Rate-A-Restaurant, #94 in a series

Restaurant: Ford's Filling Station

Location: 9531 Culver Blvd. (Culver City)

Type of restaurant: American

We stipulated: Loretta was in town, to help out with the Museum of TV and Radio's Paley Fest, and sent out the email to Joe and I: Time to meet up for lunch. But this time, let's not just settle for the Marie Callender's across the street from Variety. (Yuck -- I whole-heartedly agree.) Joe suggested Ford's Filling Station, and I had just read about the new eatery from Ben Ford (yes, yes, you know by now, Harrison's son). So we decided to venture from mid-Wilshire and make a rare pilgrimage to Culver City.

They stipulated: Find your own parking. Luckily, there's a big Culver City lot right around the corner.

What we ordered:Mike: Shrimp po'boy. Joe: burger (topped with blue cheese and caramelized onions). Not sure what Loretta and Terry got.

High point: It's exciting to see Culver City's downtown developing into a nice destination. Ford's delivered when it comes to the environment as a decent gathering place. Meanwhile, the burger -- which Joe said was strong -- seemed to be the most popular item, judging from tables around us.

Low point: Service was spotty, and the shrimp po'boy was pretty pedestrian.

Overall impression:Sorry, no Calista and Harrison sighting at our lunch, although we understand they're regulars. Ford's might not quite be worth the drive on a busy day, but it's nice to see a place like this open up in Culver City.

Chance we will go back: Possibly (actually, Joe already has). If we're doing a business lunch with someone from Sony or Fox, I'd say it's a pretty good bet. As for whether Maria and I might check it out at night... not sure. We'd probably sample some of the new fare closer to Hollywood before we venture out to Culver City.

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