Pedro V.

Daily Grill

I dined at the Daily Grill, Universal City recently and was somewhat impressed by the food and service. We started during their happy hour, which is actually pretty darn good. The domestic beers are $2.95 (regular $3.95), which consist of basically Bud and Bud Lite, and the house wines are $3.95 (regular $5.50). I tried both and was totally blown away by the house red, which I believe was a Cabernet Sauvingnon, but I didn't ask to verify. Anway, it was excellent and I highly recommend ordering a glass of red wine during happy hour instead of beer. However, they have a decent selection of beers on tap including Guiness, Stella, and Bass.

The happy hour appetizers are actually pretty good. Prices for all apps are $2.95 and include items like Chicken Fingers, Popcorn Shrimp, Spinach Artichoke Dip, and Onion Rings. I thought the Chicken Fingers and Rings were just outstanding, especially for the price, and all HH items were served very promptly. One warning, you have to be in the bar area to take advantage of the HH pricing.

Dinner was absolutely awesome, and we elected to order a bottle of wine to accompany our meal. The prices range from $15 to $25, which I believe are slightly over priced, but you'll definitely get a good meal, especially if you're a steak or ribs type of person.

Bottom line, if you're going to visit the Daily Grill during happy hour (4-7 pm), I highly recommend getting there early because the bar area fills up mighty quick and you could get stuck standing next to a smelly fat guy like I did.

PROS: Happy Hour prices
CONS: Service is okay, Universal City is annoying, Parking is $10.00

Sonoya Inc

Sonoya is an excellent, family run, sushi house off Artesia in North Redondo. The food is excellent, especially the sushi, and comes at very reasonable prices. Their lunch specials are particularly good....once I got a delicious Teriyaki Chicken bowl for just $4.50!!! The sushi is top notch and always very fresh. We ordered the lunch sushi platter, which was an excellent value and everything was good. As many sushi foodies know, ordering a sushi combination platter is a risk because some of the items (i.e. Tamago, Clam, etc.) may not be what you want or may not be very good. In this case there was no filler and everything was awesome! They even allowed us to sustitute a Spicy Tuna roll for the standard California Roll.

If you're looking for a good Japanese restaurant in the south bay without pretentious crowds and great service, look no further, Sonoya is it!!

PROS: Food Quality, Service
CONS: Location

Sen Nari Sushi Restaurant

I tried Sen Nari after a friend recommended it and my dining experience exceeded my expectations. Eating at the sushi bar was great as the chefs were very attentive and friendly. All sushi was very fresh and amazingly good. I was especially impressed by the Sake, Maguro, and Unagi!! The soft shelled crab appetizer was awesome!

The decor in Sen Nari is okay, and the location isn't great, but the focus is purely on the quality of the sushi, which is exceptional! Highly recommend!!

PROS: Excellent Quality Sushi, Decent Prices, Good Service
CONS: Location, Decor

Flower Drum Restaurant

Flower Drum is a hidden gem near LAX off West Century. The food is superb and their prices are very, very reasonable. I personally dine there almost twice a week and the food/service never ceases to exceed my expectations. I personally recommend 1) Singapore Rice Noodles, 2) Mu Shu Pork, 3) Mongolian Pork, 4) Any of their wonderful soups.

Flower Drum also has a great lunch menu with several dishes priced between $4.95 and $6.50. The Spicy Chicken dish is awesome!! And it comes with fried rice, salad, dumpling, and egg roll.

The only problem with Flower Drum is their location. The other day some wierd homeless guy tried to talk to me while I was leaving. Well...that's LA for you!

If you work anywhere near LAX drop by Flower Drum for lunch and you won't be disappointed!

PROS: Food Quality, Prices, Plenty of Parking
CONS: Location

Big Mike's Philly Steaks

Big Mike's specializes is big, tasty sandwiches. The prices are reasonable, and the sandwiches (mostly sub) are an excellent value, especially if you order the large! My favorite is the eggplant parm, but I've never had a bad meal there.

The restaurant has limited seating, but there are a few tables outside, which make it a nice lunch stop on a sunny day.

If you're in El Segundo for lunch, I highly recommend stopping at Big Mikes for a sub sandwich, you won't be disappointed.

PROS: Good value, tasty sandwiches, outside tables
CONS: Limited seating

Chef Hannes Restaurant

Chef Hannes has become one of my favorite restaurants in El Segundo. The entrees are delicious (and reasonably priced), and the service is spectacular. The entrees are mainly French, and they often offer amazing specials. The ribeye steak is my favorite.

The dining area is very small, and hence seating is very limited, but I think the intimate setting provides for a very romantic setting. Chef Hannes is perfect for a date on a Thursday or Friday night.

The restaurant has a fair wine selection, but they also allow corkage. I believe corkage is $15, but they offer free corkage on Monday and Tuesdays, which makes dining a even better bargain!

I have recommended Chef Hannes to multiple freinds and they have all fell in love with it. Enjoy!!

PROS: Intimate setting, great food, spectacular service
CONS: None that I can think of

Coyote Cantina

I have always enjoyed dining at Coyote Cantina. The food prices are very reasonable, and the service is excellent. Most recently I had the spinach enchilada dish, which was just delicious and very filling. One recommendation I would make is to make reservations on a Friday or Saturday as the restaurant fills up really fast! The restaurant also has a good selection of beer on tap.

PROS: Great food, friendly service, plenty of parking
CONS: Wait time on a Friday of Saturday

Supercuts

I visited Supercuts a couple times in the last year, purely out of desperation, and I have not been impressed by the quality or value of my haircut. The wait is usually at least 20 minutes even if there aren't very many customers waiting. I have mixed feelings on the hair stylists. I've received one good hair cut, one decent one, and one horrible one. My hair cut last time was so bad; my girl friend wouldn't stop making fun of me for days! The worst thing about Supercuts is that if you do find a good stylist who fits your needs, you can't request them without paying an additional 2-3 dollars!! I would recommend avoiding a big chain like Supercuts because you can't guarantee the quality of the service without paying an arm and a leg.

PROS: Location
CONS: Long wait, Variable Quality, Extra charge for requests by name

V & A Auto Body

I have used V&A autobody twice in the last two years. Ari and Vic are very honest and reliable. They have always stood by the quote they provided. They will give you an upfront assesment of all the repairs that need to be made. They rely solely on word of mouth for advertising, which is a testament to the quality of service they provide. I have recomended V&A to freinds on several occasions and those friends came away very satisfied.

PROS: Honest, fast, reliable
CONS: Location

Rice Things

Rice Things has become a staple take out restaurant for me. The combination plates are delicious and priced very resonably. Rice Things offers a huge selection of items that you can get with your combination plate, and the 2-item plate is just over $4.00, which is simply unbelievable for what you get! I recommend getting the Chicken Katsu and Salmon Teriyaki, which are my personal favorites.

Rice Things is also good for a sit down lunch, however they have very limited seating, so you'll want to get there early and beat the crowds.

Next time you're there, make sure you grab a menu to take home, because they make it really easy to call in your order and pick it up in a snap!