Westminster

Melvin Walker: L.A. Marijuana Dispensary Operator, 11 Others, Arrested By Feds

The federal crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries in Southern California continued today as the U.S. Attorney's Office announced the arrests of 12 people associated with a chain of pot shops. John Melvin Walker operated 9 dispensaries in L.A. and Orange counties, feds say, and he topped the l ... More >>

5 Sexiest Waitress Spots in L.A. Challenge Legal Definition of Work Clothes

So Courtney Scaramella didn't want to wear a sexy schoolgirl skirt and now she's in the news, alleging in a lawsuit that the Westwood bar (O'Hara's) where she was waitressing fired her after she objected to the dress policy in writing? Well, Courtney, you might have a case (the bar says she doesn't ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 5/21 - 5/25

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "If, however, you have neither a backyard nor a grill, you can participate in another great American tradition of finding someone else do the work for you." BBQ Flowchart: Where You Can Be Up to the Grill in Meat. "Noodle m ... More >>

Nong Lá Café Brings Bun Bo Hue to West L.A.

Nong Lá Café, the latest addition to the strip of Sawtelle Boulevard often known as Little Osaka due to its concentration of Japanese eateries, is offering something a bit different than most of its neighbors -- instead of ramen and yakitori, diners will able able to get a taste of Vietnamese spec ... More >>

Alice Shin: Curbing Our Appetite

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2012 issue. Check out our entire People 2012 issue here. When Alice Shin's brother-in-law phoned her to say that he'd gotten his hands on a truck they could use to begin peddling tacos filled with Korean-style barbecued meats, as the ... More >>

Murder on Montana Ave.

Was LAUSD teacher Sasha Merman slain to hide Daniel Becerril's greed?

Alfonso Ribeiro's 'Carlton Dance' Flash Mob Attempts Record (For Dorkiest Moves): VIDEO

Updated at the bottom with crowd estimates. First posted at 5:30 a.m. Alfonso Ribeiro of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air might do the nerdiest, preppiest dance of all time. But that didn't stop hundreds if not thousands of followers from joining him yesterday at Universal CityWalk and other locales in ... More >>

Q & A With Bryant Ng: The Spice Table, Food & Wine's Best New Chef Award, Bears in Aspen The Joy of Pig's Tails

When you walk into The Spice Table, the Little Tokyo restaurant chef Bryant Ng and his wife Kim Luu-Ng opened just over a year ago, you are presented with a composition of place so complete that you might not even notice it. The wood-burning open fire behind the bar like a cabin hearth. The birdcage ... More >>

L.A. Woman Was the Doors' Bluesy Masterpiece, and Jim Morrison's Kiss-Off to L.A.

El Bordello Alexandra: How a Venice Goth House Came to Be

Wendy GilmartinEl Bordello Alexandra​When Tony and Brittany Stevenson bought the apartment at 20 Westminster Ave. in Venice ten years ago, the place was a heroin den with a slumlord owner who never fixed things. The front was covered with decaying wood shingles, grimy linoleum hid the historic ... More >>

Central Vietnamese in the O.C. ... or Echo Park

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​Dear Mr. Gold: What's your favorite place to eat Hue/Central Vietnam food in Los Angeles? Also, do you ever venture down to the O.C. for some eats? --Brian Tran, via Facebook

Hero Dog Awards: Beverly Hills Gala October 1 Decides Bravest Four-Legged in the Nation

Update: Yes, the posthumous winner was Roselle! Big cash prizes went to Roselle and others. See at bottom of second page. The hairy competition has been pitched, with 453 heroic dogs from around the nation fighting it out for the eight finalist slots in the first American Humane Association Hero Do ... More >>

Eat This Now: Soy Tofu Pudding for the Soul

Matthew KangPandan tofu pudding at V.P. Tofu​ Grandma's chicken soup may have the general public snowed, but we know the truth: There is no food on earth more comforting than a freshly made batch of tofu pudding. Especially when said pudding comes from cult favorite soy purveyors V.P. Tofu (in ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 5/9-5/13

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Everybody knows what a deli is supposed to be: an enormous dining room, stinking of garlic, bolstered by corned beef and chicken in a pot, with giant halvah displays teetering by the cash register. ... More >>

OC Teens Chelsea Taylor and Aaron Saenz Found Dead in Empty Apartment -- Next to Can of Four Loko

MySpaceAaron Saenz' profile picture​Updated after the jump: Four Loko apologizes. Over a month after the FDA banned Four Loko in its most toxic form -- a mix of alcohol, caffeine, guarana and taurine -- the "blackout in a can" apparently isn't done doing its damage. On Friday morning at abou ... More >>

Missing California Lottery Ticket Worth $200,000 Was Purchased Five Months Ago In East L.A.

Act soon, or your hard-earned cashmoney will go toward education​If you're going to waste a perfectly crisp Washington on a one-in-a-bagillion chance of winning the lottery, at least check to see if your impulse buy was worth the shame. One lottery hopeful (or not-so-hopeful) has yet to disco ... More >>

Today In WTF: L.A. Tornado Warning Issued (UPDATED

​A tornado warning for south central Los Angeles County has been canceled Tuesday afternoon, but another was issued for southeastern Orange County, southwester Riverside County and northwestern San Diego County. This as the second of three successive winter storms hit the Southland Tuesday. T ... More >>

Top 10 Bánh Mì Shops: Where to Get Viet Sandwiches If You Can't Find A Food Truck

Photo credit: Diane CuDakao's bánh mì​If the lines at Nom Nom Truck are too long, or the food runs out or the sweltering sidewalk heat is too much for you, there are still brick-and-mortar options for bánh mì, the awesome Vietnamese baguette sandwiches that Viet street food by way of Frenc ... More >>

City Councilman Takes Power From the People

Today's O.C. Register reports that Westminster city councilman Andy Tuan Ngoc Quach was arrested for DUI after he wrapped his S550 Mercedes Benz around an electric pole just after midnight this morning. Although the councilman was apparently unhurt, the crash knocked out power to 300 homes until thi ... More >>

Thoughts on Arizona’s "Fucking Racist” Sheriff

Big Trouble in Little Saigon?

The O.C. Register reports that hundreds of Vietnamese openly gamble in Little Saigon during the Lunar New Year, in "unofficial, makeshift casinos started operating in parking lots surrounding the Asian Garden Mall." The dice game of choice is Bao Cua Cao Cop -- and speaking of cops, they've been bus ... More >>

Wrap and Roll at Nem Nuong Kanh Hoa

By any other nem

Pachuco: The Linguistic Origins

Plus, the story on Orange County's ahistoricity

Grand Avenue; Bad Rap; Westside Chinese

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Aaron Cohen: Sex Slaves, Drug Trade and Rock n' Roll

In his quest to free slaves around the world, Aaron Cohen thought he’d seen it all. Then he went to Myanmar.

Where to Eat Now

Careful With That Ax

David Ornette Cherry, jazz infinity and Monk in a tree

Viva la Raza and All That

''Seems never to achieve his potential. Indolent.''

Re-reading report cards can be depressing

Where to Eat Now: New to the List

Foaming at the Mouth

Surf industry in uproar at closing of major supplier

''I Wonder Why All Kids Don’t Go to 826''

And other musings on homework and literary dreams

Vietnamese

Ask Mr. Gold

Pho the Soul

Ain't Been Licked

The Real Thing

Ask Mr. Gold

Letters

Letters

From Down Under to Iberia

Members Only

Pho West, Young Man

Real Vietnamese-style noodles come to Brentwood

O Brodard, Where Art Thou?

A League of Their Own

How a Team of Oaxacan Busboys in Redefining L.A. Basketball

Passion and Probity

Slippery When Wet

The city's best shrimp jobs

Pigskin Follies

When ham, pork, bacon, etc. are no longer enough . . .

The War at Home

Orange County’s Little Saigon confronts the ghost of Ho Chi Minh

Of Lice and Men

Naomi Wallace's play about London's Great Plague

Wrap Party

Thai duck calzones? Turkey, sweet potato and cranberry sauce tacones? Mango chicken burritos in Gorgonzola-chive tortillas? No, thank you. Around here, we’re into old-school wrap.