Green Peas
4437 Sepulveda Bl.
Culver City, CA 90230

310-397-9815
www.greenpeasrestaurant.com/

Quick Summary (3 out of 3 stars)

An amazing find for health conscious eaters and foodies of all types. With both vegan and carnivore options, the quality of the organic foods served at Green Peas make it an excellent stop for anyone who enjoys a great meal. And with most meals under $11 (also includes soup), it’s also a great value. It’s worth going out of your way for, and if you don’t have to do that, you’re a very lucky person.

While I’m not all that familiar with the area of Culver City closer to the Westfield Mall, I found myself hungry for something healthy. Like a few other health conscious restaurants in Los Angeles, the emphasis on “healthy” usually makes up for the lack of flavor and gastronomic satisfaction (i.e: “guilty pleasure”) one would normally get eating something less than recommended by the FDA. So, from the moment I walked into Green Peas, a breakfast and sandwich shop, I realized that this was going to be different. How different, I had no idea.

The first thing that hits you when you walk in is that the decor is rather stylish, yet it’s clear they aren’t trying too hard to impress. It’s VERY clean and there are tables for groups of 4-6, more intimate tables for 1-2 folks, but also 3 sets of couches and tables for a more relaxed coffeehouse vibe. When I walked to the counter, the large, colorful chalkboard menu was also a delightful surprise. IT WAS HUGE. And while listed on some websites as a vegan restaurant, there are so many meat options that the usual shackles that a meat eater feels when accompanying their vegan companion shatter into a billion pieces once you see the wide variety of choices.

At Green Peas, it is counter service with a waitstaff. I stepped up to order, I noticed that the soup was, ironically, green pea soup. “Yum… sometimes,” I thought. As ordered the prosciutto sandwich for $8.95 (Red Parma prosciutto, arugula, buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, and sun dried tomato aioli), the fellow who took my order let me know it comes with a cup of the soup or a house salad. Fantastic! When asked what bread I would like on my sandwich, I asked the gentleman behind the counter what he recommended. He paused for a second, then looked me in the eye and said, “The baguette is really my favorite.” I must say, I love it when the waitstaff has an informed and thoughtful opinion of the menu.

When they brought my food out, I was struck with the generous “cup size” they serve their soup in. Once again, score! I dove right into the soup, where I noticed it was much broth-ier than I am normally accustomed to seeing with pea soup. And for the record, I really don’t care for that. If I wanted to order “pea paste,” perhaps to caulk some windows or help put up a concrete wall of bricks, that would be perfect. I bring the first taste to my mouth and…

Wow. Um… WOW!!!!

How many times do you ever flip out over a bowl of pea soup?! Once! Maybe two, if you have some relative that made it for you or perhaps your girlfriend made you some when you were sick. But this was outstanding soup. Very clean tasting, flavorful, and because it wasn’t thick at all, it went down more like a consume, not a chowder or stew. Whether they had actually chopped the peas manually or passed it through a blender for just a few seconds, I wasn’t sure. But it was very fulfilling and also very crunchy: a true rarity for pea soup.

The sandwich also came out of left field to blow my mind. It was in this sandwich where the the ingredients truly shined. The bread was fresh with some crunch and very soft (no ripped up roof of my mouth, here!). The mozzarella, the arugula, and the tomatoes were all rather subtle and their supporting contribution to the incredibly high quality prosciutto: salty, totally flavorful, just the perfect amount of fat… Just outstanding. I genuinely enjoyed my meal so much that I ordered an additional bowl of the pea soup. And true to their word, they brought out a steaming, let not so obnoxiously large serving that put away any inkling that I might want to stop by one of my more familiar spots on the way home to get off any food kicks that may have previously existed in the doubt that lingered before I walked in Green Peas.

You get a clear sense that the restaurant has a high commitment to quality on all levels: ingredients, decor, and service. For instance, the self-serve water station has 4 jugs of water: one iced, one filled with orange slices, one with lemon slices, and another with just water. It makes for a pleasant display and subconsciously plants the idea that hey really put a lot of thought into every aspect of the venue, What you do not get at Green Peas is the pretentious, superior vibe that accompany many other health conscious restaurants in town. For instance, they have a steak salad that has the option of a regular ranch dressing or a vegan ranch. It’s as if the vegan option is just a choice of cuisine, not some stamp of righteousness that permeate other places and make you feel bad for questioning why they can’t make it more delicious. Green Peas has no such problem. Completely unpretentious, high quality food, a large variety of choices, all at a very good price, Green Peas is worth going out of your way for. And if it’s on your way, you are very, VERY lucky.

So stupid and perfect and stupid and perfect I hate you I want you I hate you I want you I hate you again again again. Can it get do it again Can can it again do it again. Again and again. Say my name say my name say my stupid name. Stupid how we always do it again. Uh oh. So stupid and perfect and stupid and perfect I hate you I want you I hate you oh again again again. Again and again again and again do it again do it again.” – The Bird and The Bee.

Vegas baby! Swingers is a great movie and so is this restaurant. Try it. Your stomach won’t regret and neither will your pocket book.

Swingers restaurant has an awesome California feel. The restaurants logo is iconic. The wait staff is funky. The food delicious. We had the Hell’s Kitchen mixed omllete (didn’t have much hell fire in it – so I had to add a lot of hot sauce), some sort of vegie burrito, and a stuffed grilled cheese sandwich with avocado. The california hamburger on the menu looked pretty good too.

Santa Monica has incredible restaurants and a lively night life.

I will posses your heart. I will posses your heart. You reject my advances and desperate pleas. I won’t let you down so easily. So easily. You gotta spend some time love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know you will find love. I will posses you heart. You gotta spend some time love, you gotta spend some time with me. I know you will find love. I will posses your heart. You gotta spend some time love, you gotta spend some time with me. I will posses your heart.

Swingers
802 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Neighborhood: Santa Monica

(310) 393-9793
www.swingersdiner.com

Ma’kai nightclub was packed last Friday night with hot young Santa Monicans and Angelinos. The DJ captured the crowd with top 10 beats and some electronic dance music. There were a handful of beautiful LA blondes who were either UCLA students or recent college grads. The sexy santa monica girls were out in full force at Makai in Santa Monica. When I first arrived the crowd to enter was non-existent. By 11 pm the crowd had surged to around 50 people or so waiting to get into a densely packed dance floor.

Check out Ma’Kai lounge on google customer reviews.

You can also check out Ma’Kai lounge on yelp with their pathetic three stars.

A group of 40 something year old women – who all looked like they were in pretty good shape. However, one of the clumsy soccery moms was dancing and knocked over a glass of champaign all over our table. She actually reached into her wallet and gave me $20 to pay for the accident. I grabbed that scribble and headed for the bar!

Ma’Kai Lounge
101 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 434-1511