Beverly Restaurant

From the front, the Beverly Restaurant and Market at 342 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (213) 274-4271, looks like every other chic take-away emporium, its cases laden with poached salmon, chicken salads, cold shrimp and the like. Crisp-skinned chickens sit seductively atop the counter, and breads, cakes and cookies of all sorts cascade across the shelves. Everything looks delicious.

But look a little farther and you’ll find a restaurant--a fairly simple one, with the looks of a laid-back diner--lurking in the rear. And the menu back here is anything but predictable. When was the last time you found pot roast and latkes, beer-fried shrimp, potstickers, lobster club sandwiches, pasta, poached eggs, burgers and malts all on the same menu? There is literally something for everybody here--and at reasonable prices (almost all the dishes are well below $10).

It would take a long time to eat your way through this menu--I found it hard to get past the intriguing bread basket. But I enjoyed the hefty burger, and I’m quite sure I could become addicted to their giant cilantro-strewn potstickers. Breakfast will soon be served, and I’m looking forward to breakfast pasta (tossed with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon), their breakfast sandwich (jalapeno bread with homemade cheese) and mu shu eggs with roasted pork and scallion pancakes.