I wrote this post for Hipmunk’s Top Cities series. The content is my own.
Who would’ve guessed that following a food truck is a great way to explore a neighborhood? Food truck culture in Los Angeles however can be an excellent guide to the city’s hippest neighborhoods. No longer do you find yourself turning your nose up at the mention of fast food from a moving kitchen, because in Los Angeles it is possible to dine from the hands of a celebrated top chef working from a moving kitchen on a truck.
Kogi BBQ Food Truck
Photo credit by Off the Beaten Track via trover.com
Here is a brief list of neighborhoods where you can find some of the best food trucks.
Mid City
This is a changing neighborhood where you will find affordable zumba classes, a first class comedy club, hipster coffee shops and food trucks. The average age of the neighborhood’s residents is 31. The area is bound by Highway 10 running east to west with Robertson Boulevard at the far west and Crenshaw Avenue at its eastern point.
Korea Town
You might actually find Kogi Food Truck on a visit to Korea Town. Think Central near Eighth. The locals describe Korea Town as an up-and-comer neighborhood where large apartments are still possible. It is officially considered the three-mile square densely populated area west of Downtown and south of Hollywood. You will hear Spanish, Korean and English spoken everywhere if you walk the streets. And it is possible to get a beautiful mash-up of these ethnic foods as well as Brazilian, Vietnamese and Pakistani food in the area. Trucks cruise and sit.
LACMA
On a Saturday afternoon visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) you may find food trucks parked on the streets perpendicular to Wilshire Avenue. Here you can buy a variety of fast meals from the best cheese sandwich to tacos. Normally there is also a little area to sit and enjoy.
West Hollywood
This area is part of Central Los Angeles. It is not especially diverse but the food trucks you find here are very diverse. West Hollywood encompasses sections of Melrose Avenue and North Fairfax Avenue. You’ll find hip shops, cool people, great stand alone restaurants and super food trucks.
Los Feliz
This neighborhood is home to the Umami burger and Detroit’s Shinola watches. The Los Feliz neighborhood is really North LA, a short distance from Griffith Park. Over the past thirty years, Los Feliz has become an affluent neighborhood where you can lose your sense of time because of the very best shopping and eating that is possible here. Food trucks do well in this area.
Larchmont Boulevard in Hancock Park
The Larchmont area has Korea Town to the southeast, East Hollywood to the east, Hancock Park to the west and Windsor Square to the south. It is a quaint, somewhat genteel area where adolescents are free to walk the streets alone to eat and shop. There is a weekly Farmer’s Market in the Rite Aid parking lot along Larchmont Avenue.
Check the food truck maps to see who is there on your day of travel, and stay in a nearby Los Angeles hotel to maximize your culinary possibilities.
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