LA’s Grand Central Market – Amazing Food from Around the World

LA’s Grand Central Market was one of the best experiences we had in California! We had done some research and it looked interesting, but it was so much better in person!

We arrived early in the day, about 10:00, so it was quiet before the lunch rush began. The market is an entire city block of food vendors with tastes from all over the world. And this is not American’s recreating cultural food, these are immigrants from these countries preparing dishes from their home!!!

Food from around the world

In the mood for Chinese or Thai cooking? There is China Café and Sticky Rice.

For Japanese – there is Bento Ya Japanese Cuisine and Ramen Hood.

For German food, there is Berlin Currywurst.

And it is Mexican food heaven with so many options: Ana Maria, Jose Chiquito, La Tostaderia, Roast To Go, Villa Moreliana and Tacos Tumbras a Tomas.  Trust us when we say we have had the best tacos in the USA here!

Local California Faire

Want local American faire? Yep, there is plenty of that too!  Local chefs have opened several food stalls here including Knead & Co. Pasta Bar which serves handmade pasta!  Vegetarian?  Try Madcapra.  Want pizza?  Try Olio GCM Wood Fired Pizzeria.

Being so close to the Pacific Ocean, of course, there will be good seafood.  There are spots like Prawn focusing on fish or The Oyster Gourmet for fresh oysters, mussels, scallops, clams and sea urchin.

But sometimes, you just need a good sandwich!  Try Wexler’s Deli which is a traditional Jewish deli.  Or even a shop dedicated to nothing but peanut butter and jelly, PBJ.LA!!!

Not Californian, but Texan is the barbecue served at Horse Thief BBQ.

Oh, My the options!

And there are also fresh fruit vendors (District Market and Torres Produce), a spice stand with chilies from all over the world (Chiles Secos), a butcher with fresh, high-end cuts of meat who also makes his own sausage and hot dogs (Belcampo Meat Co.), fresh cheeses (DTLA Cheese & Kitchen) and a fresh baked bakery (Clark Street Bread).

And let’s not forget the drinks… Need coffee?  Grab an espresso from G&B Coffee.  Feeling healthy?  Try a freshly squeezed juice concoction at Press Brothers Juicery.  Something stronger?  There are local California brews at Golden Road Brewing.

Have a sweet tooth?  Head over to McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream for a hand-scooped cone or to Valerie Confections Bakery & Café.  There is even a candy shop (La Huerta)!!!

Oh and what if you have a headache like I did?  No worries, there is an entire general store downstairs!  They have everything!!!

Brunch at Eggslut

We began our culinary adventure at Eggslut which had a line wrapping around the stall, so it had to be good food, right? We decide to go with the special, the Slut, because when else can you order a slut off a menu??? It was a coddled egg with potato puree which was infinitely better than I imagined a coddled egg to taste! And with a name as unique as this, Jason had to get a t-shirt!

Our culinary adventure continues…

Next up, we try out a Salvadorian specialty at Sarita’s Pupuseria. Even though we had to have them tell us how to pronounce it, it was fantastic!!! We sat at the counter and watched them make the pupusas and spoke with the locals who were from El Salvador and come here for a piece of home. And the price? $3.50!!!

With all of the varieties of Mexican food, we had to try some tacos! So we chose Roast To Go for some Carnitas tacos (price also $3.50 for two tacos). But while in line, we speak to a local who is ordering the pork tongue… she insists we give it a try and we were both brave enough to do so. If I didn’t know it was tongue, I would have liked it. It was actually tasty!

After much deliberation and almost full tummies, we decided beef ramen will be our last food stop. But we couldn’t leave without stopping at Golden Road for a local California brewed beer!

We could have easily spent the entire day here wandering around and sampling all of the delicious food! But with limited time in LA, we had to move on. This is somewhere we will DEFINITELY visit again!!!

If a picture says a thousand words, then a video says a million!  Here is the video from our experience:

Want to see more from our trip to California?  click here

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Thanks,

Alisa

EECC Travels