J.R.’s proves you have to go into the places that look somewhat seedy to find really good food. J.R.’s is on the bend on La Cienega, just past Washington Blvd tucked beside office supply liquidators and furniture warehouses. It is well worth the trip for L.A.’s best barbeque, sweet and tangy, tender and exploding with flavor. Lunches are, for good reason, packed at the U shaped counter. For dessert, you can order a 7-Up pound cake if you have any room left at all. Average price for two people is about twenty bucks before tip.

(310) 837-6838, 3055 La Cienega, south of Washington, Culver City

I have to hand it to them, this is a damn good pastrami sandwich. But the best in town is at Langer’s (see other review). Johnny’s will do quite nicely, a sloppy whopper of a pastrami sandwich slathered with sauce and served on sourdough bread. The place itself is often packed, and it feels like an old diner that’s been there for decades. They also make a great shake and really good fries to go with your beef-a-rama. Any place where you bring the smell of the deep frier outside with you should indicate you’re paying $8 tops for a sandwich.

4017 Sepulveda, just south of Washington Place, Culver City

Joe Peeps’ is the “home of the 5,969 calorie pizza”. It’s not a deep dish, but it’s piled so high with toppings and goodies that the crust has to be a little more spongy to safely accommodate the weight of the toppings. Joe Peep’s is a fantastic pizza, and it will woo both thin crust and thick crust lovers alike with the quality of its pies. I strongly recommend the all meat pizza (pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, and more) with mild banana peppers. There is also a kick ass vegetarian pizza with more veggie options that I care to type here. And as for delivery, Joe Peep’s will deliver anywhere in the world. You just have to pay for the delivery cost. If you eat in, expect a New York style pizza bodega covered in magic marker graffiti. The cost is higher than the chains, you can expect to shell out $20-$30 for a large or extra large pie – but it’s so worth it.

12460 Magnolia Blvd, @ Whitsett, North Hollywood

Joe’s is by far the most consistently wonderful dining experience I’ve had in this city. It is so good, and so reliable, that the noisy room doesn’t even pull down a star in its rating. For several years I worked at Digital Domain, at the corner of Rose and Main nearby. I’ve been to Joe’s dozens of times for lunch and dinner and have never had a meal less than spectacular. Two years ago my visiting father got violently ill after a dinner at Joe’s. Much to my relief, it was because of years of turning himself into fois gras and his pancreas was exploding. Thank goodness! I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to go back to Joe’s. Joe’s has a wonderful, seasonal menu, an outstanding wine selection and exceedingly knowledgeable staff. Trust your server to guide you through what is good and bad, they will be honest with you about their tastes. I find that the price is not as high as most fine dining in L.A., so it is reasonable in its class. Expect to pay at least $50 per person if you do a full, multi-course meal with wine. Oh, and Dad’s fine, thanks. (Update – he died in 2010. Didn’t change his lifestyle enough.)

(310) 399-5811, 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice

3rd Street is becoming hard to beat as the hip starfucker zone of Los Angeles. Zipper, OK, New Stone Age, and Flight 101 are just some of the stores where you’ll find great gifts for your snooty modernist friends (like myself) while you shop alongside Alan Rickman, talk politics with Jake Gyllenhaall, and hold the door for a scruffy faced Jared Leto. All of these things happened to me, and I’m not even paying attention. Joan’s on 3rd is a New York style bodega swank deli that has horrible seating but stellar food. A great variety of sandwiches, but the glass case of salads is worth repeat visits. A vast array of pasta, vegetables, and cheeses, along with roast vegetables and meats make for a variety of choices for anyone. Anyone who considers mortadella, apricot glazed ham, and grilled maple rosemary chicken breast food (as opposed to overdressed meat) will enjoy themselves.

8350 W 3^rd St.

When I look for a good Chinese restaurant, I never trust the place stocked with white people. Give me a hole in the wall packed with old men yelling at each other. In the case of Persian food (read: Iranian), I look for the age and demographic, too. Javan always has at least four or five great big fat middle Eastern men who have crammed their puffy feet into tiny little loafers. This place is perfect. For an appetizer you have to have the marinated garlic cloves that have been sitting in vinegar for 11 years. Their kebabs and chicken are splendid, as is their salads and soups. The lentil soup served with sizzling mint is a filling meal unto itself. We’ve paid around twenty five bucks for two people, before tip.

(310) 207-5555, 11500 Santa Monica Blvd, near Sawtelle

The Inn of the Seventh Ray is incredibly attentive to food allergies to the point of being insane. This is the place to go for your loved ones with auto-immune disorders, which if you ingest as much meat as I do will likely be you very soon. It is amazing that my stomach and immune system can still distinguish between what is my flesh and what I’ve just consumed. Anyway, what was once a purely vegan restaurant has changed to include meat dishes, probably in order to satisfy all the men who had to take their Beverly Hills yoga girlfriends out to a vegetarian dinner and were tired of starving and paying the outrageously high bill. Lots of Mercedes SL 500s in the parking lot, lots of people irradiating their heads with cell phones. Menu items are arranged on their “quality of vibration” which is just a bullshit reason to charge a ton of money for a squash attacked with a Braun hand blender by a chain smoking Hare Krishna in the back room. The place refuses to carry any chocolate desserts because the head chef and owner calls it “poison”. Clearly they don’t believe in poison at the Inn of the Seventh Ray as there are rats scurrying along the lattice and in the bushes. On my first visit there was a coyote on the riverbed snacking on bagels cast into the ravine. Now that the nature has come to include rats, the seating is on unpadded concrete booths, and the waiters drip vegetarian sanctimony, I think I’ll wait until my thyroid shuts down to go again. Expect anywhere from $50 to $100 per person, depending on your consumption of red wine poison.

(310) 455-1311, 128 Old Topanga Canyon Road, Topanga