Disney California Adventure - Flo's V8 Cafe

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/disney-california-adventure/flos-v8-cafe/

I should have taken pictures of my food here. I had not initially decided to do restaurant reviews. I had taken pictures at Apple Pan and Canter's, but they were new to us, as touring Los Angeles was, and I had written about Disneyland in detail before. I think the experience at Earl of Sandwich, which happened the night we ate at Flo's, is what made me think that the new eating places in the park should be reviewed.

I had taken pictures of the the decor, because this was our first time inside and the decorations were great, but also, the food is really good. You may look at park prices and feel like you are paying for atmosphere, and that is partially true, and worthwhile because they do great with the atmosphere, but also the food is generally really good. We went to four places we had never been before, and that's when I started to think that I should do restaurant reviews.

The food is sandwiches and pies and shakes, very much like a classic '50s diner. The car theme is added to a music theme, because "Flo" had a singing career. The list of songs are all car-themed, but there are records decorating the Christmas tree. The pies are set up to look like mini hub caps. It is a little bit "Happy Days", but it is 100% Cars.

I had a sandwich and it was really good. It is not the type of food that we would normally choose. I was drawn to it for two reasons. One is that I saw a reference to mashed potatoes when I read about it, and I love mashed potatoes. They were there, but I ended up getting one of the entrees that did not have it, possibly because it felt more like park food.

That being said, the Roast Beef and Cheddar had a perfect balance of meat and cheese and the horseradish aioli had great flavor. It would have been really easy for it to be too dry or too pungent or something, and I was amazed at how well-made the sandwich was. I should be used to them offering great quality over and over again, but they keep doing it in new ways.

The other thing was that I saw that there were two listings and I thought that meant that both the diner looking building on one side and the cones on the other served the same food, but that the diner was sit-down and the cones were to go. Actually, the diner does both sit down and to go, with indoor and outdoor seating. The Cozy Cone Motel are snacks that we wish we had tried because they sound pretty cool.

The other thing that is worth noting about California Adventure is that it is very common that any restaurant will be open for breakfast and have a separate menu for that, and also more likely that there will be alcoholic options, though probably not for breakfast. (We generally only eat lunch and dinner in the park.)

Anyway, I know that I can recommend the roast beef, but the food can be recommended in general, all through the Magic Kingdom and the California Adventure both. It's just one more of many things that Disney does right.

Downtown Disney - Earl of Sandwich

 http://www.earlofsandwichusa.com/

You may notice a surprising lack of pictures for this review. Even the photo that is included was not intentionally a photo of the Earl Of Sandwich sign; it is a photo of the Christmas tree and ice rink that happened to include the sign. (The sandwich shop is right by the ice rink.) The reason for this is that I was very unhappy with my experience there, and so by the time I got my sandwich I had no interest in taking a photo of it.

The sandwich was not bad. I had the Original 1762, and it was okay, though having had similar sandwiches at Canter's Deli and at Flo's V-8 Cafe (which I will get to in a different post), if I were to rank them, this would come in third. So it was a good sandwich, but I had better on the same trip. My real problem was with the service.

We got in line. Our friends ordered together and my sisters ordered together and I ordered separately. I did not really think about that at the time, but at the end of the line I noticed that they had both been given buzzers, and I only had my receipt. I guess that could have been because they both had multiple people on their orders, or it could have been because they both ordered sides and I did not. It only sticks out to me now because it took so long to get my sandwich.

I was in the middle of the orders. They all had their food long before I did. People who entered after us had their food before I did. I eventually asked, because I thought I must be missing something, and the person just said it was going to be a while. He didn't check or ask - he just seemed to know that my order was going to take longer - but their was no explanation for it.

I feel that if it was a known thing that my order would take longer, I should have been told that. I didn't ask for anything to be kept off or added extra. I did say "wheat" when asked if I wanted it on white or wheat bread, and that was the only thing that I could think of that might have slowed it down, but again, if wheat is something that makes it take longer, they should have mentioned that. I have been trying to eat more whole grains, but I was not so committed to it that I would have chosen to wait longer.

My other thought was that maybe they made some mistake and had to start over, but again, that would be a good time to give a heads up to the customer, apologize, give an estimated time, and just provide basic communication as a key component of good customer service. I have had places offer free stuff, which is not expected or required, but it shows that they care and want you to have a good experience.

This was a bad experience. The great customer service that is experienced inside the park has not been the rule for Downtown Disney, and I had already known that, but usually it is just normal, and this was worse than normal.

Due to that, my impression of Earl of Sandwich is bad, and I cannot recommend them. I was the only one who had that bad of an experience, but that means that I know that it is possible, and that they don't care when it does happen.

Disappointing.

Los Angeles - Canter's

http://www.cantersdeli.com/home

In giving us a taste of Los Angeles, our guides thought of two pastrami places. Langer's was considered, but based on our schedule, and also a desire to sit down and relax, Canter's was the correct choice.

I have been unsure what to call it. I thought I was just looking for whether or not there is an apostrophe, and whether it was a restaurant or delicatessen.  Searching I found an apostrophe sometimes, but not every time, and that in addition to being a restaurant and deli, it is also a bakery, bar, and cocktail lounge.

It is all of the above. It can be viewed as the establishment belonging to the Canter family, or a place where multiple Canters might be, and it is all of those places associated with food and drink. We walked in through the deli entrance, where you can see cases loaded with meats, cheeses, and baked goods. You can carry out from here, but we were seated in the restaurant part. (We did not go into the bar and lounge, but I saw where they were.)

I was really pleased with how helpful the staff was. We were initially seated at a booth that wasn't really comfortable for us, and they quickly got us to a better table. Our waitress asked if we had been there before and guided us through the menu when she learned we hadn't, and she was really good about answering questions.

The food was very good. We started off with some latkes, and I only remembered to take a picture after they were mostly gone. I had the pastrami on rye, since that seemed like the most reasonable choice. There was an option to get both pastrami and corned beef. Actually, there are a lot of options; it is a pretty extensive menu.

Each sandwich comes with a large pickle, and that sounded good to me, but it ended up working out even better, because they sliced the pickles and brought them out on a single plate, which makes sharing much easier if some people like pickles more than others. (I do.)

We finished by sharing some chocolate babka. Sharing is a good idea because the portions are generous.

A friend had recommended it to us earlier, and looking at the bakery case I thought I knew which one it was, but it was actually something else. This was fine and the babka was good, but I want to make a point that looking in the deli case, there is a lot of stuff that looks really good. So it could be a very reasonable thing to study it before being seated, or to eat a good dinner and then choose dessert on your way out. Again, our waitress was good about answering questions, but we could have asked more.

We noticed the pictures of President Obama and Guns N' Roses, but if you look at the web site you can see a celebrity gallery with lots of famous faces. Still, the connection with Guns N' Roses seemed special, and a little digging found this:

http://www.laweekly.com/music/guns-n-roses-appetite-for-pastrami-2152404

Canter's is a good dining choice if you get the chance.

Los Angeles - Dylan's Candy Bar

https://www.dylanscandybar.com/

Dylan's Candy Bar is a chain of boutique candy stores started by Dylan Lauren.

As much as we loved the Christmas decorations in the Grove, the real reason that we went there was to get to Dylan's, which Maria really wanted to see. Once there, the decorations were a big part of the magic.

Lauren was inspired by Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and you can see the influence. Everything is bright and colorful and larger than life. Yes, the candies are primarily normal size - there are some larger candies - but there are blown up photos and statues and figures so that you see candy writ large wherever you look.

It is still worth taking a reasonable view. There is a lot of bulk candy set up similarly to Sweet Factory or Fuzziwigs, where you would probably pay less. In addition they have a selection of candies that might be harder to find, and there is an ice cream counter as well. In that way it is very similar to iCandy that we visited in Chicago. Those places are probably also less expensive, but they did not have the same level of visual appeal.

So if you go - and perhaps this makes it appropriate that we went in Los Angeles - you are paying more for image. That sounds like a criticism, but it is something that works. We use the phrase "kid in a candy store" to convey excitement, but we don't expect adults to have the same reaction. Dylan's adds enough visual stimulation to give adults a similar level of excitement for their candy store experience, and that's worth something.

They do get into holidays, with an especially impressive Hanukkah display, but there is enough celebration of candy that Dylan's should be worth visiting all year.

Los Angeles - Hollywood and Mulholland Scenic Drive

http://www.lamountains.com/parks.asp?parkid=37
http://www.walkoffame.com/
http://www.tclchinesetheatres.com/

A big part of our day exploring Los Angeles was driving around. I can't give you an exact route, and I only have pictures from places where we stopped. Mainly I need to give a huge "Thank You!" to Steve and Jen for being our guides.

Much of the driving was done along the Mulholland Scenic Corridor, and the photos are all from overlooks there. The photos are not great, but you will probably recognize the Hollywood sign, and possibly the Griffith Observatory, and maybe even the Hollywood Bowl and Universal City. Anyway, we saw them, and I took low quality pictures of them.

One thing that was interesting for me was that if we go back to the Disneyland blogging from when they started making Paradise Pier more Disney-specific, the Goofy's Flight School ride was originally Mulholland Madness. It is a mouse-trap style roller coaster, with sharp twists and drops. I think they may have wanted to have that type of roller coaster anyway as a counterpoint to California Screamin', which is more conventional. Seeing how the corridor winds and twists as it makes its way around the hills, I can see how that would have seemed like a reasonable name for the roller coaster.

There were a lot of familiar names from movies and television and rock history. We passed something with the name of Laurel, and just as soon as it reminded me of "Laurel Canyon", there was the sign for that. That was pretty cool.

We also drove around in the city. We passed the Viper Room and Whisky a Go Go and Koreatown, and a very eye-catching building that I looked up later and found out it houses Mark Mothersbaugh's production company. There is a lot to see.

The most visually stimulating part was probably right as we got to the Walk of Fame and Chinese Theatre.

I have seen the pictures, but I never knew about the costumed characters. They are everywhere.

I noticed mainly superheroes and some trademarked children's characters. I think there were at least three Spider-men. I guess you can take pictures with them, and would be expected to tip them for this. This is similar to what I have heard of Times Square in New York. Julie said it reminded her of Las Vegas, but there should be a slutty cop, and then just as she was finishing saying that she found the slutty cop.

(When I was in Vegas, I only remember seeing Elvis, but my sisters have been there more recently than me.)

Anyway, this was totally good to see by driving by and not stopping. I realize that when people refer to LA as La-la-Land, that's not exactly what they mean, but still, that part looks pretty hallucinatory.

Allow me to stress that there are multiple tour vans and buses everywhere that will take you through town and around town. So if you don't have kind friends who know the area, you can still see these things.

But having the friends is pretty cool.

Los Angeles - Greystone Mansion

http://www.greystonemansion.org/

Now that I am pretty much done talking about Christmas decorations, I will go back to covering our trip in mostly chronological order.

We visited Greystone Mansion on our first day as part of our general exploration of Los Angeles.

The mansion has been used in many films, television shows, and music videos. One of the interesting things I learned reading about it is that not only was There Will Be Blood filmed there, but that the movie was inspired by the Upton Sinclair novel Oil! which was loosely based on the life of Edward L Doheny, whose son was the original owner of the mansion. Neither the book or the movie will give you the history of the place, but it's an interesting connection.

Furthermore, the son and his secretary died in a murder suicide, so when this location puts on a murder mystery, which is apparently something that they do, it is about a murder that actually happened - well, based on and inspired by.

Not surprisingly, the mansion does have a reputation for being haunted. I felt nothing, but I also felt nothing on the Queen Mary. I am a poor barometer for supernatural activity.

Nonetheless, the grounds are pretty lovely. They are also not intuitive from the main parking lot.

Where we parked, there was a sign saying Beverly Hills Greystone. Based on its location, the proper way to go seemed to be up a staircase, and there clearly was a large building in that direction. There was also another path nearby that seemed to wind more.

I don't remember which we took, but they both did go to the same place, but there was no house there. From there you could see the big house that we noticed before, but there was no way to get there, and we could see another large house to which there was also no obvious path. (There were huge houses everywhere; Beverly Hills is a place of conspicuous consumption.)

We went down a different way, and then found ourselves going further down than the parking lot, and then we did find the mansion, wandered around there, and came back to the parking lot from yet another path.

I want to mention that because the navigation is not intuitive. Wandering around is fine, because there are lots of interesting things to look at, but you should plan on it being like that, and wear good shoes. It did not seem particularly wheelchair accessible, but I suspect that there is a way for vehicles to get in, especially for events, so there may be some other options.

If you choose the wandering around option, it does make sense to start by going upward, or you may not take that pathway at all, and only see the mansion and the grounds around it. That would still be a lot to see, with plants and fountains and a fairly sweeping view, but I think you would miss the portico. I am not positive.

If you want to go straight to the mansion, and you are facing downhill, I think the steps to the left are best.

Disneyland - Christmas in Downtown Disney

I know I usually don't write a lot about Downtown Disney, because I really prefer rides to shopping. I had to write about it because of the rink.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/entertainment/downtown-disney-district/winter-village-ice-skating/

I don't even know that much about it. We ate one night at Earl of Sandwich, and the rink was set up, but not in operation. The dates are listed as from November 13th through February 22nd. (We were there on November 11th.)

Those closed but nicely decorated buildings could very well be the fun-filled winter chalets that they refer to; that would make sense. I just know that it looked great.

Olaf has been  a great character for Disney in his popularity and quotability. I mean, who doesn't like warm hugs?

So we found him resting on a roof just above where you could meet Anna and Elsa in Fantasyland, and he talked. We found him emblazoned on clothing and accessories everywhere. And we found marshmallow creations of his in the bake shops that seemed like they could be replicated at home.

Why not have him preside over winter fun?

And the rest of Downtown Disney did have some lights and things too, but a lot of it looked like a normal, non-Christmas level of festivity. But when you got near the street end of the promenade, and there was a tall Christmas tree with strings of lights streaming out in every direction, overlooking an ice rink - in California - with a cheerful snowman surveying it all while perched on an ice flow, I thought it was pretty cool.