Restaurant Choice of the Month for great dining in L.A.

Our Restaurant Pick of the Month for Great Dining in L.A. Movies | DVDs | Books | Music (CDs & DVDs)

Barbeque Prices: $17 to $25 entrees; $11 sandwiches Major Cards Reservations: possible Valet and Street parking Hours: The website says you can call them 24/7 Drinks: no alcohol
Specials: Entrees: 9 oz. Filet Mignon, Baby Back Ribs, Perfect Pulled Pork, Marinated Fried Catfish Sides: Baked Beans, Apple-Wood Bacon Smoked Sweet Onions, Baked Potato topped with Mascarpone, Apple-Wood Bacon & Chives Starters: Fried Pickles, Onion Ring Loaf, Smokin Catfish Bites Notes: An outlet for down home barbeque with creative gourmet touches. It fills a gap in this fare in the Hollywood area, making it a rare and welcome find. Generous servings. Sandwiches are more than adequate if you want to keep it light. Leave word with chef/owner Michael Keslers that VariaGate's Restaurant of the Month alerted you to his great new place. Ambience: Functional modern with dark woods and a glass front. The big feature here are the video screens on opposite walls that play well restored jazz performances by the great artists who performed for such venues as the Cotton Club in New York circa the twenties and thirties. The downside is the sound level that makes it difficult to carry on a conversation, though this may be avoided by dining at one of the tables set up outside. Service: Intelligently helpful and attentive with obvious pride in the quality of what they have to offer. Location and Parking: Just east of La Cienega and catty-corner to the Beverly Center. Metered street parking that can be difficult to find. If you prefer it, get there early for dinner. Valet service from around 7PM.

About our Restaurant of the Month: We get nothing for our pick or placement here, but go ahead and tell the owner, the chef and/or the wait staff that Jules Brenner, the Food Critic on Variagate.com, sent ya'. Point is, they don't get to be this highly recommended unless they earned it, so the honor is theirs (and the incentive to keep it up).

"Month" is a minimum. There is no maximum time a restaurant may exist here. We change our pick only when a deserving new one comes along. If you try any of them and don't (or do) agree, be sure to let us know. We need feedback, y'all. And, if you'd like to share your favorite,

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