9034 Woodley Ave
North HIlls, CA 91343
(818) 891-6661


I can't believe I haven't already reviewed this place, as it was one of the first places Kelly and I tried when we moved up to North Hills 6 years ago and we loved it! Big Portions, Great Food and Good Prices, with the only complaint being only bear and wine, no margaritas!

The funny part is that when we first came we just got the Tortas. Tortas are delicious Mexican sandwiches, and the Tortas Barbocoa with the amazing beef in a pit barbeque is beyond amazing. Other than that I also had the great burritos and tacos, and they have many delicious meats including a great carne asada. With that we were pretty much happy for years, but we were so very wrong.

Ameci Pizza & Pasta
16858 San Fernando Mission Blvd
Granada Hills, CA 91344
(818) 363-0484



Honestly Kelly and I ended up here because it was Sunday and that was when we realized that JeJe Chicken was closed, but Kelly had heard it was good, so we gave it a try.

The food was alright. Huge portions, but not that great, just alright, nothing I would care to try again.

I had a peperoni calzone, with Ricotta and Mozzarella and sauce on the side.
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It was decent, and tasty, but nothing too special. The marinara sauce didn't stand out, nor were there any spices that seemed special. Big, but just OK.

Kelly got a meatball sub sub with marinara.


Again, big portions, but nothing to make it stand out either.

Decent enough, but nothing I would seek out or try again.

Matt & Tony's Submarine Sandwiches
10710 Sepulveda Blvd
Mission Hills, CA 91345
(818) 365-2310



I do love subs, and Kelly and I were hungry and it was Sunday so Defranko's was closed, so we saw this place and decided to give it a try. It was alright, but nothing too special for the price, and likely would not go again.




It is a strange little place with a deli counter and some tables, but not much else.

I got the Pepper Steak on soft bread with everything (onions, tomatoes and pickles). The meat was the best part, tasty and not oily, but the sandwich needed something else.


Kelly got a turkey with mustard and it was much the same, not bad, but nothing special.

They also have a hard bread which we didn't try and should have.

OK, with a small selection of chips, and they were out of some of the soda in the soda fountain, and the place seemed a little sketchy. With strange parking in back, and not well lit, though it was clean.

Might be OK for a Sunday since DeFranko's is closed, but any other day I would hit the perfection that is DeFranko's.

Umami Burger
500 Broadway,
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 451-1300
Mon-Sat 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Sun 12:00 PM - 10:00 PM



I am a huge burger guy, and have been my whole life. I just love a good burger, but my needs are pretty simple and many frou frou burgers leave me cold. There are of course exceptions, like the amazing Pug Burger at Hungry Cat, but Umami Burger is not an exception for me, as I was not at all impressed.

This Umami Burger is in Fred Segal in Santa Monica with ample parking and some outdoor seating.

I am not one for Cheese on my hamburger, as I am allergic, but I wanted to try it how it was supposed to be, so I went for the Manly Burger with beer-cheddar cheese, bacon lardons, smoked salt onion rings, house ketchup and mustard

And honestly to me the truffle oil completely overpowered the meat and made it taste to me like a portabello mushroom. Not bad, but not too burger-y!

The shoe string fries were good and I enjoyed the different ketchup and dips to try, though the ketchup seemed too sweet to me.


After all the hype I had heard I thought I would like it more, but I was not too impressed. Too frou frou for me.

Give me grilled onions, lettuce, dill pickles, ketchup and mustard and I would be happy (though a good guacamole burger is great sometimes).

JeJe Chicken
16970 San Fernando Mission Blvd, Suite C1
Granada Hills, CA 91344
(818) 832-5252
Mon-Sat 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM



I have been a huge fan of Zan Kou chicken for many years, and was so happy when one opened near me, but after eating at JeJe Chicken I will likely never eat at Zan Kou Chicken again. JeJe Chicken is that much better!

This place is fantastic in fact! Great food, just so darn tasty!

The first thing I tried was the Chicken Shawerma Plate ($11.99) which is what I always get at Zankou, and it was just so much better. The chicken was so moist, and I love their garlic sauce, and the salad.





Kelly got the Shish Kebob plate, which was also fantastic! The meat was juicy and perfectly spiced!

On my second trip I tried the JeHe Chicken Plate, which I had a second time with Kelly. It is awesome. The cilantro sauce is delicious, and even my cilantro hating wife like it, just lemony and good., and the bed of Pita chips, though they get soggy in the sauce work wonderfully well, and the chicken is so tasty.
On my next trip I went for the Chickan Kabob Plate, and wasn't dissapointed with the delicious chicken, huge and fresh pitas. Wow!







Kelly got a Fish Crisp with Fried Swai, tamarind Sauce, cabbage and tomato in a pita! Delicious!

We also tried their seasoned fries with home made ketchup and garlic sauce, and their tasty baklava.


You really can't go wrong on this place, and I like it so much I plan on trying everything on the menu! They also have lunch specials with wraps, salad and a drink and falafel wrap specials on wednesday and friday and fish crisp wrap specials on Tuesday and Thursday!

This place is a must try! It could not be better!

•••••••

Unfortunately JeJe's has been taken over by new management and my wife and I were not at all impressed. Nothing nearly as good as it was. Now I have already changed my review on yelp and the restaurant has recently contacted me to try out some free dishes to see what I think and if I will update my review. I have not gone and tried it again.

Tsujita LA Artistan Noodle ANNEX
2050 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 231-0222
11am-12am (11:30 PM Last Order) 7 days a week


It has been years since  I have eaten on Japanese food on Sawtelle, and it sure has changed a whole lot. Kelly and I wanted to have something special for our wedding anniversary, so we wanted to try something great, and I kept reading reviews of Tsujita and especially of it's annex.

When you get there, neither will be hard to find as there are huge lines for both and they are across the street from each other. At the annex, it is in a little parking lot where they have setup chairs to wait. There are no reservations, no takeout and it is cash only. You put your name on a list, an they wait a while, then when they are getting ready they come over to you and take your order, then you wait some more and get brought in. We waited for a little over an hour, and people just kept coming, but some people do leave, so sometimes you will move up the list quickly!



The inside is quite small, though not packed, with a sushi style bar with the chefs behind it, and a couple of tables (which we sat at) and traditional Japanese music playing.

Kelly and I both wanted to try the Tsukemen, which is Ramen with the noodles cooked, but seperate for dipping into your bowl of delicious pork bone broth. We both got Tsukemen with Char siu (pork) though I got a large. You get the same sized boll with broth, which comes with garlic and Onikasu (red Spice, though you can get it without, and there is ample more at the table) and a perfectly cooked soft boiled egg. In the broth is some pork that is melty delicious, and some more cold pork in with the noodles that you put in the broth to heat up.





I was so excited to eat that I was late taking a picture, so this from their menu, and then after I had eaten quit a bit.

Prepare to get messy, as you could use a big with all the dipping and slurping, of which there will be a lot. The broth is fatty and salty and vinegary and delicious, and the Onikasu is not too spicy at all but perfect.

This will make you realize what is so special about Ramen. It is so damn good! Just incredible! This is absolutely amazing food!

Honestly my only complaint is it is a bit too salty for my pallet, but then post my heart surgery I really stay away from salt even more that I used to, and is so good it is worth the extra salt to try this delicious dish!

Man this place is good!

Horseless Carriage Restaurant
15505 Roscoe Blvd.
North Hills, CA 91343
(818) 892-3707
7am - 9 PM




Kelly and I had wanted to try this place for a long time, as we had heard good things, and we had tried before, but the parking is pretty limited, but we finally made our way here.

The place is tiny, with a counter and a row of booths and some seats outside, where we sat, as we didn't want to wait for a booth.

The service was good, and so was the food. Decent diner food.

I had a very decent diner hamburger, the Galpinburger which was a large 1/2 pound burger with fries, coleslaw, lettuce, tomato and pickles. A bit pricy at $10.95, but as I said a decent diner burger.

Kelly had some sort of crab eggs benedict, which was delicious and huge, and quite tasty.

And we got a hot fudge sunday for desert and they split it into 2 dishes for us, and it was heaped with fudge above and below the ice cream.

Enjoyable, though a pain to park with decent food and a huge menu.

8501 Sepulveda Blvd.
North Hills, CA 91343
(818) 895-2385
6:30 AM - 9:00 PM





My wife Kelly and I had passed this place many times, and since she loves breakfast we thought we should give it a try, and honestly I wish we had passed. The best thing I can say is it is really inexpensive, but the food was mediocre at best and so was the service.

Not only that, but the place is kind of dark and dingy. And we while the waitresses were very busy, we really waited a while to even have someone come by and take our orders.

As I said the best thing was price, as Kelly got a 2+2+2+2 special for $4.99 with 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 strips of bacon and 2 sausage links. She wasn't too hot on the pancakes which were not very fluffy and the eggs weren't too special.

I went for a hamburger with fried and a salad. The salad was basically iceberg lettuce with Italian dressing. The fries seemed previously frozen, and burger though a decent size was nothing special at all.

Overall I would skip this place completely, unless you really need a cheap breakfast and that is the only criteria.

Beeps Fast Food
16063 Sherman Way
Van Nuys, CA 91406
(818) 781-0830
7am - 9pm



My wife and I had passed this place quite a few times and always wanted to try it out, and finally did. It has very little parking, and even less space inside. Just a few booths by the counter you stand to order from, and a few seats outside. With some 50's albums hanging and playing.

We were very excited by the menu and cheap prices, but were not so impressed by the food or the service. We waited sat in cheap plastic chairs outside (no booths were available) and waited a long time for our food, though not nearly as long as the couple next to us who ordered before us.

I got a Steak and Cheese Sandwhich and fries, and was very unimpressed. Low quality and very very greasy meat that was not very tasty.

Kelly got an original breakfast special, 2 eggs, bacon, and sausage with toast and home fries for $4.99 and found it OK, but nothing special.

We were going to get some ice cream when we left, but we waited for a while in line and gave up and left.

We would not go here again.

Midori Sushi
17047 Ventura Blvd
Encino, CA 91316
(818) 995-0888



Kelly and I haven't had Sushi in a while, and she had never had All You Can Eat Sushi, so we saw good reviews for this place, and decided to try it and were pleasantly surprised by just how good it was.

It is $22.50 per person for lunch and includes 4 different specialty items you can try. Much of the sushi pieces seemed pre-cut, but the fish was fresh and tasty. And Kelly got to try Uni and sweet shrimp and other things she had never tried. The rolls were huge and tasty, and we got a lot of food fast.

I would go back here in a second, though maybe not with Kelly as she barely was able to eat her fill of All You Can Eat to make it worth it, though I easily exceeded the $22.50.

The place is very nice and clean, and the chefs were great. I recommend checking this place out.