Midtown Lunch

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 Sara, a singer who will practically go anywhere for a decent lunch.

Name: Sara

Age: 28

Occupation: Singer/Educator

Where in L.A. do you Work?: I actually work all over, driving around town for teaching and singing/recording gigs. Which is great for eating because I get everywhere from Manhattan Beach to Pasadena and Encino every week, thus making my lunch options much more diverse.

Favorite Kind of Food: Thai

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Can’t think of one, but I’ve been staying away from things that are entirely fried as of late.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: La Cevichera (3809 W Pico Blvd, Mid-City). I order the Guatamalan Ceviche, or ceviche “Chapin”. Sunshine Restaurant (Thai). I order the Larb Gai, or chicken larb, green curry, pad woon sen, pad see ew, soups, and anything with the word “hurricane” in the title. Make sure to get their coconut tapioca desserts, too. My favorite place in the world! I LOVE Fisherman’s Outlet (529 South Central Ave., Downtown). I don’t have a favorite, mostly I just walk up and order something off the fresh specials menu. I love their butter garlic sauce, but the cajun is a favorite, too. Oh, and their fried shrimp/fish? Amazing. I also like Mama’s Hot Tamales a LOT (2122 West Seventh Street, Downtown). In fact, the Langer’s pastrami and tamales at Mama’s are a great way to eat one for lunch and save the other for dinner, all in one stop. For BBQ lunch under $10, I like JNJ Burger shack (5754 W Adams Blvd, Culver City). Pretty much the cheapest in the city, if not as good as JR’s or Phillip’s. To order: The 3 rib plate. It’s under $10.

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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 Robert, a web guru who clearly needs some help finding delicious lasagna in SaMo…

Name: Robert

Age: 25

Occupation: Founder and CEO of VOKLE.com, a live video townhall platform with the goal of humanizing the web.

Where in L.A. do you Work?: VOKLE HQ is located in Santa Monica, CA, right by the 3rd Street Promenade.

Favorite Kind of Food: Italian – a good lasagna could be a work of art.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything with anchovies. I know that sounds cliche, but anchovies generally taste like fish-flavored clumps of salt to me.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: There’s a lot of health conscious places to eat in my area of Santa Monica. Like “Real Food Daily,” (514 Santa Monica Blvd.) which serves only organic dishes (they have a “sweet green juice” made up of every green vegetable you can think of). But if you want a really delicious dish, there’s a hole-in-the-wall Middle-Eastern restaurant on 5th and Lincoln called Sham (716 Santa Monica Blvd.) that serves the most amazing “Shawerma Beef & Chicken Combo” plate. One combo plate is enough to feed a hungry pack of grizzly gold miners.

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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 Harriet, the Producer of Good Food w/ Evan Kleiman on KCRW (Saturdays at 11am.) So if you’ve ever wondered where your favorite KCRW employees (or Santa Monica College co-eds) eat lunch, this should give you a good idea…

Name: Harriet

Age: 34

Occupation: Radio Producer

Where in L.A. do you Work?: KCRW in Santa Monica, on the campus of Santa Monica college.

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican Food

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Processed lunch meats

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Cafe Bolivar, this Venezuelan cafe that serves really yummy arepas (1741 Ocean Park Blvd), Mrs. Winston’s Green Grocery (2450 Colorado Ave) for their incredible salad bar, and Thyme (1630 Ocean Park Blvd) for their prepared salads (new, but a little expensive).

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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 Jeff a sandwich lover who just moved offices from Venice to Downtown.

Name: Jeff

Age: 26

Occupation: Director of Fundraising for Falling Whistles

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Venice up until two weeks ago. Now Traction Ave. Downtown.

Favorite Kind of Food: Sandwiches! All kinds and I use the term loosely.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Poorly cooked / prepared cafeteria food, especially overcooked pot roast or bad chicken pot pie. Purveyors of bad chicken pot pie should be jailed

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: The meat loaf sandwich at Bay Cities Deli (order meat loaf in the hot area and have them put it on bread with mashed potatoes), the Lambwich at Venice Beach Wines (529 Rose Ave), the Cheeseburger with a side of Lay’s from Hinano (15 Washington Blvd), any burger at 26 Beach (3100 Washington Blvd), a large soft pretzel and a draft Erdinger at On the Waterfront Cafe (205 Ocean Front Walk), and if I am feeling very ambitious, the fried catfish, hushpuppies and collard greens at Aunt Kizzy’s Backporch (523 Washington Blvd, Marina Del Rey). And I have a recommendation for your Cheap Chinese Buffet Challenge: you must try Tasty Goody on Lincoln in Venice. It is south of Rose (715 Lincoln Blvd). I have only been there twice and can’t really handle it at lunch (I use it for a dinner gut bomb.) But I would be curious to get your take on it. I won’t spoil it with anything else. I mean the name is Tasty Goody. What more do you really need to know?

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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 Esther Hahn, a pro surfer/Yale grad/freelance food writer who is looking for somebody to dim sum it up with her today in the SGV.

Name: Esther Hahn

Age: 24

Occupation: Freelance Writer / Pro Surfer

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Write in Hancock Park / Surf (mostly) in Manhattan Beach

Favorite Kind of Food: Japanese, Italian, Mexican, and Korean (in that order)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Green onions – I don’t mind them flavoring a dish but I hate actually eating them

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Hancock Park: The “Big Macro” burger with a side of chili-lime sweet potato fries at M Cafe de Chaya (7119 Melrose Avenue); the shrimp pad thai at Kamin Thai Fusion Cuisine (7275 Melrose Ave); the “Kot Sal” (prime boneless short ribs with all the Korean fixings) at Genwa Korean BBQ (5115 Wilshire Blvd); the uni and the California roll (with real crab meat) at Noshi Sushi (4430 Beverly Blvd); the “Calamari Diavolo” at Larchmont Bungalow (107 N Larchmont Blvd). Manhattan Beach: The “Bali Bliss” burger with avocado and sweet potato fries at Veggie Grill (720 South Allied Way); the chicken tacos at El Tarasco (350 N Sepulveda Blvd); the “Turkey Club” at Sloopy’s (3416 Highland Avenue).

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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 Kat, the food writer who introduced us to the craziness of Syrian pizza at Sham, in Santa Monica.

Name: Kat

Age: Turned 27 last month!

Occupation: Food Editor AND Cook!

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Eater LA and Good Bite…..Santa Monica

Favorite Kind of Food: Dumplings, fresh pasta, anything pickled, cheese (especially in melted form)…in general a big fan of Asian eats, Italian, and market-driven edibles. Sorry, that wasn’t very specific.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Fishy fish, mayonnaise, tuna in a can.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: I am a huge fan of random hole-in-the-wall spots so I really love Sham (716 Santa Monica Blvd.) I usually get the cheese fattayer, tabbouleh, falafel, and one of the grilled meat options which comes with fantastic pickled turnips and this zingy garlic sauce. Their pomegranate pizza is pretty serious as well. Umami also just opened near me (500 Broadway) and I happen to be addicted to their Truffle Burger and Umami Burger so sometimes I land there for lunch. Oh, also, sometimes I pop by Rockenwagner (311 Arizona Avenue) and just grab two of their mini sandwiches: salumi on pretzel bread, those are pretty good. Oh, I LOVE Earth Bar (8365 Santa Monica Blvd.) Great fresh juices (I go for the liver cleanse, ughh my liver needs cleansing) and fresh soups and such. Also, really great chocolate froyo which is made from just cocoa, dates, coconut water, and almonds as I recall. One more top pick, definitely Huckleberry (1014 Wilshire Blvd). Zoe makes some of the best baguettes I’ve had outside of France. Every time I walk in there I want to eat everything I see. Oh, and Cora’s Coffee Shop! (1802 Ocean Ave.) That’s another great spot owned by Capo next door. The rigatoni….

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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 Evan, a grant analyst who works in Westwood Village- but has never lunched in the area just south of Wilshire! We need to break him of that…

Name: Evan

Age: Soon to be 31

Occupation: Grant analyst

Where in L.A. do you Work?: UCLA (but office is in Westwood Village)

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Most kinds of shellfish. I was vegetarian for over two years in my early 20s, and though I’ll eat all kinds of meat now, the texture of shrimp puts me off, and I don’t find lobster and crab to be worth the price (or the effort).

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Westwood isn’t a great lunch mecca, but there are some old reliables. It never gets mentioned among the best pizza places in LA, but I love LaMonica’s (1066 Gayley Ave, Westwood), and they have a Monday-Thursday deal for two slices of cheese pizza and a drink for $4.25. I found Isaac Toast (10887 Weyburn Avenue, Westwood) thanks to this site, and I’ve been there a few times and liked it, though I think the sweet sauce kind of overpowers everything else in the sandwich. I think the basic falafel sandwich at Falafel King (1059 Broxton Ave, Westwood) is one of the best deals in the area (around $5), and Sak’s Teriyaki (1121 Glendon Ave, Westwood) is pretty decent Japanese/Chinese hole-in-the-wall. It’s a bit expensive, but I also like Iso Fusion Cafe (1108 Gayley Ave, Westwood). They have a good sweet barbecue beef salad, and you get a lot of food. I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I don’t venture south of Wilshire all that often, and I haven’t tried the lamb tongue sandwich from Attari yet (1388 Westwood Blvd, Westwood), and I haven’t been to the new Sunnin yet (1779 Westwood Blvd, Westwood).

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