54Twenty

This place has a fun intimate throwback-​cozy feel. The food is classic and the staff is very friendly. I ordered the butter pancakes with bananas and blueberries on top. I asked my server if she could have my pancakes made thin and crispy. They came out wonderful! I would refer this to a friend and a stranger on the street. Fun local spot. More people should know about it!

I used to come here all the time because I lived 2 blocks away and have fond memories of the good atmosphere. I went back with my girlfriend on a whim because we hadn’t been in a long time. Unfortunately, that whim was a mistake.
First of all, breakfast isn’t rocket science and is one of the easier meals to cook. If you mess up scrambled eggs or a grilled cheese than something is wrong with your cook. The coffee being watery was the first bad sign. The oj was also clearly tropicana not fresh squeezed.
My loaded home potatoes were drenched in cheese to the point it was inedible. The potatoes were freshly boiled, undercooked. My girlfriend got tomato soup that was salty and a grilled cheese that wasn’t toasted. We had a few bites and promptly asked for the check. It was one of those meals that was so bad I regretted paying for it.
We’re now at yucas on Hollywood enjoying food that’s not only eatible but appetizing.

Sizeable edible portions. Thought it was odd they don’t butter the toast or give you any :-\
French toast was delicious and I was surprised that the presentation of the food was welcoming.
A plethora sf vegan options, I wish they had more meat alternatives rather than replacements.
Yes I would do it again.

I have wanted to try this cute little diner-​type place for months and finally stopped in with my 7-​yr old. I had a eggs,
breakfast potatoes and pancakes. Sounds simple, right? No one, I mean even the highest-​end places never cook over-​medium eggs correctly — my eggs were cooked to perfection! The breakfast potatoes were so good, I insisted they tell me exactly how to make them so I could enjoy at home. And finally the pancakes — light, fluffy and incredibly delicious.
Oh yeah, the coffee was rich and smooth. Daughter’s breakfast was, according to her, AWESOME!
What else can I say, except this place is now on my short list of amazing L.A. breakfast places. Looking forward to trying their lunch menu.

A comforting but tepid experience. Average food, relaxed décor, hit or miss service.
Food
Loaded home potatoes: shredded cheddar melted over scrambled eggs, bacon, and home fried potatoes. One note dish that comforts after first bite and sits heavily in the gut after the last. Delicious but unbalanced. Needs some sort of bright note to keep going, hence the need for liberal ketchup application.
Burger: a poor value dish that I would not recommend. In N Out sized single patty topped with bacon slice, chunky caramelized onions, and cheese sitting upon iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. Sliced sandwich bread toast serves as the bun. Flavorless fries fill the rest of the plate. I would pay $ 6 for this dish, maybe $ 7 if I wanted to be generous. But at $ 9, I would expect a higher quality, thicker, and therefore juicier patty. Or in the least, a crustier, more flavorful sear on this coaster of beef. This dish feels like an after thought.
Décor felt like a lived-​in modern take on a diner format. 70s and 80s music played at comfortable level. I wouldn’t write home about it but I wouldn’t pan it either.
Service
The chef greeted us and seated us. We asked for the counter but he denied the request to say it was being cleaned. It was already clean, so his insistence confused me.
The waitress gave us our space and didn’t push anything on us. She topped off my coffee without me asking. By doing her job, she made up for the chef’s slightly rude treatment.

Came here for breakfast as it was walking distance from the place I was staying. I didn’t have a bad experience, but it wasn’t amazing.
I ordered the American combo which is bacon, eggs, home fries, and pancakes. Bacon was tasty and potatoes were good. I ordered my egg over easy, but it arrived medium ish hard. I had the crazy cakes, which are just weird shaped pancakes with fruit on top. I had to ask for the fruit as it didn’t show up. Coffee was decent diner quality.
The chef literally cooks right in front of you which is cool, but I got the impression you do not want to cross him. Complaints or changes aren’t taken well from what I saw.
Overall, had a good breakfast and was on my way.

Horrible food. Bad service.
Don’t waste your time with this place. We subbed something and they tried to upcharge… Thankfully we caught it.
The pancakes are flavorless!
The food comes out at different times and was not warm.

Great place to eat! I loved the atmosphere and the service. I ordered and egg white omelet with cheese spinach and mushrooms and a side of potatoes. Delicious :) the only reason I took off one star is because the cheese wasn’t melted so it seemed a little hastily done. But other than that everything was awesome.

I had hopes… sadly disappointed. Getting a lot of burnt food lately, don’t serve it. Hey! Is there a tomato shortage? Should have got up and left as I watched the «cook» carving the burger patty from a 100% angus block of ice.

This place is awesome! Be aware of the size of the pancakes, I had two and I feel pretty good. The service is great and I would totally recommend to try the build your self omelet option.
Great place for a Sunday morning and breakfast is served until 2:00pm
They actually close at 2: pm and don’t reopen at 4: pm like the schedule shows. Also be a little patient because they only have on server for the whole place, and she tries her best.

Bacon eggs were yummy and come with amazing crispy potato squares. ’twas a bit too greasy for me. I would share a salad next time.
Bottomless handsome coffee comes with brown sugar cubes: thumbs up.
Parking is at the motel next door. You won’t be able to miss it because Marilyn Monroe is there.
Overall great brunch spot.

Back again. Same great food and service. Hit spots in silverlake lately and they don’t come close to this place. There pancakes are so good!!!

With all the good reviews, my wife and me strolled in to an empty restaurant.
I was expecting lively music, but it was some dreary crap from Pandora and when I asked the nice waitress for some appropriate music, she was unable to change the station.
Being that all the reviews mentioned the French Toast, I thought I’d give it a try. Bad idea.
It was far from anything that was mentioned in the numerous reviews and when I asked the waitress, she said that the chef and owner had left some months ago and judging from this, I don’t foresee this place being around in six months.

The galpal and I decided to dropped by here on Sunday before hiking to the Griffith Observatory. The place wasn’t too crowded at 11am and both the waitress and the british accented lady were very attentive. She even suggested we check out the ‘Hidden Stairs of Los Angeles’ after I mentioned to her that we were about to go on a hike.
As for the place, the interior resembles a 50’s diner with some modern touches here and there. The menu was more heavy on the breakfast/​brunch items but apparently they are opening later for dinner as they were lots of promotions for the night tacos.
We both ended up getting the create your own omelette. One mushrooms + bell peppers + canadian bacon for her, One egg white + mushroom + spinach + sausage for me. It also comes with your choice of wheat or white toast. Both omelette were delicious but nothing spectacular. You can get the same omelette just about anywhere else.
If I was in the neighborhood and looking to load up on some protein for a hike, I’ll definitely drop by but it’s not a place where I’m gonna go out of my way.
Service was fantastic — 4 stars
Food was okay — 3 stars
More 3.5 stars.

Me and my wife had a great time in LA. Thanks to 54twenty for their delicious breakfast.
The best omlet I have ever had. Big fan of yours…

I was waiting for my haircut appointment, so I decided to wander around Thai Town and figure out something to eat. I noticed a random joint outside of a hotel and saw that Ms. Katie B. tried it and Unilocaled. Didn’t read much of the review, and decided that burgers in Thai Town was going to happened today.
The place had a modern diner vibe going on, and I kind of liked it. Something that’s different that I haven’t been to and something that’s pretty quiet and chill, escaping the busy streets of Hollywood. The first thing that I noticed was the kitchen is literally behind the counter. No smokes or mirrors on how things are made, yet everything was so clean. (Yes, I’m easily amazed by how a diner can be so CLEAN).
I wanted a burger, so I got my burger, the 54 Burger. As I waited for my burger to be made, I overheard the waitress saying something about closing up. I then checked Unilocal again, and noticed the place closes at 2 PM, and I came in at around 1:25 PM. Oops. At least they were nice enough not to boot me out, or say that the kitchen was closed. (Also, I didn’t want to push my luck with the check-​in deal with a free taco, so I decided to stay quiet and watch the cooks in action.)
The burger was filled with fresh ingredients, and was cooked to perfection. To add to the diner experience, my ketchup wouldn’t want to come out of the bottle. I gave up after five times and ate my fries with salt and pepper.
The price was a bit high, which goes along with the modern diner theme. If I come back to Thai Town and wanting something not Thai related, I’ll probably try here again. Maybe the Mexican food will be mind-​blowing?

Been here at checkin ten minutes without an acknowledgement. Sunday morning, place is full, NOBODY has food, and there is ONE COOK preparing everything… Fishy.
20:00 min later. Now seated, waitress seems like a newbie. Have watched one single plate leave the grill and make it to a table. The sign on the front door now reads CLOSED. Wut?
Update #2 Actually that plate I mentioned above got sent back. Wrong in some way.
40:00 min later. We’ve (over)heard a few excuses for slow service 1) the cook left early, 2) there’s a new menu and 3) theyre running out of certain things. None of this has been conveyed to us directly. Wished we’d gotten an upfront warning about any/​all of these issues when we walked in.
Three tables have left without food at all. We’d get out of here too except the only nearby alternatives are Thai food — not appealing to me at brunchtime — or a mile’s walk away back on Vermont/​Hillhurst… Too hungry/​hot to make it that far.
More than 60:00 min later — food’s here! Except I ordered whole-​grain pancakes, bacon, and potatoes and received buttermilk pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and an english muffin… Hmm. Not worth complaining about.
Redeeming qualities: Nice of them to comp our meal at the end, And the coffee refills kept coming. 1.5 stars

The renovations are complete! Casual and comfortable diner space with unique takes on classic eats. A favorite spot for breakfast and lunch.

While this place might scream diner (it’s attached to a motel, smells like fried food, and has no real ambiance to speak of), it’s got all the feel-​goodness associated with your favorite diner and none of the diner price tag (sadly!).
The menu is chock full of seasonal, local ingredients, so be prepared for some real interesting, unique takes on regular diner staples and also bring more than a $ 10er, because there’s no way you’re getting out of there without spending at least $ 12 per person. It can be a little shocking given that the place seems bare bones, but if you account for the type of ingredients used and that there’s free parking (a rarity in Hwood), then you’ll be prepared to shell out more bucks.
I went for lunch on a weekday and found the place completely empty, which I know can be a turn off to some, but I don’t mind it because sometimes you do want to escape the hustle and bustle. The bfast/​lunch menu boasted some clever egg dishes and more heartier options, like the short rib burger. It wasn’t the size of my head, but quality isn’t always about size, so I concentrated more on the taste. I wasn’t a fan of the accoutrements on top of the burger (I think a tomato of sort?) but the meat and cheese combo was stellar. They use a fancy kind of cheese that I can’t recall, but it was a nice pairing with the rich meaty taste of the patty. The fries were a funny spectacle I’ve never seen before. They were like long, rectangular logs sprinkled with some secret seasoning. I’m pretty sure that the seasoning isn’t actually a secret, I just didn’t think to ask what it was. All in all, a substantial lunch that kept me full for pretty much the rest of the day. Can’t beat that.
Actually, you can. What’s better than a short rib burger? A short rib burger and a free hug, which you get when you check-​in on Unilocal

Trying new places is always risky. You never know what you’re going to get. But what is life without risks? JUST PLAIN BORING, I TELL YOU! So when we were going to be out in Hollywood to run some errands on a Saturday morning we decided it was the perfect excuse to take a risk and try something new for breakfast.
When we pulled up, we were pleased to see that there was plenty of parking since the diner is on the property of the Dixie Hotel, so we were off to a positive start before we even walked in the door. And it only got better once we did. The very first thing I noticed were SALT AND PEPPER MILLS ON EVERY TABLE! I felt like a pre-​teen girl having a Bieber sighting or something totally giddy like that.
I know that sounds crazy but can you even call that stuff most places put in their pepper shakers REAL pepper when compared to freshly cracked black pepper? No, you can’t. Once a spice is ground up it begins to lose its flavor and aroma and after months, possibly years of sitting on the table in a shaker… well, it makes me appreciate the fresh stuff even more. Anyway…
My love for this place didn’t stop there, here’s what had me wanting to come back before we even left…
–First and foremost the food was spectacular. You could tell the ingredients were fresh and prepared with care and an attention to detail you would never expect from breakfast in a diner. I had the stuffed french toast (cinnamon cream cheese, strawberry & thyme jam, tangerine-​maple syrup). The flavors were subtle but they left no doubt that this wasn’t your normal french toast. My fiancée had the ranch eggs (scrambled eggs, hominy, caramelized red onion, jalapeño, charred tomato, chipotle mayo, tortillas, cilantro). The plate was presented beautifully and it was full of flavor and texture, truly delicious stuff.
–They call this place a guestaurant and are trying to create the feel of a dinner party rather than a diner. The fact that the place is small, the kitchen is entirely open and the cooking is done in plain site and you can hear and become part of the conversations swirling around you really does make you feel like you’re at someones home being entertained rather than in a restaurant being served.
–Our waitress was friendly, attentive and engaging. She seemed excited when describing the specials (bacon steak braised for 12 hours in maple syrup??? Yes please!!!). When she asked how the food was and we told her it was great she showed sincere appreciation, smiled and said «Thank you!!»
Some other details…
–The menu is small but I’m thankful for that because even with only 15 or so choices it was torture having to pick just one thing because it all sounded sooooo good.
–The portions are on the small side for the price (but in this case its quality over quantity and trust me, it isn’t such a bad thing). Every bite is worth savoring. And besides, is it really such a bad thing to not be a fat ass for one meal?
–They’re only open until 4pm but the chef has started limited dinner engagements where you get a 6 course prix fix dinner for $ 65 (tax and tip included) and its BYOB. And though I’m not positive about this, I think they plan to eventually be open for dinner and when they do, I’m sure I’ll be there.
So whether you’re in the Hollywood area or not… just get yourself to this place before it becomes impossible to get a seat. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!