Midtown Lunch

Yesterday I took my very first trip to the Grand Central Market downtown- and let me be the first (although probably not) to say: if you work in walking distance from Hill and 3rd, I am extremely jealous of you!  Sure, some complain that a number of the stalls are crappy, and there is not enough variety.  You know what I say?  Who needs more than roast pig parts and cheap Chinese food!?  Not me.

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File this under “Things People Who Work and Live Around Melrose Already Know”…  Tere’s Mexican Grill is kind of totally awesome.  I first heard about this fast food Mexican spot on Melrose when I wrote about Inti Peruvian, a decent saltado slinger in the same strip mall (on Melrose btw Cahuenga+Vine).  A week later, two other lunchers suggested it in the comments again when I wrote about 3 taco spots in Culver City.  And once Lunch’er “Patricia” said it was worth the drive from West Hollywood the deal was sealed.

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If you work Downtown, and are looking for a new lunch option, this could be good.  Last week Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken expanded the Border Grill brand once again (there are restaurants in Vegas and Santa Monica, and a truck of course) opening a kiosk on the NW corner of Wilshire and Figeroa.  According to NRN the kiosk is meant to make use of the truck’s “limited menu”, offering take out food to people who work and live in the area. Lunch’er “Adam” checked it out on Tuesday and was nice enough to send photos, and his opinion:

“Yuppies from the Westside, like me, will like it a lot.  My Mexican-American friends were skeptical of the prices but ultimately satisfied with the food.”

Check out the seating area, his carne asada taco platter, and the entire Border Grill Stop menu, after the jump…

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One of the things I missed most about L.A. during my 4 year excursion was Peruvian food, so much so that within a week of moving back I didn’t bother trying to find the best Peruvian spot in L.A. (or the most Midtown Lunch’ish).  I just returned to my old standby… Mario’s (on Melrose). And when I discovered it was too expensive to qualify for a Midtown Lunch I hit up Inti a few doors down. Once my craving was satiated, I asked for some better (preferably under $10) Peruvian recs from you guys- and Lunch’er “luckyme23” pointed me to Mo Chica, the modern Peruvian food court joint that opened last year in the Mercado La Paloma- just south of downtown.

Mo Chica is no hidden gem.  “The Guru” is  all about their ceviche, LA Taco praised their market driven menu, and Profiled Lunch’er Pat wrote that the place takes Peruvian ingredients “about as far they can go.” Only one problem… practically all of the menu is over $10!  So when I made my first trip to the Mercado La Paloma last week, I felt inexplicably drawn to Chichen Itza.

Come to think of it, it’s not inexplicable.  It’s because I’m a cheap bastard.

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There are some who will claim there is good Mexican food to be had in Manhattan, but after 5 years there (and two weeks here) I can honestly say those people are mistaken.  I’m not saying it’s impossible to find… in Midtown, for example, you can get decent stuff at the El Rey del Sabor cart, and over on 10th Ave. in Hell’s Kitchen there are a few great dives for sopes, tacos, and mole.  (There are no good burritos, but that’s a different matter altogether.)  It’s like the equivalent of pizza in L.A.  You can make a convincing argument for a few places here and there… but overall, you’re not going to find too many good slices of New York pizza in L.A. and you’re not going to find too much good Mexican food in NYC.

I guess what I’m saying is this week I was craving some tacos! The Glutster treated us to his favorite taco spots in the latest issue of Saveur, and then of course there is the Taco Task Force… but I was looking for something a little closer to home.  For me that’s Culver City, and when most people say tacos and Culver City they’re usually talking about Tito’s (which was just named one of The Guru’s 99 things in L.A. to eat before you die).   There is something to be said for Tito’s fried crunchy goodness, but I don’t really like to be limited to ground beef, and I was looking for something a little more authentic softer (in the tortilla category.)

Thankfully, just west on Culver there are 3 places serving just what I was looking for… and after a few weeks of doing Midtown Lunch: L.A. I feel like I haven’t fulfilled my cliche blog post quota this month.  So, without further ado, it’s TACO CRAWL TIME!

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