Midtown Lunch

Photo courtesy of An Immovable Feast

• DTLA Wurstküche’s green chilies + cilantro brat is awesome… [An Immovable Feast]
• VENICE … and it will soon be available on the west side [Squid Ink]
• HOLLYWOOD Umami makes a good turkey burger [Squid Ink]
• KTOWN Pal Cabron is taking over the Guelaguetza on 8th [Squid Ink]
• WEHO Here’s another fan of Robata Jinya [Mattatouille]
• WEHO Food + Lab’s meatloaf sandwich looks pretty goooood [Squid Ink]
• WEHO These sandwiches from All About the Bread look tasty [Actor’s Diet]
• DTLA A new ramen spot has opened in Little Tokyo [Blog Downtown]
• MOBILE SPE beats out Lee’s in cheesesteak battle [Savory Hunter]

3 weeks ago I put the call out for the best plate lunch spot in Los Angeles, and got more than a few great recommendations. Based on your comments, the South Bay is clearly the place to be for Hawaiian food. But for a weekday lunch, that’s not realistic (for me anyway). The consensus seemed to center around Aloha Cafe Downtown and Rutt’s Cafe on the Westside, so when I found myself looking for lunch in Culver City this week Rutt’s seemed like the perfect option.

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If you were to create a ramen compass of Los Angeles it would be fairly simple… any of the places in Torrance to the South, Santouka to the West, Daikokuya to the East (in Downtown), and the new’ish Ramen Jinya to the North (Studio City). For most people the decision over where to ramen is one of proximity, but what about those who are smack dab in the middle? That problem seemed to be solved thanks to the news that Ramen Jinya would be opening a new spot, Robata Jinya, on 3rd Ave. and Crescent Heights. And when I read yesterday that they were now open for lunch and serving up ramen, I rushed right over to check it out.

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As is customary on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a random reader to get their recommendations for the best spots to lunch near their work. This week it’s Christine, a designer who hates L.A. bagels and doesn’t mind walking a few blocks for food trucks.

Name: Cristine

Age: 30

Occupation: Designer

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Montalba Architects, Inc. in Santa Monica, near Cloverfield and Olympic

Favorite Kind of Food: Japanese, all things Italian, especially pizza, homemade Mexican

Least Favorite Kind of Food: L.A. Bagels

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: The spinach burrito at Tacos Por Favor (1406 Olympic Blvd), the meatball sandwich at Bay Cities (1517 Lincoln Blvd), the cochinita pibil two taco plate at Frida Tacos in the Brentwood Country Mart (225 26th Street), the salad pizza from Abbott’s Pizza (1811 Pico Blvd)

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**Since this post was originally published, Mozza2Go has begun to offer these specials daily**

I don’t know if there are many absolute food truths in this world, but one that is seemingly undeniable is that Nancy Silverton is an L.A. food goddess. And nowhere is that more evident than at Pizzeria Mozza. Minor quibbles aside (some people just have to be contrarian!), the place is awesome… so much so, I’ve been back more than once. (Which is saying a lot considering how much catching up I have to do since moving back to L.A. from NYC at the beginning of the year after 4+ years away.) Obviously the place isn’t a Midtown Lunch, but when Mozza To Go opened up around the corner it didn’t give me hope that maybe- just maybe- we could squeeze a $10 lunch item out of the Mozza empire. Sadly on their whole menu of pizzas and sandwiches (sorry, I think of salads as an appetizer not a lunch!) only one thing qualifies: the $10 tomato pizza with oregano and extra virgin olive oil. I’m guessing that means no cheese, right? A cheese-less pizza? (*sigh*) Can Midtown Lunch really endorse this?

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Attari’s Tongue Sandwich. Photo by Noms Not Bombs

• WESTWOOD Attari’s tongue sandwich is like pulled pork [Noms Not Bombs]
• CULVER CITY Sandwiches not pizza is the thing to get a Victor Jr’s! [Eater]
• DTLA Hurry Curry of Tokyo is coming soon!? [Squid Ink]
• DTLA Hosting Ludobites has paid off for Gram & Papa’s [Blogdowntown]
• DTLA Ciudad becomes Border Grill this wekeend [Grub Street]
• MID CITY Andre’s handmade ravioli and tortellini are a steal [LAist]
• PASADENA Cham Korean is a great goto lunch spot [Gourmet Pigs]