Archive for 'Wow Bento & Roll'

I Guess Wow Bento & Roll Doesn’t Get Much Praise?

I fully admit to being surprised with how much I liked Wow Bento and Roll in DTLA (more than I expected to like it, anyway.)  But what’s even more shocking is the fact that they printed up a gigantor banner that quotes what I wrote!  They did leave out the “probably” that appeared in the original review (which takes a bit of the umph out of the whole proclamation) but considering the unattributed “#1 Fast Food Japanese Restaurant in Downtown L.A.” banner I noticed on my first visit, I can’t really be too shocked.

Thanks to Jill from Domaine L.A. for sending along the photo (the banner is hung up at the branch on Melrose).

Related:
Wow Bento & Roll’s Sashimi Salad is Far Less Scary Than I Expected

Wow Bento & Roll’s Sashimi Salad is Far Less Scary Than I Expected

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When I first moved to Los Angeles from NYC and decided to keep doing Midtown Lunch I had a decision to make.  Do I focus on one specific area, like Downtown (the Midtown of L.A.), or do I try to cover a larger area of lunching- thereby making the site as useful as possible to as many office workers as possible.  In the end, people convinced me that Downtown L.A. was no Midtown, and I selfishly decided to cover the area from Downtown all the way to Santa Monica.  Well, I’m starting to think that might have been a huge mistake!  Downtown L.A. is kind of amazing, and every time I’m there for lunch I think about how much I wish I worked there full time.  (No, this is not April Fool’s.)

Just like Midtown Manhattan, Downtown L.A. pretty much has everything.  Your ethnic enclaves (Little Tokyo, Chinatown), your new generation chains (Mendocino Farms, Starry Kitchen, Gram & Papa’s), and your old school classics (Philippe’s, Cole’s, Grand Central Market, Clifton’s Cafeteria, and Uncle John’s Ham’s and eggs).  But even more important than all that, Downtown L.A. is dotted with all sorts of dirty looking, semi-hidden gems. Places that probably won’t survive their next lease renewal, but until that day comes continue to serve up cheap and tasty lunches to longtime regulars, and those of us newcomers with adventurous stomachs. Places like Wow Bento & Roll, my newest DTLA lunch discovery.

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