The Official Los Angeles Shopping + Dining Thread

[Spencer]



old skool m

a7 is nice, saw a nice brand new s4 on stasis wheels and exhaust at the jw in palm dessert

thinking about a 6 gran coupe next year

6 series GC is ******* sweet, really dig the MBZ CLS as well. But to me, Audi's price point and styling are best. You can get a loaded A7 for 20-30K less than a loaded 645/650 gc.

 

[Spencer]



what everybody else has said. 5 saves about 2 hours, if traffic is moving. 101 saves sanity. 101 isn't a gorgeous drive by any means, but the 5 is just awful (exception: after first rains when everything greens up there's a couple weeks of prettiness. lots of places to stop and eat on the 101 -- la super rica in santa barbara, blue sky cafe in slo. on the 5 about the only option is harris ranch, which does have a very good tri-tip sandwich. FG seal of approval.

This.

5 is so ******* boring and mundane. Burgers at Harris Ranch are good, but I can’t remember, do you drive by the millions of cows and manure going North or South? Always better eating at Harris, before you drive by the slaughter house.

101 from Santa Barbara to Paso Robles is gorgeous, and if you have time to stop at some of the great vineyards and cafes, do it. Tri Tip sandy at Firestones in SLO is the best.

 

[foodguy]

iirc, feedlots are just south of harris. more like coalinga.

 

[Spencer]

So disgusting. I mean I have no problems eating tasty meat, and for all I know Harris does it right and is organic, but the smell from those cows, and just seeing thousands of them essentially standing on top of each other is not a pleasant site.

 

[niomosy]



This.

5 is so ******* boring and mundane. Burgers at Harris Ranch are good, but I can’t remember, do you drive by the millions of cows and manure going North or South? Always better eating at Harris, before you drive by the slaughter house.

101 from Santa Barbara to Paso Robles is gorgeous, and if you have time to stop at some of the great vineyards and cafes, do it. Tri Tip sandy at Firestones in SLO is the best.

The cows are east of the 5 so you'll always be closest to them on the 5 northbound. That said, you'll still smell them southbound as the southbound lanes are only a small grass/dirt median away.

The 101 is not a bad drive but in all honesty, I'm normally fine with the 5 as it gets us to and from faster. With having to stop for the kids, making up time on the 5 helps out. That said, I do love it when I can actually stop in Paso Robles and get some wine tasting in. Unfortunately, we're usually too time-crunched heading north and left too late to make it to Paso before closing when heading south. I can only rarely win.

 

[foodguy]



The cows are east of the 5 so you'll always be closest to them on the 5 northbound. That said, you'll still smell them southbound as the southbound lanes are only a small grass/dirt median away.

dude, with that smell, that's like saying it's better to be 10 feet from an atom bomb going off than 5 feet. i'm an ag guy and fully accept the necessity of feedlots. but that's some powerful stuff.

 

[lawyerdad]



So disgusting. I mean I have no problems eating tasty meat, and for all I know Harris does it right and is organic, but the smell from those cows, and just seeing thousands of them essentially standing on top of each other is not a pleasant site.

It's a bit of a Michael Pollan moment.

 

[StanleyVanBuren]

you guys know it's called "Cowschwitz" right

 

[foodguy]

actually, feed lots are funny things. they're repulsive to humans, but the cattle don't seem to mind. put a bunch of cattle out on knee-high grass, and within 30 minutes they'll all be standing in a clump so close together they're almost touching. what really gets them upset is being moved from one place to another.

 

[A Y]

I visit the racetrack at Buttonwillow a few times a year, and it has a smell that I've always thought was cow, but when I look up Harris Ranch, it's much further north, and I don't smell it when I go to Fresno via Paso Robles. I can also smell that smell if I'm on CA-33 coming over from Ojai, near the oil pumps near Taft and Maricopa (that part of 33 is literally called the Petroleum Highway). Maybe byproduct from the oil drilling?

Willow Ranch Restaurant at the turnoff for 58 (to go to Bakersfield) is also worth stopping for. It's good, solid barbecue in the middle of nowhere.

 

[foodguy]

yeah, buttonwillow the smell is more like toxic waste. think i'm joking?

 

[StanleyVanBuren]

you guys ever been to South Nowhere?

 

[foodguy]



you guys ever been to South Nowhere?

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

no place to eat.

 

[jet]



6 series GC is ******* sweet, really dig the MBZ CLS as well. But to me, Audi's price point and styling are best. You can get a loaded A7 for 20-30K less than a loaded 645/650 gc.

freal? always remember audi being overpriced n **** but then today i saw a 650gc with m tech and sticker was 105

 

[Baron]

You guys are neglecting the other route - the 99! Travel Joad style, slow, but there are lots of places to eat along the way. I drove the 99 back from Nevada City last year and found a great hole in the wall mexican joint with excellent chile verde and house made corn tortillas in Modesto (or Merced, can't remember). And then you can stop in Bakersfield for Basque food or for Ice Cream at Dewars.