Tandoor A India Restaurant
This local neighborhood Indian restaurant has quickly become my favorite. Granted, there are not a lot of other options for Indian nearby, but Tandoor-A-India is quite good. Their chicken tikka masala is so tasty, we end up scraping the sauce off the bottom of the container. Aloo gobi is our other favorite. At lunch time during the week they offer a buffet for about $7 that has a good selection and really hits the spot if you like Indian food. The restaurant is tucked into a hillside and is tiny, but it has an interesting back room with rich decorations.
Miramonte Indian Wells Resort & Spa Curio Collection By Hil
Miramonte Resort was just the getaway my fiance and I needed last weekend. It is a beautiful, Tuscan-style resort in Indian Wells, CA. The resort offers two main pools as well as two smaller ones in the spa area, lovely grounds that are well-maintained, a restaurant (that we didn't try out), and a wonderful spa. We both had massages, which came at a discount since we booked a package deal, and facials. The resort and spa has various traditions, including having spa guests pick a stone with a word or phrase on it from a bag before each spa treatment (mine said "let go" and "passion") to encourage the guest to focus on something positive rather than the daily grind during their relaxing treatment. The treatments were incredibly relaxing. My only gripe was the amount of water wasted at the resort. Given that they are located in a desert, I expected low-flow shower heads and watering the lawns at night. However, the showers are ones where you cannot control the water pressure and it was very high pressure, and the lawns were being watered in the middle of the afternoon in July in 120-degree heat. I wrote to them and complained about that.
Broadway Cleaners
My fiance and I have continued to use Broadway Cleaners even since we moved from the Santa Monica area to Playa Del Rey. It's no longer very convenient for us to get there, but Broadway Cleaners has provided consistently good quality service at low prices so we keep using them. They accept coupons from other cleaners, so you always get the best price on dry cleaning or regular laundering. The service is friendly and quick. The only gripe is that twice I have had to return to pick up additional clothes since I wasn't given the full order when I returned to pick up.
Flowers By Felicia
Flowers by Felicia is also known as the Coffee Garden. It is a combined coffee bar and flower shop. It is off the beaten track in quiet Playa Del Rey, with very friendly service and wonderful coffee. They offer an interesting collection of cards, flowers, and other nicknacks to browse or purchase while you wait for your coffee. If you like to patronize small, local businesses, this is one deserving of your attention.
Mo's Place
Visit Mo's Place for a relaxed, good time. This is a bar/restaurant that serves typical bar food, but in enormous quantities. I tried a burger and my fiance had chicken parmesan (there are a few pasta options in addition to the standard bar fare), and the two of us couldn't even finish one of the entrees. It was decent quality food, too. Mo's has a few pool tables, darts, Golden Tee, a pinball machine, and an old-school Ms. Pacman/Galaga video game. I had friends over for a birthday party there and it was fun... activities to keep people interested and not so crowded or loud that you couldn't hear each other or have room to sit.
Run With Us
Run With Us is a great store for people looking for assistance from the experts in selecting running shoes and other attire. The staff are very knowledgeable and will watch you run to guage how you step to determine the appropriate shoe for you. They know many of their customers by name, since the same people tend to keep coming back. They will spend the necessary time with you to help you get the best fit. They also stock water bottles, energy gel, and other accessories for the prepared runner. After leaving the store, you are motivated to try on the great new duds and run!
Distant Lands A Traveler's Bookstore & Outfitter
Distant Lands is my favorite travel store. It is located in beautiful Old Town Pasadena, so you can easily park your car once and walk to Distant Lands as well as all the other great stores in Old Town. It has a wide variety of travel books as well asclothes, money belts, travel pillows, and other essentials for traveling. The staff is knowledgeable about their products and willing to offer their advice on which brand to choose. The store also hosts evening slide shows and talks by local people who want to share the stories of their travel adventures. It is a unique travel store and one that is a pleasure to check out.
Vroman's Bookstore
Vroman's is well-known in the LA area as one of the best bookstores. It is a family-run business that has been around for decades and really caters to the community. The store itself is homey and comfortable. They offer not only a wide selection of books, but also other items and events, such as book signings and caroling during the holidays. I used to sing in a choir and one of our favorite events during the year was the hour or two we would spend singing Christmas carols at Vroman's around the holidays. It is located in the fabulous Old Town area of Pasadena, which has really boomed in the past few years and is a great place to spend an afternoon shopping.
Twin Palms Restaurant - CLOSED
I love going to this unique restaurant. The food is great, although a bit overpriced, and the ambiance is very nice. It is upper-scale, but not too stuffy. When we tried to get a table on New Years Eve last year and they were booked, the manager wentway beyond the call of duty and called around to a bunch of other restaurants for us until he found one that would take us. Great service!
Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant
I ate here a couple of times, and was not impressed with the food. They serve large quantities of mediocre food. I am always amazed at how people seem to love this restaurant, since I have always been underimpressed. The restaurant smelled pretty badat least one time when I was there and I also felt sick after dinner. The waitstaff is helpful and friendly and the family- style is somewhat unique, but the food leaves a lot to be desired.
