With the new stadiums in Inglewood, the dining scene there is exploding. A reader (Thanks LL!) asked me to pass this along to you: Everyone’s favorite greens purveyor Simply Salad is opening a new location a former Flame Broiler location at 3384 W Century Blvd, in the Century Village Shopping Center in Inglewood. Simply Salad began in 2010 as a customizable and affordable salad concept. They have since spread to nine locations, all in the LA area, making this their tenth.
The corner space at 200 Santa Monica Blvd has gone through a number of changes in recent history. It had been a Coffee Bean, then it was Jinky’s Coffee, and now it will be LA’s first branch of Luke’s Lobster. Luke’s Lobster‘s founder, third-generation lobsterman Luke Holden, opened his first shack in New York in 2009, and has since spread to locations across nine states and Japan. They are on a mission to provide the highest quality sustainable seafood from Maine and Canada and are devoted to coastal communities. Look for a menu of lobster, shrimp, and crab rolls served in “Maine-style shacks”. Definitely exciting news for Downtown Santa Monica.
It appears there’s a new sweet treat shop landing at 11918 Wilshire Blvd in LA. A banner us up announcing the arrival of Black Sugar Boba. It looks like they were aiming for an earlier opening, but their website still promises this location. Look for a menu of high-quality milk tea, matcha, cereal milks, smoothies, slushes, and fruit tea.
It appears that Brentwood is getting a new icy treat shop. The Now (formerly Granville Plaza) development, at 11819 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, has been undergoing a remodel for a quite a while now. In space #102, the new tenant will be the first US location of Mimi Ice Cream. According to the website, Mimi Ice Cream was created in Armenia, where they operate 20 locations. They describe themselves as “leaders in the soft-serve ice cream market”. This location will carry 20 flavors, 12 of which will be permanent with 8 rotating flavors. And yes, I’m not kidding, there will be a curious emphasis on pickled vegetables and fruit. Interesting….
After 24 years of dishing one of Westwood’s best NY-style pies from their humble location at 10940 Weyburn Ave, Enzo’s Pizzeria is about to get an expansive new home. There are notices up on the commodious space at 1145 Westwood Blvd, previously home to mysterious java joint Brewin’ Coffee, announcing the news. A spokesperson says there’s no official timeline for the move, but until they’re settled into the new digs, you can still pop by their old location and grab a slice of a Westwood Village classic.
Ever since I first told you about Total Wine & More taking over the old CVS space at 12015 Wilshire Blvd over a year ago, I’ve been peppered with questions about an opening date. It took long enough, but to all those people who asked, I have this happy news. Total Wine & More is now open. You’re welcome.
There’s plywood over one of the spaces in the Food Court of the Westfield Century City Shopping Center announcing the arrival of Gone Bananas Bread. GBB currently has a location in The Original Farmers Market. Read about their story here and check out their menu of proprietary quick bread loaves such as the Big Banana here.
Peripatetic East Coast-themed sandwich shop Jersey Mike’s Subs continues its march across SoCal with a new outpost near the beach. There’s a banner up at 245 S Main St. in Venice announcing the news. Read more at jerseymikes.com.
On a tip from a reader (Thanks Melissa!) I went by the former location of Harujuku Taproom, at 4410 Sepulveda in Culver City, to see what was going on. There’s a lot of construction and a banner on the front announcing the arrival of Gokigen Tori. Gokigen Tori bills itself as “The Yakitori House” and promises an “authentic Japanese grill experience”. You can get an idea of what it will look like when finished on their FB page.
Toddrickallen 