Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Glorious Glendale ; )



So, this is no travel for me but it may be for non LA folk ; ) We just moved from "The Valley" to Glendale so exploring our new place of residence has been somewhat of a trip ; ) It's still LA but a cute city in itself. It's got a great downtown area with a grip of high rises that give some small towns across the U.S. a run for their money. There is some awesome shopping, theatre, galleries, the historical Brand park and library as well as http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gifsome good eats!!

Driving through our picturesque little neighborhood, I found this quaint commercial area right in the middle of the residential hood. It looks like a gingerbread village with cute shops and a small market. This small market happened to be a gem! The Village Market is a natural grocery store and cafe. They have a deli that makes RIDICULOUSLY good vegan sandwiches!! It is a must if you are popping into LA or live here and want to jump on over to Glen-dizzle for some yumminess on bread! Their info can be found at The Village Market Place .

Another gem that I found is right on the border of Glendale and Burbank and it brings me back to my hometown of Miami. Mambos is the closest thing to real Cuban food you can find in LA which means it kicks some serious butt!! Not only is the Cuban food super authentic, they have a vegetarian section on the menu to boot!! They have the staples: black beans, rice, plantains, yuca and awesome bread; but they also have veggie tamales and a veggie version of the Cuban favorite, picadillo. It really is the bomb!! Mambos is at 1701 Victory Blvd, Glendale, CA 91201, (818) 545-8613.

Keeping in the vein of delish Cuban food, there is Porto's Bakery. They have 2 locations, 1 in Glendale and 1 in Burbank. When I saw there was one in biking distance from my "casa" I almost lost it! They have the bomb mariquitas which are thinly sliced plantain chips with garlic, lemon and olive oil dressing. They are finger licking good! As are their veggie sandwiches and variety of fresh made juices. Check out Porto's and go to their about us page for address and info.

I'm off to unpack some more stuff but keep an eye out for the next installment of The Healthy Voyager!!