Grand Central Market

If you're downtown and hungry, the Grand Central Market is the place to be.  It reminds me of a mall food court, just with a much better selection.

This market has been in existence since 1917.  Then Angelenos rode the Angels Flight Railway for a penny down to the best open-air shopping in town. It is located in the ground floor of the stately Homer Laughlin Building, which once housed an office for American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and forms the centerpiece of L.A.'s Historic Core District. It is Los Angeles's oldest and largest open-air market. Over 38 merchants offer their finest selections of produce, delicacies, and unique specialty items from around the globe.

We went during the week at lunch time and it was quite crowded.  There are a lot of options for lunch but the place that was the most crowded by far was a Mexican eatery called Tacos Tumbras A Tomas.  I had to wait in the crowd for about 5 minutes before I could work my way up to the counter to order.  They had 6 pans of different types of meat behind the corner that were ready for any kind of burrito, taco, quesadilla, or whatever else you want.  I stuck with the simple carne asada burrito with everything on it.  It was pretty big for the price ($5.50), and it only took a minute or so for him to make. 

Once we got the burrito we sat down and split it in 3 parts to eat.  It was slightly hard to find a clean place to eat.  If I make another trip, I'll probably take the food to go.  The burrito was amazing.  The meat was flavorful and wasn't too fatty.  It was perfect for a snack (because we split it) but would have been more than enough for a meal. 

We walked around the market after we ate.  They have butchers, spice shops, and produce.  Food wise, just about anything you could want (except dairy.)  I would stick to getting fast meals that are good and fairly inexpensive.  Definitely a great lunch stop!