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.

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.

For home-styled Mexican food in Culver City, El Abajeño is a decent choice.  The casual sit-down restaurant on the corner of Culver and Inglewood was overlooked by me the first couple of times I was around the area because I was lured away by Tacomiendo, but I finally turned my head the other direction and saw it one day.

The restaurant is pleasant with ample seating inside for larger parties.  You stand in a line by the counter in front of some glass cases and order from the menu written above the counter.  Most of the quicker foods like tacos, burritos, and nachos can be seen made behind the counter while you're waiting to pay.

I was starving that day, so I ordered a dinner-sized plate with medium-cooked steak, an enchilada, and a side of rice and beans.  It took them about ten minutes to make, so don't order this if you're in a rush.

Sometimes, you just get a craving for the most unhealthiest things. My weakness when these cravings hit are chili cheeseburgers.  I eat about three of these a year, so I don't beat myself up too much about it.  Sure, they're heart-attacks served in a paper bag, but boy are they delicious when the mood strikes.

Big Tomy's has always been sort of a joke in my circle of friends because of how close its name is to the World Famous Tommy's.  While it's no Tommy's, it has a certain place in my heart, and not just because of the heartburn either.

The restaurant is greasy and cheap, much like their burgers.  I usually choose between the pattymelt and the chili cheeseburger.  Once, I was brave (or stupid) and ordered a side of chili-cheese fries as well, but that was one case where my eyes were much bigger than my stomach.

Their chili cheeseburger comes dripping with brown, unidentifiable chili which sticks nicely to the paper wrapper.  Be sure to order a side of regular fries to mop up the extra chili with.  This is no gourmet buger, but it sure is tasty. It's extra tasty when you've go the beer-munchies.