Izzy's Deli, Pinkberry, Funnel Mill, Mama's Lu, Beard Papa's Cream Puffs, Fruitti Yogo

Now that we've been in Santa Monica about 3/4 of a year, we have some favorites.

Izzy's Deli again. Big sandwiches. The Matzo ball soup was great. Potato pancakes were overdone. Reuben was excellent. Stay away from the Cobb salad. Oh, and the coleslaw was perfect. So good, and apparently open 24/7. Though the cheesecake is a bit artificial-tasting.

Pinkberry again. Excellent as always...still my favorite place for frozen yogurt because I like their toppings best (except for frutti yogo's lychee).

Funnel Mill again. Everything was amazing. The iced espresso was so exactly perfectly what I wanted. Their two hot chocolates were both great (maybe not quite as good as Burdick's in Harvard Square, Cambridge), but I preferred the "European" version which wasn't sweet.

Mama's Lu: Mother's Day we got out to a restaurant early (10:30am) so as not to face big crowds. This place gets good ratings on Yelp and it's pretty good. I guess it's dim sum, but without the carts and in a small place and no crowds, and without some of the crazier foods. Dumplings were excellent, particularly the veggie. The green onion pancakes were also excellent. I would be fine going back...this is the best place I've gotten dumplings in LA.

Beard Papa's Cream Puffs: I was itching for dessert, so we stopped nearby (it seems like Monterey Park has a high density of good restaurants) at a store that sells little more than cream puffs. Pretty good, but not perfect because they're light on flavor.

Frutti Yogo again. Love that lychee but the other toppings seem lackluster compared with Pinkberry.

Happy Family Vegetarian, Lares

Happy Family Vegetarian: Rowland Heights smelled delicious. I've been to a vegetarian restaurant in Boston that made dishes like meat dishes. This restaurant did a much better job, and yet the dishes themselves still seemed lacking. We tried taro made like dried fish covered in sesame...pretty good. The best dish was probably the mushrooms cooked like batter fried chicken. We also had green beans that were fine, and another dish that was spicy small cubes of maybe tofu. Oh, and an appetizer with crunchy things in a cabbage leaf that was rather good. I'd be ok with going back.

We also went to a neat dessert place in diamond plaza...some shaved ice, octopus balls, taro milk tea, and red bean paste in fish-shaped waffles. All of it so good. I would love to go back here.

Lares: An excellent Mexican restaurant. We ate upstairs with a nice view out the back to the mountain. I had a margarita on the rocks that was very tasty. Chips were thick and tasty. Salsa was delicious. Appetizer was a fish ceviche that was absolutely delicious. Main courses were two shrimp dishes that were delicious (good shrimp flavor) and a thin sliced steak in sauce. A great mexican restaurant. A sit-down place, so classier than Tacos Por Favor, though perhaps not tastier. I would love to go back and would prefer this to Gilberts.