25 delicious deals

There are deals, and then there are delicious deals. But at a time when restaurants' offers of "buy one get one free" and "half-price on Wednesdays" are as commonplace as tuna tartare or beet salad, sometimes it’s tricky to distinguish the two.

This is definitely an eater’s market — but just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s a bargain. If a $5 cocktail isn’t well-crafted, or an appetizer that costs less than a cup of coffee fails to excite your palate, then it’s not a delicious deal.

So, wading through the low-price hype, L.A. Times Food section writers found 25 of the best values around, including $1 specials at a favorite San Gabriel Valley noodle house, a 10-course Indian thali feast, a $14.95 lobster dinner with a million-dollar view, the happiest happy hour and our top spots for all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue. Check it out:

Photo: At the Beachcomber in Malibu, the $14.95 lobster dinner special is too good to pass up, especially since they throw in the million-dollar view for free. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

 

Food on the run: where to eat along the 2009 L.A. Marathon route

If you think it's grueling to run 26.2 miles, imagine how it feels to endure four, five ... eight hours of being supportive under the broiling Los Angeles sun. (Distance running: It makes golf look like a high-impact sport.) Fortunately, Joshua Lurie, the man behind local food blog Food GPS, has compiled a list of 77 eateries -- complete with a handy Google map -- along the 2009 L.A. Marathon route. Your boyfriend/best friend/mom probably won't stop for a mulita and a Belgian waffle, but that doesn't mean you can't. Because for some of us, a food marathon is the only kind of race we'll ever run.

-- Elina Shatkin