Midtown Lunch

As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Kelley, a Downtown based insurance underwriter who loves to chase food trucks during her lunch hour.

Name: Kelley

Age: 30

Occupation: Insurance Underwriter (and semi-professional food truck chaser)

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Insurance company on 8th & Figueroa in Downtown LA

Favorite Kind of Food: That is such a difficult question to answer. I hate to be cliche but I really love all food. I especially like traditional food with a creative twist.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Shellfish…but just because I’m allergic to it.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Its no secret that my favorite place to eat is the corner of 9th & Hope, where most food trucks stop. My favorite truck picks are: Chinese BBQ Pork tacos (Don Chow Tacos), Asian Marinated Chicken tacos (Komodo), Lomo Saltado (Lomo Arigato), Honey Feta Fries (Louks), and The Original Manila Dip (Manila Machine). As for a non- food truck lunch, I can be found at the Farmer’s Market at 7th +Fig shopping center on Thursdays ordering a lamb crepe w/ avocado.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Unfortunately, downtown is loaded with chains and they just happen to be the most convenient places to go. So if I’m not at a food truck or at the Farmers Market, I’m most likely at Subway or Corner Bakery. Snooze.

The farthest place you’ll drive for lunch on a normal day? When the hankering for dim sum calls, I’ll hop in a car and drive up to Empress Pavilion in Chinatown (2 miles). If I want pupusas, I’ll skip the car and take the red line up to Sarita’s at Grand Central Market (2 miles).

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. They have the best Chinese food there and the tacos al pastor they sell on every corner are out of this world.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers in L.A.? I really need to find a hole in the wall Mexican place that sells rolled tacos & carne asada burritos like the ones you find in San Diego (ie. Roberto’s, Alberto’s, etc). Any recommendations?

Got a suggestion for Kelley? Put it in the comments. And if you want to be next week’s Profiled: L.A. Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email me- zach@midtownlunch.com.