Bottomless Mimosa Guide: Upstairs at Vitellos

Sept 2016 Update: A reader informed us this brunch no longer serves bottomless mimosas. Bummer!

Having just returned from Nawlins, we’re currently obsessed with Jazz Brunches. Which is wonderful timing, as Vitello’s has just re-upped it’s Fall Brunch Jazz Series. Music + Mimosas + Eggies is a great way to spend a lazy and hazy Saturday or Sunday.

 

The Spot: Vitello’s, Studio City

Boozy Brunch Hours: Saturday & Sunday, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Bottomless Mimosa Deal: $14 Bottomless OJ+Champy

Menu Highlights: A good mix of both breakfast and lunch items, as any good brunch should be. The menu is rather large, but our picks for breakfast: Baked Eggs Italiano, Huevos Rancheros Stack, and Heirloom Bennie all sound great. For lunch: Tuna Melt FTW.

 

Vitello’s / 4349 Tujunga Ave, Studio City CA / (818) 769-0905 / http://www.vitellosjazz.com/

 

Angel’s Piano Bar Happy Hour

Update Feb 2012: Angels has closed, new venue coming soon…

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Recipe for the perfect happy hour:

One part live music. (Live jazz bands, singers, saxophone players, etc. The lineup changes daily.)

One part cheap drinks. (2 for 1 premium wells, $5 wine, $6 margs, $8 dealers choice, $12 sangria pitchers, $3 PBR, $4 beers)

One part discounted southern style bites. ($4-$7 plates like deep fried pickles, pulled pork sliders, cormeal crusted calamari & more!)

One part convenience (Happy hour runs Tues – Fri, 5pm – 8pm!!!)

Add a pinch of awesomeness by offering Happy Hour pricing on drinks ALL NIGHT on Tuesdays and you’re set!

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Really, it’s an fantastic recipe for an amazing time on a short budget. Not to mention, the vibe inside Angels is very swank. It feels very 1930s/40s rat pack, where you’d think shady dealings were doing down over bourbons on the rocks, while a sultry Jessica Rabbit entertains the crowd. Delicious, drunk, and entertaining.

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Angel’s Piano Bar / 2460 Willshire Blvd, Santa Monica / 310.828.2115 / http://angelssantamonica.com/

Yes…it’s another Beer Fest!

K and I are nowhere near vegan, we love everything too much to even consider cutting something out of our diet.  We are, however, fans of beer and especially beer fests.  Which is the reason we are on board with this weekend’s 1st Annual Vegan Beer Fest, hosted by Tony’s Darts Away and QuarryGirl.  You don’t have to be vegan to attend, so don’t let the name throw you off -vegan,  carnivore, plant-eating brontosaurus, scientologist, whatever you may be, the bottom line is we all love beer.

Vegan Beer Fest will be held on Saturday, November 6th at the Roxy on Sunset from 1-5pm. Yay day drinking! If you buy tickets in advance (read: NOW) general admission tickets are only $35 and VIP just $45.   If you like to procrastinate, like 99.9% of our friends, you will have to shell out an extra $10 for each type of ticket.  Which is okay since a portion of proceeds from ticket sales will benefit ARME, an organization that rescues unwanted and homeless animals and strives to end animal suffering.

Tickets get you access to unlimited pours of booze (this is a beer fest, afterall) from over 20 breweries including:

• Bootlegger’s Brewery
• Eagle Rock Brewery
• The Lost Abbey
• Stone Brewing Co.
• Firestone Walker
• Karl Strauss
• Sierra Nevada
• Anchor Brewing
• …..and many more!

Just like all the other fests, you can expect live music (from the likes of Paul Chesne, Owl Acid, Make Peace Brothers, Ease Up, and Holland Greco) and of course…. food trucks!  Which is where the vegan part kicks in, participating vegan food trucks include:

• Yalla Truck
• The Frankenstand
• Fresh Fries
• Mandoline Grill
• SeaBird’s
• Doomie’s

 

Tickets available on Ticketmaster, for more info check out www.losangelesvegan.com.

Taste of Abbot Kinney!

Yes, it’s true, ANOTHER ‘fest’ type event – the Taste of Abbot Kinney.  Which means, another reason to spend the better part of your weekend eating and drinking.  But really, what else would you rather be doing?  AND, it’s for a good cause, proceeds will support Inside Out Community Arts.

Taste of Abbot Kinney returns this Sunday, October 24, from 3-7pm.  And even though it’s called a ‘taste’, you can do much more than sample food and booze, you can also get deals on a whole lot more including salon and spa services, photography specials, and even tarot card readings!  Plus there will be live music! I love exclamation marks!

Tickets can be purchased according to the number of ‘tastes’ you want, you can start with 15 tastes for $25 and buy up to 60 tastes for $100.  These are discounted prices that are only available until 10/22 so get your tickets now before prices go up!  There will also be tickets on sale the day of the event but only if they do not sell out beforehand.  Just do yourself a favor and get them now.  Also a note that not everything is valued at 1 ‘taste’, i.e. you may have to use a couple taste tickets to actually taste something.

AND, get an even better deal on tickets if you go through www.goldstar.com and buy your tickets before Friday.  Goldstar is offering 25 tastes for $30 and 50 tastes for $60. 

 

Here is a list of some participating restauarants/food trucks/boozers to whet your appetite:

• Hal’s
• Abbot’s Habit
• French Market Café
• Joe’s
• Lilly’s French Café
• The Otheroom
• Primitivo
• Jin Patisserie
• Ludo Truck
• Lake Street Creamery Truck
• Slammin Sliders Truck
• The Boba Truck
• Downtown Dogs
• Lincoln Fine Wines
• Babcock Winery
• Conway Family Wines
• Niner Wine Estates
• Intelligentsia

Check out the official website for a full list of vendors and to purchase your tickets!

www.tasteofabbotkinney.com  

Pasadena Wine Fest

This must be the year for fests. We’ve been to beer fests, gourmet fests, food truck fests, and wine fests this year, nearly twice a month!

Obviously, Pasadena didn’t want to miss out on all this festy action and decided they’d join the party and hold a fest of their own: The Pasadena Wine Festival.

I love that they don’t even mention food in the title (though it will be there) – they just sell the wine. And with 125 different wines being represented there will definitely be lots of it!

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Pasadena Wine Festival

When: October 9th, 2010 / 2pm – 10pm

Location: LA County Arboretum

Details: Wine Tastings + Food Trucks + Live Music

Tickets: See Below

* GA: $28 (Includes: entrance + $1.00 wine tastings, food samples, a tram tour + live music)

* Deluxe: $55 ( Gets you free tastings of all participating wines poured in main tasting area, i.e. no VIP tastings + Live Music. We think this is probably your best bet ticketwise)

* VIP: $85 (Includes everything in Deluxe package + VIP access + food tastes from the Pala Casino chef team, VIP wine tastings, & backstage access)

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Warning: at a similar Wine Fest (Taste of Beverly Hills) I experienced wine euphoria.  From the moment I walked in vendors were begging me to try not one, but 3-4 of their wines…

10 minutes later I was pretty well wine’d up (and no longer able to truly ‘taste’ anything I tried, let alone walk in a straight line).

So, learning from my mistakes, I recommend that you take it slow. Enjoy a couple sips, enjoy a couple bites, and maybe mix in some water in between. You’ll have a long day of tasting and you wouldn’t want to blow your load all on the first vendor!

Taste of Marina Del Rey

We are on a relentless pursuit to keep you fat & happy every weekend. This weekend’s stuff-your-face food adventure?

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TASTE OF MARINA DEL REY

When: August 7th & 8th, 11am – 10pm

Where: 4211 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292-5413

Tickets: $35 at online & at gate, or $17.50 on Goldstar!

What’s Included: Admission, Concerts, & 5 taste tickets usable at over 50 different local vendors

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So this isn’t a ‘play a flat fee and stuff your face endlessly’ kinda event. It’s more like: get some food with your ticket price, but everything else will cost ya, which is why if you’re going we STRONGLY encourage buying your tickets for 1/2off via Goldstar.

Your ticket does get you entry to see some live acts though, including the Gin Blossoms, who I haven’t heard from or thought of since middle school – but damn I used to love slow dancing to ‘Til I Hear it from You’ in the Chinook Middle School gym.

Also, some of the vendors at the event are boozy, like the Wine Expo, so we can only hope that this means small plastic cups of Chardonnay will be available to enjoy along with our Villa Tacos or Arcadie Crepes.

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The location looks perfect (by the water!) and it seems like the perfect opportunity to try some smaller restaurants we’ve never heard of before.

Bottomless Mimosa Guide: Malibu Cafe

How is it already August?! This summer has gone by with not enough vacation and too much time in an air conditioned office.  Since joining the working world, ‘summer’ doesn’t mean as much anymore which is probably why I crave bottomless booze on the weekends.  Sad, isn’t it?…Well not really, since bottomless brunches are pretty much the best thing ever.

This week’s bottomless pick is part getaway and part…not getaway – The Malibu Cafe at Calimigos Ranch.  Calamigos Ranch is a gorgeous outdoor venue in Malibu – host to wine tastings, wedddings, banquets, etc; and on Sundays they are a great brunch destination as well.  It isn’t your let’s-drink-until-we-get-kicked-out type of spot but it is definitely worth driving to for a nice champagne brunch.  Malibu Cafe is a large outdoor venue, they have a live bluegrass band playing, and private cabanas to enjoy your food+bubbly in.    They also have a pool table, shuffleboard and paddle boats on the lake (and the lake has ducks! too cute, I love ducks). It’s like a mini vacation for a day – exactly what I need right now!

Sunday Brunch at the Malibu Cafe runs from 10a-3p and even though the destination is super nice, the menu is super affordable.   Entrees are between $12 and $16 (breakfast sandwich, lobster benedict, belgian pancakes, marscapone stuffed french toast….yum).  And the mimosas are free flowing all afternoon long!  And I really mean free-flowing, they are included (for of-age guests) with the purchase of your brunch entree.  Could it get any better? (Update 2014: mimosas are now $15 for bottomless, with a 2 hr time max)

I am dying to head here and enjoy a lazy Sunday – good food, endless mimosas and paddle boats? I could die happy.

Have a good weekend!

V+K

The Malibu Cafe. 327 S Latigo Canyon. (818) 540.2400. www.themalibucafe.com

Food Truck Fix

Just another quick post today about an event this weekend where you will be able to indulge in some food truck grub.  Seems like there is a festival almost every weekend with food trucks!

This weekend you can find many of your favorite trucks – India Jones, Barbie Q’s, Cool Haus, and Frysmith to name a few – at the Silver Lake Jubilee.  This is not a foodie event but actually a 2 day festival featuring a TON of bands (and some comedy acts) and they will also have a beer garden – who could ask for more?, art installations and literary performances for the poet in you.  The event is Saturday and Sunday from 10a-10p, and tickets can be purchased for just $5 ($5!!! If you don’t have plans this weekend there is no reason to not go to this) at www.silverlakejubilee.com .

Mother’s Day Bubbly Brunches!

In honor of Mother’s day the Friday feature today will be geared towards Mother’s Day mimosa brunches – some bottomless and some with mimosa specials. My mom isn’t anywhere near as boozy as me so mimosas are pretty much out of the question for me on Sunday, in fact one time my mom had a glass of champagne at a graduation event and felt dizzy after only drinking half.  It is pretty apparent I inherited most of my father’s genes and I hope when I’m a mom my kids know well enough to take me to a bottomless brunch. So, if your mom does enjoy a cocktail every now and then or even more often than that – then definitely check out some of these spots for Sunday. I’m too lazy today to check to see if any of these are already over booked so good luck trying to get reservations.

 

West Hollywood/Hollywood/Beverly Hills:

-Whisper Lounge: Whisper lounge is at the Grove so you can tackle 2 birds with one stone and take mom out shopping (or take yourself out shopping with mom’s credit card) after getting her liquored up on mimosas.  Whisper Lounge has a 2-course jazz brunch for $22.95/person from 11a-3p featuring a complimentary glass of bubbly for your mom! (323) 931.0202

-Taste: (brunch special offered at both Melrose and Palisades locations) One of our favorite mimosa brunch spots will have a 3-course Mother’s Day brunch including a dessert buffet for $29/person, bottomless mimosas are an extra $14/person.  (323) 852.6888

–The Foundry: 3-course brunch for $39/person + free glass of champagne (and a rose! The flower, not rose wine as I first thought when reading about the deal). (323) 651.0915.

-The Belvedere: Swanky option at the Peninsula Hotel, brunch will put you out $105/person but includes bottomless bubbly and a 3-course meal.  The spot to go to if you have (a) been an awful child lately and need to redeem yourself or (b) if you are looking for some extra brownie points or (c) if your mom has an obsession with the Real Housewives of OC (or any other city for that matter). (310) 551.2888.

-The London: Another swanky pick, Gordon Ramsey’s digs at the London will have a brunch for $85/person with free flowing bubbly, baked goods, cheese plates, made to order omlettes, French toast, salads and even a sushi bar!  (310) 358.7788

 

West LA: 

-Napa Valley Grille:  Fairly new spot in Westwood, will have a 4-course brunch for $45/person and $4 mimosa specials, with live music from a jazz trio. (310) 824.3322. 

-Fraiche: Santa Monica spot will have a $45 3-course brunch that includes a cocktail (bellini, lychee prosecco – yum, or passion fruit prosecco). Brunch runs from 11a-2:30p.  (310) 451.7482 

-Ocean and Vine: Located at the Loews in SM, this place has amazing ocean views.  Will have a bottomless champagne brunch with flowers for moms, running from 10a-3p, $72/person and $36 for kids. (310) 576.3180

-Wilshire: Westside spot with great food, will have brunch on their patio from 11:30a-3p, unlimited bloody marys and mimosas.  Brunch is $55/adults and $30/kids. (310) 586.1707.

Downtown:

-Biltmore: The Biltmore has an afternoon Mother’s day tea special for $35/person feauturing tea sandwiches, scones + jam and desserts.  With your choice of tea and a glass of bubbly. (213) 612.1562.

-Chaya: Love love love Chaya, bottomless bubbly with brunch for $38/person. Amazing food – they even have Valrhona chocolate brownies (yum yum yum).  Runs from 11a-3p. (213) 236.9577.

-Ciudad: 3-course prix-fixe menu for $39/person plus $4.50 extra for bottomless mimosas (if you mention DowntownLA.com).  A good spot to impress mom if she is a fan of Top Chef masters, Susan Feniger can do no wrong, great menu. (213) 486.5171.

 

These are just a few of the many brunch options that will be available for Sunday, if you are still reading this and haven’t called for a reservation at any of these, stop what you’re doing and call now, I’m serious. Your mom will thank us later.

Happy Mother’s day to our Mothers who we are thankful turn a blind eye to our budding alcoholism, have a great Mother’s day weekend!!

Cinco de Mayo Guide – Part I

Cinco de Mayo – another holiday that exists almost purely to give us an excuse to drink in excess.  Unfortunately this year the holiday falls mid-week so be prepared to call in sick on Thursday.  We are going to break down events around town in 2 parts, today we will give you some festive options at local Mexican restaurants in each area. And tomorrow, we will follow up with Cinco de Mayo events and drink specials at non-Mexican venues, since we know that going to a Mexican place on Cinco de Mayo is just as crazy as going to an Irish pub on St Patty’s.

There are of course the regulars that come to mind, El Cholo, El Compadre, El Coyote, El Carmen etc. and although those places will all probably be packed on Wednesday, they don’t really have any extra drink specials for the holiday.  So here are our picks for a boozy Mexican celebration in each part of town:

WEST HOLLYWOOD

–Spanish Kitchen: The Spanish Kitchen kicked off their Cinco de Mayo celebration early, and have had drink specials running for the holiday since last Friday.  They have $5 drink specials all night, with a different drink featured every hour that will be selected from their Drink Wheel. On Wednesday, they will have $5 margaritas, $3 Tecates, and specials on shots of tequila.  They will also have prizes and giveaways and free mustache airbrushing.  Call in advance to reserve a table for any night this week and especially for Wednesday. 826 N La Cienega. (310) 659.4794.

–Borracho Cantina: Huge Cinco de Mayo party starting at 5pm on Wednesday featuring Mariachi bands, a DJ, Dos Equis tribal dancers, shot girls and a beer garden. $5 margarita special until 6pm and again from 10pm-1am. Must call ahead to reserve wristbands. 8570 Sunset Blvd. (310) 289.8809.

–Mexico Restaurant & Bar: This spot on SM Blvd will have $15 pitchers of Dos Equis and Tecate, $8 margs, $5 tamales and taquitos and live mariachi music. Their FB page also says that Star 98.7 will be present all day. Specials will run from noon to 2am. 8512 Santa Monica Blvd. (310) 289.0088

DOWNTOWN

–Casa: This Mexican spot in Bunker Hill area will have a DJ all day as well as Mariachi performers.  Herradura premium tequila drinks specials + beer garden with Negro Modela and Pacifico (my favorite Mexican beer!) on draft. Reservations recommended. 350 S Grand Ave. (213) 621.2249

–Provecho: Provecho will have $5 margaritas, $2 Tecates, and $1 (!!) tacos, also will have other select bites for $5. They will have live music all day and the specials will be available starting at lunch hour and onwards! 800 Wilshire Blvd. (213) 489.1406.

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EASTSIDE

–Malo Cantina: This hipsterville spot on Sunset blvd is throwing a pretty rad fiesta on Wednesday. The Cinco menu includes $4 Margs (with pitchers going for $25), $4-$5 Tequila Shots, and $3 cans of Modela. Party is going on from 5pm – 11pm.

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WESTSIDE

–Pink Taco: Not quite the Westside but still West of us, Pink Taco will have $5 Margaritas, $5 shots, and $5 beers (Dos Equis and Tecate).  They will have a DJ spinning all night as well as bikini shot girls and midgets (not PC but that’s what’s listed on their website).  Will also have prizes and giveaways.  10250 Santa Monica Blvd. (310) 789.1000.

–Border Grill: My personal favorite Westside pick will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo all day long from 11:30am to 10pm.  They will have $5 drinks (margaritas, mojitos, sangria, draft beer, select wines by the class), $3 tacos (carnitas, fish, carne asada, potato, carne asada, roasted lamb, black bean and cheese), $5 bites (tamales, taquitos, queso fundido, calamari, enchiladas, chile poppers), and $5 desserts (churros and sorbet). Sounds like the best menu ever, yum. 1445 4^th Street. (310) 451.1655.

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If there are any others you have heard of, feel free to leave comments below! And as always, be safe! If you are heading out for Cinco de Mayo and plan on drinking, definitely make it a Ydrive night or call a cab, there are bound to be DUI checkpoints allover town.