Doing Breakfast by Tulsa (Homey Lunch Is Good, Too)

That shabby but cozy little cafe on La Brea near the corner of 1st Street is now gone. In its place is a new diner of sorts called Tulsa. The name is spelled out in blue above a few white canvas umbrellas and a black awning stenciled with the words “HOME COOKING.” The color scheme is a deep blue with blond wood booths and industrial metal lights. Chrome-edged blue tables are set with classic chrome salt-and-pepper shakers, a bottle of catsup and napkin holders advertising Coke. At the back, a handful of stools set in front of a counter look onto the open kitchen.

Owner Billy Criswell is from Tulsa, Okla., and the restaurant’s theme is American cooking. The chef is Dion Vergara, who last cooked at the executives’ dining room at Sony Studios. Breakfast is a particular specialty here, served every day from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. At noon or 1 o’clock, the young Hollywood crowd rolling into the place looks decidedly sleepy. Fortunately, the cups of joe are good and strong.

For that first meal of the day, you can order up steak and eggs, steel-cut Irish oatmeal or, my favorite, snake eyes--two eggs any way you want with two strips of bacon (or sausage), and a pair of buttermilk pancakes (I wish they weren’t so dry, though). Huevos rancheros is definitely an Anglo version, but good nevertheless, with their stone-ground tortillas and a layer of tomatillo salsa slipped between the eggs and the tortilla.

At lunch, there are sandwiches, including tuna salad, blackened catfish with Cajun remoulade, a good burger and the alternative turkey patty. At night you can get some of that promised “home cooking,” which to this generation means things like spaghetti and meatballs, a slab of all-beef meatloaf spiked with cayenne and cumin, fried chicken (not as crispy as hoped, and just a bit meager of portion) or pork chops with an apple glaze. And, of course, a burger. The Caesar is nicely dressed. And for dessert, there’s Southern peach cobbler and mom’s (or somebody’s mom’s) apple pie.

Tulsa is a good place to refuel after browsing the shops up and down La Brea. The surrounding few blocks are becoming some of the most interesting in L.A., sprouting a growing collection of boutiques, galleries and antique shops.

BE THERE

Tulsa, 112 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 938-6335. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Street parking. Breakfast $3 to $7; sandwiches $7 to $8; dinner appetizers $4; main courses $9 to $17.