Favorite After School Bites

By AVERY ZEMLAK | Contributing Writer

When school is in session, there is a lot of commotion in the Village area of Pacific Palisades around 3 p.m. most weekday afternoons. After a long day of school, teens look forward to going to their favorite restaurants and stores to hang with friends and grab a snack.

One of the most popular restaurants seems to be Palisades Garden Cafe. The line tends to snake outside the door frequently, the tables are always filled up, and kids linger on the sidewalk outside the restaurant talking to their friends in between bites of food and sips of their drinks.

The options at Garden Cafe are endless—with a menu that ranges from breakfast to sandwiches, burgers, sides and beyond.

If you find yourself at Palisades Garden Cafe unsure of what to order, local students have some recommendations: Palisades Charter High School junior Gabi Traum recommended the seasoned French fries paired with chicken nuggets. For a drink, Traum said to go with the mango-flavored Italian soda or the mint chocolate chip milkshake

Pali High juniors Shayan Naeim and Devin Badkar recommended the hamburger and turkey pesto sandwich from Garden as well. Poppy Stevenson, a current eighth-grader at Paul Revere Charter Middle School, said she also often finds herself at Garden, ordering the pot stickers and French fries.

If you want pizza after school, Traum suggested a slice of the house special pizza from Flour Pizzeria & Cafe on Via De La Paz—another popular after school spot for students. I personally like the classic slice of cheese pizza from there.

Located next to one of the metro bus stops that greets many students from Paul Revere each day is another fan-favorite: Chipotle—great for those in the mood for a more filling snack.

Naeim and Badkar advised getting the chicken quesadilla and chicken bowl. My personal favorite is the veggie bowl, hold the sour cream.

In the theme of more filling snacks, Stevenson also said she gets her after school snacks from Erewhon. She said she loves the pizza, creamy mac and cheese, and spicy buffalo cauliflower.

If you find yourself in the Village around breakfast time, Pali High junior Emma Yoffe recommended a toasted plain bagel with chive cream cheese from Noah’s Bagels. Traum suggested Juice Crafters to get the refreshing “U Like Um” smoothie, which has almond milk, strawberries, dates and vanilla. (This bagel and smoothie combo sounds like a great way to start or end the day.)

All of the restaurants listed above are great, however, I tend to go for ice cream as my after school snack. My go-to spots are Toppings, where I get the vanilla tart yogurt topped with mini M&Ms and Reese’s peanut butter cups, and, when I’m not in the yogurt mood, I head to McConnell’s for the peanut butter chip, and cookies and cream ice cream.

For savory snacks, you can find me at Erewhon getting an avocado cucumber roll or a slice of mushroom pizza.

Whether you are taking the Metro bus from Paul Revere, walking up from Pali High or coming to the Village from any public or private school in the area, there are a lot of great options for after school snacks in the area for all ages.