Hip, Happenin' IHOP Designed By Martha Stewart's Wacky Sister: S & W Country Diner, Culver City

Friday's lunch took me to see my wonderful friend, Kaz, at S&W Country Diner in Culver City. You may remember Kaz from a while back, we met through Jon the filmmaker, who I met at Pippin, which I sent to because of Mary Seibert's suggestion. Did you follow? :)

In any case, Kaz is this amazing woman who's one part manager at Schematic, one part author of "The Art of Wooing" and one part advocate of Tribe Wanted, an unique cross-cultural community tourism project on Vorovoro Island, Fiji. You can read more about her in this older blog post.

S&W is one of those places you walk into and think, "Holy crappy, this place is cluttered!" (Hey, I used Holy crappy, Arlene!) They have a gajillion knick-knacks mounted everywhere you can look but in that green pastel and red color, it kinda works. As my title suggests, it's like Martha Stewart had this wacky sister from the country who went a little wild. Personally, I loved the personality of that place.

Parking is a bitch and the place is cash only and the lines can get long.

Bad parts are over.

Good parts?

The bacon grilled cheese with tomato was heavenly! Now you can't really mess up this meal but it's important to note..who puts bacon with tomato and cheese these days?! Delicious. Bacon had the perfect level of crispiness, bread was toasted just right. Just amazing.

Kaz had the burger, which looked equally appetizing. She had no complaints and finished it right up. I did sneak away some of her curly fries which were perfectly crispy and oh so addictive.

Overall: A good diner restaurant on the Westside when you want something with a little more personality than IHOP. Huge menu (think Jerry's Famous Deli) that you can get lost in. Perhaps a little overwhelming but if you're looking for breakfast in the afternoon your hungry stomach will lead you to the right choice! Service was decent, didn't feel like we were being herd around like cattle but didn't feel like giving high fives to the waitress after the meal either.

Tips?:
+ Street parking is difficult but there's two hours free parking in the city lot on Watseka, half a block north of Washington.
+ Order the harsh browns, corn beef hash, breakfast burrito and bacon, per fellow Yelpers.
+ No street parking so send someone first to put your group's name down. (It's a team effort!)
+ Remember cash only! Though there's a WaMu nearby.

Who Should Go? People who want to know of that cool diner spot in town that's reasonably priced (we spent about $11 each with tip and tax.) People who are craving bacon all day long (till 3p at least).

Hours:
Mon-Fri 7:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Sat-Sun 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

S&W Country Diner
9748 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 204-5136
Map

Great seeing you Kaz! Let's do it again soon.