L.A. is one of the world's great food cities, and here's the proof. "EAT: Los Angeles" is the first book to celebrate everything a food lover needs to know. A team of expert culinary journalists shares the Why, What and Who on more than 1,000 of their favorite places: restaurants, of course, but also caterers, ethnic markets, gourmet-to-go, breakfast cafes, taco trucks, kitchen supply, wine shops, bakeries, burger joints, farmers' markets, food festivals, ramen houses, butchers, coffeehouses, tea parlors, gelaterias, pubs, chocolatiers, pizzerias and much more. The geographic range is as broad as the culinary scope - the book covers all of L.A. County, from Long Beach to La Canada.

I don't leave home without it! (5.0)

I keep a copy of this fabulous food guide in my glove compartment so I don't miss an opportunity to try something new wherever I am in L.A. It's a great companion to my own guide, Free L.A. Find something free to do that's fun then spend wisely on eating out by using the Eat Los Angeles guide to find the best restaurant for whatever you're hungry for, wherever you're hungry in the L.A. metro area!

A Useful Guide to Finding our City's Best Food (5.0)

Every time I pick up this delightful book I am reminded of why I love living in Los Angeles.

On each page I discover new bakeries, markets or restaurants I am eager to try, including quite a few in my own area in the San Fernando Valley. Naturally, I have to try "the only Bulgarian restaurant in town," and to visit a seafood market where "The most jaw-dropping array of live seafood swim in spotless tanks" and a produce market described thus: "If every neighborhood had a market like this, life would be perfect." For places I already like, the descriptions are so enticing that they remind me it's time for another visit, and soon.

The book's design with the tabbed chapters for restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and other categories and the division of each category by area of the city makes it very efficient to find what I want, whether it's a Thai or Middle Eastern restaurant in my area or a terrific fish market in the San Gabriel Valley. But I enjoy the book also as relaxing material to read and plan for more future food fun. I love the special pages of "Good Food Neighborhoods" rich in food destinations. I'm planning to use them to leisurely explore flavors of faraway cultures during my holidays at home.

If only there were an easy way to download the whole book into my G.P.S...

What happened to the San Fernando Valley????? (2.0)

I bought the book because it sounded good from a radio interview. Such an interesting concept for a food/city guide!

I had to buy it online because it wasn't in local bookstores. So, not having had the opportunity to look through it, imagine how surprised I was to see that they don't seem to recognize the San Fernando Valley as a part of LA! What is this? The 60s again, when people thought you needed shots to go to the SFV? @@

If you live and eat out here in the West Valley or if you're unfamiliar with it and you're going to be out here looking for someplace to eat or shop, you're not going to get any help from this book.

I think the authors, being on staff at the LA Times, should be ashamed and embarrassed at such an enormous oversight. Personally, I recognize that the guide could be useful for other parts of the city but such a lack of awareness of my area makes me dubious about the areas I don't know and reluctant to rely on it.

Where Shall We Go For Dinner? (5.0)

For anyone in the Los Angeles area, this book offers an astonishing number of possible answers to the question "Where shall we go for dinner?" (Or breakfast or lunch, for that matter.) There are thumb tabs for general categories, such as "Restaurants", "Food That's Fast", "Bakeries & Sweets", etc.

The text is then organized by the geographical regions of L.A.: whether one is looking for a steak house in Burbank or a tea house in Chinatown or a bistro in Venice, it's easy to track down. Capsule reviews for each of the hundreds of food establishments highlight the specialties of each place,as well as providing info about costs and clientele, and why it's noteworthy.

Editor Colleen Dunn Bates and the other contributing authors have all written extensively about the Los Angeles food scene for other publications; it's as if an all-star team was assembled to produce Eat: Los Angeles. They have delivered a winner!