LA's Food Trucks

It has come to my attention that the gourmet food truck craze does not exist in all parts of our nation. For shame.

Here in the sprawl of Los Angeles, getting lunch near your office can sometimes be a pain. I've eaten at Subway so often I'm sick of it. Instead, I keep my meals delicious by frequenting the gourmet catering trucks.

Have you heard of a 'roach coach' cruising to construction sites to serve up lunches to the workers? Well, here in Los Angeles they took that concept and made it high-end and delicious. The Kogi BBQ truck, with its Korean bbq tacos, was the first that it hit it big. There are now many others and they're all delicious.

SORO is the new SoHo

There is an area of LA between Beverly Hills and the 10 freeway which is pretty bland. Its west and east borders are roughly Culver City and La Cienega Blvd. Several main streets - Pico, Robertson, La Cienega, Cadillac - run through the area, along which some shops and restaurants sit. The chief purpose of these streets, however, is to convey you through this bland area to another, more desirable area. The majority of the region is a series of suburban neighborhoods which meander from street to street. I have to imagine the no-man's-land location of these neighborhoods represses real estate values of homes compared to neighborhoods with name-recognition value such as Palms, Mar Vista, WeHo, etc. on the westside.

Recently, however, a group has attempted to give this bland area an identity. They have rebranded it as SORO - South Robertson - and have developed a website, community events (like "Walks at 7"), and a local rewards card to give you discounts at local shops. The most obvious thing, of course, is the appearance of street banners you can see below.

Curbed LA wrote a blurb about SORO over the summer. The user comments are entertaining for local reactions. I have heard this area called both "Beverly Hills Adjacent" and "Mid-Wilshire" (although I know Mid-Wilshire extends up towards Koreatown). What do you think of the efforts to brand this random neighborhood? Any chance of giving SORO an identity as strong as when we think of SoHo or Beverly Hills?