Health

Nearly every fast food chain makes their version of breaded and fried chicken strips, and a growing number of restaurants offer tenders. We tasted tenders, strips and fingers from 11 fast food and fast casual chains to find who makes the best. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Is it a chicken tender, finger or … Read more

Chef-owner Aitor Zabala staffs the chefs’ counter at Somni in West Hollywood. (Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times) For two brief years in-the-know L.A. diners gathered around a small U-shaped counter hidden within Jose Andres’ now-closed restaurant the Bazaar to witness chef Aitor Zabala craft whimsical, avant-garde creations at Somni, one of the country’s most … Read more

(Leslie Grow / For The Times) Newsletter You are reading our Cooking newsletter Sign up to get a taste of Los Angeles — and the world — in your own home and in your inbox every Friday Enter email address Sign Me Up You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Christmas … Read more

Berries over a layer of coconut yogurt, one of the breakfast dishes at Destroyer in Culver City (Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times) “This is so 2017 of me,” I texted my journalist friend Meghan McCarron earlier this week, “but I’m spontaneously going to Destroyer today. Any chance you’re free for a meal?” I was … Read more

Ayara Thai in July 2020 in Westchester. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) A pandemic-era outdoor dining program credited with helping Los Angeles restaurants survive at a time when so many have shuttered or are struggling was set to expire at the end of the year, possibly leaving hundreds of restaurateurs in limbo. On Wednesday, … Read more

I tried every smoothie at Erewhon, including Hailey Bieber’s $17 skincare smoothie There’s something a bit too on-the-nose about Los Angeles’ trendiest health food store being called Erewhon. The 1872 Samuel Butler novel that inspired the store’s name satirizes a utopia in which those in ill health are treated like criminals, and money confers prestige … Read more

Starbucks, Dunkin’ and more: Who has the best frozen coffee drink? It’s winter in the United States, and while that may mean something different in California than it does in, say, Maine, it’s still cold. The Chicagoan in me hangs his head in shame as the 50-degree temperatures feel like a polar vortex to my … Read more

(Photograph by Jessica Miller / For The Times; food/prop stylist Danielle Campbell / For The Times) 1 If you, like me, have trouble running more than one errand per day, you understand the relative importance of the few things that you do get done. One of those things is usually lunch. And that lunch is … Read more

We tried every paleta flavor at Mateo’s Ice Cream, where each is a frozen work of art Although there’s no foolproof way to escape the convection oven that is a summer day in L.A., there are, in my mind, a handful of obvious remedies: Run through a sprinkler. Take a cold shower and drip dry … Read more

The official bottled water power rankings We have a lot to get to, so let’s jump right into the official Bottled Water Power Rankings. First: Everyone should have access to safe drinking water. This piece is not an endorsement of bottled water. Plastic bags, bottles and takeout containers are all an enormous detriment to the … Read more