Hello from LA

Baby-friendly, stroller-friendly restaurants around LA to be exact.

I have much more to share beyond that, but this is the topic at hand for today.

Getting back into the groove of dining out was HARD. I felt like it would

Our baby is 5 months old, and whenever we go out, that’s the first thing we try to consider:

• Is parking going to be easy?
• Does the restaurant have enough space to be able to accommodate strollers?
• Is the food tasty to make you want to come back?
• Is the service great?
• Is it a great value?

I’ve found quite a few restaurants that check off all the requirements above and I do not want to keep quiet about them.

I do want to raise that I tend to prefer Asian restaurants, and a lot of what I’ll be sharing are in Sawtelle, Koreatown, Downtown LA, or San Gabriel Valley. But of course, there will be more beyond that! I’m going to start off with three in this post.

1. Jjamppong Zizon : Koreatown

• This is a new spot we tried recently. The food is great, service is great, the restaurant is SPACIOUS. It’s the most popular jjamppong chain from Korea that made its way to the USA. They serve delicious, quintessential varieties of Korean-Chinese food, like jjajangmyun (black bean sauce noodles), jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle soup), tangsooyuk (sweet and sour pork), and fried rice. We went there during an odd time (4pm on a Saturday–baby life), and the restaurant was pretty much empty.
• Is parking easy?: Yes – there is a parking garage behind the building, and it’s $2 with validation from the restaurant. Otherwise there’s paid street parking, but it could get a bit sketchy.
• Can it accommodate strollers?: Yes, easily — it could fit multiple strollers too, if needed!
• Is the food tasty?: Yes! Be warned that it’s SPICY and that’s their M.O. Their jjamppong (spicy chinese chewy wheat noodles in red or sometimes white broth with seafood) had plenty of clams and seafood in it. We tried their sichuan-style tang soo yuk, or sweet and sour pork, which by itself if going to make you want to come back! Comes in Medium or Large size, and we got the medium and half-half jjamppong + jjajangmyun. It comes with your standard korean-chinese side dishes like pickled radish and cabbage? and condiments like pepper flakes, vinegar, and soy sauce.
• Is the service great?: Yes! You order via tablets at each table, so ordering is easy — and side of white rice is free, so you can soak up all the yummy leftover sauces and soups with it and clean your plates and bowls. They were very accommodating of our baby and stroller and gave us a table that was easy to get into, and gave us bottled waters. Not sure if it was just because of the fires in LA or if it’s always free, but it was a nice touch.
• Is it a great value?: I feel like nowadays it’s so tough to define value since everything is so expensive, but I’d say Yes. We ordered two big entrees that left us both very full, and spent about $55 for the both of us after tax and tip. We probably could’ve taken a bit of leftovers home.

2. Ducks Restaurant : San Gabriel

• Not the biggest restaurant, but had really tasty tempura entrees. It is very popular for its cozy, authentic Japanese vibes. We got there around 1130a on a Saturday, so the restaurant was only half full, but it filled up quickly after we got seated. They have a pen-and-paper waitlist.
• Is parking easy?: Yes, if you get there when it’s not super busy. They have a parking lot. Otherwise street parking.
• Can it accommodate strollers?: Yes, but perhaps one stroller per party. It’s not the biggest space.
• Is the food tasty?: Yes. The udon broth was very flavorful, and their fishcake tempura was tasty. I’d recommend those over katsu or other tempura.
• Is the service great?: Yes! They were very accommodating and friendly with our stroller and baby situation. Service was prompt even though it was busy.
• Is it a great value?: It’s OK – it’s about 20~25 for a larger combo (donburi / soup / katsu combo) and 15~20 range for a smaller entree. I think if you’re hungry, you might have to get multiple items. The 3 of us each got a combo and shared a couple other items, plus beverages. It came out to be about $50 per person after tip and tax.

3. Tsujita Annex : Sawtelle

• This is our favorite ramen place in LA. If you’re familiar with Tabetomo in New York, I believe someone from Tsujita broke out and created Tabetomo in New York. So the style is very similar. It comes with very garlicky, thick broth with pork fat floated on top, with thick noodles and huge, chunky chiashu slices. This style of ramen trumps their other ramen spots, imho. There’s a paper-and-pen waitlist, but generally the wait isn’t bad if you go early, and definitely less wait than the main Tsujita across the street.
• Is parking easy?: Not really, we do always end up finding parking on the next block over, but at peak hours it may not be easy to find street parking.
• Can it accommodate strollers?: Yes, but perhaps one stroller per party. It’s not the biggest space.
• Is the food tasty?: Yes! Everything from their menu is tasty.
• Is the service great?: Yes! It’s a no-frills service, but they’re accommodating to families with babies.
• Is it a great value?: Yes! For the amount of food you get, I think it’s a super deal. We always have leftovers that can feed us a whole another meal between the two of us the parents.

There is so much more to come that I’d love to share! Baby-friendly events around town, outdoor activities, and more! If there’s more you’d like to find out, I’d love to hear more!