(Credit: Krista Kahl)
These splashy restaurants share more than a penchant for three-letter abbreviations and red meat. They’re sleek, they’re sexy, and they attract swarms of beautiful people. And with the glitz comes the trappings, from the inevitable John Mayer sightings to the attendant paparazzi. As with the goings-on of predecessors such as Mastro’s and Cut, all that expensive beef is just a backdrop for the wheeling, dealing, flirting and drinking going on tableside—meat to go with the meat-market.
That's why quiet, unassuming Taylor’s in Koreatown is my one true beefy love in Los Angeles. It is entirely without pretense and yet delivers the full steakhouse experience. You won’t find an agent or sell a script here, but you will get schnockered off one cocktail and eat a basketful of the best homemade potato chips in the world.
I dream about those potato chips. They're served warm and well-seasoned, and taste like they're fried in luscious lard—but veg-heads, rejoice, they're actually cooked in vegetable shortening. They are an indulgent accessory for the classic steakhouse meal: iceberg wedge, baked potato, slab of meat and a stiff martini.
The iceberg wedge is a point of pride at Taylor’s. Adorned with chopped onions, tomatoes and generously drowned in blue cheese dressing, it’s a salad—a Molly salad, to be exact—but it sure ain’t healthy. It is surprisingly tasty, however, and unquestionably the appetizer to order here.
Steaks come with a potato option (be it fried, mashed or baked) and a Dixie-cup-sized serving of veggies that may have been previously frozen. But this is not the place to be getting uppity about the greens—it’s all about the beef. The special cut offered at Taylor’s is the culotte, a portion so precise that there are only two steaks per cow. It comes in 10- and 14-ounce sizes—either way, it’s delicious and best ordered medium rare. Yes, medium rare. Don’t be squeamish, and don’t order anything above medium. It’s the steakhouse way.
Those eschewing red meat still have plenty to choose from; chicken and especially seafood are all over the menu. Whatever you order, be sure to grab a cocktail from one of the two bars. This old-school joint knows how to make them simple and strong (but for Buddha’s sake, don’t drive after downing even one of these bad boys).
With all the flowing alcohol, no one, thankfully, is getting wild and crazy or hiking up her miniskirt at Taylor’s. While there are a fair number of trendy-looking young people in the dark dining room on any given occasion, it’s just not that kind of scene. In fact, there is no scene—this lovable grandpa celebrates its 55th anniversary this year, and very little has changed in that time. You want fancy sauces for your steak? At Taylor’s you get three: Taylor’s steak sauce, A-1 and Heinz—and you get ’em in glass bottles. Now that’s timeless.
Katherine Spiers is a contributing editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
