Midtown Lunch

I try to be positive here on Midtown Lunch… and I freakin’ love this city.  The food is amazing, and there’s no better place to be a “Midtown Lunch’er”.    But as much as I love much of the food in L.A. (and will defend it to the death against any outsiders, or natives with an inferiority complex) there are some things about eating lunch in this town that really annoy me.  Here are 7 of them, LAist style, for your enjoyment…

1. I really can’t stand the word clean. For example when somebody says “I like California Chicken Kitchen because it’s good clean food” that’s the kiss of death for me. But using it on a food truck? That’s taking it to a new low. Implying that street food is usually dirty as your selling point is not only dumb and tells us nothing about your truck, but it doesn’t help the industry you just became a part of.

2. Boiling Crab… why are you not open for lunch!?!? This makes me very mad!

3. “Best Fish Taco” in Los Feliz might want to consider a name change now that the actual best fish tacos in all of Los Angeles can be found right down the street.

4. If you call your truck “Thai Guys” the answer to the question “Where are you from?” shouldn’t be “Israel”. Just because you like Thai food, doesn’t mean you can slap a cute logo on a truck and make money selling it. If a food truck backlash is coming, it’s going to because of terrible trucks like this.

5. If I’m paying $3.50 for ice cream, I should be able to get two flavors! I get it… you’re in the Brentwood Country Mart. Rent is expensive. Top of the line, fresh ingredients are expensive. Your ice cream is probably the best in all of Los Angeles. But would it kill you to divide the small into two flavors? Those of us who like variety shouldn’t have to pay $5 for the privilege. There’s a word for that… it’s called extortion. You might want to a page from the Scoops playbook, where they practically force you to take two flavors for your $3.50 order. They know people will enjoy it more that way.

6. And while we’re talking Brentwood Country Mart… if you post a sample menu online, but remove the prices, it means your food is too damn expensive. Just sayin…

7. On line at the Jogasaki Truck last week a customer asked if their burritos were big, and then seemed disappointed that the answer was yes. Oh L.A., I will never get used to this side of you…

Got your own complaints?  Feel free to mail them to zach@midtownlunch.com or post them in the comments below.