Misc Downtown Questions for Inquiring Minds

[silverlakebodhisattva]

Some questions, as I wander the 'hood in search of lunch:

Cucina Rustica (Wilshire/Fig SE corner) anyone else been? What do you think?
Dublin's Irish Whisky Pub: (800 block, 7th) are they gone forever?
CeFiore froyo in progress next to Sugarfish for the last two years: will it ever be done?
What's going in in place of Provecho (800 block Wilshire, south side)?
Can Olive and Pasta Primavera withstand the onslaught of Botega Louie?
Who's worked their way through which taquerias (actual brick and mortar, not trucks)?

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CeFiore
141 N Atlantic Blvd 112, Monterey Park, CA 91754

Pasta Primavera [CLOSED]
611 W 7th St, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Cucina Rustica
2276 Honolulu Ave, Montrose, CA 91020

[Muhlyssa]

Do CHers ever get together for a downtown lunch? There seems to be a lot of us here.

[Will Owen]

Not allowed to make play-dates on any CH Board. The Yahoo SCARF board is the place for that.

[Muhlyssa]

Dublin's reopened last week, just in time for St. Patty's. I'm excited to try Spice Table. I need that Mo Chica close by, I'm too lazy to go find the other location. :-)

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The Spice Table
114 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

[GolfNut]

Cucina Rustica is ok - I'd compare it with Maria's Italian Kitchen. IMO there are better Italian choices close by, Zucca or Colori Kitchen.

Dublin's is closed indefinitely due to lack of permits.

No recent construction progress on the former Provecho site.

My go to tacqueria in Downtown is Fernando's, aka the Car Wash on Olympic and Fig.

The food choices in the financial district has severely dropped, esp if you are looking for something healthy.

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Colori Kitchen
429 W 8th St, Los Angeles, CA 90014

[silverlakebodhisattva]

I think Rustica is more bang-for-buck that Maria's, and less bucks than Zucca. Colori I group with Olive, and Primavera, as being somewhat "downscale" (I don't think any of the three have a wine license, for instance)

[silverlakebodhisattva]

Oooh. Just rolled past Colori on the way back from my alterations guy; they've moved their price-point up a bit!

[aching]

I don't have any answers for you, but I have a few additional questions:

- When the heck is Chipotle going to open? They've been building it out FOREVER.
- When is the Spice Table going to open? It was supposed to be mid-January, which obviously has come and gone.
- Any update on Mo-Chica going into the old Sandela's spot on 7th?

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Mo-Chica
3655 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90007

[d_doubleyew]

I find that Ocho Mexican Grill (on 6th btw Grand and Hope, next to Loose Leaf) does the Chipotle concept even better.

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Loose Leaf
630 W 6th St Ste 110B, Los Angeles, CA 90017

[silverlakebodhisattva]

Quoth my office manager, upon viewing Ocho for the first time: "A ten dollar burrito? A ten dollar TAKE-OUT burrito? I don't think so."

Also there's a similarly concepted place in the space in the Wilshire Grand (7th/Fig NW corner) called, IIRC, "Cilantro" which wasn't bad the one time I've tried it, and was priced more reasonably...

...and there seemed to be PLUMBERS working in the Cefiore space today (which has been in progress 4 or 5 times as long as Chipotle)

Nothing seemed to be going on in the Sandela's space today.

[aching]

Yeah, I haven't seen anything happening at Sandela's either. I REALLY want the Mo-Chica thing to be true, but the March opening date that I read doesn't seem very realistic.

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Mo-Chica
3655 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90007

[silverlakebodhisattva]

As of this post, "Sandela's" signage is still up. March? Yeah, maybe March, 2012....

[aching]

I learned the answer to my first question yesterday and thought I'd share - Chipotle is set to open on April 2!

(Also, in case anyone missed it, Spice Table opened recently. I can't wait to try it!)

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The Spice Table
114 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

[aching]

Just checking back in to say that I noticed that the new Mo-Chica (in the old Sandela's location) has its signage up, which is always encouraging! If anybody knows the planned opening date, do share!