One day, over a meal at Kobawoo House in Koreatown, film director Dave Green and actor Joe Cobden hatched a plan to hack the video review feature on Yelp. Armed with Jonathan Gold’s reviews, an SLR camera and sometimes a puppet or two, the pair have captured the spirit of some of LA’s best restaurants in a series of hilarious 12-second Tooth Pix video shorts. Cobden stars and Green directs. “It’s really about cracking each other up … once one of us is doubled over laughing, then we know we’re onto something,” Cobden told Evan Kleiman.
You can find their zany restaurant reviews on Instagram and on Yelp. We’ve culled our favorites below.
TROIS FAMILIA
A young 19th century Frenchman newly arrived in America recounts his first encounter with Trois Familia’s French-Mexican taco mash-up in a letter to his mother. The guacamole ink is a great touch.
BAROO
Because let’s face it: Haven’t we all found ourselves craving Baroo’s “63°F sous vide egg on kimchi fried rice with Job’s tears, beet cream, oxtail ragu and watermelon pickles?” Or … tacos!
JON & VINNY’S
The muppet versions of restauranteurs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo live the LA dream in this Jon & Vinny spoof set to DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.” So dope.
MARISCOS JALISCO
“DELICIOUS!” Joe Cobden plays just another white guy eating tacos as Raul Ortega, owner of one of LA’s best taco trucks, gives his spiel in Spanish. “Exactly, exactly.”
POLLO A LA BRASA
The Tooth Pix “stricken chicken” watches in horror as hungry customers tear into their birds at Pollo a la Brasa. Never gets old, even when you watch it on a loop.