There’s no place like home. That’s because the food
there isn’t from the dorms.
One of the most anticipated college experiences, besides
partying or sleeping past noon, is the ability to have constant
access to food at your fingertips. But with so many choices, from
residential dining halls and on-campus eateries – not to mention
the array of restaurants in Westwood and the greater Los Angeles
area – what’s a new Bruin to do?
Dorm food, to be sure, isn’t bad. I’ll be the first
to admit that I was enamored with the ham-and-green-pepper
omelettes I ordered at the De Neve omelette bar, so much so that I
actually woke up at 6:45 a.m. every Monday during fall quarter of
my freshman year just to be first in line to get one.
But after a while, just as milk curdles or chocolate cakes left
out for three weeks grow mold (don’t ask), dorm food starts
to get … old. The stomach yearns for new culinary horizons, sick
of being fed the same Covel Commons pasta or Hedrick dining hall
sushi.
For those of you who don’t have a car at your disposal,
the next logical stop is Westwood Village. Before you do anything
““ including finish this column ““ do yourself a favor
and buy some Diddy Riese cookies. For only $1.25, or less than the
price of doing a single load of laundry, you can get a delicious
ice cream cookie sandwich that my friend Mike calls “a little
piece of heaven.”
For a full meal, your friends may tempt you to go to the obvious
restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen, Chili’s or
BJ’s. (Do stop at BJ’s and order a pizookie ““ an
enormous warm cookie with ice cream on it.) However, some
restaurants in Westwood may get overlooked and deserve mention.
Feeling tired of pepperoni pizza from Rieber Hall? Try
Enzo’s Pizzeria. Their pizza is the best in town. Another
Daily Bruin staffer and I went there on our first date, and
we’ve been eating there every month ever since. And it fills
hungry stomachs with ease: Where else can you get a steaming hot
23-inch pizza that won’t fit through the doorways in Sproul
Hall?
If you’re feeling more adventurous, try a
chicken-and-honey-mustard gyro at Daphne’s Greek Cafe, a tuna
crepe at Green Tea Terrace, or pad thai at Noodle Planet. Westwood
also has an abundance of sushi places that span the area, from Ami
on Broxton Avenue to Tengu on Lindbrook Avenue.
Once you’ve conquered Westwood by spending your Saturday
night dates eating at Jerry’s Famous Deli, catching a movie,
and sipping Starbucks frappuccinos, however, it’s time to
explore Los Angeles. One of the closer options is the Third Street
Promenade in Santa Monica. Freshmen sans vehicles, fear not: The
Big Blue Bus’ Line 1 will get you there in about 25
minutes.
For a fancy Valentine’s Day meal, Benihana is where
it’s at. Located on Fourth Street close to the Santa Monica
Place Mall, the Japanese restaurant takes cooking to new heights as
they prepare your meal right in front of you. Constantly flying
knives and steaming onion volcanoes, among other things, turn the
night into more of an entertaining cooking show and demonstration
of skill than an actual meal.
If you don’t want to drop 80 bucks for two juicy,
mouth-watering steaks and drinks (welcome to being a poor college
student), steer toward Asian fare at Yangtze or pasta at Trastevere
Trattoria Italiana. Sure, it’s between $10 and $18 for an
entree, but at the end of the day you’ll still have money in
your pockets and the satisfaction of eating a tastier meal than you
can find at the McDonald’s in Third Street’s food
court.
Beyond Santa Monica, Los Angeles is full of restaurants waiting
to be discovered. But let’s be honest: If you don’t
have a car, it’s difficult to explore the BBQ Korean beef in
Koreatown or Scottish fowl at Checker’s restaurant
downtown.
And if you’re lazy like me, then why get in a car when you
can just order food online and have it delivered to your
doorstep?
If you want food at 2 a.m. after everything closes on the Hill,
or are simply too absorbed in the latest episode of
“Lost” to go spend 30 minutes in the dining hall, you
can visit campusfood.com, create an account, and order from one of
11 different eateries in the Westwood area. I’ve ordered pot
stickers from Panda Cave on this Web site about 25 times in the
last two years, and I’ve never missed a second of Matthew Fox
and Evangeline Lilly on that mystical island.
But whether it’s Mongolian beef delivered to your suite or
fish tacos from the residential restaurant Rendezvous, remember you
can find new restaurants here faster than sorority girls go through
fashion trends.
And if you find that you just can’t take it any more, just
click your heels and repeat to yourself: Eleven weeks. Eleven
weeks. Eleven weeks.
Fylstra is actually spending the summer learning how to cook
her own meals. E-mail her at jfylstra@media.ucla.edu.