LA Restaurants

Looking for a neighborhood kind of restaurant where corn tortillas and spicy salsas are made from scratch, where pasilla chiles are roasted fresh for tasty chile rellenos, and where homemade black beans are a testament to everything canned beans aren't? You'll find no lard anywhere in Baja Bud's light but traditional Mexican fare. Pollo and carne asada are both low fat. And only canola oil is used in cooking, thus everything's healthy, including the addictive tortilla chips. The place sparkles clean and displays bright and lovely old-style Mexican murals. Menu items range from $1.90 to $6.75. Breakfast (W. Hollywood), lunch and dinner seven days. Beer and wine; takeout; parking. No credit cards. ATM cards accepted.

Looking for a neighborhood kind of restaurant where corn tortillas and spicy salsas are made from scratch, where pasilla chiles are roasted fresh for tasty chile rellenos, and where homemade black beans are a testament to everything canned beans aren't? You'll find no lard anywhere in Baja Bud's light but traditional Mexican fare. Pollo and carne asada are both low fat. And only canola oil is used in cooking, thus everything's healthy, including the addictive tortilla chips. The place sparkles clean and displays bright and lovely old-style Mexican murals. Menu items range from $1.90 to $6.75. Breakfast (W. Hollywood), lunch and dinner seven days. Beer and wine; takeout; parking. No credit cards. ATM cards accepted.

This branch of a venerable (read assimilated) Chinatown seafood house brings Hong Kong-style seafood to the Westside. Whole steamed rock cod wears sprigs of bright-green cilantro and exudes whiffs of ginger, green onions and soy sauce. Whole crab, broken up as usual into more or less manageable pieces, comes draped with a thick black-bean sauce. While perhaps not up to San Gabriel Valley standards, here on the Westside these dishes are impressive. On the whole, Hop Li has proved to be most adept with the least complicated preparations, those in which, in characteristic Cantonese fashion, the principal ingredient stars. Steamed chicken, for example, though it sounds banal, is actually one of the wonders of southern Chinese cooking. This is chicken at its absolute best, its texture exquisite, its full flavor enhanced by little more than its own juices. Fried items, however, have been clumsy: Delicate soft-shelled crabs are overwhelmed by thick batter, and fried squid is overpowered by its seasonings. Dinner for four, including a whole fish or a whole crab, can cost as little as $15 a person.

From as early as 9 a.m. there's no question about what's going on here. In a condolike two-story building adjacent to Handy J's Hand Wash, pieces of chicken, racks of baby back pork ribs and thick triangles of Nebraska beef sirloin are already sizzling on the 10-foot-long outdoor grill. The meat has absorbed enough flavor from the marinade and the grill smoke to stand alone. Though of course there's also the smoky, sweet (but not too) barbecue sauce, which doesn't overshadow the meat if used sparingly. Excellent spicy turkey chili, tasty soups, salads topped with good homemade dressings, and sides like macaroni and cheese here can turn simple barbecue into a real meal for about $6 to $15. Eat inside looking out at the grill, or on the top deck with its unobstructed view of the car wash. Doesn't matter--the grub's the thing.

Delmonico's Seafood Grille offers some of the finest seafood, steaks and pastas in town in an ambience reminiscent of a classic '20s San Francisco grill, complete with mahogany booths and leather banquettes. Specialties include Maine lobster, porcini gnocchi and veal chop Milanese. There's also an extensive wine list and fabulous desserts. Prices ranges from $8.95 to $17.95 (except lobster). Lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner seven nights; brunch Sun. (Encino). Full bar; takeout; valet parking; reservations suggested. AE, MC, V.

This cozy little restaurant serves up authentic Cuban cuisine at unbelievable prices. Munch on roast pork or chicken marinated in garlic and lemon while listening to traditional Cuban music (lunch $3.75-$4.50). Also delicious is the boneless halibut filet, smothered in onions and peppers ($7.95). Not to be missed are the dinner specials when your entrée comes with rice, beans, fried bananas and a glass of wine or Cuban coffee ($7.95). For dessert, try the authentic guavachel--mixed fruit with cream cheese ($2.25). Lunch and dinner seven days. Beer and wine; takeout; delivery; catering; parking; reservations suggested. MC, V.