Ciudad: City Dining in LA

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Jan 11th 2006 @ 11:02PM

ciudad, los angeles - butternut squah empanadas If you live in LA (not "if you are from" LA because I don't know a single person "from" LA), or know anything about this odd city at all, then you know that LA's downtown shuts down into a veritable ghost-town after 5 PM. Or 6 PM if you're an attorney.

So it makes me wonder how restaurants like the Too Hot Tamales' pan-Latin restaurant, Ciudad, do for dinner. We've talked about Ciudad's sister restaurant in Santa Monica, Border Grill. I had lunch at Ciudad the other day for the first time, but I wasn't sure that I'd be willing to drive there for dinner. Having dinner at Ciudad means driving through ridiculous rush hour traffic along the I-10 freeway in the early evening.

Still, Ciudad's food was good. There's an offering of small plates in the tradition of Spanish tapas, as well as regular-sized entrees of foods from other Latin countries. Butternut squash and roasted poblano chile empanadas were an interesting twist on the usual meat- of cheese-filled empanadas I've had in the past. The winner of the meal, though, was a plate of three tiny tacos filled with tender, flavorful braised beef and topped with a cabbage slaw.

I suppose Ciudad does most of its business at lunch and during Happy Hour, when a small menu of very inexpenisve Happy Hour foods accompany great deals on mojitos and margaritas.

Ciudad
445 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 486-5171
www.ciudad-la.com

Filed Under: Vegetarian, Raves & Reviews, Ingredients, Drink Recipes, Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants
Tags: appetizers, beef, cheese, cocktails, dinner, fish, food, food and drink, food and wine, FoodAndDrink, FoodAndWine, hors doeuvres, LA Dining, LA restaurants, LaDining, LaRestaurants, latin cuisine, LatinCuisine, los angeles dining, los angeles restauarants, LosAngelesDining, LosAngelesRestauarants, lunch, mexican, pan latin cuisine, PanLatinCuisine, pork, poultry, vegetables, west coast

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-12-2006 @1:15AM Yidkid said... Ciudad is an EXCELLENT choice whether on a week night after working hours or on a weekend! They even offer shuttle service to the Music Center for us theater & opera fans! The GAUCHO STEAK is my favorite menu item. The Ciudad Caesar is also very nice. Top it off with Tres Leche cake Woo hoo! And YES....I am FROM LA...born and raised here. LA natives do exist!
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1-12-2006 @7:29PM TLR said... Don't you think that when people move into all the new condos down there that there will be more options for food and such?

I was just in downtown LA on Tuesday night with a friend at a new bar called 'Broadway Bar', it was very nice. Owned by the same people as 'Three of Clubs' (in Hollywood) and 'The Golden Gopher" (Downtown LA).

I think that downtown LA is in the early stages of bursting.
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