Midtown Lunch

I think the car wash lunch is one of my favorite things about Los Angeles.  I’m not sure why, because admittedly I’ve never actually had lunch at a car wash.  It just excites me that they exist.  I live in Culver City, so Outdoor Grill at the Handy J Car Wash on Washington is on my list (even though I’ve heard it’s terrible.)  And somebody told me there is car wash sushi (how could I not!)  But my first car wash lunch happened last week when I stumbled upon Crunchy Sea, a newish car wash shack specializing in $1 fish tacos in of all places, Koreatown.

How could it be bad?

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Even though there is technically no “Midtown” in Los Angeles and my quest for good food has no boundaries, when it comes to Midtown Lunch’ing in L.A. I’ve adopted a “between the goal posts” mentality since moving back west- trying to keep my lunches between Downtown and Santa Monica. So I never quite made it to Pal Cabron, the Huntington Park Pueblan sandwich specialist owned by the same family that owns Guelaguetza. I’ve always been curious about cemitas (most specifically, how exactly are they different than tortas?) and Pal Cabron was also given high praise by my two go-to Mexican food blogging experts. Well, last week Pal Cabron completely solved my problem by moving their operation to Koreatown- taking over the Guelaguetza space on 8th Street and Irolo in Koreatown.

Don’t mind if I do!

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My lunchtime wish list for this site is starting to make me feel like the captain of a leaky boat in the rain.  Just when I feel like I’m starting to make a dent in lists like this one and this one, another one comes along that just piles on more lunch options to try.  Enter this month’s “Mexican Food in L.A.” issue of Los Angeles Magazine.  Huntington Park, East L.A., and Downey are a bit too far for me to go for a weekday lunch, but there are a few recs between Downtown and SaMo that have no officially made it onto my must try list:

Top 10 Mexican Restaurants

5. Loteria Grill, 6627 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood.  I’ve been to the location in the Farmer’s Market, but maybe it’s time to finally hit up their brick and mortar location in Hollywood.  LAMag recommends the mushroom tacos topped with huitlacoche sauce, and the ones with pork rinds in chile verde.

7. La Taquiza, 3009 S. Figeroa St., South L.A. (just south of Downtown). Al pastor mulita, here I come!

8. Yuca’s, 2056 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz. This hut has been on my list for awhile, and seeing it here just seals the deal.  LAMag seems to think cochinita pibil sandwiches are the way to go.

10. Guelaguetza, 3014 W. Olympic Blvd, Koreatown.  Many of the house specialties are out of ML price range at this popular K-Town Oaxacan spot, but the clayuda is under $10, as are their lunch specials with mole.

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Buying this month’s issue of Los Angeles Magazine just shot to the top of my to-do list! It features The Ultimate Guide to Mexican Food in L.A., and from the sound of things it’s not a completely whitewashed list either.  They enlisted Mexican food hype man Bill Esparza (from the website Street Gourmet L.A.) for a number of the features, ensuring that it will be immune to criticism from hyper critical bloggers and food writers.  Only bits and pieces of the guide are online (LAMag still believes they can get people to buy magazines!) but I think it’s pretty safe to say that Tacos Por Favor, the popular Santa Monica lunch spot on Olympic, probably didn’t make the list.

But after four different profiled Lunchers mentioned it, I thought it might be time to check the place out.

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The lunch options have slowly been getting better and better for those who work in the Fashion District part of DTLA. And when it comes to sandwiches, I think you could do a lot worse than Gram & Papa’s. But spending $10 on a sandwich doesn’t exactly thrill me, so when I saw on Yelp that there was a far cheaper, highly rated torta place called La Torta Loca right around the corner from G&P, I couldn’t help but be curious. I’m always cautious when using Yelp as a guide, but all I had to do is look at the first (and most popular) torta listed on the Torta Loca menu, and I was sold.

The Cubana: Ham, sausage, chorizo, breaded steak, bacon, and egg.

Uh… yes please.

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I’m starting to think that tacos in Los Angeles are like pizza in New York. They’re cheap. They’re everywhere. They can be a meal, or a snack, a lunch, or a super late night stomach filler. Quality varies wildly, but it’s hard to find a truly horrendous version of either. You’ll see some people order one, most lunch specials include 2, but 3 is the number most pros go for. And nobody is ever going to agree on who makes the best version. You can get satisfying $1 versions of both, and seeing either cost more than $2.50 kind of makes my blood boil. And yet, occasionally, we find it in our hearts to accept a version of each that costs more than it should. Whether it’s because of expensive ingredients, or expert craftsmanship, the lowly taco or lowly slice can occasionally be elevated to a level that is worthy of spending $3+.

I don’t know enough about regional Mexican food to really pass judgment on most places (I leave that to this guy), but I do know this: the newly open Tinga (on La Brea just north of 3rd) is one of those “worth it” places. And I can say that because it isn’t trying to be an “authentic” (whatever that means) divey taqueria, or a hipster fast casual place trying to make Mexican food palatable to white people. They’re just making food that tastes awesome.

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It’s been a big couple of months for Ricky’s Fish Tacos, the much heralded fish taco stand that popped up last year on the sidewalk of Sunset Junction. Considered the best Baja fish taco in Los Angeles by the Taco Task Force, Ricky’s started off as a Saturday and Sunday lunchtime treat. But after a brief stint on Santa Monica Blvd., it looks like Ricky has found a permanent spot in a parking lot at 1400 Virgil (just south of Hollywood Blvd.) The rainbow umbrella is gone, replaced by three big green pop up tents, covering two big fryers… and if the last two weeks are any indication, he is now open Tuesday Wednesday Thursday through Sunday!

Last week Ricky’s kicked off the Angeli Cafe’s new series of Street Food Mondays, and tomorrow Eating L.A. (aka Profiled Lunch’er “Pat”) will celebrate their 6 year blogiversary by throwing a party at Ricky’s, with “cupcakes, free fish tacos for the first 25 readers, friends and supporters, and muy special aguas frescas”. Basically, if you work (or live) anywhere near the border of Hollywood and Los Feliz and haven’t been to Ricky’s- what the hell are you waiting for?

Fish taco porn is after the jump…

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