The Second Best Taco in L.A. Photo courtesy of Tien Nguyen/Squid Ink
Posted at 11:45 am, May 18th, 2012 under Lunch Links.
It’s a sad truth, but many people probably stopped reading this post after the title. Made their mental note (“Tochka = Good. Got it. Let’s move on.”) And sure enough, it’s those people that will inevitably leave the comment a week from now telling me how terrible Tochka is. Because the newly open flatbread sandwiches place on Sunset in West Hollywood is really just ok, an importantly tidbit that you now know because you actually decided to read on. I wouldn’t drive across town for anything on their menu, but if I worked in the neighborhood there is something I’d go back for. Something kind of awesome. Something that I never even really liked, until I tried Tochka’s version…
Posted at 11:00 am, May 17th, 2012 under Middle Eastern, Tochka, West Hollywood.
The Beefy T
Have you ever wondered why Chego isn’t open for lunch? I have. And by “wondered why” I mean “complained that”. In fact Roy Choi’s Asian rice bowl restaurant in Palms not serving lunch appeared as one of my very first gripes about lunching in L.A. Well, it only took two years but today at 11:30am Chego will officially start serving lunch. Since they still are using Chego to prep all of the Kogi trucks, lunch is only available for take out. But most of the entire dinner menu is available (with just a few exceptions), and you can order in person or through their new online ordering system.
Check out the menu, plus a look at Day 1 (as it was twittered and instagrammed live from the scene) after the jump…
Posted at 7:00 am, May 15th, 2012 under Chego, Culver City/Mar Vista.
Sausage Kimbap must be korean for Hot Dog Sushi. Photo courtesy of Squid Ink
Posted at 12:00 pm, May 11th, 2012 under Lunch Links.
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, ornatives with an inferiority complex) there are some things about lunching in this town that really annoy me. Here are 7 of them, LAist style, for your enjoyment…
1. Man, I really wish Momed was cheaper. Duck shawarma sandwich? Sooooo good! Why can’t you be $10 little friend?
2. Why does anybody bother serving pastrami sandwiches within a 5 mile radius of Langer’s? Especially one that costs $14 and looks like this. Really, what’s the point? Also, in a related story: dividing your menu into 3 sections and having cute little open prep stations doesn’t make you a food court. You’re just a regular old restaurant with waiters, and a menu that happens to feature good burgers, hipster deli food, and meat curated by a kick ass chef from San Francisco. Please tell the press to stop describing you as a mini version of Eataly West.
Posted at 11:22 am, May 9th, 2012 under 7 Reasons to Hate L.A..
In honor of Eater’s pizza week I thought I’d post a photo of the best pizza I’ve had in the past week… Pitfire’s new spring special, The Hula Hoop. Featuring pineapple, jalapenos, straciatella, and speck, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a slice I crave come April of every year: the pineapple and jalapeno pizza from Spicy Pie. Pitfire’s wood fired Neapolitanish pizzas bear no resemblance to the ridiculously priced $7 slices that Coachella goers stuff their faces with every year, but considering I didn’t make it to Coachella this year it was close enough. Now if only the Tupac hologram had joined me for lunch, it would have been perfect.
Related:
An Open Letter to Spicy Pie: Please Open a Storefront in Los Angeles
Am I Crazy or Is Pitfire Pizza Not Terrible? (Even By New York Standards!?)
Posted at 10:30 am, May 8th, 2012 under Pitfire Pizza, Pizza.
My love of food trucks is an odd obsession that has managed to endure many years despite numerous contradictions. For one thing, even though I love to track the comings and goings of new food trucks it is always with a slightly disapproving eye. “Did you seriously put money into this idea?” “Didn’t anybody warn you that food trucks are a losing proposition?” “Didn’t you bother to ask!?” Most new trucks are either too cute for their own good, more expensive than they should be, or (the worst offense) just downright awful. As if dressing up shitty food in a painted truck is going to somehow turn it into the next Kogi. And yet on indecisive lunch days I can’t resist heading to Miracle Mile, or Pennsylvania and 26th, or the newly re-opened food truck lot on Overland and Washington to see what’s going on.
Last week I was rewarded with “Cod Save the Queen”, a new fish and chips truck that launched at Coachella this year. And as somebody who runs a website/podcast called Food is the New Rock, how could I not?
Posted at 11:52 am, May 7th, 2012 under Cod Save the Queen, Food Truck.
