My first and strongest impression of Mill Valley, CA can be found in television reruns. Captain B.J. Hunnicutt of the 4077th proudly hailed from the up-and-coming Marin County township, and for years he was my sole example by which to measure it. Thanks to M*A*S*H, my mental picture of Mill Valley teemed with laid-back, wise-cracking, [...]
Can you name this dining counter?
If so, you’ve had the privilege of tasting one of America’s finest burgers. If not, you’ll get your answer below the fold.
This is the last of the point-and-eat posts from my holiday in California. I’ve saved what are probably my three favorite meals of the two weeks I spent on [...]
I live for BBQ. I wake up for breakfast. Those who know me best will understand when I say that American breakfast is the backbone of my appetite. If done right, it’s cheap, satisfying and timeless. Two eggs over easy have nowhere to hide and everything to prove, especially when they’re on short order.
Some people [...]
This is a guest post. Matthew Wolfe is a journalist living in Detroit.
Many major American cities, particularly those that once, long ago, would have been called “blue collar,” can claim as part of their civic heritage a signature junk food. The food is usually messy, often greasy and always – to borrow a term from [...]
Twenty years before Elvis was drafted, the San Diego Chicken Pie Shop was expanding hips instead of shaking them. With a different war looming, southerners flocked to California for work and were rewarded with a little piece of home: chicken pot pies, mashed potatoes and gravy. Business boomed. Lines snaked out the door. More chicken [...]
The first time I came across Lucky’s, it was in the afternoon and the lights were off. I could barely see into the dark interior, a serpentine breakfast counter of questionable upkeep, but the old-timey Americana feel had me before I ever took a step inside. Lucky’s looked like my kind of place.
Then I saw [...]
While searching Yelp! for vintage clothing stores in the area, I spotted a link to Tokyo 7-7 Coffee Shop in the right column. When I noticed the address, I couldn’t believe it. I’d been living within walking distance of downtown Culver City for over a year and I never saw nor heard of the [...]
This story was expanded from a column that James wrote for the Daily Californian in 2006.
I was sitting on the steps of UC Berkeley’s Doe Library for tea one hazy morning in 2005 when a woman carrying a clipboard asked me to spare a moment for her petition. She informed me that the campus arcade [...]
