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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins Friday night. An early L’Shanah Tovah to all who celebrate!
Now on to today’s news.
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Photo by Sandy Driscoll for the Eastsider
📷 Eastside Scene
Silver Lake—An inspiring sunrise to start the day. Thanks to Sandy Driscoll for sharing the photo.
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📢 NewsOne injured in house fire
Cypress Park—Paramedics treated one man for injuries he suffered this morning in a fire in the detached garage of a house in the 2600 block of Thorpe Avenue. The Eastsider
Injury crash involving ambulance
Boyle Heights—A L.A. Fire Department rescue ambulance was involved in a crash in Boyle Heights Wednesday afternoon that injured as many as five people. The Eastsider
Authorities release name of man killed in shooting
Highland Park—Authorities Wednesday identified a 26-year-old man who was fatally wounded in a shooting in Highland Park. The Eastsider
SPONSORED BY DESERT ROSEDesert Rose Restaurant
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Call (323) 666-1166 for reservations and offer restrictions. Promotions cannot be combined.
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👏 Thank You Thursday
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🗒️ NotebookVermont bus lane project receives $150 million
East Hollywood—Metro will be getting $150-million in federal funding for constructing a 12.4-mile dedicated bus lane along Vermont Avenue. The Vermont Transit Corridor Bus Rapid Transit will run express bus service from Sunset Boulevard to 120th Street. It’s expected to shave 17 minutes off the total end-to-end travel time for buses, but remove a lane from private vehicle travel in each direction, leaving only one or two traffic lanes in each side of the street in some areas. Urbanize
ICE detainee’s health declines
Silver Lake—Since 66-year-old Rafael Vela Gonzalez was detained by immigration officers nearly eight months ago, his health has declined, and he can now barely stand, according to his loved ones. Meanwhile, without Gonzalez as her caretaker, his 81-year-old partner Vivian Lee Arguello struggles to get by. L.A. Times
🍽️ Good Taste
Here’s this week’s round-up of Eastside food and drink news
A sizzling offer
Atwater Village—For the month of September, which is consequently National Cheese Toast Month, hungry patrons can support the Irving Magnet Middle School’s Dance Program with a purchase of a specialty sandwich and side at the Atwater Village Sizzler. Order the Cheese Toast Patty Melt or Cheese Toast Malibu Melt, and 100% of the profits will be donated to the dance program, a beneficiary handpicked by the Sizzler crew.
Praise for Vandell
Los Feliz—The Los Angeles Times hailed Vandell as 2026’s hottest bar in a recent review. The review praised Shawn Lickliter and Vay Su’s precise, produce-driven cocktails, vintage spirits, attentive service and Griffith Park-inspired design, while noting that the enjoyable food plays a secondary, supporting role overall.
Sous Sous joins hotel in restored church
Silver Lake—Sous Sous has opened inside Hotel Lucile, a restored 1931 church in Silver Lake. Led by chef Patrick Costa, the restaurant blends Southern French cooking with flavors from the American South and California ingredients. The dramatic dining room preserves the former sanctuary’s vaulted ceilings, wooden beams and historic stained-glass windows. Wallpaper
ICYMI
Atwater Village—Blu Jam Cafe announced Tuesday that it will close its breakfast-and-lunch spot at 3224 Glendale Blvd., less than five years after opening in March 2022. The cafe said the building was sold and it opted out of a new lease. No closing date was announced. Staff were offered jobs at Blu Jam’s five other cafes. Merrill Shindler reviewed Blu Jam for The Eastsider in 2022.
Echo Park—A person named Yanina leased the former Burrito King stand at Sunset Boulevard and Alvarado, with plans to reopen the restaurant under the same name and iconic burro, according to an Instagram post. No word yet on when the new Burrito King will open or what will be on the menu. The original Burrito King operated for 58 years before closing in July.
🏆Where to Catch the Game — Best Sports Bars
Whether you’re gearing up for football, cheering on the Dodgers or catching your favorite team in action, the Eastside has no shortage of places to watch the action—from classic neighborhood taverns and beer gardens to newer bars devoted to women’s sports and international soccer.
Congratulations to Hi Tops in Los Feliz, our readers’ top pick for the Eastside’s best sports bar! The top 5:
Hi Tops — Los FelizRed Lion Tavern — Silver Lake33 Taps — Silver LakeThe Greyhound Bar & Grill — Highland ParkLink N Hops — Atwater Village
Now here’s where to go to catch the game across the Eastside
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Voting for this group of Best of the Eastside categories closes soon. Review the finalists and cast your vote!
A sampling of dishes at Hippo includes grilled chicken thighs, a shaved lettuce salad and glossy Hippo house rolls.
Photos by Merrill Shindler
HIGHLAND PARKHippo serves bold Italian fare
Hippo the restaurant doesn’t get its name from the Greek word “hippopotamus,” meaning “river horse” or “water horse.” Rather, it’s an acronym for what its eccentrically sprawling space used to be – the Highland Park Post Office.
And when I say sprawling, I’m not overstating it – the space is large enough to hold Hippo the Restaurant, its crust-and-cheese offspring Triple Beam Pizza, Highland Park Wine and Go Get ‘Em Tiger Coffee. The wall décor owes a lot to cartoonish artist Keith Haring. The food owes everything to Chef Matt Molina, who was a major player at Nancy Silverton’s Osteria Mozza. And Matt Molina has been a fan of well-worn culinary paths, and gone the way of the obvious.
The pasta is “made fresh by hand every day.” And the trio of proteins are cooked over a grill that “burns almond wood.” The choice of pastas is relatively brief – just eight. But so tempting you might want to bring along a table of heavy forks who’ll gobble through all of them. How to choose between the herbed ricotta tortelloni (tortellini on steroids) with funghi misti…and the duck ragu tagliolini (a ribbony cousin of spaghetti)? Between the seashell-shaped conchiglie with fennel sausage and broccoli rabe ragu…and the celery root stuffed, three-sided triangoli with shallots and chives?
But once you get to the dishes adjacent to the pastas, Hippo goes Italian south-by-southwest. The shaved Brussels sprouts with toasted almonds and mint are Italian mostly because of the presence of parmesan-like Grana Padano from Piedmont. The grilled cauliflower – one of the several dishes in today’s world that’s brought cauliflower back from the sorrowful mistreatment by our parents – has a walnut-raisin-caper relish. There’s hamachi crudo with plums, a Japanese fish in an Italian marinade.
The entrée of cedar-smoked trout with sweet corn succotash is red, white and bluish. And the barbecued honey balsamic hangar steak comes with a smattering of Great Northern white beans. Only a few of the wines are from Italy.
Like the hippo itself, Hippo the Restaurant seems to have been made from an assortment of mismatched parts and pieces. They are unforgettable once seen…and even more so once tasted.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beyond Sublime⭐⭐⭐ Worth Every Penny⭐⭐A Good Neighborhood Destination⭐ Might As Well Stay At HomeHippo5916-1/2 N. Figeroa St., Highland Park323-545-3536www.hipporestaurant.comDinner, Wednesday through SundayModerately priced
Food Dude Merrill Shindler has written about the joys of eating in New York, San Francisco, Taipei, Hong Kong, Italy, Peru, France, Thailand, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Iceland and right there on the Eastside. He loves Hippo because it combines a pizzeria with a coffee counter with a wine shop with a grill and a pastaria. It also has a memorably wacko name.
>>> Read more of Merrill Shindler’s Eastside restaurant reviews
If you know of a standout but overlooked neighborhood restaurant, please submit the details here.
🧭 The Guides
Dancers in colorful traditional dresses perform during the 2023 East L.A. Mexican Independence Day Parade.
Photo by Monica Rodriguez
EAST L.A.Mexican Independence Day celebration this Sunday
By Monica Rodriguez
The East L.A. Mexican Independence Day Parade is set to make its way down Cesar E. Chavez Avenue at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Singer and actor El Dasa will be grand marshal, and L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis will be co-grand marshal. Solis, who represents East L.A. on the Board of Supervisors, has termed out and is running for a Congressional seat.
The parade is billed as the largest and longest-running event of its kind by the Comité Mexicano Cívico Patriótico, which organizes the event.
The parade is followed by a festival along Mednik Avenue.
🗓️ Eastside Weekend
By Jennifer Rodriguez
Friday, September 11
Boyle Heights—Dance and vibe to Cumbias Ska y Rock Mexicano at Viva Mexico! 🎶
Saturday, September 12
Montecito Heights—Celebrate The Perry House as it turns 150 at the Heritage Square Museum. 🏘️🥳🎊
Sunday, September 13
🧑🧑🧒🧒Echo Park—Do your shopping and perusing at the Every Sunday Funday Market at A Good Used Book. ! 🛍️📚🍪
👋 That’s it!
Thanks for reading.
—Robert Fulton
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