Midtown Lunch

So… here she is!  The new Los Angeles section of Midtown Lunch.  Not much to see yet, but give me time. I just got here.  For those who have never heard of Midtown Lunch (and I’m guessing that’s most of you who live here), it’s a blog I started almost 4 years ago dedicated to finding lunch in the food wasteland of New York City’s Midtown Manhattan.  But not just any lunch.  I wanted a good lunch.  A unique lunch.  A lunch that was under $10!  (Significantly under $10 if possible.)  I wanted my lunch hour to be an adventure (or barring a full blown Indiana Jones experience, at least a meal that would make me forget about work for an hour.)

You see I’ve always felt like there are two kinds of people in every office.  There is us, people who know what good food is and want to eat it, and there is them.  You know who I’m talking about…  that co-worker who eats at the same boring place every day, spending more money than he or she should on mediocre food simply because it’s easy, or convenient, or familiar, or, even worse, healthy.

Screw that…

Midtown Lunch is all about finding the little gems in a sea of generic lunches. And I’m not talking about where you can find a super amazing salad, or the perfect turkey sandwich, or the soup made from the most sustainable ingredients- blessed with holy water by Michael Pollan himself.  I’m looking for something out of the ordinary. Something unique and authentic (whatever the hell that means.)  I’m looking for something that is going to make that boring co-worker really jealous (or at least grossed out by how unhealthy it is!)

If you want to know more about me (or the site), it’s all in the About Section.  But here are the basics… I love street food, am a big fan of the all you can eat buffet; I also have an unhealthy obsession with every Asian food there is, and pretty much won’t shy away from trying anything.  In Midtown the Department of Health never hung letter grades on restaurants, so I feel like I won’t have a problem ignoring them here.  (Why bother paying attention to something that’s going to get between me and something delicious!)

As for boundaries I’m aware that there is no Midtown in L.A.  And even Downtown L.A. isn’t really like Midtown Manhattan.  So rather than picking one area and blogging it to death, I’m going to try and find “Midtown Lunches” wherever they are.  To make Midtown Lunch: L.A. useful to the most number of people, the site will focus on areas where a lot of people work… but it won’t be limited by it.  In other words my desire for delicious lunch will know no boundaries.  (I made that mistake in Midtown!)

Every Midtown Lunch’ish spot that ends up on the site will get added to the map (which is completely empty right now), and every Tuesday we’ll profile an L.A. lunch’er (it’s kind of a ML tradition).  Plus there is a forum where you can connect with other members of the ML community.

I actually lived in L.A. before moving to New York, so this is a homecoming of sorts. I have fond memories of Thai Town (where I lived), Roscoe’s, Mario’s Peruvian, and countless dim sum trips to Monterey Park.  But I fully admit that my previous stint was filled with far to many meals at Baja Fresh, Pollo Loco, Panda Express (I have a serious addiction, and need help), and, of course, In N Out Burger. And while any one of those places opening a branch in Midtown Manhattan would constitute an event of epic proportions, here nobody blinks an eye.  So as hard as it will be for me to avoid a double double animal style, the baja chicken burrito, and orange chicken, those chains aren’t going to be a part of the Midtown Lunch: L.A. canon (isn’t it funny how that works?)

So in a lot of ways I return to L.A. a blank slate, looking for guidance. I guess the only question that’s left is… what’s for lunch?!