Midtown Lunch

Love them or hate them, there is no denying that Kogi has influenced the entire landscape of food trucks in Los Angeles (and beyond).  And I’m not talking about twitter.  These days it is hard to find a single food truck that doesn’t serve some kind of fusion taco, and it looks like Chego- their new brick and mortar restaurant near Palms- might be having the same effect on the restaurants in the vicinity.

Chego, which serves Kogi-esque rice bowls with various toppings (an “upscale Yoshinoya” if you will) is still not open for lunch (much to my disappointment!) but Rio Brazil Cafe, located just a few doors down, is trying to fill the void.  Known for their feijoada, which traditionally is only served on the weekends, Rio Brazil Cafe has tried to capitalize on the new attention being paid to their previously deserted strip mall by beefing up their lunch options. I stopped by for lunch while Chego was under construction, and the restaurant was a ghost town.  Lunch options were limited mostly to sandwiches, and nothing looked too great.  Since Chego opened they’ve started serving the feijoada every day, and the walls are papered with specials- including a $7 lunch plate, and (naturally) a $6 Brazilian “chopped steak bowl”.

I headed over on Friday to check it out.

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