DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — This week's issue of the LA Weekly looks at where to eat Downtown on a budget. A couple of their entries may stretch the definition of Downtown a little farther west than I would take it, and the list isn't too comprehensive, but it includes Chinatown and Little Tokyo, area's I've done a poor job of exploring.

They do tackle the french dip issue, though they don't allude to the controversy:

Cole’s P.E. Buffet. Dank old Cole’s, which is the oldest restaurant in Los Angeles and looks every week of it, has the best French dip: roasted brisket or pastrami, carved to order, dipped and served on a crusty roll.

Philippe the Original. The place is so much a part of old Los Angeles that sometimes it feels as if it isn’t really a part of Los Angeles, as if it belongs to an older city without chrome. The French-dipped sandwiches of lamb or beef are wet and rich, with something of the gamy animal pungency of old-fashioned roast meat.

I am a bit partial to Cole's when it comes to the French dip.