Here's Where the Shahs of Sunset Go for Awesome Desserts, Juicy Burgers, and Pizzas as Big as a Table
Want a quick and decadent L.A. food tour? Here's your cheat sheet.
You can ask any food-loving Southern Californian for an insider's list of favorite restaurants, bakeries, pizzerias and assorted food stops. Or you can just take notes if you're watching The Shahs of Sunset, because the cast spends a lot of time eating in and around the L.A. area. You might recall that they've already shared their ultimate favorite Hollywood eats as well as fabulous traditional Iranian dishes. But the Shahs love all kinds of food, from gooey pizzas and pastas to decadent cookies and cakes, and on Season 5 they log plenty of hours checking out the freshest places. If you've never seen the show, consider this a cheat-sheet to fab L.A.-area indulgences. If you're a fan, let's review:
Farmer's Belly is a food truck, caterer and event space that specializes in organic, locally grown produce and humanely raised meats. We can't decide what we're craving more from their menu, the heirloom tomato melts or the blue cheese burgers on pretzel buns. Hey, we'll take both.
A huge patio and ginormous Mediterranean platters help this Los Feliz restaurant achieve a coastal vibe, even though it's inland. The menu is also huge, with extensive options for pasta, pizza, kebabs, sandwiches and cocktails, plus copious Benedict options for brunch. MJ introduced her new boyfriend Tommy to her discerning mother Vida at this restaurant, but all we could notice was the lusciousness of the harissa-baked brie they ordered. Surely it helped the nervous couple break the ice.Hamburger Mary's LGBT-friendly branches across the country are known for their bingo nights, super-sweet cocktails and juicy burgers, including the Crazy Stack (two burgers piled between three grilled cheese sandwiches) and the macaroni and cheese-topped Mac Daddy. The ladies of Shahs got together at the West Hollywood outpost to watch MJ host a bingo night with drag queens and tout her self-proclaimed title: "Condo Queen of WeHo."On Southern California nights when the air is a little nippy, dining outdoors at Berri's still feels cozy thanks to the giant heat lamps. The standout on the menu has to be the 20-inch pizzas, which are almost as big as the table and are available with toppings like spicy calamari, eggplant and burrata, or lobster.
Angelenos adore this sweet shop, where all the treats are both dairy-free and gluten-free but don't taste nearly so virtuous. Reza and his love Adam came in for chocolate-chip sandwich cookies and stayed for frozen blondies and soft serve ice cream, and you'd probably have a hard time too just picking one thing, or three. But you could always stash some agave-sweetened chocolate crumb cake and powdered sugar blueberry donuts in your to-go bag and keep the carb-fest going all day long.
