Midtown Lunch

Are you in there Kris Yenbamroong?

If you’re at all curious about the food at Coachella this year, I’ll be eating my through the festival this weekend over on Food is the New Rock an an official Tumblr site for the festival.  Night+Market, Sugarfish, Baco Mercat and Mexicali Taco & Co are just a few of the L.A. vendors added to the festival this year in an effort to up their food game, but I’m sure I’ll also be able to find space for a slice of Spicy Pie, crab fries and a corn dog.  Follow along at www.foodisthenewrock.com 

If you’re a regular reader of this site, then you should already know about all of these places, but to kick off 2014 right here’s a list of 13 of the best under $10 lunches you can get in Los Angeles that I did for Thrillist LA.  Warning: none of them play well with New Year’s resolutions…

Hart & the Hunter. Photo by Rick Poon

This might surprise some people, but not all of my meals are eaten between Noon and 2pm and cost less than $10.  I also enjoy the great over $10 restaurants that Los Angeles has to offer, and to prove it here’s a piece I did for this month’s issue of Food & Wine Magazine that highlights 10 places to eat in L.A. right now. Enjoy!

Just a friendly reminder that this isn’t the only place to follow my lunch exploits. You can also follow Midtown Lunch L.A. on Twitter and Instagram (@midtownlunchLA), where you’ll be treated to all sorts of grossness.  Follow along in real time as I stuff my face with Lebanese cocktail wieners (thanks for that one Jonathan Gold!) and tackle tough decisions, like “All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet vs. Delicious Lamb Tacos”  (spoiler alert: the lamb tacos won.)

And now… the MOMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR (?) It’s become an annual custom here on Midtown Lunch for me to show what a fat fuck I am (I’m only fat for L.A.!) scare the shit out of my family (well, yes, but that’s not my intention) gross out the entire city of Los Angeles (not the ENTIRE city, some people here do like food, even though we’re in the minority) show off to the fatties of the world (that sounds about right) by posting a photo of every single lunch I ate for the entire year.  This year’s is quite a doozy, so prepare to be grossed out amazed.

After the jump, every single lunch I ate in 2011, from Shawarma Palace to Kabab Mahaleh, in one gigantic photo…

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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 it’s Rebekah, a teacher who hates tomatoes but loves a good croque madame.

Name: Rebekah

Age: 35

Occupation: Teacher

Where in L.A. do you Work?: LAUSD, Griffith Middle School in East LA

Favorite Kind of Food: Mac & Cheese, especially when it’s done in a creative way

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Raw tomatoes

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch: King Taco (4504 East 3rd Street). Love those tacos, especially carne asada

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Ever since Profiled Lunch’er Sara recommended La Cevicheria back in August of last year it’s been on my list of places to hit up.  It took me a year to finally do so because for some reason I had gotten it into my head that despite its Mid City location (on Pico just East of Crenshaw) lunch at this Guatemalan ceviche specialist was going to end up costing more than $10, my self imposed lunchtime limit (what can I say, I’m a cheap bastard.)  And sure enough the specialty of the house, which features blood clams highly recommended by The Guru himself, is a whopping $15.   But it is actually far easier than I expected to get a lunch for under $10, without sacrificing the best dishes La Cevicheria has to offer.

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