Sarkis Bakery

Sarkis Bakery has been in business for more than 25 years specializing in Middle Eastern and Armenian desserts. Their flagship bakery, located in the Armenian capital of Glendale, CA., is filled with dozens of diiferent treats, the most I've seen at any bakery recently.

We ordered over a dozen different treats that ranged in price between 50 cents and $1. I've organized the desserts between ones I enjoyed and the ones I did not with a few notes.

Desserts I enjoyed:

1) Deep-fried filo wrapped around creamy ishta cheese. The preparation created a crisp seal to the soft filling. The cheese, however, tasted of inferior quality, a poor man's ricotta cheese.

2) Probably my favorite, a sesame encrusted cookie with a date filling. It was the most balanced flavor combination thanks lack of simple syrup.






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Desserts I did not enjoy:
3) The desserts are drenched in simple syrup to the point that it overwhelmed any other existent flavor.

4) The most interesting dessert of the day. Zulubia, described as yeast-leavened batter, fancifully swirled into hot oil until cooked and dipped in a special flavored syrup. After just one bite, you get nothing but sugar and you can't nor would you want to take another bite.

5) A sesame and almond cookie respectively. Dry as dirt and both had me screaming for a fresh glass of camel's milk.

6) I've vacationed in Tokyo on several occasions and this is just unappetizing baklava. It should be enjoyed the day it is prepared rather than a week later. This was evidenced in the denture tender nuts and the buttered filo top layer.

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Sarkis should reduce the number of desserts offered and focus on the quality. It was obvious that most of the products had been on display for a while. The greatest flaw, however, is their excessive use of simple syrup and I was surprised to see it on LA magazine's list of Top 20 bakeries, very surprised.

Manny's El Tepeyac Cafe

812 N Evergreen Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90033

(323) 267-8668

One of the few historical culinary icons of Los Angeles and is infamous for its massive portions, Manny's El Tepeyac has stood tall for over 50 years. Named after both the owner, Manny Rojas and a hill located near Mexico City that is the site where Saint Juan Diego is said to have met the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531. Given the modest number of Mexican virgins, it seems appropriate to name a restaurant in her honor. A few of the dishes are named after the local Hollenbeck police precinct that have frequented the restaurant over the years.



$0 Habanero Salsa, Chipotle Salsa (7)
Both good quality salsas, the habanero had a bigger kick than the chipotle. I preferred the smokiness of the latter and when dipped, it added a welcomed spice to the guacamole.



$5.00 1/4 Guacamole with Chips (6)
OK quality guacamole accented with onion, tomatoes, lemon juice and I believe avocado. The chips were home made and heavy, could have been fresher and more salted. Order a smaller portion than you think you need.


$7.35 Chicken Enchilada, Cheese Enchilada (6)
This dish was basically two average enchiladas suffocated in shredded cheddar cheese and red enchilada sauce. The stewed chicken is chopped and wrapped in a flour tortilla. I felt a need to dip the chicken in the velvety blend of sauce and cheese to tenderize the meat.


$8.50 Okie de Machaca Burrito (7)
A shredded beef, egg, rice, beans, guacamole, bell peppers, tomato, sauteed onions burrito topped with the same red sauce and shredded cheddar cheese. Better than I expected, the flavors and ingredients melded together very well. The highlight was the combination of the cheese and red sauce. Again, I would have prefer a more tender meat.

We couldn't even eat through the guacamole, let alone the enchiladas or the burrito and there were enough leftovers to feed the back of an immigrating pick-up truck. The quality of the food surprised me and it was discernible that El Tepeyac does not survive on reputation and calories alone.

Casa Bianca

1650 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 256-9617

casabiancapizza.com/

The restaurant was established in 1955 when Sam and Jennie Martorana moved from Chicago to join the rest of the family in Los Angeles. It’s one of those traditional places with hand me down recipes, checkered table tops, ingredients made fresh on site, and techniques don’t change with the season or even generations passing.

I've tried Casa Bianca twice, once before my trips to NYC and the other more recently after I'd been spoiled and my blissful ignorance shattered. If I wrote about each experience, the reviews would be worlds apart. Unfortunately, I now know, not necessarily what pizza should taste like, but what it can taste like and it is with a heavy heart that I share my experience at Casa Bianca.


I headed over there after checking out a Ne-yo concert at San Manual Indian Casino. It was past 10PM and we were searching for a decent place to eat at the time, luckily Casa Bianca is open until midnight on weekdays. There was no wait and they restrict the Italian menu to just pizzas late night.

$3 Rolls and Butter, Side of Marinara Sauce (7)

I was starving and managed to negotiate some bread and dipping sauce. The marinara is the same they use on the pizza. I liked this, not only because I needed some caloric intake for the day, but it gave me a chance to try an important component of the pizza. It was had a robust tomato flavor with nice kick of Italian seasoning dominated by oregano.

$10.85 Medium Sausage, Mushroom Pizza (6)
There were some positives and negatives to the pie. First the positives, the sauce as previously mention was good quality. The sausage, homemade on the spot, was tender and the compulsory fennel seasoned it just right. And the negatives: The dough was overly chewy, almost soggy. The style was reminiscent, not from my travels to the Italian Riviera, but from the frozen foods aisle and that $1 Jeno's pizza. If everything is homemade, that must include the mushrooms because they didn't taste like real mushrooms. They had a rubbery consistency, the canned variety. I was indifferent to the cheese, I enjoy fresh mozzarella and processed, I did like that they scattered it over the pie, so I could still take in the flavor from the sauce.

The first time I had a pizza here, it was with garlic and that helped bring out a stronger flavor. But, even with garlic, I don't think it would have changed my experience all that much.

Nota bene: Cash only.