Good Grub in Northern Los Angeles

It was a few short days here in Van Nuys. I stayed at “the usual,” my Holiday Inn Express in Woodland Hills. It is about a twenty-minute drive from where we park Gladys at the airport, but I’m not about to pay $140 for a hotel just to be closer to her.

I’m stingy, you know? Sorry, Gladys.

It’s a beautiful hotel. In fact, I’ll be staying there again tomorrow!

After waiting for the shuttle for a few hours, I was ready to grab a bite for lunch after I quickly left my bag in the hotel room. I knew that I wanted to try this place just a few blocks away.

Can you see the sign for Leo & Lily?

It is indeed a cute little eatery that has my name written all over it. And, despite it being about two o’clock in the afternoon, it’s a busy little café! Let’s do this!

I had asked the hotel gal if she had ever tried eating here. She said not, but that she had heard that their breakfast was amazing.

So I was tickled when I discovered that they were still serving breakfast this afternoon!

I love reading menus, so I took a few pictures to share. As you can see, everything sounded delicious to an empty tummy! And rightfully so!

I decided to try this Left Coast Breakfast Sandwich because it had avocado, though the Americano Breakfast Sandwich was my other possible contender.

After I ordered, I enjoyed the patio seating outside. It was only about sixty-eight degrees today, but it felt so warm compared to the cold snap that I had left behind at home!

It was a lovely day to sit outside and enjoy delicious food!

Their presentation of silverware in a Mason jar was really cute, too. They thought to put some cork on the bottom so nothing broke. Brilliant!

And cute!

But then this arrived. And I forgot all about cute things. I was enveloped in the bounteous smells of breakfast. And I could hardly wait to dig in!

Believe it or not, I actually think that this meal was fairly healthy! It had turkey bacon and avocado with a well-fried egg and tomato, all piled onto ciabatta bread. The smoked gouda wasn’t the main flavor, but it hinted in every bite.

It was scrumptious!

No, I promise that I’m not eating again so soon after a great lunch at Leo & Lily! This is almost twenty-four hours later when I was searching for a place to grab my second lunch for this trip!

I decided to walk in the opposite direction of my usual exploring to see what other offerings were near my hotel. About 0.6 miles away, I found Hugo’s Tacos.

I’ve been known to like tacos, so I felt that this was very promising indeed.

Unfortunately, I paid over $9 for these tiny street tacos. They were only about three inches long each. The pork carnitas meat was good, but everything else kind of tasted funny to me. And, to make matters worse, the place was not clean at all.

I wouldn’t go back. But I’m glad to know that there aren’t a whole lot of eatery options up the road towards the west from my hotel!

For that kind of money, they could have at least given me some beans and rice, right?!

Ha! Once again, it looks like I’m eating immediately after lunch! This was dinner near my hotel at The Habit Burger Grill. I try not to eat at places that I could get at home, but this was oh-so close to my Holiday Inn Express.

And you know what? A burger sounded really good!

I never order a burger from those big chains like BK and McDonald’s. But a few places, like In-n-Out, Five Guys, and now The Habit, I will happily eat a made-to-order heavenly burger.

But I just discovered that The Habit is now in the Valley in which I live. Sounds like I need to take Hubby there, huh?

Their hamburgers are $2.89. Not too shabby!

Of course, I added some Swiss cheese. But the caramelized onions, one of my most favorite things in the whole wide world, came for free. Holy smokes, this was delicious tonight!

And the fries were so hot and fresh that I had to let them cool down. I love this place!

And every bite was heavenly. If you are near a Habit, give their burgers a try!

They also make chocolate shakes from scratch. Not that I know from personal experience or anything…

I would say that my few short days in Van Nuys for work were very successful ones. Especially since I based that judgment on how great my food was! Now you know why I love this trip so much!

And just a few of the million reasons of why I am so in love with my job!