Midtown Lunch

Photo courtesy of Katie Robbins/Squid Ink

• WEST LA Tempura House’s lunch specials and bentos look amazing [Squid Ink]
• BEVERLY HILLS Might have to break my price rules for Momed’s duck shawarma! [Squid Ink]
• CULVER CITY India Sweets & Spices has a new facade [Grub Street]
• DOWNTOWN It’s over $10 but Sugarfish is now open [Estar LA]
• MID CITY Flavors of Belize is now open [Grub Street]
• PICO/ROB Schnitzly makes some delicious potato chips [Squid Ink]
• SAMO La Monarca Bakery’s new location will have lunch options as well [Eater]
• WEST LA Which Wich is now open on Sawtella [Grub Street]
• FAST FOOD Tommy’s chili cheeseburger is a once in a lifetime splurge [AHT]

When I launched the L.A. branch of Midtown Lunch back in February one of my very first lunch trips was to the area of Fairfax known as Little Ethiopia.  The lunch I had at Rosalind’s was great, and I especially liked how even though everything was under $10 and ordered as individual lunch specials, the food still came out family style.  But as we left I couldn’t help but think we might have chosen wrong when I noticed the $9.99 all you can eat Ethiopian buffet sign across the street at Rahel’s.  “100% Vegan” is never something I enjoy seeing, but if there is one thing that will overrule the words vegan, or healthy, or salad bar, or pork-less,  it’s my four favorite words in the English language (when strung together): “All You Can Eat”.

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Even though there is technically no “Midtown” in Los Angeles and my quest for good food has no boundaries, when it comes to Midtown Lunch’ing in L.A. I’ve adopted a “between the goal posts” mentality since moving back west- trying to keep my lunches between Downtown and Santa Monica. So I never quite made it to Pal Cabron, the Huntington Park Pueblan sandwich specialist owned by the same family that owns Guelaguetza. I’ve always been curious about cemitas (most specifically, how exactly are they different than tortas?) and Pal Cabron was also given high praise by my two go-to Mexican food blogging experts. Well, last week Pal Cabron completely solved my problem by moving their operation to Koreatown- taking over the Guelaguetza space on 8th Street and Irolo in Koreatown.

Don’t mind if I do!

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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 Shauna, a public radio marketer with some great recs for Downtown L.A.

Name: Shauna (aka “The Minty“)

Age: 35

Occupation: Public Radio Marketing

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Downtown Los Angeles, South Park

Favorite Kind of Food: Seafood, Korean, tacos, sushi, American comfort food such as meatloaf, fried chicken and the like.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Americanized anything. Americanized Chinese. Americanized Thai. Americanized Mexican. Bleh.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: I’ve been going to the Hygge Bakery (1106 South Hope Street) for sandwiches, specifically for the roast beef. I like the fresh green pepper slices in it. Corkbar (403 W. 12th) makes a great soup. Their corn and pasilla chile is wonderful. If I want to splurge, I go to Rivera (1050 S Flower St). Their shrimp and watermelon mojito salad is very good. And I like their fish tacos.

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My lunchtime wish list for this site is starting to make me feel like the captain of a leaky boat in the rain.  Just when I feel like I’m starting to make a dent in lists like this one and this one, another one comes along that just piles on more lunch options to try.  Enter this month’s “Mexican Food in L.A.” issue of Los Angeles Magazine.  Huntington Park, East L.A., and Downey are a bit too far for me to go for a weekday lunch, but there are a few recs between Downtown and SaMo that have no officially made it onto my must try list:

Top 10 Mexican Restaurants

5. Loteria Grill, 6627 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood.  I’ve been to the location in the Farmer’s Market, but maybe it’s time to finally hit up their brick and mortar location in Hollywood.  LAMag recommends the mushroom tacos topped with huitlacoche sauce, and the ones with pork rinds in chile verde.

7. La Taquiza, 3009 S. Figeroa St., South L.A. (just south of Downtown). Al pastor mulita, here I come!

8. Yuca’s, 2056 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz. This hut has been on my list for awhile, and seeing it here just seals the deal.  LAMag seems to think cochinita pibil sandwiches are the way to go.

10. Guelaguetza, 3014 W. Olympic Blvd, Koreatown.  Many of the house specialties are out of ML price range at this popular K-Town Oaxacan spot, but the clayuda is under $10, as are their lunch specials with mole.

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Photo courtesy of Lesley Balla

• LA BREA Tinga has off the menu dessert nachos!?! [Chow Balla]
• CULVER CITY Akasha needs to serve their tikka wings at lunch! [Squid Ink]
• KTOWN Pal Cabron opens this afternoon… [Eater]
• KTOWN … with the addition of tacos!!! [Grub Street]
• SAMO Here’s one of for the salad lovers [Grub Street]
• WEHO Pizzeria Olio is now open [Squid Ink]
• WESTWOOD Wally’s makes a better Italian than All About the Bread [Squid Ink]

I have to admit there was a bit of eye rolling when I first heard about All About the Bread, the sandwich shop on Melrose near La Brea.  Calling yourself “All About the Bread” is a bold move, potentially opening yourself up to all sorts of ridicule if your bread doesn’t end up kicking some major ass.  (Kind of like if you named your place Potato Chips, but didn’t make your own potato chips!)   When I stopped in months ago I was completely unexcited by the menu (boar’s head?  No thanks. Pastrami shipped in “from the East Coast”?  Sorry, that’s not a selling point!)   Then I saw this blog post by this week’s Profiled Lunch’er “Lynn”.   A burrata sandwich with pesto for under $10?  Honey lime chicken with cilantro salsa verde and avocado?  I don’t support blogger freebies, but damn those sandwiches look good. Let’s see if they’re as good on a regular day, ordered by a regular customer.

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