Although summer has come to an end, the heat still hasn't left LA. That's why I decided to visit Mateo's Ice Cream & Fruit Bars on Sepulveda one afternoon to grab some ice-cold sweetness.  I had ridden past the little shop many times on my bike but never thought to look in until now.

Mateo's Ice Cream & Fruit Bars has gallons of ice-scream ready to be made into sundaes as well as all sorts of strangely flavored fruit bars (some with dairy, some without).  The fruit bars are a low $1.50, so I stocked up on a bunch just to have around in the office when I wanted something cold and sweet.

Rest assured that their fruit bars are made of real fruit juice because while eating my watermelon bar, I noticed there were still whole seeds and chunks of watermelon in the bar!  The mango and chili one is an interesting combination and really does taste like mango with chili sprinkled on.

Mateo's more adventurous flavors may not be for everyone, but they do have some pretty standard bars like cantalope or coconut.  For people who don't like fruit bars, there's always ice cream.

In the heart of downtown Culver City, right across the street from Tender Greens, is a little barbeque place on the corner called Santa Maria Barbeque. From across the street, it looks like a small place with a few tables for outside dining, but it actually has a good number of tables inside -- good for small groups.

I ordered the sampler plate, which came with two to three pieces each of brikset, chicken, and ribs as well as a side of fries and some bread. The plate was certainly something two adults could share and still be full.

Located on the border of Palms and Culver City is a tiny sushi restaurant with a big reputation.  If you're a fan of Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network, then you'll know which restaurant I'm talking about: Sushi Central.

The seating area of the restaurant may be small, but don't let that deter you.  Grab a seat at the small 5-seat bar if there's an opening and watch the action happen on the other side of the kitchen.

Pampas Grill is a restaurant for the serious meat eater.  Don't even think about taking your vegetarian friends here because even though they do offer somewhat vegetarian sides like salads and plantains, their speciality is meat. Brazillian style churrascaria type meat to be more exact.

The restaurant is laid out as a long self-serve buffet. Not all-you-can-eat, mind you, just a buffet. Diners load up their plate or plates full of food, end up at checkout where someone weighs your plate and charges you by weight. At the front of the line are the cold dishes like salads and hot dishes like croquettes, collard greens, and okra. These are all $8/lb.  At the end of the line is where all the meat on skewers are. A plate of just meat is about $14 while a plate of meat and others is $10.

Yokohama Sushi is tucked away between a gym and a Best Buy on Overland. Unless you park in the lot, behind the gym, it's almost impossible to spot.  The Korean-run restaurant isn't going to win any sushi awards, but if you're in the mood for a quick lunch combo and some rolls, it's a decent place to be.

I ordered off the lunch specials menu which has your usual items: teriyaki meats, nigiri, and rolls.  I went with a sushi combo ($15) which comes with 5 pieces of nigiri and my choice of roll. I chose the paradise roll.

The 5 pieces of nigiri weren't anything to write home about, but they weren't bad either. They were just your standard nigiri.  The paradise roll, which has tuna, salmon, and some white fish fared the same.  In a way, the lackluster fish was a blessing in disguise because it'd be a waste for good fish to be covered in a heavy sauce.

Yokohama Sushi doesn't try to be the best of its cuisine, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  It's a place to go with some friends who aren't picky with sushi, grab a beer, and just shoot the breeze.

I'll give it to you straight. Sometimes, I just want a delicious hot dog and a soda.  Thankfully, there's Let's Be Frank, a hot dog stand in the Helms Bakery Complex.  The stand is only open at the complex Wednesdays and weekends, but the easy parking makes up for the limited days.

The hot dogs are more pricey than your usual street-dog vendor, but your conscience gets  a rest with the natural, grass-fed beef dogs.  I'm not a sausage taste tester by any means, so I don't know if these actually tasted better than your generic supermarket sausages, but they certainly didn't taste bad.

I ordered a brat with all the fixins, which includes grilled onion, a splash of Let's Be Frank's original hot sauce, some sauerkraut, and of course, deli mustard.  The casing of the sausage was perfectly snappy. That alone was worth the $5, although I wouldn't make this an every day meal.  Another thing I liked about the brat was that it was much longer than the bun. I hate it when I run out of meat and have too much bun.

Green Peas is a new restaurant on Sepulveda set up at the same spot Vinoteque used to be.  It's a casual place with a menu full of sandwiches, wraps, quesadillas, pizzas, salads and soups. Patrons order and pay at the counter, take a number, and then go find their table.

On my first visit, I was craving a well-made sandwich.  I ordered the prosciutto sandwich, which like all their sandwiches and wraps, come with a choice of soup or salad. The guy behind the counter suggested the zucchini soup, which I agreed to.

What's nice about Green Peas is that they give patrons their choice of breads which range from sweet pretzel breads to crusty baguettes.  I chose the baguette for my sandwich.

A decently sized sandwich came, cut in half, with a side of soup. The soup was piping hot, which I have to give them points for. I hate it when places serve luke-warm soup. Despite it being vegan, it was creamy, rich, and full of zucchini flavor.

I happened to drop by Ugo in downtown Culver City for lunch on accident because my intended lunch restaurant was closed for the day.  I had gone once before for breakfast, which I did not enjoy and once for dinner, which was just okay, so I didn't have high hopes for lunch.  Considering it took them almost 20 minutes to 'cook' me up an almost raw (and I LOVE runny eggs) sunny side up egg when I went for breakfast, I was just hoping that lunch would be edible.

I ordered a grilled shrimp and scallop salad with artichoke hearts off their specials menu.  Considering a salad is mostly raw ingredients, I figured it would be easy for them.

Brunello Trattoria is located near the Helms District in Culver City on a corner off of Washington. My first trip there was unsuccessful because they recently started closing on Mondays, but I went again the next day, determined to have Italian food.

The restaurant was about half full when I arrived with the day-job crowd, judging by the business casual attire almost everyone was wearing.  I snagged a quiet table by the window and the waiter promptly gave me the day's specials.  I was in the mood for pasta so the waiter recommended the linguine in tomato sauce with mussels and clam ($13) which sounded perfect to me.

While waiting for the pasta to arrive, I snacked on some bread which was brought to the table.  The bread was still warm and delicious from the oven.  It's like the bread at Angeli Caffe on Melrose.  I had to force myself to stop eating so that I had room for pasta.

I was craving some Cuban food one day and did some googling and realized there was a Cuban place close to work I haven't tried yet.  So off I went to El Rincon Criollo on Sepulveda.

Considering the hot weather, I wanted something refreshing to start off my meal.  I ordered a guanabana shake, which hit the spot.  It was light and creamy thanks to the milk base, and had the characteristic tartness of guanabana.

The menu at El Rincon Criollo boasts of dishes with chicken, seafood, pork, or beef.  I opted for pork chops and grilled onions in garlic sauce with rice and beans.  Out came two thinly sliced pork chops which were cooked perfectly.  The lemony garlic sauce was fantastic. Better than the one at Versailles even. It brought the dish up five nothces.

The rice and beans itself were boring and unexciting, but paired with the sauce? Delicious.  The fried plantains, which I usually like, were lackluster as well. Maybe everything just pales in comparison to the sauce.