Lists

Gourmet Singles Out L.A. Street Food’s ‘Greats’

Let's Be Frank
Let’s Be Frank Photo: Vmiramontes via Flickr Creative Commons

Gourmet Magazine chose eight “great street food vendors” in L.A. today, safely splitting the middle between upscale food trucks and Mexican stalwarts. With Mid-Wilshire’s lunchtime truck scene resembling “an international food bazaar,” the story seeks to point out an elephant we never saw hiding beneath the rear axle in saying “what most have to offer falls somewhere between better-than-a-roach-coach-tuna-sandwich and still in the beta testing phase.” We don’t completely concur, though we can’t really disagree that unproven newbies generate a surplus of buzz before their time.

Gourmet’s list was topped with Kogi (never saw that one coming, eh?), though supposedly no particular order was assigned to the chosen few. They also shouted out Border Grill Truck, Grill Masters, and Let’s Be Frank for their commitment to high-quality product, while we have to question their street-cred slightly, seeing as one is dispatched from a very famous restaurant and the other two have more fixed locations in Culver City and local farmer’s markets.

Like our own street food map, Highland Park gets heavy nods for La Estrella, El Pique, and Gorditas Lupitas, while the only other traditional truck mentioned is KTown’s Le Tehuana, who generally get enthusiastic nods for their pastor. We think Gourmet did a pretty fair and adequate job of combining new and old L.A. street food vendors. What do you think?

Eight Great Street Food Vendors in L.A. [Gourmet Magazine]

Gourmet Singles Out L.A. Street Food’s ‘Greats’