White Boy/White Dog Move To Skid Row

Certified Beach Dude Moves To Downtown Los Angeles

Last night I had dinner at the new Fleming’s at Olympci and Fig in LA Live. It was great to return to one of my old South Bay haunts- there was a time I was eating at Fleming’s on Rosecrans at least twice a week- in South Bay it was pretty easy to get last-minute reservations, and the food is consistantly great.

The L.A. Live experience is quite different, however; you have to be very mindful of what event(s) are happening at Staples Center, Nokia venues, and even the Conga Room. Last night was a Clippers game that started at 7:30pm- I was able to get a 8:30pm reservation no problem, but a 7:00pm or earlier would not happen. Nor a 10:00- 10:30pm reservation, as the crowd at Flemings comes and goes in waves- packed before a Lakers, Kings, or Clippers game, and then packed afterwards. It’s not like the feeling in the South Bay where almost all the diners were “beach people”- downtown, EVERY type of person is there- gang bangers in the manditory XXXL jerseys and pants with crotch at knees, couple dressed to the 9s in suits and long dresses, and everything in between. Not quite the “community” feel as at other downtown restaurants that are far away from LA Live. But I loved it for a change of pace, and the diversity that is downtown (not too many non-whites at the South Bay spot…). On other difference appears that the downtown Flemings has jacked-up prices compared with other locations- I used to routinely spend $130-$140 on dinner w/ drinks, and now same meal for 2 is about $200. It sucks but the high-end downtown restaurants/chains all seem to gouge people- I love the other downtown steakhouse chains too, like The Palm and Morton’s, but they seem to have higher prices downtown too.

An after dinner walk around LA live was impressive; it was packed on the warm summer-like night, and there were lines everywherre, including at Lucky Strike bowling lanes (I really want to go there, but have to go at an off-time as I have no patience for waiting outside to get into a bowling lane- it’s one thing to wait for lanes, but quite another to just get in the door. And cab service was horrendous- I figured there might be a taxi stand around there- but I couldn’t find one, and on walk around we looked for one to hail- no luck. So I finally called Yellow Car, and after what seemed like 10 min on hold I got through to dispatch. Cab didn’t show up in 10 min but we were able to hail a “green” cab and I felt no remorse from stiffing Yellow Cab- snooze, you lose, and for christ’s sake put some cabs roming around that area on the weekend instead of sitting at Macys.

And it totally confirmed in my mind that no matter how screwed up Higgins Lofts are, I am SO happy to be living here, at north end of Historic Core, rather than near the “tourist trap” that is LA Live, with all the obnoxious sports fans clogging the sidewalks nightly.