After N.W.A. and Straight Outta Compton , Ice Cube struck out on his own with hit singles like “It Was a Good Day .” Set against a sluggish beat and a slow-burning Isley Brothers sample, the song begins with breakfast cooked by his mom and ends with a 2 a.m. Fatburger run. Cube insists “those days are over,” but Hollywood celebrity status—catch him starring alongside Kevin Hart in this month’s Ride Along 2 —hasn’t turned him into a juice-guzzling, fad-dieting actor. “Keep your sanity,” he says. “If you want a burger, eat half a burger. Want a bag of potato chips? Eat half a bag.” But what if all bets were off and Cube indulged in the ultimate good day? Let’s just say he wasn’t counting calories when he wrote this month’s napkin: “I’d be so damn full I’d probably sleep for two days.”

What's some food you wouldn't have tried without your wife—stuff you ended up liking?

A lot of different vegetables. She got me eating spinach and brussels sprouts. Halibut [laughs]; I wouldn't have tried halibut if it wasn't for my wife. And she likes a lot of different variety. She helped me try Thai food, different kinds of Chinese dishes. She definitely opened up my palate as they say.

Were you more of a meat and potatoes guy before her?

Yeah, I like comfort food. It don't have to look fancy. It just has to taste good. I do appreciate when a chef gets it both right—when it looks and tastes great. But I hate when it looks great and it's nasty or it's bland.

How does your wife prepare vegetables usually?

All different kind of ways. We try to bake most of our stuff. Some stuff you just gotta fry, though. Like burgers.

Alex Lau

Are you baking most of it because you're trying to eat healthier?

Nah, that's just her style. She goes the healthy route anyway, which is cool because it still tastes good. Black families, we sometimes add too much seasoning to our stuff. And it ain't good for you.

Seasoning tastes so good though.

I know man, but it ain't cool when you see people in the hood all on high blood pressure pills.

What's your definition of too much seasoning?

When I'm tasting more seasoning than food. But under-seasoning something is nasty too. Nothing tastes good like that.

What's the nicest meal you've been to that was actually pretty disappointing—one where you were thinking the whole time, "Man, all I wanna do is eat a burger right now"?

Oh man, when the first Barbershop movie came out, we were invited to some restaurant in Chicago. It was real fancy. You could see the chefs making the meal on closed circuit TV, but most of what they brought out, I didn't want to eat. They were bringing out squab and all kinds of super exotic stuff I'm just not into. I asked them if they could make chicken alfredo. It was one of those things where they bring out six or seven sample meals, and I was like, 'Man, keep the chicken alfredo coming.'

It's funny that you mention squab. I kinda draw the line there too—with tiny game birds.

Yeah man. And my mom used to raise pigeons. I just couldn't see eating one of them. It'd be like eating a pet.

You mentioned comfort food before. Let's say you just had a shoot that was like 15 hours—a miserable, awful shoot. In a perfect world, what would be on the table when you get home from something like that?

I love some spaghetti.

Just plain spaghetti and meatballs, that sort of thing?

They don't have to be meatballs. It can just be ground meat in the sauce. Something like that. Even burgers man; I don't know who could mad coming home to burgers, where they're just ready for you. So you know, that's cool. And chicken of course—fried, baked or grilled chicken. That, some rice, and mac and cheese is always a favorite.

Which of those dishes reminds you of childhood the most?

Shit, fried chicken. Nothing reminds me of growing up more than that. And pizza.

What's on the pizza usually?

Man, all we had was Domino's.

Domino's?

[Laughs] Yeah man. We in the hood dude. It's Domino's; it's Pizza Hut; it's Shakey's back in the day. But Domino's delivered so…. I love pizza man. The best pizza now is Round Table Pizza.

What's so special about them?

It's just great pizza, you know? Their sauce is better. And sometimes they'll put some cheddar cheese on there with it. The one by my house, dude, they'll put pastrami on pizza. It's just the best—way better. It's awesome to me. More people should put pastrami on pizza.

We haven't talked about LA food yet, even though California's been such a big part of your career. Let's say you had to move away for 10 years. What's the first thing you're gonna eat when you get back?

El Cholo, either on Western [Avenue] or Santa Monica. I just love their food. It's great. I've been eating it since I was a kid.

What do you usually order there?

I usually get the chicken chimichanga or the ground beef quesadilla.

All the classics.

Yeah, I love it—it's simple but great. Or I'd go to Dan Tana's. Great Italian food—the white fish sauteed in lemon sauce is crazy.

Going back to burgers, what's usually on yours?

To me, the best burger would have cheese, egg, chili, mustard and mayo.

A lot of flavor then. What kind of cheese? Cheddar?

Cheddar's cool, but I can take American. I just like Cheddar better.

Would the chili have meat in it too?

A little bit. No beans in the chili though.

Are you not into beans?

I'd eat chili by itself with beans, but I don't want it on the burger.

Let's link your taste in food back to music for a minute—the song "Today Was a Good Day," for instance. What would you be eating from morning till night if you just had a really good day—the best day possible related to food?

Oh man, I'd probably wake up and have steak and eggs with French toast. In the afternoon, I'd have a pastrami pizza from Round Table with extra pastrami. And for dinner, it'd probably be Palm Restaurant—a nice salmon, some crab cakes, a cool little apple martini and some veggies. Maybe some asparagus, spinach or brussels sprouts. That'd be it. I'd be so goddamn full I'd probably sleep for two days.

No Fatburger at 2 a.m.?

Nah, I ain't trying to eat nothing at 2 a.m. anymore. Those days are over [laughs].

What's one form of healthy food you don't mind eating if you have to lose weight for a role?

Well, you know, if you don't eat healthy normally, trying to just adapt it without it being a lifestyle thing is not gonna work. What I do is work on portions. Portion sizes, to me, are a way to lose weight. You can eat the same things; just don't eat so much of it. And cut down on sugar. Sugar is everywhere. Find out where it is, and don't have that. As far as grabbing something I wouldn't eat normally, that's only going to last a few days. Keep your sanity. If you want a burger, eat half a burger. Know what I mean? You'd like a bag of potato chips? Eat half a bag. Start cutting back. Sometimes you just want the taste. in your mouth. Sometimes you just need a bite of something, but you gotta put it down. Don't eat it all, you know? It ain't like I'm the most fit person in the world, but when I have to drop some, that's what I do.

Why deprive yourself right?

Yeah. It's all about portions and the time of day you eat them. No matter what though, you gotta work out. You gotta move around.

Between all of its fad diets and trends like gluten-free food or juicing, do you ever look around at the people in LA and think, 'Man these people are crazy?'

Nah man. I'm a live and let live kind of person. I ain't really tripping on what anybody think they need to do to keep their sanity in this crazy ass world.

How the best pizza in America is made. *Swoon*