Cupcakes that died and went to heaven!
I don't usually write about what we get delivered at Variety when we work late on Wednesday nights...it generally ranges from just ok to positively dismal. But this week, things took a major turn for the better when Auntie Em's catered our Wednesday night buffet. Those mini coconut cupcakes in the picture achieved cupcake godhead -- more so than Em's usual larger size. The proportion of cake to frosting was more ideal, although they caused the same sugar rush. People were hoarding the mini red velvet ones as well. We also enjoyed the skirt steak, stuffed chicken and mac 'n cheese. What an improvement!
-Eating L.A., Pat Saperstein, senior editor, Variety

This colorful spot has been likened to a Clementine's of the east. There are soulful stews and satisfying sandwiches. But the baked goods are the real stars. The red velvet cupcakes topped with luscious cream cheese frosting win the popularity contest. Cakes and pies can be ordered too, including a chocolate chunk pecan pie made with Valhrona chocolate that is as decadent as it sounds. -Leslee Komaiko, Los Angeles Times

So when we need something super tasty for breakfast, these days it's often off to Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock... It's also very satisfying to eat a plate of eggs, cajun sausage and french bread, or the decadent French toast. Read more...
-Daily Candy, Los Angeles

Never afraid to stretch their imaginations, [Auntie Em's Kitchen] delivers the essentials - beautiful food in a festive setting - but they do it with a twist. Terri Wahl is always whipping up batches of her homemade macaroni and cheese - the gourmet kind, with shells and baby spinach. Theresa Wahl Gourmet Catering now dishes up a signature blend of kitsch and cool. In keeping with her rock roots, Wahl has fed a bevy of MTV darlings including Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey and Brandy. Rave reviews followed and Wahl's clients soon expanded beyond the music industry. Alec Baldwin hired her to cook for him on set and Cindy Crawford has feasted on her dishes during photo shoots.
-Ginny Chen, Variety

At Auntie Em's Kitchen in Eagle Rock, where a line snakes out the door, cupcakes are selling like hotcakes. It's almost at the point now where they're thinking of limiting how many cupcakes people can buy.
-Los Angeles Times

So when we need something super tasty for breakfast, these days it's often off to Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock... It's also very satisfying to eat a plate of eggs, cajun sausage and french bread, or the decadent French toast. Read more...
-Eating L.A., Pat Saperstein, senior editor, Variety

The name speaks of old-timey values, FDR in the White House and order in the universe, which pretty well sums up life at the sweet-as-molasses neighborhood cook shack where soups, sandwiches and salads are the chow of choice - and time passes ever so easily, just like in the old days.

Auntie Em's Kitchen is a worthy reason to exit the freeway and start wending. You want beef, they've got a grilled steak sandwich that has all the flavor of Arnie Morton's. You want pork, the pulled pork will save you a trip to the Carolinas. For breakfast, there are buttermilk pancakes topped with berries and bananas. There's a passion here that you can feel. You can bask in its glow.
-Three Stars, Merrill Shindler, Pasadena Weekly

Auntie Em's Kitchen's cupcakes - red velvet, chocolate, coconut - are so popular that they are often asked to configure cupcake towers instead of the traditional tiered and layered numbers with boiled icing. Shepherd's pie, lost and forgotten by too much of the food world, is another Auntie Em's forte.
-Los Angeles Magazine, Dining LA

The very best homemade dishes this side of Kansas. This place is one of LA's best....for super friendly service and a wide menu of choices. Don't forget to try the walnut fudge brownies, the best ever. Auntie Em's will have you saying, "There is a place like home!"
-Pasadena Weekly

The simple menu while still down-to-earth has been transformed with tasty and unpretentious embellishments thoughtfully considered. Here, it's like lunch at Grandma's, but the food is quality comfort foods using the freshest ingredients while putting a modern spin on old-time recipes. Auntie Em's is like coming home to find a cozy meal on the kitchen table.
-L.A. Alternative Press

4616 Eagle Rock Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041

restaurant hours:
mon - fri 8am to 7pm
sat - sun 8am to 4pm

cheese shop hours:
mon - fri 8am to 7pm
sat - sun 8am to 4pm

 

We Get Press

The traditional apple pie from this funky gourmet sandwich shop and bakery, made with three varieties of apples for just the right sweetness, is delicious. But in its next life, it wants to be the Dutch apple pie. Topped with lots of crumbly, buttery streusel and drizzled with homemade caramel, it has a flavor reminiscent of a caramel apple. See the listing.
-Leslee Komaiko, Los Angeles Times - The Guide

Phil Lempert of MSNBC TODAY online features chef/owner Terri Wahl and her recipe for Steak and Potato Pot Pie. Visit TODAY now!

In the single greatest act of interoffice participation since we stalked Nicole Richie and her dogs, Honeychild and Cleopatra, through the E! building, staffers set off to L.A.'s hippest bakeries in search of the best fatty sugarbombs. Read more...
-E! Online

On The Savory Side. Baker's dozen: It takes a multi-armed maestro to bake a batch of fresh biscuits while attending to turkey, taters and trimmings. Read more... -Susan LaTempa, Los Angeles Times

Casual quality. You don't want a fast-food burger, but you don't have time for a proper dining experience either. What to do? Go "fast casual." The display of oversized frosted cupcakes in a variety of flavors en route to the register makes it nearly impossible not to indulge. But this funky restaurant also does some nice savories. Consider the moist and surprisingly light beef meatloaf sandwich. Swell soups too, like chilled cucumber and cumin for summer.
-Leslee Komaiko, Los Angeles Times

The low-key but hip eastside neighborhood of Eagle Rock may have the greatest per-capita concentration of breakfast joints of anywhere in Los Angeles. But even amongst plentiful competition, Auntie Em's stands tall. Opened as the bricks-and-mortar outlet of a longtime entertainment industry caterer (and former punk rocker), Em's wasted little time in attracting a loyal clientele for their breakfast, lunch, desserts and once- monthly "market" dinner events. What Em's does might be considered "the basics," but how they do them makes all the difference. Read more...
-From the Editors, AOL Cityguide