Midtown Lunch

As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Rob, a TV exec looking for some good ethnic food in Burbank.

Name: Rob

Age: 29

Occupation: Television Executive for Disney XD

Where in L.A. do you Work?: I work for Disney in the Burbank Center Building on Alameda

Favorite Kind of Food: Hard to pick one but love good Chinese food, Mediterranean, great sandwiches.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Hate canned tuna fish (although I like raw/seared tuna), pineapple, kiwis

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Olive & Thyme (4013 Riverside Dr) has great sandwiches and salads – I recommended the Middle East Chicken Sandwich or the chopped salad. The best sushi by far is at Yuzu on Riverside. All the fish is fresh, innovative cuisine but the asparagus and corn soup is the must get every time. My favorite cheap eat is wraps at Honeydew (171 N. Maple). Very small place but everything there is really fresh and lots of different combinations for sandwiches.

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Cachetadas from Mexicali & Co. Photo courtesy of Darin Dines.

• BEV HILLS Choppe Choppe is now open [Toddrickallen]
• DTLA Mexicali & Co opens on Weds, and here’s your first look [Darin Dines;Squid Ink]
• DTLA Looks like Blue Cow is going to be a bit too expensive for us! [UE]
• HWOOD Pailin Thai makes a great kway chap [Gastronomer]
• MID CITY New Vietnamese on Pico?  I’ll bite! [Squid Ink]
• MID CITY Walter Manske will be adding to Short Cake’s lunch menu!? [Grub Street]
• SAMO Pier Burger is good, and under $10!? [AHT]
• SILVER LAKE A new cheesesteak spot has opened on Fountain [Squid Ink]
• WEST LA Gr/eats is closing Monday [Squid Ink]
• WEST LA We told you Hurry Curry is better than Curry House! [Minty]

Over the weekend Midtown Lunch turned two years old, and I used the occasion as an excuse to enjoy a big bowl of khao soi at Spicy BBQ in Thai Town- the very first “Midtown Lunch” I had after moving here from NYC. It not only got me super excited to move here, but it made me realize how little I was going to miss about lunching in New York. Now when friends from the east coast visit, I make it my mission to make them realize it too. And for our two year anniversary I figured it was time to put together a list of my 25 favorite lunches to take people from out of town to.  (Mostly because I’m lazy, and sick of writing out this info in an email every time a friend visits L.A.)

Since Midtown Lunch doesn’t really cover San Gabriel Valley or the South Bay or the Valley, and people like to keep things close, the list mainly covers the areas between Downtown and Santa Monica.  And while most of the lunches are under $10, I did sneak a few essential splurges in there (but not too many, because I’m a cheap bastard.) Plus there are plenty of places I love to eat lunch at that didn’t make the cut, because they’re not jealousy inducing. And that’s what this list is all about…

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Lisa, a college administrator who used to lunch Downtown.

Name: Lisa

Age: 28

Occupation: Administration

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Riverside City College in Downtown Riverside, but I used to work at the downtown public Library. I miss that job ^_^!

Favorite Kind of Food: Sri Lankan (biased) Malay/Singaporean, Korean, Thai (used to live there) Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, really anything Asian and spicy.. I carry Sriracha in my purse that’s how bad my need to sweat is!!!

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Not the biggest fan of traditional American fare… I have traveled Asia extensively and sorry but bland food just doesn’t cut it for me! And I am half Sri Lankan, I was born with a chili in my mouth! I really need spicy, flavorful food to be satiated. I also hate food that is dry, I love saucy food !!! I always ask for extra sauce on the side… I think because I grew up eating curries… hmm the only things that I will not eat are raw carrots, undercooked eggplant, durian, and raw strawberries (love the flavor but was traumatized when I bit into one when I was a child and there was a maggot inside o_O!

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Happy Family in Costa Mesa, when I was a teenage vegan… j/k I was vegetarian but their AYCE yummy Chinese sooo good. Alcove in Los Feliz has yummy brunch, and great hipster gazing with their lovely scenester patio, and MASA’s mussels and deep dish pizza in echo park is always pretty good.

For lunch Downtown I dont really now the names of the places but there is a great korean (fast foodish) in the Bonaventure Food Court (404 South Figueroa Street) that I used to go to quite often. Also used to eat in Chinatown ALOT. I love the cheap Chinese lunch specials that are overly abundant there. Gosh it’s been a few years so I am not sure if the places are even the same… and U used to go to Gill’s Indian AYCE buffet (838 South Grand) and would go to the Pantry for after hours sobering session!

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Photo courtesy of Food GPS

• WESTWOOD You can get a lamb brain/beef tongue sando at Persepolis Cafe [Food GPS]
• BEV HILLS Choppe Choppe is moving from Culver City to Camden [Toddrickallen]
• DTLA Mexicali’s brick and mortar is opening Tuesday Feb. 15th [Eater]
• HWOOD The Fat Dog has introduced a soup and sandwich combo menu [Grub Street]
• KTOWN It looks like Bud Namu has a $10 ayce grand opening lunch special [SinoSoul]
• MID CITY Five Guys on Wilshire is opening Feb 13th [Eater]
• MID CITY Sangak Bakery & Cafe is set to open this week [Squid Ink]
• MID CITY Chinese food recs outside of the SGV [Eater]

I didn’t grow up eating fried chicken in California, so the nostalgia factor of the Pioneer Chicken on Olympic and San Vicente is a little lost on me.  I don’t have any fond memories of eating the grease bomb that is Pioneer as a child, nor did I ever go through the shock of discovering that my local Pioneer had been replaced by a Popeyes, or feel any sadness when the original Echo Park location closed a few years ago.  And even though the location on Olympic is one of only 3 locations left (and the only within Midtown Lunch’ing boundaries), there are some who claim that it doesn’t taste the same as the original locations.  It’s not a surprise considering that the actual chain itself hasn’t really existed since the 90s, and the remaining franchises are all owned and operated independently.

But none of that really mattered when Lunch’er Garrett recommended Pioneer as one of his favorite places to eat lunch in Mid City.   I had driven by that kitschy chuck wagon sign so many times, trying to think of a good excuse to stuff my face with fried chicken that couldn’t possible be as good as Honey’s Kettle, or Roscoe’s, or even, ironically, Popeye’s. (I freakin love Popeye’s.) Garrett’s rec was just the excuse I was looking for, and now that I’ve been I can think of 5 amazing reasons I’ll be back to Pioneer.  (And one of them involves Korean fermented soy bean soup.)

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week we’re happy to welcome art curator Gil, the friend who introduced me to La Cienega Kebab House and took down that massive falafel in laffa at Ta-eem. Now it appears as if he’s become obsessed with Ink.Sack.

Name: Gil

Age: 30

Occupation: Writer/Curator

Where in L.A. do you Work?: SEGALprojects (art gallery), Currently in West Hollywood

Favorite Kind of Food: Cheese

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Salad

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Soda Pops (349 North La Cienega Boulevard) – Veggie Reuben is ridiculously good. Ink Sack (8360 Melrose Ave) – I’m pretty sure the sandwiches contain meth, as there is no time in the day that I am not craving one. I am mad that they stopped making the “Nu-tella” sandwich. Apparently, I was the only person who ordered it.

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