One of the greatest joys of living in Southern California is the authentic Mexican food.  A friend of mine had left her wallet at Mexican restaurant near my work and asked me to pick it up for her.  Boy am I glad she did.  La Fiesta Grill is a small restaurant tucked away in a strip mall on Santa Monica Blvd.  You might not notice it surrounded by a dry cleaner, 7-11 and book store.  But it shouldn’t be missed.
 
One of their best items are their tacos.  These are authentic Mexican tacos made from two soft corn tortillas with your choice of chicken or grilled steak and topped with onion and cilantro.  They are a decent size, but I would highly recommend getting two.
 
One of my favorites is the Steak Picado plate. Shredded steak that is marinated in a Mexican sauce and smothered with tomatoes, onions and bell peppers.  It also comes with refried beans, Spanish rice, guacamole and salsa.  Also your choice of flour or corn tortillas which are perfect for creating your own mini burritos.  The sauce that they use is so good you almost want to ask for a cup of it to pour over all your meals.
 
So if you’re looking for good Mexican food, I would highly recommend this “hole-in-the-wall”. (No can openers, no freezers, no lard, no MSG)
 
La Fiesta Grill
10712 Santa Monica Blvd
West Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-234-1086

A couple of coworkers and I ventured out to downtown El Segundo for lunch and decided to try Farm Stand “Urban Country Food” on Main Street.

Their lunch menu had lots to order and many dishes allowed for “Half” portions for lunch.  The day we went they were offering ‘samples’ of their new ginger lemonade.  As you can see the sample was a full glass!  The ginger really stood out in the drink but the lemonade was not overpowered by it.  A very refreshing way to start the meal.

While looking over the menu, we were treated with a small basket of bread and butter.  The kalamata olive bread was the hands down winner, but the other bread was a close second.  It had the texture of cornbread but the lightness of flour.

I ordered the half portion Farmstand Grilled Salmon Salad.  It came with three nicely sized portions of grilled salmon, avocado, green beans over mixed greens and tossed with a very light Caesar dressing (it also comes with Roma tomatoes but I’m not a fan).  The salad was delicious and the salmon pieces were large enough for me to end up taking one home for dinner that night.

My coworker ordered the half portion Chinese Chicken Salad.  It had chicken (of course), fried wontons, Chinese green peas, red and yellow peppers, sesame seeds, mandarin oranges, cilantro and a tangy Asian dressing over romaine lettuce.  To quote my coworker “This is the best Chinese Chicken Salad I’ve ever eaten.”  Needless to say this plate went back to the kitchen empty.

My other coworker had the half portion Nonna Rina’s Homestyle Lasagna.  When the plate arrived you would have thought it was the full portion.  The lasagna is made with a traditional Bolognese meat sauce, béchamel (I had to Google this – it’s a white sauce used as the base for other sauces) and parmesan cheese with a mixed greens salad. 

“That lasagna was soooo delicious!!!! And it was the perfect size too!” was heard after the meal.  No doggie bag needed here either.

Although they had a nice selection of desserts, we had to forgo them this time around.

Farm Stand
422 Main Street
El Segundo, CA 90245
(P) 310-640-3276
(F) 310-640-7826

www.farmstand.us