Gridskipper, urban travel arm of the Gawker empire, turns a restaurant blogger loose on Echo Park, and here are the results: Eight eateries (none of them on wheels) are deemed worth a graph or so's attention.

'Skipper says:

Darling, darling Echo Park. Such a confused neighborhood. Currently one of LA's most gentrifying-est areas, the restaurants here echo the schizophrenia of the place. Cheap places for burgers and burritos still remain (thank goodness), but some new arrivals aim to charge more than $10 for dinner. Strange but intriguing, we say.

Condescension aside, "schizophrenia of the place?" As if being more than one thing at once, (i.e.,offering more than one price-range of food to all the people all the time) were a sign of mental illness on a neighborhood scale? Strange but intriguing to see the Gridskipper mind at work.

'Skippy's right though about Elf -- it's good. And right about Burrito King: It's good, too. Haven't tried 15 (EP's new snazzy-looking place) yet, so no comment. And, of course, we love Pizza Buona and Masa.