It’s hard to scare up game in Culver City. At least it used to be. Now, Em’s Artist Café, 2926 La Cienega Blvd., is bringing the wild into the kitchen. Perhaps the greatest bit of irony about that is that the restaurant building is a former McDonald’s restaurant (and later a Tommy’s Hamburgers).
There is almost nothing else, however, reminiscent of the McDonald’s era. Em’s plays real music, often live, and is stylishly decorated with tall, dark wooden tables and fantastic lighting that illuminates local art on the walls (and which is also for sale). Also for sale is the floor. That’s right – artists and businesses that wish to be enshrined into the restaurant can purchase tiles of varying sizes, with the catch that they cannot advertise. The idea is to create an art space with really good food.
And really good food is what Em’s does best. I highly recommend the wagyu steak sandwich, which is filled with Kobe beef, onions and peppers. The ahi tuna salad is another delicious meal, featuring generous slices of sushi-grade ahi. Em’s features a variety of exotic burgers made of buffalo, grilled salmon, ahi steak, or a bacon and cheddar venison burger. Other exotic items include alligator andouille, pheasant sausage, duck bacon in cognac and wild boar bacon.
The mission of the restaurant is to introduce a variety of foods to people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy such fare. By offering quality foods at reasonable prices (Em’s strives to keep prices lower than comparable restaurants downtown), patrons are encouraged to try something new and exotic. The menu is incredibly vegan-friendly and the meats tend to be non-factory farmed.
“We should be eating life, not death,” says the owner, for whom the restaurant is named. There is a philosophy behind the restaurant that caters to the adventurous, the artistic, the open-minded, the health-conscious and the environmentally conscious (and will likely also appeal to the altered-conscious).
Em’s Artist Café also offers a variety of specialty coffees and teas.
For more information, call (323) 931-4564 or visit emsartistcafe.com.
