Foster Freeze

Fosters Freeze started out as a fast food restaurant in 1946, and today is mainly known for their ice cream, shakes, and blizzards. 

They also sell food such as hot dogs, burgers and fries. BUT many go for their ice cream. There are not that many around and some will even go all the way to Pasadena for the original Foster's Freeze and get a nice cold shake!

Ran Chu

Creme de la Crepe

Creme de la Crepe is a cute little restaurant that serves breakfast,t lunch, and dinner, but best of all they are known for their crepes (hence their name). They have a European feel to the restaurant especially when the waiters will have a little french accent. Some are quite good looking might I add. 

Their menu ranges from all types of food to desserts. Sometimes my friends and I will go in just for dessert. I love the area because it is small and only about 20 people can fit and so it has a very local feel to it. And when your done it is great because it is right by the beach and you can just go for a walk after. Inside has a romantic feel to it with candles and dim lights so it is perfect for a cute date. 

Ran

Yogurtland

There is a new craze on Yogurt ice cream, or not ice crream but YOGURT. It is supposed to be healthier ice cream, a bette alternative. It is not as dense and thick as ice cream, but still creamy and tastes more like soft serve ice cream.

 There are endless flavors to pick and choose from which is nice. When you walk in you get a clean very modern place. Then what you do is pick your cup size that you want and make sure way down the line. You don't have to only pick just one flavor you can pick as many as you want, then when you have picked your yogurt flavors, you go onto the toppings section. This section has a lot of topping from strawberries, kiwi, lychee, yogurt chips, peanut butter cups, cereal, caramel, and more!! There are topping you wouldn't even be able to think of. There are great flavor, topping, and the price is not too bad. The price depends on how heavy your cup is, I think it is about 10 cents per ounce. And most on average I get about $3.00 worth of ice cream. Sometimes it can get a little pricey, but sometimes its worth it. 

Ran Chu 

Jacks N Joe

Jacks N Joe is the new breakfast hype in the L.A. area. It recently opened in December of 2010.  This place has a comforting modern décor with an impressive home cooked meal feeling. One of the owners, Mark Bednorz graduated from the USC architecture school many years ago and decided to open his own restaurant. Without prior restaurant experience Mark and Vianney Bednorz decided to open their dream and inspirational breakfast restaurant. Mark built and designed the interior, so it is done very well. The advantage to this restaurant is that the menu is strictly breakfast, so naturally they have perfected the art of a home cooked meal dining experience in Los Angeles.

The menu is creative and their gourmet pancakes are divine. They have a large variety of gourmet pancakes that have a marvelous taste and look. In fact, I often see people taking photos of their food before devouring their large portions. The portions of the menu are large and the prices are low and finally reasonable for college students. The best part of the restaurant is that change things up often with a new pancake of the month every month and a new weekly special every week. I love this because they are always changing the concept of breakfast with new innovative breakfast specials.
One of the benefits to this restaurant is the friendly service and company. The owners of the restaurant insist on becoming friends with there guests! Mark and Vianney Bednorz are the owners and their passion and lust for life is uplifting and encouraging. Jacks N Joe is a mom and pop diner, and it’s just what this area needs! As many may think Jacks N Joe stand for the name of people, but they are wrong. Jacks stands for flapjacks and Joe means coffee! So naturally at Jacks N Joe they have great pancakes and coffee!

            They have a creative menu as well as pancakes! They have a great variety of pancakes. They have marvelous house made buttermilk and buckwheat pancakes! Now, the specialty pancakes are extraordinary. The specialty pancakes come with specialty house made butters! For example, the “Roo’s” (chocolate chip pancakes) have brown sugar butter with whip cream and chocolate chips! They taste like cookie dough! The “Chloe’s Blues” (blueberry pancakes) have sweet lemon butter and fresh blueberries!  The “Tree Hugger” pancakes are buckwheat with sweet orange butter, house made granola, and fresh fruit. They even have “WTF” pancakes in crazy shapes with sweat cream cheese and fresh fruit! Their “Totally L.A” pancakes are so cute! They are thin pancakes with sweet lemon butter and fresh fruit! Speaking of cute, the “Baby Jacks” are adorable mini pancakes.

"WTF" pancakes!

The “Ruby Belle’s” are made with sautéed granny smith apples in a brown sugar butter reduction. They are heavenly! “Ruby Belle’s” may be one of my favorites. Jacks N Joe has amazing banana pancakes with fresh bananas and walnuts. For those of you who like peanut butter, you’re in for a treat. Jacks N Joe has a “Pudgie Elvis” pancake with bananas and a peanut butter glaze on top. Because Jacks N Joe is near USC, they have “ Fight On!” pancakes for those of you who like the sweet and salty aspect to a pancake. The “ Fight On!” pancakes are buttermilk with chopped bacon in the mix! So tasty!

"Hula Girl" Coconut pancakes!

                        They may not have waffles, but they do have the best French toast! Their “Dakine French Toast” is made with Hawaiian sweet bread, sweet vanilla butter and powdered sugar, so delicious.

This place is great for USC students looking to enjoy a great meal in a great environment. It is difficult to find a restaurant that is near the USC campus with decent food, and the owners of Jacks N Joe have made it possible to have amazing food, as shocking as it is to hear.
   They have an amazing breakfast sandwich with ciabatta bread your choice of meat and how you like your egg prepared. For a dollar extra you can “Jack it up”! I highly recommend you “jack up” your breakfast sandwich! It’s so mouthwatering, jacking it up consists of sautéed onions, spin, and tomatoes.

Don’t worry if you’re not a huge pancake and sweets eater. Jacks N Joe has amazing omelets! They have a “Create your own” section to the omelets where you can choose from a variability of ingredients. The prices for the “create your own” omelets vary in the number of items you select for your omelet, which is of course reasonable. Their specialty omelets are delightful.

They have five delectable specialty omelets. One of my favorites is the “Adams N Fig” omelet with Jacks N Joes house potatoes, bacon, sausage, and jack cheese. Jacks N Joe has amazing house potatoes called “JNJ Potatoes”. The “JNJ potatoes” consist of diced red potatoes, sautéed peppers and onions. The potatoes in the omelet are so good!

Their “ Maui Wowie” omelet is my next favorite because it has Portuguese sausage, spam (yes spam!) and green onions. I had never eaten spam before this omelet and it was enjoyable. They have a “My Big Fat Greek” omelet with tomatoes, spin, green onions and feta cheese. I haven’t eaten this omelet because I don’t like feta cheese, but it is a top seller. Jacks N Joe has a great omelet called  “Eat your veggies” which contains tomatoes, peppers, spin, onions and mushrooms. Their next specialty omelet is the “ Boulder, not Denver” omelet with peppers, ham, onions, and cheddar cheese. Their specialty omelets come with “JNJ potatoes” and your choice of toast.

The prices are the best part! For the large portions the food and price is imaginary. For three large specialty pancakes the prices range from $6.50- $6.75. For the specialty omelet with the sides of potatoes and toast is $8.50. The “Create Your Own” omelets vary from $5.75- $6.75 depending on the amount of ingredients. For the quality, prices, environment, and employees Jacks N Joe is phenomenal! I will never go to the Pantry for mediocre breakfast again!

Address: 2498 S Figueroa St Los Angeles, CA 90007 

Affordable: $

Type of Food: Breakfast 

Grade: A

Written by: Katherine Kaskanyan

Greek Yogurt

Greek Yogurt has been the new diet deal. It's advertised as the lowest fat in yogurt and the healthiest which can help you lose weight start your day in a better way. People are raving about the new greek yogurts because compared to yoplait and others, greek yogurt has less sugar, a thicker and a slight tart taste. It has been said that Yogurt "promotes intestinal and vaginal health, improves lactose intolerance, builds stronger bones, enhances immunity, lowers blood pressure, and may even have anticancer and weight-loss effects." 

ran chu

Flame Broiler "A Healthy Choice"

We are known as "poor college students" when it comes to food.  

Although college students spend most of their money on nonessentials such as clothes, new technological toys, or ALCOHOL, they compensate for food.  Everyone has to deal with buying their own groceries, making their own food or buying their own food, but some will settle for less and buy cheap and unhealthy food.  

Well, I'm here to help you find the most affordable, yet most delicious places to eat!

The area surrounded by USC is known as South Central Los Angeles where the residents who reside in the area have a lower economic status, therefore there are many fast food restaurants that are unhealthy BUT affordable.  

Well there is good news folks! Just over a year ago down the street from USC located on Adams and Figueroa, there is a well-known teriyaki franchise restaurant called the Flame Broiler opened.  Not only is it cheap and fast but it is nutritional and healthy. 

When walking into the restaurant,  you automatically get a clean feeling (which you don't find in most fast food restaurants in this area) and can honestly say that the food looks better in front of you than in pictures.  When ordering your food you always have the choice of getting brown or white rice and even have the option of substituting the rice for steamed vegetables for no extra cost.  There are two main types of meat: chicken or rib eye steak beef.  They also have chicken rice bowl with a drink for only five dollars!  

Their motto is "a healthy choice" where the calories of the food are fairly low and hits many of the nutritional food pyramid.  

However, what Flame Broiler is really known for is their "Magic Sauce" which is a teriyaki sauce that is mouth watering and a taste you will never forget.  What actually gets people to come back is probably the sweet taste of the Magic Sauce.  

Once you are able to try the healthy goodness of one of their bowls or plates, I guarantee that you will be back for some more.  In addition to the hearty goodness, this location also support USC students and offers a discount to those who show their USC identification card.  

This spot is definitely something ALL students can afford and definitely is "a healthy choice".  

Address: 2526 S. Figueroa St. Los Angeles 90007 

Affordable: $

Type of Food: Americanized Teriyaki 

Grade: A

Written by: Ran Chu

Pedone's Pizza

Pedone's Pizza is known for their New York style flat bread pizza. It's simple, but complex taste is to die for. I often catch myself craving Pedone's Pizza throughout the week. 


They have a lunch special with a drink, one slice, and salad. OR you can have two slices for a little more instead of the salad. The have lots of those types of foods such as calzones, pastas, lasagnas, and more!

Pedones is always close to the beach so you can always call in an order and take it right to the beach! It a local spot so if you live around there, you'll most likely see people you know. I love eating at this place its cheap and delicious!

Ran Chu