The undulating red neon heartbeat atop the center of Hollywood’s renaissance belongs not to a tarot card reader storefront, nor a house of sci-fi soul salvation, but to the Roosevelt Hotel, which conceals in its underbelly a gourmet hamburger diner called 25 Degrees.  A lead on the streets about the burgers at 25 Degrees had [...]

It was a quiet Sunday evening in August when Madlib and I found ourselves heading due north on the 101 freeway towards Hollywood. The freeways were empty, and that was a good thing, because our destination took us to the opposite side of town at the edge of the Los Feliz/Hollywood divide—longtime BurgerFile hideaway, The [...]

Did you ever come across the pimple plagued freak you picked on in high school who, after graduation, joined the Army and came out of boot camp spit shined, ram rod straight, and tough enough to kick the crap out of you and all your slacker friends? That’s what came to mind after entering The [...]