Burgers and barbecue at Fronk’s

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
Fronk’s in Bellflower has the kind of name that causes a double-take, an oddity that leads to the same brand of pronunciation-based humor that made up about half of Young Frankenstein. And Fronk’s is well prepared for those very jokes. Indeed, it’s difficult even to raise an eyebrow [...]

Brute burger force at Big Mike’s

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES
If the current crop of gourmet burgers is built on finesse (hand-crafted ketchups and house-cured pickles), then the colossal creations of Big Mike’s in Bellflower are things of brute force. These aren’t burgers that land in your stomach with intestinal indifference—they sock you in the gut by [...]

Unassuming and discreet, CanCoon Thai Restaurant offers no pretenses: The eatery can only seat two large parties, and the menu contains only partial English translations. The rest is either up to your discretion or your server’s recommendations. The cooks here specialize in Isan-style Thai food, a spicier, more sour cuisine from northeastern Thailand. Start with [...]

Press-Telegram reporter Kelly Puente wipes away the tears I shed for Bellflower’s fallen Starbucks with her revelation that the cozy little store it abandoned last month will soon be filled with a locally-based caffeine den called Eclipse.
My coincidental swing through the Starbucks–open for only a year, and intended as a step toward reviving Bellflower’s quaint-but-quiet [...]

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 [...]