Listening for a coffee house’s last drop

I saw a Starbucks fall last week, watched it drop right out of the financial firmament and make a crater out of what was supposed to be a cornerstone of economic revival on Bellflower’s quaint-but-too-quiet downtown boulevard. That’s not so unusual these days—Starbucks are falling everywhere—but it was still [...]

To get into Toko Rame’s Indonesian state of mind, the best bet is the nasi bungkus. The dish is fitted for on-the-go appetites: rice, chicken, beef rendang, tofu and a hardboiled egg all piled inside banana leaves and wrapped up for what’s close to pocket-like portability. But the miracle of nasi bungkus isn’t just in [...]

Toko Rame beats the heat

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
The only wind swirling around outside Toko Rame belongs to the 91 Freeway. It’s a hot rush of exhaust that shoots down to the restaurant after each passing car. But without a proper breeze, Toko Rame’s Indonesian cuisine isn’t always an obvious choice for a pre-summer meal, one [...]

Sam’s World Famous Steak Sandwiches comes from the 1950s, but not in any way that would excite the historical societies that saved the original McDonald’s and still pine to revive Johnie’s Broiler. Sam’s is a stucco box with small wooden windows trimmed in thick blue paint, a yellow sign overhead and a lean-to that shades [...]

Ming’s comes from another era of suburban Chinese restaurants, when the cuisine was always Cantonese, when the kitschy décor was inevitably as thick, sweet and sour as the sauces, and when somebody at every table was obliged to joke that they’d all be hungry again in an hour. The choices are the familiar standards—chow meins [...]

Outdress your competition with help from First United Shoe

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
The secret to looking good is knowing where to get unique clothing and then not telling the rest of the world where you buy your duds. Unfortunately for me (and fortunately for you), I’m about to spill it.
It’s a rule that I never leave [...]

Sam’s Steak Sandwiches celebrates 50 years, with a little help from heaven

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Sam’s World Famous Steak Sandwiches comes from the 1950s, but not in any way that would excite the historical societies that saved the original McDonald’s and still pine to revive Johnie’s Broiler. Sam’s is a stucco box with small wooden windows [...]

At Empresa Motors in Bellflower, a Cadillac Escalade could be yours for just $499 down

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Appropriately for a used car lot, Empresa Motors in Bellflower doesn’t really empresa until you get out of your car and start looking at theirs. Because who really cares about your car, anyway? Quit living in the past. [...]

Journey back to 1952 at Ming’s Restaurant

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Ming’s comes from another era of suburban Chinese restaurants, when the cuisine was always Cantonese, when the kitschy décor was inevitably as thick, sweet and sour as the sauces, and when somebody at every table was obliged to joke that they’d all be hungry again in [...]