A week and a half ago, it was announced on Dos Burritos‘ Facebook page that the Mendez Family had made the difficult decision to close the last location of their restaurant, which was once part of a small, local chain. Dos Burritos was founded in 1977 and, at its peak, there were locations in Downtown … Continue reading Fastfood Undead — Chains That Are No Longer Chains
I’m not a big fan of Taco Bell, the restaurant chain founded in Downey in 1962. I’m not a fan of their food, anyway — or the chain in general as it exists today. I am, however, a fan of the iconic architecture from the Golden Age of Fast Food (1940s-1980s) and I’m an even bigger … Continue reading Fastfood Undead – A Taco Bell reborn as a Thai Original BBQ
Fast food franchises reincarnated as something more interesting. There are many in Los Angeles so if you have one in particular you’d like to see featured, please leave a comment and I’ll try to get to it.
INTRODUCTION Over the years I’ve drawn maps, painted maps, and created digital maps. For the latter, I’ve most often used Google‘s My Maps program for several reasons. It’s relatively easy, looks relatively good, has pretty good functionality (e.g. links to websites and decent customization) and because Alphabet Inc. (Google’s parent company) is the fourth-largest company … Continue reading Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography — The Google Maps
Los Angeles is the world’s great Pan-Asian Metropolis. In Los Angeles, Asians and Pacific Islanders together comprise more than 15% of the population. They are the most numerous racial minority and the fastest growing. Recognized Asian ethnic enclaves include Cambodia Town, Chinatown, Filipinotown, Koreatown, Little Bangladesh, Little India, Little Osaka, Little Saigon, Little Seoul, Little Tokyo, and Thai Town. Metro Los Angeles … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis
The following entry originally appeared on the Amoeblog This is my last dispatch for the Amoeblog. I started blogging for Amoeblog on 26 July 2007. In that time I created a few series for the Amoeblog: One Album Wonders (profiles of bands which only released one album), Brightwell’s Top 10 (my favorite tracks from the … Continue reading Marking the end of an Eight Year Venture, or, My Final Post
I thought that it might be useful to publish an “episode guide” of my California Fool’s Gold series of explorations. When I explore a new community, I usually rely upon the vox populi which is why anyone may vote for what communities they’d like to become the subject of future articles by clicking here for Los Angeles … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold Episode Guide… and links to related series
Last year, on 18 August, I published a piece celebrating San Fernando Valley Day. You see, in the US (and nowhere else, really), people write dates month/day/year. I know, it makes no sense. Chalk another one up for American Exceptionalism. 818 is the area code that closely responds to the San Fernando Valley (although it … Continue reading Happy 626, or, San Gabriel Valley Day!
As most of my readers know, I’ve been trying for years to wrap my head around Los Angeles by exploring and mapping the metropolis. My first maps were hand-drawn on paper, starting with a map of Elysian Park‘s trails that I drew around 2001. I also have made quite a few Google Maps. The Google … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — The Los Angeles Community Directory
Asian Chain Restaurants in Los Angeles Foods Invented in Los Angeles Los Angeles’s Oldest Surviving Restaurants Overseas Chinese Cuisine Vegetarian and Vegan Los Angeles
Eric Brightwell 