Like all good things in life, the Ramos House Café both scares and excites me. The fact that the restaurant is someone’s house scares me. Their homegrown, made from scratch food excites me. The waiters and waitresses scare me; last time I was there, the waitress, a girl in her late teens, called my boyfriend’s elderly aunt “honey”. The amazing tastes that show up in front of you excite me. The location, so close to a train station that for one brief moment I thought the train had jumped the track and was coming for me, scares me. The fact that they serve an impressive amount of alcohol and encourage, rather than judge, me to drink with brunch, more than excites me, it endears me to them. Their Bloody Marys go perfectly with their ever so slightly spicy hush puppies, and the mimosas compliment all of the different types of delicious hash dishes. This restaurant is an experience, and one that no one should miss out on. In fact, make a day out of it. Take the Metrolink train down to San Juan Capistrano, it’s less than $15 on the weekends there and back. The town is super cute, with lots of shopping, and there’s a petting zoo just down the road from the restaurant (there are no animals that are on the menu and in the petting zoo, so you can enjoy your day completely guilt-free).

http://www.ramoshouse.com/

I knew what Eight-18, a wine bar in Toluca Lake, would be like even before I went to their website, or walked in the door. I knew it would have little tables, a quiet bar, low lighting, and that the decoration on the walls would be their own wine bottles. I knew the staff would be helpful, patient, attractive, and funny. I knew that their tapas would be rich and comforting, and that the wine selection would leave me wanting nothing (except that they were sold out of three different wines I asked for, along with some of their Charcuterie selection, and one of their desserts, all on a Friday night before ten). Call me clairvoyant, but I just knew. But just because I knew what I was getting into, doesn’t mean I didn’t thoroughly enjoy myself. One thing I wasn’t expecting was the mix of people in attendance that night. Of course there were the requisite couples, the double dates, the girls night outs; but there were also a couple lonely bar flies, and a few hotted-up ladies, who met briefly before the girls extracted themselves. So the next time you’re in Toluca Lake, stop by. There’ll be a place for you.

http://www.eight-18.com/