Aroma Cafe

If you like your coffee cheap and weak, don’t bother stopping at Cafe Aroma in Tujunga Village. People just call it Aroma. The coffee is amazing, the food fresh and moderately priced. Some of the deserts are made in house and the rest are sourced from the best bakeries around LA. My personal favorite is the chocolate bread pudding, it’s made for two. At least.

From the breakfast menu, check out the Veggie Burrito. It’s so good you don’t even care that it’s healthy. It’s walk up/sit down service. They’ll take your order at the counter, give you a number and bring the food to your table. Weekends are busy but the line moves quickly, don’t be afraid. Seating is mostly outdoors in a garden type setting, bistro tables up to seating for fifteen.

4360 Tujunga ave. Studio City, California 91604 • ph: 818.508.0677
Hours: Mon – Sat 6am to 11pm / Sun 7am to 11pm

Which Wich

A great stop if you’re looking for a customizable sub-sandwich shop that has fresh ingredients, a fun way to order and a good kid’s menu. Busy at lunch but crickets at dinner. Bring the kids and the place is usually your own.

12048 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604 818-985-9424 (WICH)
Hours: Every Day 9AM-9PM

Take A Bao

If you don’t know what Bao is this is a great place to get your feet wet. If it sounds like another language, it is. They have BAO (from Vietnam) and a whole lot more. The kid’s menu is excellent, chicken teriyaki with edamame, rice or noodles, a juice box and a Bendaroo for entertainment purposes. I like to go during happy hour and sample appetizers like the Sumac Fries and Thai Meatball Lettuce wraps while the kids squeeze the beans from the edamame.

Take A Bao: 11838 ventura blvd, studio city ca 91604 phone 818 691 7223

Carney’s

An institution in LA since 1975, Carney’s always pleases the kids. It’s a restaurant in an old Pacific Railroad Passenger train car! If that’s not enough, which it is, they have french fries, burgers, dogs and shakes. They use quality ingredients and know how to cook a burger. The turkey burger is great and if you want to eat “light” you can go with one of those wrapped in lettuce, you’ll get some looks but it’s tasty and who cares who’s looking at you.

My older one goes to Carpenter Community Charter Elementary School and Carney’s is a contributor to our school, so not only do they have great food but they give back to the community.

Their dogs have snap. Some kids like the snap, some kids not so much. Most not so much. So stick with the burgers or to get around the dreaded snap conversation make sure you get a knife and chop the dog into bite size pieces. I mean small. The fries are good but significantly better drowned in their signature chili and cheese. My kid had her first chili cheese fries there. I get teary just thinking about it.

There is outdoor seating and it comes with an animal show. Pigeons. They are aggressive and will battle your children for their fries. The kids love to feed them. Make it a place where they can get a shake or grab a root beer and they’ll remember it forever.

12601 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604 (818)761-8300 Hours of Operation: Sun-Th 11am-10pm Fr-Sat 11am-midnight

California Pizza Kitchen

Jack’s Classic Burgers