Perfect restaurant to have an affair in.

[foodiemahoodie]

This could be a fun idea. (and inspired by another post - which insisted it wasn't about having an affair).

Of course it, has to be far away from the "other". If you're on the west side - are you safe going downtown? The valley?

Had a friend who had a girlfriend, fell in love with this model turned screenwriter. And he asked her out. He did some research for something interesting and obscure. He found it - a Latino transvestite bar in East L.A. He takes the date there and a few drinks into the evening - in walks his girlfriend! And his comment, priceless "Of all the Latino transvestite bars in the world...."

Anyway, I would say if the "other" doesn't like a particular cuisine - then that settles it.

But someplace obscure and interesting. And if not on the outskirts, in an unconventional setting where you'd probably not run into anyone you knew.

[Beach Chick]

Love reading all the replies..
Did we ever find out the name of that Tranny bar?

[kevin]

I'd like to know too beachy chic.

[Beach Chick]

;^)

[andrew_eats]

When the club Les Deux was around, people were f*cking in corners all over the premises... and no one seemed to notice, or rather, they didn't care.

[kevin]

Wow, boning in the corners of a legitimate, fine dining restaurant ?

[Omniverous]

For the record, I'm happily unmarried so I think in terms of trysts rather than affairs, but with all due respect to tranny bar barflys and billionaires indifferent to dropping $1000+ for a few hours at the Hotel Bel-Air, the best restaurant in LA to have a tryst is Jer-Ne in the Marina Ritz-Carlton because no one you'd know goes there (particularly in the afternoon...unless you know a lot of upper-tier road warriors or vacationing car dealers from Kansas City), they have an impeccably-stocked bar, and the hotel above rents rooms at deeply discounted afternoon-only rates to guests with corporate accounts.

The second best restaurant, as generations of philandering studio executives and their naive prey can attest, is Jerry's Deli in Studio City - where the more discreet adulterers actually eat inside the bowling alley next door followed by a walk across the parking lot to the Sportsmen's Lodge Hotel. Again, I'm unmarried so no vows were harmed in this reporting ..but with 72 replies (and in the spirit of food-focused internet anonymity), this information deserves to be shared. :)

[Beach Chick]

LOL..

[pauliface]

What about that place where you eat in the dark?

[Thor123]

Opaque. Have not been.

http://www.darkdining.com/index_main.php

[foodiemahoodie]

In the dark? You could bring the wife AND have an affair at the same time.

[Tripeler]

It seems to me that a certain vehicle would make a good place to have an affair in.

[Servorg]

I know one long time LA hound who would make this their first choice...without any doubt.

[Beach Chick]

Isn't their a poster on the LA board that used to drive the weiner mobile back in the day?

[wienermobile]

Thanks so much for the gracious recommendation. Hot Dog on a Stick would be a good second choice.

[Beach Chick]

LOL..

[Chinon00]

At a convenience store not three blocks from where we live I saw my neighbor in an affectionate embrace w/ a woman that was not his wife. That would qualify as the wrong place to have an affair. No he didn't see me.

[estone888]

I like this curtained booth thing. Somebody ought to open one back up. I was at Giardina's in Greenwood, Mississippi earlier this year and all they have are curtained booths. Eating by myself in one, was, however, somewhat pathetic. The waitresses were very friendly, just not quite friendly enough.

And here near my neighborhood - there's Ye Olde Rustic on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. Deep booths and very very dark - good strong drinks and good burgers - but you wouldn't want to be in there if you lived as close to it as I do. It also often reeks of either spilled beer or too much disinfectant.

And I'll add my voice to Beach Chick's: 'What's the name of the tranny bar that has great food?

[foodiemahoodie]

I started this thread - and to my knowledge it was a bar, not a restaurant. Not sure how "great food" got tacked on. It's also been well over 20 years - so I wouldn't hold my breath. But I can find out.

[Servorg]

It was this post that started the entire "Urban Myth" in this thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/8060...

[foodiemahoodie]

Your link takes me right back to this thread.

I got in touch with the aggrieved party via Facebook. She doesn't remember the incident at all. But her memory of dating that guy was that she was over the moon loopy for him and that the period might be a blur. I did get in touch with the "other" woman as she is an old flame of mine - but she was on the way out on a trip. She promised a "Part 2" to the story. The guy in question I'm kind of on the outs with. But I can always bury the hatchet and get the info. And the incident took place over 20 years ago - so I'd be surprised if the bar is still around.

[PeterCC]

His link takes you to burntwater's comment about the tranny bar on San Fernando in Cypress Park that serves great food. So all the people asking may actually be looking for burntwater to respond...

[foodiemahoodie]

Really? Weird - which I click on it - the link just brings me back here. How odd is that?

[Servorg]

Here is the post by burntwater, (below the dotted line) I linked to you:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Is that the tranny bar on San Fernando road in Cypress park? They have great food there.
Also the Silver Lake lounge use to be a good place to see a tranny show and they had a great
pizza.

By burntwater on Sep 14, 2011 06:25 PM"

[Beach Chick]

'What's the name of the tranny bar that has great food?'

[LesThePress]

Many many years ago there was a fancy restaurant on Olympic Blvd. in LA that had booths that could be curtained off for complete privacy. However, they would only seat couples of opposite sexes there so Gloria Alread sued them and it shut them down. Can't for the life of me remember the name, but as I said, it was a loooooong time ago.

[Servorg]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid...

[LesThePress]

Servog, you're good!!!!

[Beach Chick]

Awesome...ahhhh, the good ol' days!

[MarkC]

This is almost too good. L'Affair Cafe in Mission Hills. I've driven past but never eaten there. Looks nice and intimate, and gets good reviews on Yelp. The location is certainly remote enough for west siders. Who has ever heard of, much less been to Mission Hills?

By the way, I'd like the name of that transvestite bar also.

[PaulF]

People who eat here have been to Mission Hills.

I haven't been in a million years, but I ate there when I was in high school.

http://bearpitbbq.com/

I don't think I'd have an affair there.

My folks eat at L'Affair Cafe sometimes. I've been there, but don't really remember what I had or anything.

[Beach Chick]

Oh la la on those fab booths at L' Affair Cafe...
I am so a 'booth chick' when dining out..
This place looks great..

http://laffair-cafe.com/

[Beach Chick]

Hotel Bel-Air gussy ups that dirty little affair..

Room service items I'd like to see on that tray:
2 bottles of expensive champagne
3 bottle of Ty Nant
Tin of Iranian caviar
Hot fudge sundae
Romeo y Julieta cigar

[Servorg]

As stated elsewhere in this thread, it will all be available again (after being closed for the past 18 months or so) in another 15 days (according to the Bel-Air's website) when they reopen.

[aurora50]

What's Ty Nant?

[Servorg]

http://www.google.com/search?source=i...

[aurora50]

Thanks, Servorg!

[kevin]

So why the Ty Nant ? Is it merely an expensive bottled water ?

[Servorg]

"So why the Ty Nant ? Is it merely an expensive bottled water ?"

It is a symbol of the free enterprise system mashed up with P.T. Barnum (you go right ahead and figure out what I meant by that in any manner that seems good to you)

[kevin]

That's over my head. Hmm. Maybe I will ponder it. Or maybe the poster above will chime in.

[Servorg]

"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

- H. L. Mencken

[Beach Chick]

Makes me want to have an affair with myself..I could use a night at the Hotel Bel Air and a tin of Iranian caviar.

[PaulF]

The last time I was in Damiano's Mr. Pizza on Fairfax it was so dark inside you could consumate the relationship in a booth and if you muffled the moans the people in the next booth would never know.

[aurora50]

This is a really funny thread - I'm having a ball (hmmm) reading it!!!
; )
Reminds me of a restaurant that used to exist here in the Inland Empire. Had booths with curtains you could draw.
Ah, my lost youth!!!

[katydid13]

Unless your SO is Lebanese or Armenian, I would say Marouch. It's damn good food, but there's hardly every anyone in there.

[pauliface]

I've never been inside or heard a thing about it, but from the outside, Formosa Cafe on Santa Monica always looked like the spot for it.

[katydid13]

I ate at the Formosa Cafe once just because of "LA Confidential." Food is average at best.

[ellaystingray]

Hotel Bel-Air.

While I haven't used it for this precise purpose, I have met some people about some things where we needed complete discretion and it works very well. You don't just happen to "pop in" for a drink or a bite there unless you travel with a separate car just to carry your wallet.

If you actually talk to your SO, you'd most likely know if they were going there. However, you do run the risk that you run into them with someone else as well. ;)

-----
Hotel Bel-Air
701 Stone Canyon Road, Los Angeles, CA 90077

[AAQjr]

lol, i've been wondering if someone is going to cop to having personal experience! I guess not ;) Close though. This does sound like good advice for those with a lot of love to give.

[BSW6490]

Given that they are closed for remodeling, you will be eating lite and recreating outside.

[Servorg]

I believe they've reopened haven't they?

[Servorg]

I guess it's 2 weeks and day from now for the grand reopening...(according to their website)

[kevin]

What restaurant is this reference too?

[Servorg]

Hotel Bel Air

[BSW6490]

Given that they are closed for remodeling, you will be eating lite and recreating outside. (originally replied to the wrong post - sorry)

[Chinon00]

LOL!

[Beach Chick]

Loving all the responses..
I would think room service at a swanky 5* hotel would be the best but if it must be a restaurant, I would go complete opposite of where you live/work and I'm still cracking up over the Latino transvestite bar in East LA..
Maybe trek down to OC, up the coast to Montecito/SB or take the ferry over to Avalon.

[kevin]

yeah, what was the name of the latino transvestite bar with the great food???

thanks.

[foodiemahoodie]

Room service at a nice hotel - good idea, but...

I was just watching La Dolce Vita last night. And in it he takes (Anouk Aimee I think) to the outskirts of town to slightly flooded basement flat of a prostitute and spends the night with her - the idea that a hotel is a place where you might be seen. Especially since she's a well known socialite who might be reconized in a hotel. This could be another, slightly different op altogether; "Where to dine when having an illicit affair with a celebrity."

[Beach Chick]

Living next door to a very famous celebrity, I couldn't imagine not having anonymity..
I know why some of them become recluse.

I still love the Latino tranny bar in East LA..

[burntwater]

Is that the tranny bar on San Fernando road in Cypress park? They have great food there.
Also the Silver Lake lounge use to be a good place to see a tranny show and they had a great
pizza.

[kevin]

What's the name of the tranny bar that has great food? And what dishes are good there?

[scottca075]

Do you mean the Queen Mary in Van Nuys??

[scottca075]

Unless Casa Vega has changed, it used to be so dark in there you would be hard pressed to have seen if you were having an affair with a man or a woman.

-----
Casa Vega Restaurant
13301 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

[TonyC]

"he found it - a Latino transvestite bar in East L.A"

Would this happen to be redz bar? 2218 E 1st St

[Thi N.]

There's a bar in Downtown, near the Smell, which seems to consist entirely of Armenian transvestite girls, and Mexican guys with handlebar mustaches and huge cowboy hats, hitting on the Armenian transvestite girls. And one lost Canadian guy hitting everybody up for free beer.

I don't know how or why this exists, but it makes me suspect that my life is a lot less interesting than it could be.

[foodiemahoodie]

Don't know. But it was a litle over 20 years ago. How long have they been there?

[BSW6490]

I win. The Cold Spring Tavern (link below) in an old stage coach station in the hills outside Santa Barbara. After you can head into Los Olivos for wine tasting or into Santa Barbara for .......

http://www.coldspringtavern.com/

A runner up would be Fess Parker's Wine Country Inn in Los Olivos. Two birds with one stone.

-----
Wine Country
2301 Redondo Ave, Signal Hill, CA

[Servorg]

When I went to college in Santa Barbara in 1968/69 I got a part time job delivering beer for the Coors distributor in Santa Barbara. Because I was the "part time college kid" they gave me the out of town runs. The first time I pulled into the graveled drive of Cold Spring Tavern I thought it looked like a perfect place for a whore house. Close enough to town to get to without too much difficulty, but far enough out you probably wouldn't run into your wife while taking tea with the "ladies" of the afternoon delights. I always had a beer with the bartender on hot days at the Tavern after bringing in his Coors order.

I also delivered beer to the little market up the coast in Gaviota (don't know if it's still there or not).

[ArtShapiro]

The various restaurants / markets in Gaviota, most recently a Sunburst (cult) restaurant, closed many years ago. I still bicycle out there, turning around at those ruins, on my yearly trip to Santa Barbara.

[Gypsy Jan]

Ahhhh! The Cold Springs Tavern, a perfectly, remote and very shady place with the requisite romantic history. of being a stagecoach stop and outlaw hangout.

Do they still have the outdoor BBQ on weekends that attracted the biker groups?

[Naamans]

The outdoor BBQ (with the biker groups) is still going on Sunday afternoons. It does attract more than just biker groups (very crowded).

[Beach Chick]

I was just up at Cold Spring Tavern a couple of months ago and its a place to be seen and very crowded..
Like the Fess Parker Inn idea..
; )

[Eliorr]

Honey, that's not a meal, it a weekend getaway....If you really want the ideal spot I recommend....ROOM SERVICE....haven't stayed much in LA hotels but I bet you can get some killer meals in Santa Monica overlooking the ocean and lets admit it, if it is an affair, food is probably not your main focus, and if it is, you should find someone else to have the affair with or go take your partner for a really good dinner with no "visibility" restrictions!

[silence9]

Yes, room service. Or as George Costanza opined, the trifecta of indulgence:
sex, television, and corned beef with spicy mustard.

But like Icarus, he flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami...

[kevin]

I thought George had a predilection for pastrami, rather than corned beef, while having sex and watching the Yankees on the tube.

[Eliorr]

LOL

[silence9]

You may be right, Kevin. I always associate corned beef with east coast, despite the Katz vs. Langers pastrami imbroglio...

[Servorg]

I would think "dark" as in the Brentwood or maybe Jones in WeHo. Also a disguise is always in order as it probably won't be your mate that catches you but one of their friends who just happens to be out for dinner at the same place and sees you "canoodling" with your lover (but you don't see them most likely)...

-----
Jones
7205 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046

Brentwood
148 S Barrington Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90049

[BSW6490]

Actually, they lightened up the Brentwood. Still very dark, but if you are from the Westside, there is a lot of action and probably not the safest bet. For a really safe bet see below.

[Servorg]

The ultimate dark restaurant - Opaque/Dining in the Dark location in Santa Monica

http://la.darkdining.com/

[Bradbury]

Can't say I have much experience in this field but, speaking hypothetically, I'm not sure I'd want to have an affair in any place with really good food. Because then I'd be tempted to keep coming back, become known as a regular, and then ... well, then you're just asking for trouble. So only the first of the following has food that's any better than execrable:

1) Brodard. Because nobody can find their way to the entrance unless they already know where it is. Plus, if you can manage to look sexy while eating bahn tom to the sounds of Vietnamese dance pop (imagine the Chipmunks covering Justin Bieber), then you're in like Flynn.

2) The Falcon Inn. Because everybody there looks like they're on the lam from *someone*, so complete omerta is guaranteed.

3) Bahooka. High-backed booths, labyrinthine layout, scores of atmospheric fish tanks, flaming day-glo Hilo Hatties to strip your inhibitions.

4) The snack bar atop Mt. Wilson. Amazing views, and several escape routes (bring trail shoes and lots of water).

[westsidegal]

Hilarious!
bradbury, you have me LMAO.

[Mr Taster]

When did Mt Wilson get a snack bar? The best I'd ever done up there is to snag some potato chips during a free lecture in the auditorium.

Mr Taster

[Servorg]

From March of 2011 we find: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/mount-...

[Mr Taster]

Was at the "Cosmic Cafe" at the pavilion in Skyline Park atop Mt. Wilson this past weekend. Was told the snack shop had been reopened for about 4 years, and that it originally was open many years ago, in the 1970's I believe she said. Anyway, the food was snack shop quality, which is what you'd expect. Still, it was kind of nice munching on a giant, mediocre hot dog admiring the gorgeous view.

Mr Taster

[foodiemahoodie]

If you're from the valley, and flush, then I'd say the back booth in Melisse - near the Wilshire St. exit. Then only one of you would be visible. And you can both sit on the hidden from public view side (and have a stellar, romantic meal).

[silence9]

* Disclaimer: the following suggestion is not an implied endorsement of infidelity:
Soot Bul Jeep in Koreatown. So smoke laden within, no one will detect you through the haze. Also, the sooty bbq smoke will cling to your clothes and thereby mask any parfums or 'other amorous fragrances' henceforth permeating the sullied fabric of your dastardly soul :-)

[Thi N.]

That was an impressively intricately thought out response... you've convinced me...

[kevin]

hey thi, have you been to simon's cafe recently?

[AAQjr]

hmmmmm

If you went to FuRaiBo you could sneak out through the door leading to the bar next door and it's usually so crowded it'd be hard to spot someone

OTOH Pacific Dining Car on the westside has a few different rooms where you could disappear for an hour or so

-----
Pacific Dining Car
1310 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90017

[sdv231]

Perfect restaurant to have an affair in.

before , during or after the meal?

[foodiemahoodie]

Before. Or after. In would be another topic altogether. You're free to run with that one!