just another bar. Another crappy looking bar, from what I could tell. The kind of bar where it wouldn't be completely unreasonable to imagine yourself being stabbed in the parking lot. And that's *kinda* what I felt like as Alissa & I approached from the rear...
Luckily, the new owners of the old Mr. B's have been working hard to scrape away the dirt & dilapidation, creating for us a new (at least in my opinion) Mecca for Burbank meat-eating beer drinkers. The facade is completely renovated & welcoming...



the inside is spacious, neat, and clean...



the taps are sufficiently stocked with an ample selection of beers, and the menu caused me to have wet dreams for a week. Seriously. My sheets are a mess...



The Basics:
The Hollywood Way puts the "bar" in "barbeque"...or, perhaps adds the "beque" to the "bar." Either way, you're gonna find all the BBQ you're likely to desire in your lunch, along with some good beers to boot. Giant burgers, racks of ribs, & mounds of pulled pork are accompanied by classic BBQ sides such as baked beans, onion straws, and mac & cheese. There's even a decent array of salads for those lunchers who may be looking for something less meat-ish.


Alissa:
Immediately after eating this lunch I came back to my desk and wrote something. I wanted to capture the way I felt at the time. This is what I wrote then:
As I write this, I am near vomiting or passing out and maybe both. I attribute it to the meal I had at The Hollywood Way. There was a lot of swearing during this meal- as we saw the food for the first time, as we took the first bite... as we re-realized how crazy or good what we were eating was- as we tried to finish the giant meals before us... as we sat there trying to concentrate on not puking it all back up. That being said- I thought it was TOTALLY AWESOME. No, really. I was expecting a decent meal. Though I got nervous as we approached- something felt dangerous to me. But once inside, I have no idea why I thought that. I think there were probably serious alcoholics that haunted the bar that they took over & I was sensing their gin soaked spirits.



Ah yes. I remember writing that. And I think I am finally not totally full from that lunch, many days later. Anyhoo- as far as what I ate, I laid eyes upon the pulled pork sandwich, and was instantly sold. I barely know what's on the rest of the menu- because I was like- who cares. I am obviously eating this. So I ordered it with a side of mac & cheese and a Flying Dog IPA. I accidentally thought I liked that IPA after tasting it, but after several sips I found it is not one of the guys I like. Some IPAs are sneaky and have too many complex spicy flavors and I'm like EWWWWWWW. I don't want no Belgium nonsense up in this beer! But whatever. I drank it. I pray that after they are there a while, they get some cooler microbrews. It would really raise the stock. I would be glad to advise.

My pulled pork sandwich tasted as beautiful as it looked. Gosh it really, really did. They come in at 6am and hand pull stuff that has smoked all night or something. I was really trying to remember the exact details that Sonia, our friendly bartender was telling us, but I kept being distracted by the deliciousness of my food. Cory and I were not expecting much from the mac & cheese. You know how that goes- mac & cheese sides are pretty disappointing usually. But I had no problem with this stuff. It wasn't so crazy that you were thinking "EFF I should have just ordered this- it's a meal in itself" but just cheesy and creamy enough not to be a sad clump no one cares about next to their food. Which is saying a lot because THE PULLED PORK SANDWICH on brioche bun with chipotle mayo was freaking great. As far as the meat goes- chewing was totally optional. I chose to chew, but you can make your own decision. In any case, it's just what I wanted it to taste like & was better than expected.

Cory and I loudly cursed at our food throughout the meal, while a guy who was pretty much a younger version of The Dude sang selected lines from the 80s & 90s songs Jack FM was supplying. I'm guessing this would be a good place to catch sports on their multiple TVs AND there is free wi-fi, which I used during our meal. I was really sad when I saw this BBQ place down a couple blocks pop up and soon realized sold BBQs, not BBQ'd food. I witnessed Cory spotting it and had to be the one to break the bad news to him. BUT FINALLY there is a place we (I mean not just Cory & I, but you as well!) can go to get some sweet barbecued meat! Your vegetarian friend can come too- there are options, but I feel it is unnecessary to mention them at this juncture. I don't eat a lot of meat, but if I feel like devouring some- this is gonna be a top pick.

And hey, Cory: gross about your sheets. God. This is supposed to be appetizing.



Cory:

Dear The Hollywood Way,

It's not often that a person, place, or experience provokes me to write in letter form. Almost never, actually. I thought about simply sending you a text, but that wouldn't suffice. There's just so much to say. So many thoughts whizzing around in my brain. So many flavors that I'm still savoring. Oh, Hollywood Way, I must admit that my expectations were perhaps a little on the low side for this lunching. But now, having sampled your goods, I feel ashamed of my initial skepticism. Yes, the walk in was a tad shady; and yes, I did half-expect to get my ass kicked by a gang of bikers once inside; but I was wrong, Hollywood Way. I was wrong and I'm sorry. Instead, you welcomed us into your dark, woody, loving arms. You greeted us warmly & presented us with the greatest bar menu I have ever seen in all my days.



(actually, that picture - like most of them on here today - is terrible, so just look at this...)
The Hollywood Way - MENU

Everything freshly made from scratch, with love & attention to detail. The burger hand-pattied, the pork tenderly pulled, the mac creamily cheesed, and the beans barbequed-ly baked.
You undoubtedly remember this, Hollywood Way, because - let's face it, we had a connection. But, for the sake of others, I'll recount my meal. I was having a very hard time deciding on just one thing as I perused your menu. Those burgers sure looked great, but shouldn't I get the BBQ? And then I laid my eyes on a miracle. The baby jesus of bar food. The Memphis Burger. To quote your menu, "How about a juicy 1/2 pound burger piled high with Carolina pulled pork, cheddar cheese, bacon, and onion straws, topped with Hollywood’s BBQ sauce. Served on a toasted brioche bun." How about it, indeed!
It arrived standing nearly as tall as a pint glass. It was one of those times where I really wasn't quite sure where to start, so I just kinda mashed it all down & had at it. The burger itself was massive & really well-seasoned. Just enough salt & pepper to really make it work. And the pulled pork portion was mind-bendingly awesome. So awesome, in fact, that I nearly forgot about the accompanying ingredients: the hunk of bacon & the mountain of onion straws. Honestly, there wasn't a single part of that burger that I don't think could stand alone. The whole thing is JUST THAT GOOD.
Then, to top it off, you served it up with a side BBQ baked beans. Beans with chunks of pulled pork hidden within. Beans with just right amount of kick. Beans that all other beans should aspire to be(an). I would seriously go back just to get a bucket of these things.



Good bite? Or just totally bites?
A: BITE IT. BITE IT NOW. I honestly ate everything except for this last little teeny bite. And I do believe I almost fell into a coma- or crashed the car on the 2 block drive back due to food-drunkness. But I encourage you to do the same.

C: To say this was a "good" bite would be grossly understating the complete & utter awesomeness of this place. Go! Eat! Drink! And maybe stay 'til the next morning...



Info:
1333 N. Hollywood Way
Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 845-4400
Open Mon-Wed 11am-12am; Thu-Fri 11am-2am; Sat 10am-2am; Sun 9:30am-10pm



**Our reports are based on one visit/meal- so we're far from experts on these joints! If you have advice or experiences you'd like to share, please feel free to enlighten us & our readers! Our goal is to give enough info that someone might feel okay trying somewhere new (or know to avoid it!). Thanks for reading :)

Full o' Life

Apologies readers. At least initially, this time it was my fault (Alissa's fault) that this took too long. I've been sickly, and we've been busy at work... hence the hang up. We'll be better at lunching, we promise! Or we hope, anyhow.

So let me get real with you for a moment, Burbank- and the one random Russian and/or German person who hits up this blog on accident: I really will eat almost anything- but typically I don't. I eat greek yogurt for breakfast and a trader joes salad or some leftovers from dinner I'd made for lunch. If I eat out I usually eat some sort of healthy veggie or at wildest, a grilled chicken breast sandwich. These are the things my stomach tells me it wants. Usually a soda(without alcohol in it) or pile of fries happens in my life like- once a month. So I says to Cory- Cory, sometimes I'd just like to eat somewhere that fried food with piles of mysterious sauce is not the focus- where words like 'crazy' and 'heart attack' don't come into play. I realize that the humor/danger factor gets lost a bit, but not everyone in Burbank is just wondering about shacks and diners.


Basically this speech was all in preparation to break the news to him that this time we'd be going to Full of Life. A health food store with a restaurant tucked into it. Please use this moment to imagine the resulting groans from our friend Cory. Okay go: __________________. So yes. It sounded something like that. But we're basically at this point where we have to go along with one anothers' choices and essentially can tell one another to effing eat it. Hence our joyful journey to Full o' Life!



Full of life is a pleasant little health food store with lots of natural foods, healthy to-go items, homeopathic remedies and supplements and all that jazz. Family run & celebrating 50 years, apparently, it's 2/3 store and 1/3 restaurant. I've been shopping here for something a couple times before, but had never set out to eat from the restaurant. Cory and I walked in and eyed the fun-looking counter seating, but the place was packed (just before 2pm- so maybe don't go at that time) and we took what we could get. A romantic table for two by the window.


It's a pretty comfy atmosphere for a store, and you will surely be surrounded by wacky conversation from people who like friendly piles of sprouts instead of whatever this scary crap is that Cory keeps ordering. Instead of sports and cars, I overheard snarky talk about Scientology in one ear and something about an "elephant compound" in the other. The waitresses are all kind older ladies with senses of humor who would love to give you a taste of something if you are not sure about ordering it. Cory was already calming down, and as the menus- which boasted a vast array of healthy dishes were placed before us- I knew it was going to be alright.


The Basics:
Big ol' menu of health-mindful foods & beverages. Order something. Ask to sample something if you are not sure. There are soups, sandwiches, salads, casseroles, stir-fry dishes and more. There are specials too. Your sides are likely to be salad, chips, or carrot slices.


Alissa:
Having been 'vegan' and 'vegetarian' at points in my life, I have eaten lots of veggi-fied foods. I love healthy stuff- and was immediately eying the avocado/tomato/sprout/cheese sandwich until I remembered I could easily make this myself & frequently do. That's why I like it. Silly to order in a restaurant. So I looked for something that might exceed any of my vegetarian ambitions in the kitchen any time soon. I found the Grilled BBQ Tofu sandwich. I thought this sandwich was really nice. Straight up tofu can be a little too tofuey for me... you gotta sauce it and grill it sufficiently if it is going to pass for a protein on a sandwich. I feel this did the job well enough. The BBQ sauce was good and that is what mattered. The bun was also nice. I added mayo (one of my favorite bad-for-you things)- but as I suspected, it was one of those healthier ones. You can tell by tasting it and it not tasting like magic. Magic is what Best Foods mayo tastes like. This was certainly not that- but once on the sandwich it added the extra kick I knew I wanted. Aside the sandwich were large slices of carrot- like chips. It was such a lovely relief from fry-piles. I tried to order a green drink- some healthy concoction they have, but it never came. She tried to give me a sample when I ordered it and I said I didn't need one. I guess you should say yes to the sample- if you survive, they bring you a grownup size one. I decided that they knew better than I and skipped notifying them. I got a kombucha drink from their store when I left instead.


I liked my food and got a kick out of the folks around us and their conversations. I believe the man next to us went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park and was describing the experience in minute and painful detail the whole time we ate. I was trying to figure out if the ladyperson was interested in what he was saying but I couldn't tell. I don't really think hearing someone talk about seeing things at the zoo is fun though, is it? Don't you go to the zoo or not go to the zoo depending on your interest in the zoo? Well I think I would take my food to go in the future in any case... the ladies who work there are certainly nice, but I don't see the dining experience as a must have.


Cory:
So Alissa's description of my reaction to the news that we'd be eating here wasn't quite as vocal & groany as she made it out to be. It was more eye rollingly acquiescent as I knew I didn't have a say in the matter. It's not that I necessarily have anything against healthy natural food stores, it's just that they're generally too gritty grainy granola hippy for my tastes. I rarely find anything enticing on their shelves & the people are, well...sometimes kinda Wal-Martish...but in a greener way. Plus the stores are always dismally decorated. Forgive me for wanting a little flair with my flax seed oil. Also, the thought of eating food inside a store that also sells all-natural bio-degradable gluten-free deodorant in compostable containers didn't exactly excite my taste buds...



HOWEVER...it seems that all my trepidation was uncalled for because this place was not nearly as horribly horrible as I assumed it would be. Yes, the walls were barren & the overall vibe was kinda funky (and not funky in a Bootsy Collins kinda way, but funky is a sorta weird way), but the people were nice & they didn't seem to have the holier-than-thou attitude so common amongst natural foodites. And, most importantly, the food was GOOD...and there was a ton to choose from.
I actually had a hard time deciding what to try and, after much hemming & hawing, I opted for the tuna melt. It came served on an English muffin (that didn't taste at all like cardboard) & topped with sesame seeds. They usually top it with sprouts as well, but I asked for mine on the side since I was a little wary of the potential warm stringiness of the sprout/tuna salad combo. All this was tucked neatly beside a pile of fresh carrot slices, which were a nice change from the usual soggy lackluster fries of Burbank. I salted them heavily (just to knock as much of the "healthy" out of them as I could) and wolfed them down first & foremost. Next came the tuna melt. It was a little olive-laden for me, but it was still pretty tasty. It was well-seasoned & the sesame seeds were a nice touch. Would I order it again? Probably not. It was good but not great and, with such a vast menu to choose from, I'd rather try something new next time. Yes, I said next time. I'd totally go back.




Good Bite? Or just totally bites?
A: Good bite. The food seems fresh and on the healthy side- so if you aren't trying super hard to have a heart attack, I would say this would be a good place to add into your take out rotation- and if you want to hear some wacky convo or plead for a green drink throughout your lunch- you should eat in. And tell me how it is?

C: Good bite. It's a nice change from the usual go-to lunches I have 'round these parts; and it made me feel better about skipping the gym that night...and the night after. Check it out next time you're in the mood for something not topped with pastrami & covered in chili.

Info:
2515 West Magnolia Boulevard
Burbank, CA 91050
(818) 845-8343
Open Mon-Thu 8am-8pm; Fri 8am-4pm; Sun 9:30am-6pm



**Our reports are based on one visit/meal- so we're far from experts on these joints! If you have advice or experiences you'd like to share, please feel free to enlighten us & our readers! Our goal is to give enough info that someone might feel okay trying somewhere new (or know to avoid it!). Thanks for reading :)

quick bite- empire center

At first it was my fault that our latest blog entry is not posted. Now it is Cory's fault. I guess I was trying to steal his thunder in the flake department, but he has prevailed. He will blame it on work- but it was my turn to write so his little part will take like 5 min. COME ON MAN! Hopefully that is coming soon. God only ONE post in November? That is shameful. Please tell Cory how disappointed you are in him.

In the meantime (which I hope is just until tomorrow) I thought I'd post a 'quick bite' here complete with crappy phone photos. Many of my lunches are dedicated to errands since I have pretty much no time otherwise to do them. Today I needed to go to Target to look for an electric blankEYYYYY. And get some face wash. In case you were wondering. Obviously I am not going to eat at the food place inside Target- and I didn't have time to go on a whole 'nutha adventure for food (even though what I really wanted was a field green salad from Trader Joes!!!) so I decided I must find something edible in the center.

Over by BevMo there is a place called Daphne's Greek Cafe so I ran in there. I got a grilled Chicken pita. It had lettuce and tomatoes and grilled chicken in it- hold the onions.



The pluses:
- it was fast
- the girl I ordered from was nice
- the calories are all listed next to the food items (i don't care but i should- maybe you are more conscious of what you eat and this will appeal to you)
- the chicken was tender & well seasoned
- there is an interesting feature on the soda fountain in there where you can add cherry, vanilla or orange to your coke or sprite or whatever. I didn't get one but- seems cool.
- there is plenty of seating indoor and out



I went and sat outside and jammed that puppy down the hatch. Not AMAZING. The tzatziki was not as sour as I like and too thick. But they don't FORCE you to put in on your stuff (and if you are counting those calories, you'd be better skipping it). I liked my gyro from Norm's better, but it's totally edible- fast to eat- and I didn't feel yucky afterward. Most importantly, I was able to do my errands without feeling like I was going to faint. It is a totally reasonable quick bite if you are in need of some nourishment while shopping at Empire Center.

This gets a quick bite approval. By me. Which is very fancy and super official!