Andy Gavin's Blog

Restaurant: Holy Basil

Location: 2828 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Date: December 12, 2025

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: A Fun Birthday Buyout (Watch the Salt!)

Jeff wanted to do something special for his birthday, so he bought out Holy Basil for a private dinner. This intimate Thai spot in mid-town Santa Monica, not far from 26th Street, has been generating buzz since it opened. A private buyout means you get the chef’s full attention, a custom menu, and the whole space to yourself—perfe...

Restaurant: Sushi Masuyoshi  [1, 2, 3]

Location: 10834 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232 | +1 (323) 509-6155

Date: December 11, 2025

Cuisine: Japanese Omakase

Rating: Still Our Omakase Happy Place!

The Foodie Group has a handful of spots we keep returning to, places where the quality never wavers and the welcome is always warm. Sushi Masuyoshi in Culver City is firmly on that list. Tucked away on Washington Boulevard, this intimate omakase counter has become our go-to when we want serious...

Restaurant: Alinea

Location: 1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614 | (312) 867-0110

Date: November 24, 2025

Cuisine: Modernist

Rating: Finally! A Bucket-List Meal

I’ve wanted to go to Alinea for years. Grant Achatz’s legendary temple of modernist cuisine has been on my list since he first started making waves with his boundary-pushing approach to food. But I hadn’t been to Chicago since 1994, and somehow the stars never aligned. Until now.

We were passing through Chicago on a college tour with ...

Restaurant: LAVO Los Angeles

Location: 9201 Sunset Blvd Suite 100, West Hollywood, CA 90069 | (310) 817-6441

Date: November 22, 2025

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Solid Neighborhood Italian

Sometimes you don’t need a Michelin-starred tasting menu or a six-month reservation. Sometimes you just need a solid Italian spot down the street where you can take the family for a good meal without overthinking it. That’s exactly what LAVO delivered on this particular Saturday night.

LAVO is part of the TAO Gr...

Restaurant: Casa Vega

Location: 13301 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 | 818-788-4868

Date: November 1, 2025

Cuisine: Mexican

Rating: Old School Excellence!

Date night with my wife took us to Casa Vega in Sherman Oaks, and full disclosure: this review includes some blurry low-light photography courtesy of the restaurant’s romantically dim atmosphere and possibly two Cadillac Margaritas. But that’s part of Casa Vega’s charm—this is the kind of place where the mood lighting is as essential t...

Restaurant: ALTO Fire to Table

Location: 12969 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604 | +1 (747) 202-1661

Date: November 7, 2025

Cuisine: South American (Argentina & Uruguay)

Rating: Argentine Fire Excellence!

Date night with my wife brought us to ALTO Fire to Table in Studio City, a South American restaurant that’s been making waves with its wood-fired approach to Argentine and Uruguayan cuisine. Located on Ventura Boulevard, ALTO centers its entire concept around open-flame cooking—the kind of ...

Restaurant: Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori Izakaya – West L.A.

Location: 1601 Sawtelle Blvd, Ste 101, Los Angeles, CA 90025 | +1 (424) 208-3293

Date: November 4, 2025

Cuisine: Japanese Yakitori & Izakaya

Rating: Fun Yakitori Night on a Budget!

Family night with the Foodie Club took us to Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori Izakaya on Sawtelle, and I’ll admit I had low expectations going in. I’ve been to Shin-Sen-Gumi a number of times before for mediocre ramen—the kind of serviceable but forgettable bowls that get...

Restaurant: MUN Korean Steakhouse

Location: 3519 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020

Date: November 2, 2025

Cuisine: Korean BBQ

Rating: Solid KBBQ, Empty Atmosphere

Sunday dinner with the usual suspects brought us to MUN Korean Steakhouse in Koreatown, a relatively high-end KBBQ spot that bills itself as a Korean steakhouse rather than the typical all-you-can-eat warehouse. I’ll say this right away: thank god it’s not AYCE. There’s something about the AYCE model that tends to attract chaos and com...

Restaurant: World Seafood Restaurant [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 1412 S Garfield Ave, Alhambra, CA 91801 | +1 (626) 282-3888

Date: October 26, 2025

Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum and Seafood

Rating: Sunday Gang Seafood Feast!

Sunday Chinese with the gang has become one of those reliable rituals—the kind of meal where the focus is less on chasing Michelin stars and more on enjoying good food, good wine, and good company. This time we landed at World Seafood Restaurant in Alhambra, a sprawling banque...

Restaurant: Xibei

Location: 400 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007 | 626-538-3000

Date: August 31 & Nov 16, 2025

Cuisine: Northwestern Chinese

Rating: Delicious

Xibei in Arcadia is a really interesting addition to the SGV dining scene, focusing on the hearty, rustic flavors of Northwestern Chinese cuisine—a style you don’t see much in LA. This is the food of China’s northwest frontier regions: lamb-centric, spice-forward, and built around oat-based noodles and dumplings that have a uniquely chew...