Mustard Seed Cafe

With a prime spot on a corner of Hillhurst, this funky neighborhood café offers up tasty California comfort food with a healthy twist. Even the drinking water is processed through “four filters and a reverse osmosis tank so it tastes good.” The menu boasts all the standards – sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads – but features enough interesting entrees and ingredients to make it stand out just a bit. Particularly good are the rosemary turkey burger, the ahi soft tuna tacos and the mustard seed omelet, made with egg whites. Seating is limited – usually taken up by regulars and neighborhood scenesters (okay, those are one in the same) – so expect a wait on the weekends. The service is efficient and friendly and the people-watching is always entertaining. (Hey, wasn’t that…?)

 TIPS: The folks at the Mustard Seed have an eye for quality art and are usually selling what’s on the wall. A number of the neighborhood’s most promising artists scored some of their first sales there. Mel Kadel, who has shown her work at Bergamot Station and across the country, had particular luck at the café in earlier days.