And so, the Nisei Week guy gets to live another day -

[kyburg]

Nick's Cafe was scary from the outside. Broken and slightly askew cinderblock construction, completely fragged asphalt parking lot (teeny), bars on the windows, bars on the doors, everything hand-painted...enough to make my guests say "are you sure about this?"

Me in all my bravado - "We're up for an adventure!"

"Since when?" Jim pipes up.

"Since we got up this morning. If it's too awful, we'll go back to Little Tokyo and kill the Nisei Week guy who recommended it."

And we go inside.

One big counter. Horseshoe-shaped. The two tables against one wall are the waiting area if there's no room at the counter. Under the counter at the front of the horseshoe is one of the most ancient Coca-Cola chest coolers I've seen in ages. It even has bottle-openers on each side and could hide a small kindergarden inside. And it's still in service - outstanding. It's older than I am, and half again that much.

The three of us sit down at the counter, reach for the menus stored at the napkin holder, and begin reading.

It is a total pork fat thang. Looking up, I see pigs. Ceramic, glass, painted plaster - along with model police cars. Lo-jack novelties.

And my coffee arrives in a mug emblazoned with a bail-bond company's logo and phone number. There is one waitress and she is hopping. The place is nearly full. And the cook is a busy boy right now.

We order. We wait. I check out the place. Wood paneling like they used to do back in the early seventies. Tons of photographs of Los Angeles against the mountains during the winter, covered with snow - oooh. Memorials to a retired policeman who was a "friend to everyone at Nick's." Photographs of Nick's in the (I'd think) sixties, or earlier.

It's been here a long time. Next door is a warehouse store, doing a brisk business in things going elsewhere.

It's a truck stop, in other words. Next to Chinatown, speaking four languages and serving the best American chow in town. You can have applesauce instead of hash browns - "it's ready, but it's still real hot..." made fresh daily.

The busboy shows up, running faster than the waitress, who is a total hoot, BTW. The best kind. The busboy is wearing a t-shirt with another bail-bond company's logo on it. caitlin and I just grin and start laughing.

The food is excellent and plentiful. The homemade salsa is fantastic. And I am reminded of why I love Los Angeles so much. We have no majority here in places like this - there are whole families here early in the morning to eat, just like I'd see over at Spires. This is the city. And if you're with Nick - hey, you're okay!

The Nisei Week guy gets to live another day.

Comments

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was good food, wasn't it? =)

My first thought upon seeing the building: Well, maybe it's more impressive on the inside.

And while it was small on the inside, the food is all that matters. IMO anyway. =)

C.

[mycroftca.livejournal.com]

So? Where is this place?

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Nick's Cafe, 1300 N. Spring St, Los Angeles -

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&countryid=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=address&searchtype=address&address=1300+N.+Spring+St&city=Los+Angeles&state=CA&zipcode=&search=++Search++

[mycroftca.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[joiseyguy.livejournal.com]

I miss LA. I wish it was economicaly feasible to live there on the same standard I do here in Texas.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Having never lived anywhere else (except Switzerland) - I wouldn't know. Honest. Switzerland is like living in a national park - prices and all.

I've been to Texas three times on business, once on the way through to Tennessee - always looking over my shoulder.

And Plano was just depressing. Period.

[joiseyguy.livejournal.com]

I guess it would all depend on the career. I'm pretty sure I could either find a W-2 position or move into a 1099 consulting gig and consistently pull in 100K a year. I'm close to that here and that buys a lot in this wasteland. It's been 20 years since I was out in LA though. I started in Hollywood at the base of the hills up the road from the Columbia building. I imagine that areas become a total cesspool by now. Later on I lived out in Sherman Oaks and that was definitely a pricey area back then. The last place I lived was Santa Monica which can not possibly be affordable today.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

$100,000 a year in a 1099 doesn't add up that way in the end after you pay all the taxes on it. (Don't think that's at all fair, but it's the reality of it. You pay double taxes because - hey - you're self-employed!)

And to be fair, $100,000 in a W-2 position can buy quite a bit anywhere - but I've always believe the most reliable wealth is being happy with less, so there you go.

I know of the areas which you speak - Hollywood has actually improved a great deal since I began working there in 1985. A shock, but there you are - like everywhere in very urban Los Angeles, you have to stay on your toes, but the rewards are there as well.

Sherman Oaks? Still pricey - but now, not a safe place. Santa Monica? *laughs* If you can find a place - with rent control being what it is, I can't say it's the most expensive place to live, but just one of the hardest places to get in and out of. VERY crowded. Just because.

My house is small, and we don't live on chauteaubriands - but we manage to do quite well on the two salaries we bring in together (which were a bit over the $100,000 mark last year according to the tax return) - and I'm comfortable knowing I won't be lynched. Well, that's extreme - go a bit east of me and south, and there's plenty of talk of that kind of activity. San Diego is not your friend.

What never fails to amaze me is how little people get by on around here - it's not a lifestyle I would readily adopt, but I can learn a bit from it. You don't need the huge car, the huge house and a ton of new "anything" every year - but you can live in Southern California if you want to.

You can't just show up and coast here, though. You gotta work for it.

[lorriejharris.livejournal.com]

I love little "hole-in-the-wall" places! They usually have the best food!

There's a place here in Tulsa that's in the latin quarter that's very much like you just described. There, you can get a $5 burrito that will overfill a steakhouse platter, and I swear is at least 3 inches thick. Stuffed with beans guacamole, rice, cheese...and SHRIMP (being hopelessly land-locked, seafood is either bleh-quality, or very expensive). BIG shrimp!

I could barely eat half that thing! O_o;;

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Breakfast so large only caitlin finished hers - under four bucks a plate.

It was a true find.