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Started by Michael O'Brien
Thu, 03 Sep 1992 17:53
Mago's: Memories of greatness
Author: Michael O'Brien
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1992 17:53
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1992 17:53
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This posting is, formally speaking, useless, because you can't have this experience any more. Still, I want to preserve the memory. If you drive south on Centinela from Washington, you can still see the big sign for Mago's Famous Hamburgers, and you'll find a modern walk-up fast-food place if you do, right next to a sit-down Japanese restaurant. This boring prospect used to be the site of a truly unique eatery. Mago's as it used to be: a walkup with no inside seating, with nice '50's style glass windows about one story tall. There was one copy of the menu: it was on poster paper, and it absolutely filled all of the window space, except for the tiny window where you ordered, and the tiny window where you picked up your order. There were over 250 items on it. Mago & Co. were (and are, I suppose) Korean. The neighborhood is Mexican. The original cuisine of the place was American Hamburger. All three cuisines were present on the menu as it finally stood, and they blended at the edges in strange and amazing ways. The centerpiece, the point where they all met, was not emphasized in any way, but was obvious if you looked for it: the Avocado Cha-Shew Burrito. I never had the courage to try it (I hate avocado big-time) but those who tried it assured me that it was a) edible, b) unique, c) more or less indescribable. This place sold everything. Peering through the order window was like peering through the hole in the end of one of those spun-sugar hollow Easter eggs: a single-perspective landscape of goodies covered all the available surfaces, and there were (home-made) price markers on everything. They sold beer by the can or case. They sold toothpaste. They sold home-made ice cream. They sold fresh juices. The home-made menu proved that a limited command of English could be ignored very successfully. They got the point across. Under the list of fresh home-made juices was the subscription: "Mrs. Mago squeezed fresh daily. We have own squeeze machine." Somehow this always made us feel better. This place was so highly successful that it blew out. They made so much money they were able to open the sit-down restaurant next door, at which point they converted "Mago's Famous Hamburgers" into a normal eatery with a MacDonald's-like menu, about ten items tops. I was heartbroken. Anybody know where I can get "Ten Wontons and Fried Rice"? With a homemade peach shake? *sigh* -- Mike O'Brien obrien@aero.org
Re: Memories of greatness
Author: Karen Zukor
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1992 18:33
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1992 18:33
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Yes, let's mourn LA restaurants we knew, and loved! I embrace this topic! My entries: Cafe Jacoulet, Pasadena It was so difficult to bring myself to order anything but the marvelous raspberry duck, but I was rarely disappointed if I did. I had the most amazing appetizer of mussels in marinara sauce, which sounds pedestrian, but was haute cuisine at its finest. They DEFINED creme brulee. (Barrie eulogizes their brunch, with lox and bagels.) They were successful. Oh why, oh why, did it have to end? Far more ancient and personal: Hasty House, in Brentwood My family and I used to go all the time. It was buffet style, and perfect for kids. Again, quite popular. One day we showed up, and the doors were locked. The bank or the IRS had foreclosed. :-( Does anyone else remember this place? Karen Zukor devoted (LA) foodie (from WAY back) e-mail: zukor@logos.jpl.nasa.gov
Re: Memories of greatness
Author: Frank O'Donnell
Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1992 03:09
Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1992 03:09
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zukor@blacks.jpl.nasa.gov (Karen Zukor) writes: >Yes, let's mourn LA restaurants we knew, and loved! >I embrace this topic! > >My entries: >Cafe Jacoulet, Pasadena >It was so difficult to bring myself to order anything but the >marvelous raspberry duck, but I was rarely disappointed if I did. >I had the most amazing appetizer of mussels in marinara sauce, which >sounds pedestrian, but was haute cuisine at its finest. >They DEFINED creme brulee. >(Barrie eulogizes their brunch, with lox and bagels.) >They were successful. Oh why, oh why, did it have to end? Well, the way I heard it was that the chef (who had trained alongside the chef from Shiro's under some great L.A. culinary luminary whose name slips me) married an Italian woman and thus got interested in taking things in that kind of ethnic direction (thus the name change to Tra Fiori and the nouvelle treatments of polenta and all that stuff). I was further told, though (by a Tra Fiori waiter), that one of the original owners moved south and opened a new Cafe Jacoulet on Coronado Island. Anyone know anything about that? Frank frank@jplpost.jpl.nasa.gov
Re: Memories of greatness
Author: Yokichi Tanaka
Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1992 23:59
Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1992 23:59
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In article <1992Sep4.030949.7273@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>, fod@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov (Frank O'Donnell) writes: |> zukor@blacks.jpl.nasa.gov (Karen Zukor) writes: |> |> >Yes, let's mourn LA restaurants we knew, and loved! |> >I embrace this topic! |> > Maybe they didn't have the best food, but Oki Dog and the Atomic Cafe were definitely two of the most interesting eateries in LA. You'd find the most interesting people at 3am in the morning at these places. The Atomic Cafe is now a noodle shop ... and the last time I drove by Oki Dog, there was chain-linked fencing around it. Is Oki Dog also history? BTW, I've always assumed that the Motels' song "The Atomic Cafe" was based on this eatery ... because of the Motels being from LA, and the Atomic Cafe being a hang-out for the underground music people (euphemism for punks?). Any truth to this? -- Yokichi (Yoke) Tanaka Togai InfraLogic, Inc. "fuzzy" tanaka@til.com Irvine, California, USA uunet!til!tanaka 714-975-8522 "Is this movie in 3-D?" "No, but your face is."
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