Henry's Taco Stand - $3

The Olsen twins said, "This is the best taco stand north of the border." Laurie: "Noooooo (she told me to put 6 o's). Clearly, the barfing and the cocaine have killed their taste buds." They were missing from the wall of fame. But, who wants a coupla anorexic actresses on a taco stand wall? It's false representation.

If you decide to eat there, don't sit on the tables or they'll yell at you. Trust me.

Bathrooms: None. Save it for later. 0 forks.
Parking: Free lot!!! Yippeeeee!!
Free stuff: none.

Ambience: It's a stand, and it's not even trying to be something else. The tables are chained to the cement floor. So, don't even think about trying to take one home. No one lingers except us. They order, eat, and leave like normal people. If you want to eat alone, come here. i.e. Not a date place. The "Fight the Bite" mosquito warning just above the A-rating sign was a little disconcerting. Maybe that's why people left so fast.

Star sighting: Tom Wopat plus 30 years, grey hair, and wrinkles. Laurie recognized him. "How did you recognize him?" "I'm a freak." Yep.

Food: Well...if you like the taco, you'll like everything else. It's all the same, just wrapped differently. You can eat through the whole menu for about $20. We shared the taco, soft taco, chili, tostada, taco burger, and the combo burrito. We ate it all. The homemade chili was the best part. This place was more tex mex than mexican mex. But, if it really is tex mex, hand over the queso, and no one gets hurt. 3 forks - fair

Naomi: "I dare you to try the coffee."
Laurie: "No. It probably comes in packets." They also had english tea. Who orders earl grey with a burrito?

A friend said, "That place is a staple, like Pink's." Blasphemer. It's soooo NOT Pink's.

Next up: We've finished the restaurants down Tujunga and will give an award to our fave - Caioti Pizza Cafe. Anyone who wants to join us for our celebratory dinner and award ceremony, stay tuned and we'll let ya know when it is.

Barnaby's Teriyaki Burger Stand - $5

The Dinettes were hoping to solve the mystery of the identity of Barnaby, and how teriyaki got in the family line. We asked James, whose family owns it, "Who's Barnaby?" "I don't know." And that was that.

Ambience: Pedestrian. It's a STAND. You can't expect a comfy couch setting. Patio furniture on the sidewalk for a lovely view of traffic on Tujunga Ave. 2.5 forks - very clean.

Bathrooms: None. Wait til you get home. 0 forks.

Free stuff: Green peppermint candies, and all the soy sauce packets you could ever hope for.

Service: Friendly, courteous counter service. James will hook you up with the good stuff. They make their own teriyaki sauce, and ya can't beat it. Not with a stick. Not even a chopstick.
5 forks.

Food: Diverse! Where else can you get a double bacon cheeseburger with a side of potstickers? They've got a rice bowl with avocado, and grilled onions. We thought that was a little odd. I need some meat. James: "Not a lot of places offer avocado with everything. It's unique." Any place that offers avocado with everything is alright by us. Their menu is full of all things fried and fabulous, breaded and beautiful. There's another menu with pictures of rice bowls. I always liked the books with the pictures. So, I ordered the chicken bowl because of the picture. It looked just like it, and tasted even better. I ate the whole thing. 4 forks.

Laurie: Yakitori (kabob) combo. Came with an egg roll, potstickers, (are ya hungry YET?) a coupla onion rings, salad and rice for $7. "Who knew teriyaki sauce could be so good on white rice?" Laurie's white. Can ya tell? 4 forks.

Laurie: "We like to eat."
James: "You 2 look healthy." Thank you???...

Overall rating: 4 forks. Fried food fun slathered in teriyaki sauce and avocado with an A-rating.

Next up: Henry's Tacos. The Olsen twins: "This is the best taco stand north of the border." Can you trust anorexic food critics? We'll put it to the test.

Aroma Cafe - approx. $10, no tip

Our guest Dinette and resident Aroma fanatic was Jennifer Boswell. "I LOVE this place. It's my favorite restaurant...for this area."

Ambience: Mismatched patio furniture makes it feel like you're in someone's backyard. Inside, you feel like you're eating in a bookstore - because you are. There's a little bookstore/gift shop that shares the Aroma space. Where else can you get a hamburger and a handbag all in one place? Pure genius. 4 forks!

Jennifer: "I always see a lot of has been actors here." Sure enough, George Foreman was sitting outside.

Service: Counter service, friendly staff. However, Jennifer asked for ranch dressing and didn't get it. I asked for bleu cheese on my cobb salad, and didn't get that either. But, I didn't realize it until I got home. oh well. 2.5 forks.

Bathroom: (Why am I the only Dinette who needs the bathroom when we go out?) The bathrooms are singles. The great thing about that is if the women's is occupied, I use the men's. I'm not ashamed. Note to the men: There are no toilet seat liners in there. Note to everyone else: They don't work. The men's bathroom is very nice - feels like you're in that same someone's house again. I could've spent the whole evening in there. But, the toilet roll dispenser is way too low. You have to stoop. Isn't squatting enough?

Food: Jennifer - portobello bacon burger with fries. "It's not the best thing I've had here." She still ate the whole thing - minus a bite. I ate that. Laurie - turkey reuben melt with fries. "These fries are GOOD!" I had the cobb salad - sans cheese. When I want to pretend to eat healthy, I have a cobb. I ate the whole thing...and Jenn's fries. Overall: 4 forks.

Aroma has a pick-up scene going on. A guy sat next to us with his little dog. Laurie doesn't respect men with small dogs. So, Jenn and I started talking to the dog. The guy started talking to us. Jennifer: "That dog can be a girl magnet." "But, the girls are more interested in him than they are in me." "Awww...well, bye!"

Up next: The Dinettes take on Barnaby's Teriyaki Burger Stand where we pose the question, "How did teriyaki get in the Barnaby family line?"

Caioti Pizza Cafe - 3/13/06

The Dinettes ate at Caioti (pron. "coyote") last night.

Ambience - quaint, homey, neighborhood cafe/restaurant. Silverware and napkins are kept in a cigar box on the table. (I hope no one sneezed on them...)

Service - friendly, attentive staff. Very casual.

NOTE: BYOBooze - no corking fee. Or you can choose from their own bottled water or a fridge full of old-fashioned sodas like blue cream soda. But, I have a rule not to drink anything blue.

Bathroom - (new category) Left something to be desired. I felt like I was going to the bathroom in a storeroom because all the extra rolls were stashed above my head. If an earthquake happened, find me buried beneath 100 rolls of tp in Caioti Pizza Cafe. Ok, enough with the bathroom already. Back to the food.

Free stuff: garlicky bread rolls. Laurie: "TO DIE FOR!" Me: "Mine's hard."

Food: Laurie had the della mare pizza - pesto pizza with a seafood (lobster!) sausage. "This might make me rethink my move back to Chicago." Wow, that's a big thing to say for a Chicago pizzaphile.

Me: What's a lactose-intolerant girl who's allergic to white flour doing in a place like this? Don't worry - I can always find something to eat! Pork loin chops with sage whiskey butter sauce. Need I say more? Even the seasoned veggies were good.

The table behind us brought their own $2 Charles Shaw wine. They had the nerve to do that in public. I'm a closet Shaw drinker too, but show the Caioti some respect!

Overall rating: Laurie - "5 AND A HALF forks!!" 5 is our highest! Me: 5 forks. We'll be back for sure.

They're known for serving a salad that's suppsed to induce labor. Can they serve a dish that induces dating? Gotta start with step 1.

Vitello's Italian Restaurant - the Opera Room 3/10/06

As Dinettes, we wanted a calling card of some kind. Maybe we'll have buttons made. Laurie wanted satin jackets emblazoned with, "The Dinettes." I said, "No, that's less money for food."

Our first restaurant is Vitello's. Bonnie Lee Bakley was killed in the parking lot. Hopefully, this is not an omen. However, if either of us are killed after a fabulous meal, it wouldn't be a bad way to go.

We sat in the Opera room. For some reason, I thought I'd be serenaded with opera during dinner. No. It wasn't opera so much as it was open mic night for senior citizens to sing show tunes. Laurie said, "This must be the place where the singing waiters from Miceli's go when they're all washed up."

Laurie: "Any place that has the nerve to serve Sanka is alright in my book." We also saw the bartender serve wine from a jug. A JUG. As in Ernest and Gallo.

Our rating system:
Ambience
Service
Food - based on quality as well as quantity. Gotta get our money's worth.
5 forks - excellent
4 forks - good
3 forks - fair
2 forks - poor
1 fork - can't even give the leftovers to a dog

Ambience: red pleather booths, red velvet curtain with a cartoony audience painted on the opposite wall. Can ya beat that? The pianist was at least 95 years old, and could hardly walk. It was awesome.

Free stuff - warm bread n butter.

Service - 5 forks! Very attentive. But, somehow, we had 4 forks and only 1 knife.

Food - Laurie had the caprese salad, which was "Yummy!" Entree: spinach calzone. We didn't know who we were messing with here, because when that thing came, it was at least 1 foot long! Laurie: "4 forks just for quantity!" You could feed a small village in China with that thing. It was good, but too much cheese. Is that possible? No, really, too much cheese.

I, Naomi had the rolled eggplant stuffed with ricotta and served with a cream sauce. Too rich for my taste. I like eggplant, but there wasn't enough of it. This lactose-intolerant girl should have known better. oh well. I still ate the whole thing. 3 forks.

Overall rating: 3.5 forks. We'll be back for more senior citizen singing. Maybe I'll bring my dad.

When the pianist started playing the theme from Ice Castles, Laurie said, "That's our cue."