Midtown Lunch

Last week Squid Ink brought the news that Freebirds, the Texas burrito chain (with roots in Santa Barbara and a six month old USC location) would be opening in Marina del Rey on May 20th.  I really love burritos, but don’t completely love Chipotle, so I was kind of hopeful that Freebirds might be a good lunchtime alternative for the Westside. My ideal burrito has carnitas in it, and looks something like this (I guess a lot of people would describe that as “Mission Style”?)  And based on their menu, Freebirds seems to be that kind of place.  Of course being ultra successful in Texas doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence that your burritos will translate here, but obviously their USC location was doing well enough to warrant expansion to the westside… so it had to be at least decent, right?

I decided to head Downtown to check it out.

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Food truck negativity seems to be picking up steam this week following the less than kind L.A. Times article on Friday. Bon Appetit posted a “I”m Sick of Food Trucks” article on their blog yesterday, and Tom Collichio called food trucks the worst new restaurant trend in a Metromix interview. But just to give you an idea of how confusing the scene really is… two days after the L.A. Times published their article about how the food truck business is on the decline (featuring the owner of Road Stoves, the biggest food truck outfitter in Los Angeles), they published a second article in the Business section saying that companies who make food trucks are doing gangbusters. Make up your mind, media!

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 its Crystal, an IT person whose goto lunch is Panda Express. (I think we’re going to get along just fine.)

Name: Crystal

Age: 33

Occupation: IT

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Time Inc in Brentwood

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican and sushi

Least Favorite Kind of Food: No particular cuisine, just bland food

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: For Chinese – Soybean (11966 Wilshire Boulevard) love the kung pow chicken. They also let you make up dishes. Lazy Daisy (11913 Wilshire Blvd.) for juices. Baja Buds (11819 Wilshire Blvd) for the anti Chipotle chicken burrito. Shamshira (1712 Westwood blvd) for Persian, great kabobs and kubideh. Hole in the Wall Burger (11058 Santa Monica Blvd) so good and homemade ketchup!

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Being wary of jack-of-all-trade Asian restaurants is a rule as old as not eating the bread at an all you can eat buffet.  Red flags always fly when I see sushi paired with Thai food under one roof, or Vietnamese followed by the words “and Chinese Food”.  And living in L.A. has made me even more fanatical.  Now it’s not even good enough for a place to be just Korean, or just Thai, or just Japanese.  They should specialize in one particular region or dish or style of food- like boat noodles at Sapp, or ramen at Daikokuya, or the bosam at Kobawoo. But recently I discovered a place in Playa del Rey that turns all that on its head. Meet Destini Cafe.

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Hot damn I love that sandwich. Photo courtesy of The Minty.

• DTLA Another thumbs up for Spice Table’s lunch? [The Minty]
• BEVERLY HILLS Another location of Bibigo is opening [Eater]
• CENTURY CITY Clementine is celebrating grilled cheese month [LAist]
• CULVER CITY Abbot’s Pizza is now open [Eater]
• CULVER CITY The french dip at Johnnie’s is a beauty [Grub Street]
• HWOOD America’s Next Great Restaurant is coming to H&V [FeastNY]
• KTOWN Pollo ala Brasa is getting set to move into nicer digs [Grub Street]

Today’s L.A. Times has a less than glowing look at the exploding food truck scene in L.A., and I have to say… it’s about time!  It’s not completely surprising that food trucks who have been around for a few years would not like an influx of competition, and it’s kind of unfair and strange to see Road Stoves, a company with 20 food truck clients on their website including ESPN and Camarena Tequila, talking about how other people are just prostituting the culture to make money. But all in the all the article touches on some important and interesting subjects, including big business trying to get in on the action (like Sizzler & Jack and the Box), copycat trucks, the influx of clueless entrepreneurs expecting to make a fortune, and how  real money is in catering  or deals with grocery stores, not selling food on the street.  I especially liked reading Roy Choi talk about street food as a community thing, although I disagree about food truck lots being a bad thing. Kogi has put a lot of time and thought into where they park, and that works for them, but hawker centers where street food vendors can come together are also a great thing, not just for vendors but for the community as well.

In the end it’s great to see more open discussion about the perils of running a food truck in such a major media outlet.  It’s a long time coming for an industry that is not only growing at an unsustainable rate, but has benefited from a massive amount of sugar coated media.

Related:
News Flash: New Street Vendors Are Finding It Difficult to Make Money
Manila Machine Should Tell the Truth: They’re Closing (Their Truck) Because Running a Food Truck Sucks