Midtown Lunch

Back in August, we got Betty Hallock from the L.A. Times to be one of our Profiled L.A. Lunch’ers, and she responded by giving us an amazing list of lunch suggestions in Downtown L.A.  Ever since then I’ve been using it as my de-facto guide to Little Tokyo, and yesterday I finally got to cross Yakitori Koshiji off my list.  I love me some chicken parts on a stick- but Yakitori places are traditionally after work drinking kind of spots. So often it’s tough to find an authentic one that is not only open for lunch but also gives you a filling amount of food for under $10.  That’s why I was super excited to discover that not only is Yakitori Koshiji open for lunch from 11:30am to 2pm (in the Weller Food Court on 2nd btw. Los Angeles and San Pedro), but they also have a bunch of lunch specials under $10.

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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 its Tracy, a USC Student who works for DishDashLA, the website behind the big Food Truck event for charity going on at USC’s Greek Row (28th Street btw. Fig and Hoover) this Friday from 3-9pm featuring the Dim Sum Truck, Frysmith and more.

Name: Tracy

Age: 21

Occupation: Student & Entrepreneur

Where in L.A. do you Work?: DishDashLA.com, located in Downtown LA near USC

Favorite Kind of Food: Mediterranean.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Tough one, I love it all! Maybe olives…

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Mercado La Paloma (3655 South Grand Ave.) — the hidden gem near the 110 Fwy on-ramp by Exposition. I really enjoy Chichen Itza’s Brazo de Reina tamales with pumpkin seeds and its citrusy tomato sauce!

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When I visited Hungry Pocket for a falafel back in September, I remember staring lovingly at BBQ Garden- a cheap looking Asian fast food dive in the same strip mall across from Santa Monica College.  I love me some cheap and dirty Asian food, but this place looked like it could go either way.  The words “Oriental Cuisine” never inspire confidence, and to make things worse the menu had a strange mix of seemingly Korean and Japanese dishes (including sushi?)  But when a Korean friend told me that it was probably the best fast food Korean place on the west side, that was all I needed to hear to head back.

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I have Ricky’s Fish Tacos Going to the Final Four in my Taco Madness Bracket

• TACOS Taco Madness is BACK!!!!  Vote now for your L.A. faves [LATaco]
• HWOOD Ricky, from RFT, talks about Baja Fresh and his childhood [Squid Ink]
• HWOOD The Nam Prik Ong at Spicy BBQ is great [Squid Ink]
• DTLA Chipotle is opening on 7th and Grand [Grub Street]
• DTLA How to get a semi-affordable lunch at Rivera [The Minty]
• MID CITY Flavors of Belize looks pretty awesome [LA Times]
• SAMO The new La Monarca Bakery serves cazuelas as sandwiches [Gourmet Pigs]
• WEST LA Komodo Truck’s strorefront is now open [Squid Ink;Eater]
• MOBILE Previously vegetarian Yalla Truck starts serving meat [Quarry Girl]

Lord knows I am not about giving up any kind of food in the name of religion (after all I am jewish with a lower case “j”)  but I won’t hesitate to use a religious holiday as an excuse to stuff my fat face… especially when fried seafood is involved. So when my buddy Sam told me about Louisiana Pico Seafood, a take out dive on Pico just East of Crenshaw where you can score fried fish, shrimp, hush puppies, salad, fries and a soda all for $5.50,  it didn’t take a sign from Jeebus to get me in my car heading towards Mid City.

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Midtown Manhattan has got practically nothing on Los Angeles.  Go through my list of faves, and there is practically nothing I could get in NYC for lunch that I can’t get here. But there is plenty here you’d be hard pressed to find there (good Thai, good Mexican and great Persian food, just to name a few).  But there is one thing I do miss from working all those years in Midtown.  Street meat. Chicken and lamb over rice with white sauce and hot sauce is 100% New York City. The halal food street meat plate was invented on the streets of NYC, and it doesn’t seem to have made it past the city line.

Until now?  While walking through the Westfield Mall in Culver City the other day I couldn’t help but notice somebody eating a styrofoam tray of food that looked suspiciously like street meat!  Could this be the breakthrough we’ve been looking for?  Only one way to find out…

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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 its Mike, a Culver City TV writer and the blogger behind Unemployed Eater (which he obviously started before getting a job.)

Name: Mike

Age: 26

Occupation: TV Writer

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Culver City

Favorite Kind of Food: Above average chicken sandwiches, pizza and fancy burgers.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Chipotle. Subway.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Victor Jr’s (10113 Washington Blvd) for chicken cheesesteak and caesar salad “with croutons” — real men, even in LA, eat croutons. Hole in the Wall (11058 Santa Monica Boulevard) for the most delicious turkey burger in these here parts. K-Zo (9240 Culver Blvd.) because like a good auto mechanic, every one deserves a reliable sushi spot. The Nook’s (11628 Santa Monica Blvd) salmon wrap is downright tasty), Mezza (9901 Washington Blvd) for Mediterrawesome kabobs and the such. Cafe Surfas (8777 W Washington Blvd) for Jorge’s Chicken Sandwich – never met Jorge, but the man’s a clear genius. And Tender Greens (9523 Culver Blvd) for “The Moody” – a caesar salad with steak AND grilled veggies. Really loved the burger at Beacon as well – may it rest in peace.

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