As I explained in an article that's no longer posted on this site, I am/was a big fan of a chain of almost-defunct barbecue restaurants called Love's. There used to be a lot of them, at least throughout California, and we're now down to just three, one of which is in Jakarta, Indonesia. I like their ribs but not enough to make that trip.
The other two are in Chula Vista and Lakewood, both in my home state, though they seem about as far as Jakarta. So I pretty much have to be content with Love's barbecue sauce, which I order from their website and employ in my expert gourmet cooking…which means I sometimes pour a little on a chicken or beef sandwich. I use the mild, and I should warn you that it's rather sweet. I usually prefer a smokier, less sweet sauce but for some reason, I really like theirs and why am I telling you this? This is not an ad for Love's restaurants, or what remains of them. This is a posting about a little mystery that just occurred in my life.
I recently installed the 2005 edition of Microsoft Streets & Trips, which is a map program, especially handy because it notes hotels, points of interests, restaurants and so forth. Sergio and I are going to an event tomorrow night in the Westwood part of Los Angeles and I thought I'd look up the area, even though I know it well, and select a place to maybe get a bite to eat beforehand. Here's a piece of a screen shot of the map that came up for me…
As you can see, one of the dining establishments they pinpoint on Westwood Boulevard is a "Love's Wood Pit Bar-B-Que," just north of Olympic. This is a shameful lie. I have studied Love's restaurants for years. I also know Westwood very well, having grown up in that area. (The little label that gives the name is right over Westwood Elementary School, which is where I learned to play Dodgeball.) There has never been a Love's on Westwood Boulevard or anywhere close by. There once was one on Pico about two miles away, but that went out of business long ago and is now a Ford dealership. There was also one on Olympic, a mile the other way, but the building has been empty since the Love's in there closed more than five years ago.
Microsoft Streets & Trips…you are so full of it.
The program gives an address and a phone number for the hypothetical Love's on Westwood. I called the number and got the voice mail system for a company that I'm pretty sure has nothing to do with Love's. I cross-checked the address via a search engine and it seems to be that of a large office building…and no, the corporate offices of Love's are not in that building. I thought of that. They're in Diamond Bar and before that, they were in Beverly Hills. Further experimentation shows that if you ask Microsoft Streets & Trips 2005 to map all the Love's restaurants in the nation, it shows you five — the two which still exist, two that closed long ago (at least five years) and the wholly imaginary one. I can understand a map program being way out of date about something…but how does it pinpoint a restaurant that never existed?
Maybe this isn't a big deal to you but for one brief second there, I thought Divine Intervention had occurred. I was looking for a place to eat and cosmic forces had suddenly placed an outlet of my favorite, long-lost restaurant chain in the perfect place. But it was not so. It was just Microsoft Streets & Trips screwing with my emotions. That dirty, lying program.