Banh mi and a bowl of Pho by Pholanthropy in the Steelcraft Bellflower Food Hall. (Sean L. Malin for LAist)
forget it Sbarros and Cinnabons Score the food courts of the mall of your missing youth. The modern Food Hall is a stylish lifestyle hub that invites you to eat and lets you spend a whole day of dough.
Dining rooms are nothing new in the rest of the country. Pike Place Market in Seattle and Faneuil Hall in Boston it has existed in one form or another for 100 years. San Francisco Ferry building has been a gourmet center since 1898. Others like Miami Lincoln Eatery and Raleighs Transfer Co. Food Hallare still in their infancy.
In 2017 LA is Oren Peleg predicted that the “Dining hall” of America would expand to Los Angeles. He was right. Although LA has hosted many grocery stores over the past century, there has been a surge in new store openings in recent years. What used to be tourist rarities have now become symbols of Southern California cuisine.
The idea for La Paloma Market was hatched as a rehabilitation project for the Figueroa corridor. The Mercado was also a not-for-profit studio for musicians and artists, a space for local entrepreneurs, and a public health and education center. In 2001 he finally laid the foundation stone. In the past few years, this cooperative has added eight grocery sellers to their worldwide cuisines. The most popular restaurants are likely Oaxacalifornia, Home of the Torta Oaxacan (an Oaxaca-style sandwich plate) and supplier of freshly squeezed juice medleys, and Chichen ItzaYucatec by chef Gilberto Cetinaan Operation that killer Cochinita Pibil makes. Other vendors serve shark empanadas, vegan yatakilt stew, and yellowtail tartare. They are all worth the effort whether you sit down for dinner or have a quick lunch.
3655 S. Grand Ave., South Los Angeles. 213-748-1963.
Fried Chicken Sandwiches from Fritzi Coop in the Steelcraft Bellflower Food Hall. (Sean L. Malin for LAist)
After the success of Steelcraft Long Beachopened the communal food company Steelcraft a Bellflower Food Hall this summer. They are also working on a new space in Garden Grove, which is good because the Long Beach location is particularly crowded during the 100 degree heat of summer. The Bellflower location – with free parking spaces behind the massive, fanned out, heated and shaded post-industrial square – is both handicapped accessible and wonderfully spacious. The space is filled with shipping containers occupied by an exceptional collection of vendors. they include Pholanthropywho donates a portion of every purchase of their juicy Ribeye and Oxtail Pho for welfare; Chef Neal Fraser Fritzi Coop, which features a delicious fried chicken sandwich made with Carolina Reaper and Ghost Pepper known as The Inferno; and The standing room, Home of the gigantic Napoleon burger.
16500 Bellflower Blvd., Bellflower.
Rice bowls and halo halo at the Sari Sari Store, a Filipino restaurant in the Grand Central Market in LA, February 2019. (Elina Shatkin / LAist)
Grand Central MarketCalifornia’s answer to the East Coast’s many indoor markets is the grandfather of Los Angeles grocery stores. The company, which was founded in 1917 and has since been revised several times, has developed into one of the DTLA’s most important food goals. That’s partly because of its size, history, and hours. It’s home to 38 vendors serving dozens of international cuisines from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. This lively, noisy, and labyrinthine microcosm of ethnic and class heterogeneity is housed in a beautiful Art Deco hangar. However, none of this would matter if the food wasn’t good. From the chicken parmesan by Bruce Kalman, Italian inspired Kneading & Co. to the Nuremberg sausage (sweet and chunky with onions and veal) Berlin currywurstGrand Central still has magic left.
317 S. Broadway, downtown LA
Tacos from Azule Taqueria in SocialEats in the Gallery, a grocery store in Santa Monica. (Sean L. Malin for LAist)
The SocialEats at The Gallery is also the Russian nesting doll of food halls newest addition to the food hall scene in Southern California. Opened in mid-July on the first floor of a pre-existing room in Santa Monica, it looks like a charming beach art museum. Upstairs, in a former McDonald’s, there are huge artificial ice cream cones and neon astro lawns hanging in the kitchens Azulé taqueria, whose six-taco sampler includes homemade avocado salsa and tender barbacoa, and Paperboy pizzawhere the white pizza achieves the perfect balance between garlic and mushrooms. You can find the real action on the ground floor, anchored by David Chang’s Fukuwhich is slated to open in early fall. Fried chicken sandwiches are offered with trimmings like raised waffle fries and macaroni salads. Don’t miss the fried chicken sandwich from Chef Graham Elliot Petite Harvest Co.. and the yakisoba with cajun shrimp Street noodles.
1315 3rd Street Promenade, Suite C, Santa Monica. 310-584-7836.
Various offerings at Fields LA, a food hall next to the Banc of California Stadium, around October 2018. (Elina Shatkin / LAist)
From the main downtown dining rooms The fields LA, opened in 2018, is the most fun on a country mile. Housed in one industrial-chic space Next to LAFC’s Banc of California Stadium, The Fields was designed to promote dining and gaming alike. CJ Boyd’s and Free gameBoth by Timothy Hollingsworth, the French laundry alum, offer arcade games and some of the best bar fare in town, including an elite version of devilish eggs in free play and the Otium at CJ Boyd’s, a fried chicken sandwich with Peruvian aji verde -spicy sauce, Japanese shishito peppers and a dash of citrus and soy (named after Hollingsworth’s elegant DTLA restaurant). The hall is set up for live clocks by 200 players on match day amid the crowd of students. This may sound like sophisticated douchebaggery, but the vibe here is welcoming and adventurous, a culinary retreat next to USC. For The Fields only longevity remains to be proven.
3939 S. Figueroa St., downtown LA 213-419-9465.
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Prosciutto Crudo DOP + Melon – name a better summer duo! Enjoy a free melon from now until August 18 when you buy 2 trays of Prosciutto Crudo DOP in our marketplace. The perfect start for every Italian anitpasti platter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . LEARN & SHOP: Sweet and yet salty, elegant but simple. The platter promises to satisfy every taste and enhance every occasion. 1. Choose your salumi: choose two or three types of thinly sliced sausage products such as ham, mortadella or sopressata. 2. Choose Formaggi: choose one or two soft cheeses like pecorino or mozzarella and aged cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano or Provolone. 3. Garnish: On a separate plate, drizzle honey, figs and other sweet spreads with salumi and formaggi. 4. Add color: add a few brightly preserved vegetables like olives, semi-dried tomatoes or eggplant in casserole cases nearby. 5. Eat this slice: what’s a platter without bread? Cut a loaf of bread into thin slices; Add breadsticks for a bonus crunch! 6. Design: arrange the plate. We prefer a wooden board so guests can cut and scrape as needed. 7: Relax: Take precautions, it’s time to sit back and relax. 8: Mangia: Our favorite part of building an antipasti platter is eating the antipasti platter!
Brought to Westfield Century City as part of a multi-year renovation that included an upscale makeover to the mall’s food court, the Mario Batali-free Eataly is a curiosity. Partly grocery chain, partly food hall and partly tourist attraction. It’s not a place to relax, although there is indoor seating at Pizzeria Rosso Pomodoro. In fact, it’s easy to get disoriented by all the activities, like pasta makers feeding pasta through a grinder or the whipping of house mozzarella being rolled. Stick to Eataly’s U-shaped lane and pick up pieces from the in-house vendors: a quarter pound of Parma ham aged 24 months and a slice of Sergio Mor ubriaco all birra rosa (cow’s red milk cheese) wine. Or visit one of the most beautiful rooftop restaurants in town, Terra, whose spinach garganelli con mushroom noodles are as insta-friendly as they are delicious. If you don’t like that, there’s still a Panda Express in the mall’s food court.
10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City. 213-310-8000.
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