Rail food daily: Dining gems along L.A.'s subway and light rail stops

Some Angelenos are obsessed with perfection. They want perfect noses, perfect thighs, perfect skin, perfect food and perfect vacations. Public-transit fanatics just want a perfect subway; so much so that they spend hours fantasizing about their dream line: the often-discussed “subway to the sea,” or a 24-hour route down Sunset Boulevard through Echo Park, Silver Lake and Los Feliz.

Today, with gas prices at record highs, fantasizing is no longer an option for more and more people. We've got to make due with what we have: three light-rail lines (Gold, Blue, Green) and two rapid transit subway lines (Red, Purple) stopping at 62 stations and totaling 73.1 miles of rail. True, those slender threads don't go everywhere -- and the trains never seem to run often enough or late enough -- but if you're in the know, there's a gold mine of dining and entertainment options within walking distance.

To dig up the nuggets, we spent three days riding the rails with a backpack full of water and good books. We didn't read as much as we thought we would -- we were too busy watching the parade of characters that came and went. High school girls danced wildly to rap music, a little bearded man sang a cappella for change because his guitar had been stolen, and a man with a worn suitcase talked on and on about the aliens in his backyard. That was all before we got off the train. As our blisters and sunburns prove, there's much more to discover on all sides of the tracks.

Golden opportunities

If Metro lines were beauty pageant contestants, the Gold Line would be crowned Miss Universe. With 13 stops, it winds on elevated tracks from Union Station past Chinatown and through the curvaceous brush-covered hills bordering Lincoln Heights before making a ground-level descent through Highland Park and into Pasadena.

The last three stops of the line (Lake, Allen and Sierra Madre Villa) are basically commuter stops along the center of the 210 Freeway with walking bridges to parking garages (exactly what you'll find across the board on the Green Line, which is why it won't have its own section in this article).

The Memorial Park stop, however, lets you off a few blocks from Colorado Boulevard and Old Town Pasadena with its many movie theaters, shops and restaurants. From the station, head west on Holly Street and you'll run into the cozy Cal-French bistro Café Bizou and 54 Holly, a breakfast/lunch diner filled with worn booths and colorful knickknacks. Swing south on Raymond and you'll hit the Chado Tea Room (which has intricate afternoon tea trays), Mojitos Restaurant and Rum Bar (Cuban-fusion cuisine and a raucous Saturday night salsa band) and the Vertical Wine Bistro, a wine lover's paradise with bottles stacked floor-to-ceiling and plenty of small bites including fresh cheeses and grilled skirt steak.

At the Mission stop, the Gold Line slices diagonally across the intersection of Mission Street and Meridian Avenue, directly between Steven Arroyo's minimalist-chic French and Mediterranean-inspired restaurant 750 ml and the funky Buster's Ice Cream & Coffee Shop. With its historic brick facades, tidy flowerpots and well-swept sidewalks, it's an idyllic little corner.

"I tell my friends to park and take the train in," says Arroyo. "It's romantic and fun. It also makes for nice atmosphere at the restaurant to watch the trains go by." (By the way, 750 ml recently announced a "commuter's discount": Show your Metro ticket and get half off the price of up to two glasses of wine.)

For vibrant street life and cheap eats, hop off at the Highland Park stop, located a block from the neighborhood's main drag on Figueroa Street. A right on Figueroa will take you to the historic Highland Theater, which shows first-run movies for $3 all day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Dining options range from family-style Mexican restaurants like La Fuente to Folliero's Pizza, which has been in business since 1968 and still features prices from the '90s. Cinnamon Vegetarian restaurant serves up hard-to-find plates of vegan and vegetarian enchiladas, burritos and tamales.

Red means go

Slicing northwest with jagged determination, the Red Line whisks riders from Union Station, MacArthur Park and Los Feliz through Hollywood to its final destination in North Hollywood.

Throw back a quick dry martini at Traxx bar in downtown L.A.'s Union Station or grab a spicy bite at nearby Olvera Street (across Alameda) or a juicy French dip at Philippe the Original (a few blocks north on Alameda) to shore up for your journey.

The Vermont/Sunset stop is just a hop-skip-and-strut away from the bohemian-cum-yuppie pleasures of Los Feliz Village. The refined Vermont Restaurant, the hopping retro Dresden Room with its lounge act still commanded by Marty and Elayne, the jovial classic Italian of Palermo, the funky yet refined French-ness of Figaro Bistrot and the too-cool-for-you 24-hour diner Fred 62, to name a few, can be reached by walking north up Vermont after you leave the station.

At Hollywood/Vine you'll emerge directly across the street from the richly ornamental Pantages Theater and the rollicking classic Tinseltown hang the Frolic Room. Turn left and sup on sushi at Katsuya, or stroll down Vine toward Sunset to sample some of the city's finest seafood at the ever-popular Hungry Cat.

For no-holds-barred people-watching, disembark at Hollywood/Highland, where you can soak up the drama surrounding Grauman's Chinese Theatre before throwing back a pint at the old-school dive Powerhouse (on Highland) or sitting at a sidewalk table nursing a 32-ounce mug of Stella Artois at the diminutive Snow White Cafe (next to the kitschy Hollywood Wax Museum). Walk east on Hollywood Boulevard to nosh on prime rib at Musso & Frank Grill, or head west to the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to drink cosmopolitans by the pool at the Tropicana bar or fill up on steak at Dakota off the plush lobby.

If you want to spend your day quaffing monstrous blue cocktails at Saddle RanchChop House at Universal CityWalk while feeling alternately amazed and confused by big-chested women in tiny tops riding the mechanical bull, the subway is your best friend. You can avoid the parking fees ($20 for preferred spots) and not worry about how you'll find your way home. Just hop off at the Universal City stop, cross Lankershim and board the free shuttle up the hill to CityWalk, where you'll be dropped off almost directly across from Jody Maroni's Sausage Kingdom.

Non-Universal dining options, which can be found by crossing under the 101 Freeway to Cahuenga, include the tasty, candle-lighted Italian of Miceli's and the Latin dance, music and dining haven Mama Juana's.

The North Hollywood stop is your gateway to the NoHo Arts District, which boasts 22 theaters, one-of-a-kind shops such as the unfathomably colorful Someone Else's vintage costume shop, as well as food from across the culinary spectrum. Walk south on Lankershim to Magnolia and you'll pass the looming jukebox exterior of Tokyo Delve's Sushi Bar and the plaster hot dog sculpture above Vicious Dogs before coming across the upscale but casual Eclectic Wine Bar & Grille, which features a free-flowing champagne or mimosa Sunday brunch for just $17 (definitely a subway-worthy activity, if you catch our drift).

Purple pleasures