help me feed my jury duty blues...

[french roast]

I have jury duty for the next 3 weeks! Yikes! I don't know downtown eateries that well, but if I'm down there that long, it's time to explore. I'm in the Spring street courthouse, which puts me pretty close to Chinatown. Any Chinatown places I shouldn't miss? Either for a lunch, a takeout meal, or a cool market I wouldn't normally venture into would be great. And, anything else in the neighborhood that could be a few blocks away I should visit? Surely something besides the strange little underground mall feeds all of LA's jurors, lawyers, judges, etc...help!

[nosh]

Redwood Grill (2nd Street), DWP Cafeteria, is the burger shack off Temple west of the courthouses still around? With car: Carnitas Michaocan on No. Broadway and 19th north of Chinatown, Eastside Deli on the west side of lower Chinatown, Nick's for great ham on No. Spring, NE of Chinatown. Dino's on Pico and Berendo for the crazy chicken special. Langer's for pastrami on rye. Yang Chow or Hop Li with a small group to share a lunch. Fisherman's Outlet on Central north of 6th S/E of the courts for very casual good grilled or fried seafood. Senor Fish off Alameda east of Little Tokyo for fish, shrimp or scallop tacos.

Wherever you go, wear your jury badge. There are a huge number of attorneys, court personnel, police and sheriffs, and other people involved with the courts all needing to eat, and while they are trained to be discreet, wearing your jury badge in a very visible position can alleviate any small chance of embarrassment later.

[monku]

Surprising, there were some juror perks. Like free Metro rail and no admission for MOCA. Postponed my jury duty until the week of Christmas thinking maybe they wouldn't call. Had to go in on the last day they could call on Friday. They called for one group of jurors and at 11am they made an announcement that it was unprecedented, but dismissed everyone else early. Got our green certificate for service and we were out of there. I was felt so relieved, but I was mapping out my lunch schedule too. Saw an acquaintance a public defender, he saw my badge and said he couldn't talk to me there.

[PlonkMan]

Walked over to MOCA last time I had jury duty. Unfortunately they were closed that day. But their cafe was open and I had a decent sandwich there.

[orythedog]

Two great ideas for you but at opposite sides of the price spectrum:

Cheap but good = Sam Woo BBQ in Chinatown. You can walk there from the courthouse.

Expensive but good = Water Grill.

[Will Owen]

As you will certainly learn if you follow any of the older threads on this subject, Olvera Street is even closer than Chinatown. There are quite a few places there that are popular with this crowd, mostly the cheaper taco-stand kinds of places at the south end, though I've seen plenty of recs for La Golondrina at the other end, a pricier white-tablecloth place. I had a pleasant jury-duty-day meal at the joint directly across from LG, but I can't remember the name - the food was merely on the Good side of Okay, but it was an intermittently rainy Spring day and I was sitting in their large covered patio. Lovely.

[paulfromla]

If you have the $$, treat yourself one of those days with a visit to Patina for their business lunch - and a glass of paired wine. I found that the best remedy to jury duty blues.

[perk]

I second that motion! I just got my summons for jury duty next month, and am planning
to do exactly that--like I did last time. It's actually a fair price, and puts me in a pardonable mood!

[sobriquet]

Yang Chow.

[silverlakebodhisattva]

Actually, just a search of the word "jury" on the LA Board should yield multiple threads over the last 5 years. . .

[barcelona]

Empress of China is great, catch the dash for 25 cents and get to Little Tokyo or financial district and you will find LOTS of great choices. My favorite is Lula kabob http://www.yelp.com/biz/lula-kabob-lo...
Enjoy!

[monku]

Empress of China is in San Francisco Chinatown--you probably mean Empress Pavillion?

Walking distance for quick cheap dim sum is Yum Cha Cafe almost all items are $99/order and soups for $2.99--walk down Broadway and its just past the huge dragon sculpture hanging over the street.

There's Grand Central Market. CH favorites are Ana Maria's and Tacos Tombras A Tomas.
317 S. Broadway
www.grandcentralsquare.com

[LesThePress]

$99/order - Wow, it must be good!!!

[monku]

Ooooops....99 cents/order. Watching CNB this am.

[debra]

I second Grand Central Market -- I went every day. Monku is right on. The Birria Tacos from Tomas are fantastic, and don't miss the Chile Relleno Burrito from Ana Maria's. I like the Torta's from Roast to Go, you can browse and see what meats look best to you at the counter. Enjoy! GCM is the best part of Jury Duty Downtown. Good luck.