Awesome Happy Humpy Hour @ La Costa Mexican Restaurant!…read more *FLASH!* UYE Whenever three (3) or more Yelpers converge on a spot together - such as special non-Yelp events, or casual *spontaneous* in-the-moment unbilled Unofficial Yelp Events (UYEs) - you got yourself a *Flash* UYE! SITREP Tonight was a post-training decompression de-angsting treat for a dozen of us in Monterey Park- getting off work, and out of training, and so we headed over to La Costa to take advantage of the Happy Hour specials they had going on. MARGARITAS! Their classic margaritas on the rocks were 2-4-1 and dam refreshing - and I didn't share! I drank BOTH of my margaritas! THE FOOD However, the deep-fried calamari and the chicken quesadillas I DID share with my friends and colleagues, and they were so delicious. THE LOWDOWN Great people, refreshing drinks, and delicious food are a fantastic incentive for us to get together and share these things we enjoy together - La Costa proved to be a fun place to have a fantastic Happy Humpy Hour.

For my first review of the New Year, I'm looking back to the singularly most epic Unofficial Yelp…read moreEvent I've yet attended. An event so special it warranted a Yelp page of its own. This page. It's the story of how I finally got my Breakfast Club Badge, a badge that had long eluded me. I have to start by telling you about my dear friend from the Honolulu Yelp community, Nadine C. Whenever Nadine is visiting Southern California, which is quite often, she organizes these insanely fun Unofficial Yelp Event get togethers. Yelpers come from far and wide, often driving well over an hour just to get in on the Fun and hang out with Nadine. I've been to quite a few of these special events and I've met so many really cool Yelpers. When we get together at these meet-ups, we all usually exchange small gifts with each other. In a way, I guess you could say it's kind of like a California version of the Japanese Omiyage custom practiced by many Hawaiians. I say that because the whole gift exchange thing started with the sweet little gifts that Nadine brings us from Hawaii. Always the most thoughtful little presents! At one of these events my friend Rose F from down in Covina brought these super cool Yelp Breakfast Badge Coffee Mugs she designed and had made as gifts for everyone. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was to get that Breakfast Club Badge Coffee Mug! Woot woot! As I was celebrating this incredibly cool gift, I happened to mention that I hadn't actually earned the Breakfast Club Badge. As soon as Nadine heard me say I hadn't yet earned the Breakfast Club Badge, I mean within like 10 seconds, she came up with the plan. Right on the spot she announced that the next time she visited, our get together would be about getting me my Breakfast Club Badge. Someone suggested Millie's Cafe in Pasadena for the location. We quickly agreed Millie's would be perfect. Nadine immediately texted Hannah S from Monrovia and invited her to the event. Hannah said she was in. Before this I had never met Hannah and was super impressed that she would agree to help me get my badge. Right away Rose said she would come too! So wonderful and so appropriate because it was her gift of the Breakfast Club Badge mugs that got this ball rolling. I was blown away when my sweet friend Te-see B of Valley Glen piped up and said she would be there too. That was huge! Because if I know anything about Te-see, I know that she isn't a big fan of doing early morning meet -ups far from home. To come to this event she would have to get up hella early and drive a long ass way. Nevertheless, she said she'd be there. Me and Te-see are tight like that! While all this is being discussed, Nadine is texting invitations to Leilani M from Chino Hills and Pasadena's coolest Yelper, Sam B. Both said they'd try to make it. Impressive since I hadn't previously met either of these two Yelpers. But I'm telling you, it's very hard to turn down an invitation from Nadine C! As you can see from all the above, this whole UYE was nothing short of a Conspiracy! All these Yelpers coming together! Yelpers from hither and yon. All coming together to have fun with hanging out awhile with Nadine and to help me get my Breakfast Club Badge! Pretty damn cool! We met inside the restaurant. Hugs all around. Big Smiles. Gifts exchanged. We were seated at big table right in the middle of Millie's. I felt like I was the King of Pasadena. Everyone brought their personal Breakfast Club Badge Coffee Mug. Cheers to us all! Millie's turned out to be a great choice for our meet up. They were so accommodating. The service was exemplary. And the food was excellent. I had Eggs Benedict, something I usually only order on Special Occasions. Well, I'm telling you, this was a Special Occasion is there ever was one! As soon as everyone was seated we all checked in at the same time. Instantly my screen lit up with the notification I had earned the coveted Breakfast Club Badge. Just a short time after that, Sam arrived and checked in. She got her Breakfast Club Badge too. Huzzah! How cool is that? One event, Two Badges!!! It was a total rush! My head was spinning. I thought I would never get that badge. It's so ridiculously difficult to do. And I got it. I freaking got it! Earning this badge isn't something one can do on their own. It takes planning. It requires a coordinated effort. I could have never accomplished this goal without Nadine's help and the support of the amazing Yelp friends I've met at her wonderful events. So, let me start off this year by raising my Breakfast Club Badge mug and sending massive quantities of Yelp Love to the Impossibly Cool Nadine C of Kaneohe! Thank you, Nadine! You spread Aloha everywhere you go! And I'm sending heaps of Yelp Love to Rose, Te-see, Hannah, Leilani and Sam!! You guys are The Best! Thank you so much for helping me get my Breakfast Club Badge! Mikey C says: How lucky can one guy be?

Mikey's Breakfast Club Badge was our goal... And together,…read more we achieved it! The cherry on the top was: Sam got her Badge, too! It does take some work, and I'm so happy that Sam could get away from her job and check into the event before 9am! Last month, we decided that 7-11-24, Thursday, would be Mikey's Lucky Day! We would make his dream come true! It does take a village: ...because we all don't live in Pasadena, where we decided to meet. Some had to drive through LA traffic. Some drove far distances. Some had to wake up super early!!! (That's a feat in itself!) Despite all of the obstacles, we achieved this goal as a team! Good job, Te-See, Leilani, Hannah, Kayleen, Rose, and Mikey! We did it!!! Thank you! Thanks also for the goodies - also known as party favors or "omiyage" gifts in the Asian culture... That mug you made is extra special, Rose! We don't have the Yelp coaster in Hawaii, Te-See! The Cheerful Care Bear Hello Kitty looks like you, Sam! The Burt's Bees set is very useful, Mikey! Mahalo!

Every year, around this time the Little Tokyo Service Center puts on an sake and food tasting…read moreevent. This year's theme was "The Science of Sake" held at the California Science Museum across from USC. This particular event was to honor Iron Chef Morimoto. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet him.. but I got to taste some wonderful premium sake/beer and yummy food.. like fresh oysters on a half shell from Watergrill.. those things were literally the size of my palm. Maison Akira was there.. of course as well as other japanese restaurants... but the focus was on sake, which I now realize I don't know much about. They had a sake tasting contest which I enthusiastically agreed to participate hoping to win the grand prize of.. a bottle of sake. There were five different types of sake and we're told to take a sip of each one. But the contest host gave me full shots of each.. of which I obligingly drank in its entirety. (can't be rude now right?) Then he leads me to another table with trays of sake marked with numbers 1-5. "Now drink each one and mark down on this paper which one you think it is." Again these are like full on shots! (Ah ha! so this is their strategy...) After drinking mystery sake #3, I couldn't go on.. cause by then things were getting blurry and I knew i was starting to slur.... In the end, even getting one correct, I was left no prize, not even a consolation one.. just a hangover the next day. Good times.

Last summer, I attended the Tofu Festival in Little Tokyo for the very first time. Since I do like…read moretofu, I was very much interested to see what creations they would come up. My palate was definitely ready for whatever challenge lay before me. Luckily, we got there early to avoid some of the intense heat that came in later on in the afternoon, plus we didn't have as many lines to stand in, which made it easier to sample quite a variety of tofu dishes. But before any sampling was going to take place, scrip tickets had to be purchased. With dishes ranging from as little as 1 ticket to the highest being 7 tickets, I figured that I'd do pretty good with $20 worth of tickets and believe me, I used every single one of my tickets. A perk with going with other people is that we also did a lot of sampling of each other's dishes. I can definitely say that I had more tofu that one day than I've had in an entire year. Along with the items you had to "purchase", there were also quite a few vendors giving out free samples. The samples were primarily various beverages, which were very much appreciated. Now on to the food. There were two soy products that were kind of unusual (at least to me). One was soy "croutons." Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of this product but upon sampling them from someone else's dish, I found them to be too dry and even a little hard, so it was definitely a miss for me. The other new soy product was soy jerky and I can't believe how much I liked it. You could tell that it wasn't meat, but it was still chewy and the spices they used really gave a lot of flavor to the dried tofu. As for the foods I really liked, one of them was a cold gazpacho soup with tofu. Yum! It was definitely appropriate for the hot weather, but the spicing of the soup was really good and the tofu kind of absorbed some of that flavor, so it made the tofu that much tastier. I also really enjoyed a Japanese eggplant curry with tofu. That curry was to die for. If only I had rice, I would have been a really happy camper. Other things I really enjoyed was deep fried tofu that came with a Thai sweet chili sauce and for dessert, my soy Chai Tea ice cream was heavenly. Misses for me included the tofu sausage in a lettuce cup. That sausage was really dry and there was no flavor to it and while I liked the creamy texture of the tofu appetizer from Maison Akira, the whole dish just had a fishy taste to it that did not appeal to me at all. When the tofu dish was good, it was really good. When it was so-so, it was really so-so. I can't say that there was anything innovative in regards to any of the tofu dishes, but overall, it was a very fun day and I would definitely make a return trip this year. To see pics of the 2006 Tofu Festival, go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594257984707/

I love food festivals. Food, booze, music and being outdoors. That's pretty perfect if you ask me…read more(which you didn't.) I like a good tofu dish and that's just what this Occasion offered -- good tofu dishes. I didn't have much that touched upon the greatness that I craved but I did have a kick ass time. Blackalicious performed and they were wonderful (an odd booking but it was fantastic.) _C$

"Hey Harmonie, what did you do this weekend?" "Um....I spent…read moreSaturday evening in Beverly Hills! No big deal" ;D First off, major thanks to Andrea V. and Erin V. who each won a pair of tickets to this event via Yelp. They were so kind to invite me out and experience the 90210 without the drama of Kelly, Donna, and Brenda. So what is Simply DiVine? It's an event benefitting The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and featuring local restaurants, wineries, and such. Festivities took place outdoors at Two Rodeo Drive and general tickets are priced at $150 each. Yes, you read that right. One hundred and fifty dollar tickets. Don't freak out...remember, It's for a good cause! My favorites of the evening: - Ventura Limoncello. Specifically, their Orangecello liquor and their Cranberry-Limoncello cocktail - Edamame Salad from Street - Watermelon Gazpacho from Porta Via - Israeli Cous Cous from The Tripel - Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes from The Village Bakery http://su.pr/1S8jY7 I was extremely surprised to find so many vegan friendly options at this event. I will also be on the hunt for those vegan cupcakes next time I'm in Atwater Village! SO good! Auctions raised additional funds for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. If I wasn't unemployed, I probably would have bid on some of the vacation packages or yoga classes. Settled in the cobblestoned walkway of Two Rodeo Drive, the beautiful atmosphere and this bougie event turned out to be a super awesome, very classy and surprisingly vegan-friendly evening! ;D Beverly Hills, that's where I want to be...! http://youtu.be/M4iTyHItFwg

This fundraiser for the LA Gay and Lesbian Center was quite divine! Bites of food, free flowing…read moredrinks, entertainment and auctions made the night fun, while raising money for a good cause. The $150 tickets as well as the proceeds from the live and silent auctions raised money for the Center, while providing us all with the opportunity to sample and enjoy some new restaurants. The food and drinks: Vegetarian and vegan options were limited, but sufficient and satisfying, while meat eaters had an ample selection ranging from sliders to ceviche. Susan Fenigers Street featured a delicious and refreshing edamame salad, which provided a healthy contrast for my next favorite. The Village Bakery featured my favorite desserts of the night, a decadent and rich vegan chocolate cupcake: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7Td2vaRiiU7HU5BqSoQBMg?select=rkff63Xw9WK1e3e_wNpPeA and the best colored/decorated item, a rainbow cake: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7Td2vaRiiU7HU5BqSoQBMg?select=CUufSS8Rlc8e3FspgJbDNw. There was a great variety of drinks available, with numerous wine selections, as well as some liqueurs, margaritas, beers, and even champagne. Non-alcoholic options and bottles of water were also available, but didnt seem to be as popular! You probably wont get $150 worth of food if you bought a ticket, but the money is going to a good cause, which is why almost everyone was here to begin with! I was lucky enough to win tickets, but I couldnt help but bid on at least half a dozen items, so I know that my money went to an organization I am happy to support! Regarding the event organization: Some great things I appreciated: -Plate + Wine holder combo made it so much easier to navigate the crowd by freeing up my drink-holding hand.. Every event should have these: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7Td2vaRiiU7HU5BqSoQBMg?select=fVCYu2JB0R24aHj-985QDg -The silent auction set-up was great! Ive seen good, great, and bad silent auctions and this was a great one. After signing up and giving my credit card info, I was given a sheet of bar code stickers to place on the bidding sheets. All the bidding sheets already had increments listed on them. No writing name, phone number, amount, etc. necessary! So easy and fast that it made it so easy to bid on so many, I just put my sticker next to my max bid amount. The items were also well organized based on type, such as restaurants, beauty/spa, travel, etc. A few days after the event, I received an email notifying me that I was a winner, and a few days later my card was charged and I got my certificates in my mailbox! Area of improvement: Compared to other similar events I have been to in the past, this one was crowded. While the lines were usually short and the items I was interested in trying didnt run out until the end of the evening, maneuvering from one area to the next was difficult at times. The space the event was held in was great for an event like this, but not for the amount of people. Everything considered, especially the purpose of the evening made this event worthy of 5 stars!

An annual event for the past two years in Oakland, the Eat Real Festival came to LA for the first…read moretime this weekend for a two-day celebration of regionally-sourced, sustainably-produced and just plain good food. Held at the Helms Bakery District in Culver City, the festival itself was free to attend, with all food costing $5 or less. Part street food festival, state fair and block party, the event featured numerous food trucks and other food vendors, food skills demos and contests, a craft marketplace, music and educational workshops. What I LOVED: * FREE ADMISSION! * Vendors carefully chosen who provide REGIONALLY-SOURCED and SUSTAINABLY-PRODUCED food and drinks. Among the treats we enjoyed: - Hot dog from Let's Be Frank - Goat cheese from Drake Family Farms, drizzled with honey from Backyard Bees - Pulled pork slider and pork candy from Bigmista's BBQ - Burger and watermelon fresca from the Green Truck - Hawaiian shaved ice from A Rockin Ice and a snow cone from Sno-Con Amor - The flatiron, pork slider, grilled squash and fried cauliflower from the Flatiron Truck * Free SHUTTLES to/from the festival from numerous parking lots/locations throughout the area. Also easy to access by PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. Plus a free BIKE VALET. * Manageable crowds and lines (of course it's better early though). * With lots of food skills WORKSHOPS, DEMOS and even CONTESTS, the event is also very educational and fun to watch. We loved the Chicken Breakdown and the Flying Knives Butchery Contest (two teams of master butchers had to each cut up a 300+ lb steer hindquarter). * Stations well-staffed by FRIENDLY VOLUNTEERS to help you sort your TRASH, RECYCLABLES and COMPOSTABLE items. Also stations for you to refill your water bottles. My friend and I were at the festival on Saturday for most of the day (11 am - 7:30 pm) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Will definitely come again!!!

Checked out the Eat 'Real Fest this weekend. (A bay area event that decided to come to LA!!) Went…read moreon Sat during the first day of the dreaded and blown-out-of-proportion 405 fwy closure! Even w/ the closure there was NO TRAFFIC at all plus there was PLENTY of parking for the event. The event itself was held at the Helms Bakery building (which is now a bunch of stores). NO FOOD/DRINKS were over $5 There were over a dozen food trucks plus many food vendor booths! There were 2 beer gardens in the area. You could purchase a glass mug for $7- and refill for $5- (which I did). They had some great beers on tap.... Orange Wheat , Arrogant Bastard..... (You could only drink alcohol in the designated area so it was better to get food and bring it to the area so you can enjoy your beer too!) Beer Brewers represented: (http://eatrealfest.com/event/Los%20Angeles/California/2011/drink-beer) Ballast Point Brewing Hangar 24 Craft Brewery The Lost Abbey Craftsman Brewing Company Port Brewing Company Eagle Rock Brewery Stone Brewing Co. Firestone Walker Brewing Company The Bruery Wines: MAS Wine Company Palmina SilverTap Wines Inside one of the buildings they had local places that were selling local favorites like Jam/Jellies ...Chocolate.......etc (http://eatrealfest.com/event/Los%20Angeles/California/2011/eat-market) They had a stage where they showed different demonstrations...plus a butcher contest ..music.....etc It was a great day and I had a great time. Lots of people showed up...lots of families...w/ babies...and dogs. They even had a vendor there that was selling backyard set-up chicken coops so that people could raise their own chickens and have fresh eggs.(interesting!) The vendors I tried were: Bigmista BBQ (bigmista.com)- their pork sliders were great (they ran out of their chicken wings) Waffles De Liege (waffledeliege.com) - just waffles ..meh Corn Maiden Foods (cornmaidenfoods.com) - AWESOME TAMALES I would have tried more but the lines were very slow and the portions were very small (guess thats what you get for $5- ) Other vendors/food trucks: (http://eatrealfest.com/event/Los%20Angeles/California/2011/eat-vendors) A Rockin Ice Crepe 'n Around Go Country Chuck Wagon Nom Nom Truck Temaki Truck Anca's Romanian Bowers Gourmet Sausages Drip Bar Komodo Old Vine Cafe The Hungry Nomad Beach Cream CoolHaus Flatiron Truck Let's Be Frank Rokyo Vizzitruck Belcampo Meat. Co. Flying Pig Me So Hungry Truck Sno-Con Amor My only one complaint is that by 4 pm..( the festival was open until 9pm) a lot of places were sold out of food. If I didn't get there early I would have been upset. If the festival hours are from 1030am to 9pm...then you would think that all the vendors would be stocked up and have enough food to make until 9pm !! Even the beer garden ran out of their jars by 4pm which forced people to by the small $5- cups (which wasn't worth it). One of the best things about the event is that it is 100% environment friendly!! They had waste / compost / recycling bins EVERYWHERE..and they had an attendant standing by each area to show people exactly which bin to put the trash. OVERALL .it was a...great day with great friends/family and great food!!

This was an absolutely lovely event. We looked around at the different tea vendors and got to…read moresample lots of different teas. They give you a nice bag at the beginning with a program and tea cup. The vendors were both indoors and outdoors. At the end, one of the vendors even sang to us which was cool. We went to the tea and chocolate tasting which was a nice experience. Then we saw a Japanese tea ceremony which was cool and different. Since it is supposed to be international I would of loved a tea and sandwich British type class too...maybe next year. I'd also like some more decaf teas. I would definitely come again another year. It's a good excuse to get down to Little Tokyo. Admission was $20 but we found a discount code on their page for 1/2 off. With our extra $10 we included the chocolate tasting. I love a good deal! Plus, I called them up on the phone beforehand to ask some questions about the event and they were really nice. Admission included free admission to the museum which is an awesome place to visit as well. Then you can go outside and explore LIttle Tokyo. This time there was also Japanese dancing in the street. It was a lovely afternoon.

This was our first time attending and for 2018 it was at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, there were a…read morecouple of things that the wife and I like about the show, but the location was not ideal for an event of this type. first off there was no signage as we were driving around the Rose Bowl to indicate the location, once you get into the parking lot there are some small signs, directing you in the right direction. Getting to the desk where you pay admission($20 per person) we were greeted by friendly staff, you get a small tote bag and a tasting cup for tea. The festival was on the Third floor of the stadium, taking the elevator up we discover it is all outside, fortunately it was nice and not too windy on the day we went. Another problem is that there are vendors to the right and left so as an attendee it not really easy to wander, you go one way and then back the other. There were about 40 vendor and they were all very nice and attentive to the customers, pitching their respective wares. Lots of teas to taste and reasonable prices. Overall it was worth the admission fee and I would consider attending again.

City of Rowland Heights (RH) has lots to offer to local residents and also those visitors from a…read morefar. I am one of the latter. I come from a afar. Hey, no distance keeps me from good eats ever LOL. The main streets that I drive on in this city are Nogales Street, Fullerton Road, and Colima Road. It's where all the great restaurants, bakeries, boba shops, and more are located. I don't know anyone who lives in RH, but where there is food, I am here! LOL Just to name a few places why I visit RH... Boston Lobster, Lobster Bay, KW Cafe, Tam's Noodle House, New Capital Seafood, JJ Bakery, 7 Leaves, Sul & Beans, 99 Ranch. So much offered in this city! I am sure there are a lot more great places to eat in this city that I have not tried yet. One place at a time that's for sure. See you here!

We love coming to Rowland Heights to visit our favorite spots to eat or pick up to go like Mido,…read moreDuke Bakery, Melo Mello and The Halal Guys. It's an hour from our home, but worth the drive to these places since they don't have them in our area.