Greetings, Biters. I know, I know. It’s been a while since
there’s been a new post. Can you ever forgive me? You can? Great. So how was
your Thanksgiving? Did you get up early on Black Friday to shop? I didn’t.
Instead of battling in Thunderdome to get that laptop real cheap that’ll be a
relic by the time Christmas gets here, I slept in and went to Nickel Diner in
downtown L.A. for lunch. (nickeldiner.com)
The décor in the place is really cool. Co-owners Monica May
(the chef) and Kristen Trattner (the designer) have created a place with a cool
vibe. I’m especially fond of the diner menu mural they uncovered when they were
renovating the place. It’s also a relaxing place where you can sit and enjoy a
good meal. Did I say good meal? I meant great meal.
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| I love this diner menu mural. |
As I’ve said before, the first time I try a place I judge
them by their burgers. In my opinion, if you can make a killer burger, you can
make anything. I had the Nickel Burger. It has cheddar, lettuce, red onion,
tomato, pickle and Thousand Island dressing. This burger is so damn good. It’s
a diner burger turned up to eleven. The
skinny fries that I got with it were like crack. I could not (and did not) stop
eating them.
My dining companion got their Smac and Cheese. It has
roasted tomatoes and breadcrumbs and more than enough cheese to satisfy the
cheese addict who was devouring it. There was a hint of heat so I’m guessing it
had some pepperjack. It was da bomb.
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| The Nickel Burger. It's damn awesome. |
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| Smac & Cheese. It's smack you upside the head delicious. |
We were too full for dessert so we got it to go. Because
once I got a look at their red velvet cake, there was no way in hell I was
leaving there without a slice. I go crazy for red velvet and Nickel’s red
velvet drove me over the edge. Not only does it have cream cheese icing on the
side but in between the layers. And in those layers of cream cheesy goodness
are also valrhona chocolate balls. This is definitely in the top two of the
best red velvet cakes I’ve ever had.
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| Can you pick just one? |
My companion took home a slice of their salt peanut cake
that has peanut butter and potato chips. It was also delicious. All of the
desserts look amazing but there is only so much sweet you can do at once
without ending up in a sugar coma. But I’ll definitely be back at the Nickel to
try some more. Especially the donuts. They have a red velvet and their maple
glazed bacon which is so famous it made it on to an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Of course one cannot live on sweets alone so I’ll also be
back for more meals. Now comes the hard part. What do I get next? The pancakes
sound really good. So does the breakfast burrito. If I decide to go the
lunch/dinner route, the spicy pulled pork sandwich and the steak sandwich sound
primo. The flat iron chimichurri steak sounds quite tasty too.
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| Donuts! |
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| Beverage row. |
I also have to give a shout out to the staff because the service was amazing. Seconds after someone leaves their table, it's cleaned and re-set for the next lucky bastard that gets to sit there. A few minutes after our server brought out our dessert in a to-go box, another staff member appeared seemingly out of nowhere with a bag and put them in it for us.
You need to get yourself downtown to the Nickel Diner. Trust
me, it’s worth the trip.
