Guest Post: What Food is L.A. Known For?

Los Angeles has a wide variety of foods, with so many upscale restaurants and health-
conscious diners with money to spend. So what food is L.A. known for? Enjoy this guest post with some thoughts on the L.A. dining scene.

Tacos

Mexican food is a large part of Los Angeles, what with being so close to Mexico. You’ll find a wide variety of Mexican dishes, but tacos take the lead.

From fancy Mexican restaurants to food trucks and food stands, tacos are everywhere in LA. And if you get inspired and want to make your own, grab a tortilla press, some maize or wheat flour, and your favorite taco fillings. You’ll be all set.

L.A. is also known for it’s Taco Tuesday Deals like the one below from El Torito, who claims to be the original creator of the weekly holiday.

Thai Food

Thai cuisine is everywhere in Los Angeles, from Thai classics to new and inventive dishes. Los Angeles’ Thai Town covers only half a mile in East Hollywood, but it is the first recognized Thai Town in the USA. In addition, Los Angeles has the largest Thai population outside of Thailand.

Thai food has spread to many different parts of Los Angeles over time. Immigrant chefs have adapted dishes to suit the tastes of a new country, and other young chefs have been coming up with new inventions as second-generation Thai-Americans.

Korean Food

Koreatown is another highly influential part of Los Angeles that has made its mark on the food scene. You can enjoy pork belly, smoky barbecue, fermented kimchi, and a host of other dishes besides.

Everything from the most traditional dishes to recent inventions is on offer, and not just in Koreatown. Korean food is now part of mainstream cuisine in LA, and there’s even some Korean-Mexican fusion that is appearing in more and more restaurants.

Japanese food (especially sushi and ramen)

Sushi

Sushi rolls, which are now enjoyed by many throughout the world, became popular in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s in a small restaurant in Little Tokyo called Kawafuku. Now you can find sushi of all kinds throughout LA – with all kinds of price tags to match.

Ramen

Ramen bars are all over Los Angeles, and especially in the Little Osaka neighbourhood in West LA. New ramen bars are opening all the time, and their popularity has spread throughout the city.

One of the most well-known places for ramen is Daikokuya in Little Tokyo, where you may need to wait for as long as an hour outside. Other ramen shops mix and match these tasty noodles with pork, garlic, and a host of other favorite ingredients. Ramen in LA is everywhere.

Chinese Food

In Los Angeles County alone, there are over two dozen regional (distinct) Chinese cuisines.

From dim sum to Sichuan peppercorns, there’s just about any kind of Chinese food you could wish for. Some regional cuisines represented in Los Angeles include Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangxi, Beijing, Taiwan, Wuhan, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Sichuan, Tianjin, Hunan, Xinjiang, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Liaoning, and Shenyang.

Burgers

Los Angeles is known for being the burger capital of the USA. Unlike other parts of the country, burgers met a need that continues to be unique to LA: the need for drive-thrus. A lack of adequate public transportation coupled with a strong car culture gave rise to the birth of what is now a very popular type of restaurant.

McDonald’s began in LA, with the brothers coming up with a way to sell as many burgers as fast as possible (hence “fast food”). The mega-chain In-N-Out began in LA, as well, in 1948 in the San Gabriel Valley.

Beyond fast food, though, the burger culture is also prevalent in LA’s historic burger shacks, many of which have been lovingly preserved.

The French Dip

This tasty, open-faced sandwich with slices of beef piled high in jus was invented in Los Angeles and can be found now in many parts of the country.

Some people say that the French dip was invented at a Chinatown restaurant called Philippe’s to make a dish using stale rolls. Other people insist that the sandwich was created at Cole’s (a former train station which is now a trendy restaurant) for a customer with bad teeth.

Other restaurants have since invented their versions of this dish, but it started in LA and continues to be widely popular.

Donuts

Donuts are a large part of California culture, and particularly so in Los Angeles. Donuts came to California from Cambodian immigrants, with the first store started in 1975 by Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy, called Christy’s Donuts. Ngoy helped hundreds of other Cambodian families run their own independent donut shops.

In Los Angeles County, there are at least 680 donut shops, according to the LA Times. That’s a lot of donuts!

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