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 Dan, an Imagineer who doesn’t eat pork (booooo!) but loves chicken tacos, natch. (We’re also assuming he’s a District 9 fan…)

Name: Dan

Age: 33

Occupation: Concept Designer

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale

Favorite Kind of Food: I love noodles, any and all kinds of noodles. Oh yea, and pancakes too, just not at the same time.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Bacon

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: The chicken kabob plate at Cafe Bravo (1135 W. Grandview Blvd, Glendale) is solid. Lily’s Cafe (357 E Magnolia Blvd, Burbank) serves fresh soup and salad combos as well as a just-right sweet tea. Finally, Cafe Colombia (222 S Glenoaks Blvd, Burbank) is my comfort food. But I’d say the jackfruit noodle at Viet Noodle Bar (3133 Glendale Blvd) in Atwater Village and the chicken tikka masala at Curry Land (4329 Lankershim Blvd) in Toluca Lake are my favorites.

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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 Nick, a video editor who knows all the hot spots on Pico btw. Hauser and Fairfax.

Name: Nick

Age: 37

Occupation: Video Editor/Web Designer

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Will Work For Film Prod’s – home office in Mid Wilshire/ Fairfax & Pico (Little Ethopia) area

Favorite Kind of Food: Anything rice based, particularly Chinese

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Cream Cheese, Fruit Crumble, Mayo

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Ho Ho Kitchen (5677 W Pico Blvd, btw. Hauser+Fairfax) for Chinese, Bloom Cafe (5544 Pico Blvd, btw. Hauser+Fairfax) for best pizza in town, Canter’s (419 N Fairfax Ave, nr Beverly) for best corned beef west of the Mississippi, Chic Cafe (5545 W Pico Blvd, btw. Hauser+Fairfax) for great rotisserie, Chulada Grill (5607 San Vicente Blvd, nr. Hauser) for really good burritos

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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 Alaia, a consultant looking for some good mac and cheese.

Name: Alaia

Age: 25

Occupation: Professional Dot Connector/Business Consultant

Where in L.A. do you Work?: I run my own business (One Organized Business) as well as a local networking group for entrepreneurs (The Entrepreneur Connection). I travel all over Los Angeles for clients and events, but I primarily work out of my home office in Silver Lake

Favorite Kind of Food: If it involves carbs, or cheese – I’m there!

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Tofu, eggs, and avocados

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Gobi Mongolian BBQ in Silver Lake (2827 W. Sunset) . They have long lunch hours (perfect for a workaholic entrepreneur like me), and I can really pile on the pasta and fresh veggies. No matter how much I try to chow down, I always have plenty of leftovers around for my 11pm dinner… And, even though they took their amazing potato skins off the menu (my reason for living….why?!?), I still stop in at Home Los Feliz (1760 Hillhurst Ave) for Mom’s Meatloaf Sandwich with a side of garlic mashed potatoes. Yum!

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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 Nina, a web developer looking for some good downtown Thai food.

Name: Nina

Age: 25

Occupation: Web Developer

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Civic Center, Downtown

Favorite Kind of Food: Practically everything. Breads & pastries, seafood, fatty meats, leafy veggies, crunchy food, Asian food.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Pickled food. Connective tissue (tendons & cartilage). I haven’t really taken to offal yet either.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Chin Ma Ya in Little Tokyo. They’re on the 2nd floor of Weller Court and serve up a Japanese version of the Chinese dishes: tan tan mien and mapo tofu. The Tan Tan Men is a ramen noodle soup with a spicy sesame-based broth. It comes with ground pork/beef that has been marinated (it’s a little sweet for me, but I feel it complements the rest of the dish nicely) and some spinach. You can order additional toppings for your noodles. My usual order is a half-size (which is actually half the price of the regular order) of medium-spicy tan tan men with a boiled egg and enoki mushrooms. The half size is plenty filling and the price is extremely affordable for a sit-down restaurant. They also have a decent chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken with chili-mayo dipping sauce). I’ve never actually tried the mapo tofu (their other signature dish) because I love the tan tan men so much.

Wurstkuche. I heard about this place the week they opened and have been excited to watch it grow in popularity ever since. They serve gourmet sausages, Belgian style fries (with dipping sauces!) and lots of beer. They don’t make the sausages themselves, but I won’t complain. I’ve enjoyed all the ones I’ve had. I absolutely love their Belgian fries – they’re thick cut & tossed with a coarse salt. I like the chipotle ketchup, bleu cheese walnut and bacon, chipotle aioli, and pesto mayo dipping sauces (the chipotle has a nice heat that creeps up on you after a few fries). The service is super friendly and they’re always happy to recommend you a beer. However, what really brings it all together is the atmosphere. They have a large back room where the bar is. You seat yourself at any of the rows of long wooden tables and benches. It’s a great place to hang out, relax, and drink some tasty beer with friends. I personally like the fruitier stuff like the Floris Apple Ale and the St. Louis Framboise. My friends like the Franziskaner Hefe Weisse and the Aventinus Eisbock.

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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 I’m excited to welcome Pat, not just because she runs the very excellent food blog Eating L.A. but also because she works in the same building I worked in when I was at Indie 103 (during my first stint in L.A. 5 years ago.) It was long before the food truck explosion on Miracle Mile, but I can totally relate to having way too many lunches at the Baja Fresh across the street…

Name: Pat

Age: Let’s just say I’m a longtime Angeleno.

Occupation: Editor at Variety and food blogger at EatingLA.com

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Variety, Miracle Mile

Favorite Kind of Food: Thai or any Asian cuisine

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Hot dogs, dessert

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Fresh mozzarella or meatloaf sandwich from Black Dog Coffee (5657 Wilshire, nr Hauser), the vegan BLT from Cafe Flourish (5406 Wilshire, nr. Cloverdale), the Grilled Cheese Truck, and the pork banh mi from the EatPhamish truck (Weds & Thursdays at 5900 Wilshire, nr. Ogden).

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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. I’m a huge fan of street food, so I’m pretty excited to have Shawna & Sonja as our Inaugural Profiled Lunchers. They’re the co-founders behind this Saturday’s L.A. Street Food Festival happening Downtown, and I thought it would be fun to find get their recommendations for Downtown L.A. Lunch’ing.

Name: Shawna (left) & Sonja (right)

Age: Shawna: 35; Sonja: 33 (You know Shawna and I share the same birthday… March 9th!)

Occupation: Shawna: Social Media & Marketing Maven/LA Street Food Fest Co-Founder; Sonja: Cultural Curator/LA Street Food Fest Co-Founder/UNIQUE LA Founder

Where in L.A. do you Work?: Shawna: LA is my office but spending a lot of time lately in our loft downtown near 9th & Main; Sonja: My UNIQUE LA office and studio is in historic downtown LA.

Favorite Kind of Food: Shawna: Slow.. fresh, local, seasonal and prepared with love; Sonja: Anything with carbs… Or butter.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Shawna: Mass manufactured crap. Oh, and calf’s liver. Goose is so much better; Sonja: Olives. I try them a few times a year to see if my taste buds have come around, but nope, still don’t like ’em.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: Shawna: Downtown… Clifton’s (648 South Broadway) for its awesome décor, strong coffee and classic cafeteria fare; Market for my “Milk” away from home fix, the Thai steak salad and green tea latté; Nickel Diner (524 S Main St) for a naughty maple-bacon donut; Mariscos Jalisco, a truck on E Olympic for fried shrimp tacos; Lazy Ox (241 S San Pedro) for a plate full of crispy pig ears and a Japanese IPA; the Grand Central Market for whatever looks fresh; Cole’s (118 E. 6th) for a dip sammich and spicy pickles; any 213 Group joint for a liquid lunch.; Sonja: Tiara Cafe (127 E. 9th) Chicken Salad Sandwich w/ microgreens, and their chili is the best. Wurstküche’s Bratwurst (800 E. 3rd) with caramelized onions, french fries with their pesto mayo dipping sauce, and a cold beer. Farmer Boys (726 S Alameda St) makes a deadly bacon/avocado/cheeseburger, called “the farmer’s burger”. I think 3 people could share it!

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