Restaurant: The Standard Downtown Restaurant
Location: 550 S. Flower (Downtown)
Type of restaurant: Diner
We stipulated: Our friends Su and Fred were in town visiting, but coming up from La Mirada. We needed a breakfast place easily accessible from the freeway. We settled on downtown -- but the Original Pantry, given how crowded it gets on the weekend, was out of the question. The Standard's roof is always a eye-opener for out-of-towners, so we decided to make a return trip to the hotel's lobby restaurant.
They stipulated: Actually, in the morning, not much: Just show up and you'll get a table. The toughest part of the Standard experience? The parking.
What we ordered:Mike: Eggsadilla (scallion, guacamole, jack cheese, flour tortilla, pico de gallo) -- $9; Maria: Three item omelet (spinach, mushroom, bacon) -- $9.
High point: We love the bright yellow decor and egg-crate style walls. The Standard's restaurant is really perfect for breakfast -- not too crowded, not too loud. The eggsadilla was decent, the coffee was bottomless, and Blogger Baby Evan was on his best behavior (he was busy flirting with the waitresses, who all fell pretty hard for him.)
Low point: This ain't our normal $1.99 IKEA breakfast. Expect a hefty bill.
Overall impression: Morning really is the best time to visit the Standard. The lobby is mellow (we even took pictures in the photo booth); the roof is almost empty (allowing a nice, leisurely look out on the downtown skyline) and the people seem friendlier. (For several years our day-after-Thanksgiving routine involved spending three hours at the Standard restaurant addressing Christmas cards.) Be sure to park in the Library parking garage next door -- as long as you have a library card. And keep in mind, the library doesn't open in Sundays until 1 p.m., so you can't get validated until then. Sadly, we had to leave before then, and wound up paying $7 in parking.
Chance we will go back: Yes -- particularly when we have guests in town. It's too pricey to do too often.
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