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.

Broadway Deli

Broadway Deli: Good location (end of the promenade), fine food (patty melt on rye...reuben was good too), but the service was really bad...our drinks only got refilled if we flagged down the waiter from across the room. It also took a while to get the check. So not bad, not great. I'd go again if I had time to kill and wanted ok food.

The good news is that after you leave you can hop into Pinkberry across the street.

We were actually trying to get into La Serenata de Garibaldi for the second time this holiday but it was still closed with no info on when it will reopen.