La Bodeguita de Pico
La Bodeguita de Pico
Grainy Close-up of Garcetti's Party
Garlic Toast 
Friday was Larry's birthday. We had dinner at a new restaurant near our house to celebrate. La Bodeguita de Pico was recently reviewed in the L.A. Times. Anytime we hear about a new restaurant in our area, we try to support it.
When we arrived at the restaurant, housed in a restored Deco building along the Pico Revitalization Corridor, just west of La Brea, it wasn't too crowded. There was a musician playing Cuban tunes on the piano. After about 15 minutes, the place started to fill up. We spied former L.A. D.A., Gil Garcetti walk in with his wife and another couple for dinner. 
Friendly and Lively CrowdGrainy Close-up of Garcetti's PartyThe waiter took our drink orders and brought us hot, buttered and garlic-ed French bread. The menu at La Bodeguita is good....lots of selections and decent prices. We ordered a Caesar salad to split. Larry ordered the Clasico Plato Cubano which includes rice, black beans, roasted pork and ground beef in habanera sauce with yucca and platanos fritos. I ordred Habanero Relleno con Camarones which is halibut filet sauteed with large shrimp then glazed in a seasoned tomato sauce, also served with rice and black beans, along with platanos fritos (fried bananas). Everything was really delicious. For dessert we split an order of flan de caramelo...divine!
Pork and Beef Dish
Halibut and Shrimp
Caramel Flan
It was Friday night and the place was really busy, so the waiter wasn't as attentive as he could be. It was quite awhile between the end of our main course and our dessert. The restaurant is huge...the kitchen is way at the back, so the waiters have to cover a lot of ground. I definitely want to go back on a less busy night.
Birthday Boy
Next to the piano was a conga drum which leads me to believe 
that La Bodeguita de Pico offers live Cuban music on certain nights. There's certainly enough floor space for dancing too.
that La Bodeguita de Pico offers live Cuban music on certain nights. There's certainly enough floor space for dancing too.As we were leaving, we bumped into another celebrity....actor, writer and director Buck Henry! He's always been one of my faves. We ended up chatting with Buck and his lady friend while they waited for their table. Nice guy...very approachable!
La Bodeguita de Pico, 5047 W. Pico Blvd., LA, 323/937-CUBA
posted by Ellen Bloom @ 1:12 PM
2 Comments:
Wow. Buck Henry, Gil Garcetti, and Ellen Bloom. Quite the *in crowd* there that nite! The place looks really nice (thanks for the pix). I think I might have to try it sometime soon...
I can't believe you have a restaurant blog too! I am so impressed. The place on Pico sounds yummy and is close to my neighborhood (well, close-ish) too. I will have to try it! Hoping there are yummy meat-free dishes on the menu.
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