TCM080903

hey, i resent that comment!!

j/p.

anyways, as for what to do? like someone else said, go to the hermosa pier area for nightlife. hermosa is more lively than manhattan. manhattan has a lot of good places to eat around MB pier, but the nightlife isn't as popular as hermosa pier. i wouldn't bother going to redondo pier. if you're only going to be here for a few days, HB/MB are good. there are plenty of bars, etc. i'd recommend any of the "sharkey's" (bar) in HB or MB for something packed but really casual. "sangria" is always busy, esp on the weekends when they have 2 dj's spinning. "lighthouse" is okay. "hennessey's" is just a very casual, laidback bar (HB & MB piers).

as for places to eat, torrance & gardena have TONS of japanese restaurants (if that's what you're looking for), since there are always so many japanese tourists/businessmen due to nissan, honda, toyota, lexus, etc all being in the area. it all depends on how authentic you want the food to be.

there are a LOT of japanese places off redondo beach blvd in gardena, specifically places like tozai plaza, etc. there's also a pretty good center off carson & western. also, in the rolling hills plaza off crenshaw & PCH, there's a good place called "iccho" that's open until 4 a.m. every night, as well as "koraku" (~japanese denny's in my opinion) that's open late as well. you've got marukai & its food court on artesia & western, as well as mitsuwa & its food court off western (i think).

like someone else recommended, fushion sushi's pretty good. 2 locations: 1 near manhattan pier (diagonal from starbucks/jamba juice) and 1 on PCH in torrance.

if you want good japanese soba/udon noodles, there's takefuku (hawthorne & torrance blvd, next to a mongolian barbq place, in torrance), which is really good.

if you want something other than japanese food, i'd recommend the following, depending on your mood:
1) cuban: Versailles (several locations, but there's one on PCH (technically, sepulveda) in Manhattan Beach).
2) hawaiian: The Loft (Hawthorne & Lomita blvds in torrance-more sit down) or Teri Hawaii (off Artesia & Normandie, more of a super casual place w/ good shaved ice too)
3) chinese: sea empress (in gardena, off redondo beach blvd), szechwan & regal palace across the street from each other (off PCH, south of crenshaw, in torrance), beijing islamic restaurant (off PCH, in-btw crenshaw & hawthorne, in torrance), seafood port (off hawthorne & torrance--decent food, not great, but decent)
4) mexican: la capilla ? (in old town torrance, off sartori, in-btw carson & sepulveda); el burrito jr is decent (hawthorne & torrance, next to albertson's; or on PCH in redondo)
5) teri stuff: rascal's. (i can't get enough of their teri avocado burgers! ) (off torrance blvd, west of hawthorne, in torrance)
6) brazilian: by brazil (in old town torrance, in-btw carson & sepulveda, on sartori i think? you'll see the rail road tracks, red car brewery, etc.)

ummm, what else? if you want something a bit fancier, ppl like "the depot" in old torrance. same area as by brazil, la capilla, etc...there's also "christine's" or "misto" off hawthorne blvd, going up the PV hill. umm, your normal "chart house", etc off PCH...

EDIT: yeah, i think tomisushi is still around. it's off PCH & torrance blvd. also, there are some great bars around manhattan & hermosa for food too, such as rock-n-fish in manhattan, etc...

ATSOU

I just got back from Torrance......................Ocean West Dental Group!!! Man......my teeth are still hurting and my gum is still bleeding

There is a Japanese Restaurant that sells Japanese pancake Okonomiyaki in Lomita (next to Torrance.) Pretty cool place.........u should try that place

TCM080903

oops, forgot about korean food: still haven't found a good "normal" place, but there's a great soon tofu place called "cho dang tofu" off hawthorne & sepulveda (in the gable house bowling alley shopping ctr)

as for specific ramen places, there's one in tozai plaza (off redondo beach blvd & western), i think shin sen gumi's off redondo beach blvd near vanness or western?

also, supposedly the hustler casino (off redondo beach blvd & normandie) has good food as well...