The Brief

CicLAvia is coming to Melrose this weekend.

That means it’s time to get outside after the recent rain, soak up some vitamin D, and stretch those legs. For the uninitiated, CicLAvia is a free open streets event where stretches of Los Angeles are closed off to car traffic, allowing people to ride bikes, skateboards and other “people-powered vehicles” and explore. On Sunday, Feb. 25, Melrose Avenue will be closed to vehicles between Fairfax and Vermont avenues from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

We adore how the city just feels different at CicLAvia events. Too often, we're rushing by L.A. in a car. CicLAvia allows us to appreciate the sights and scents of the city fully.

With all that movement, however, you’ll likely work up an appetite, so we’ve picked a few of our favorite spots on your four-mile journey to help restore those blood sugar levels.

We’ve even designed a trusty map to help you identify all the spots listed so they're easy to find.

So grab your bike, skateboard, or just your own two feet, along with a few of your closest friends, and LET’S GO!!!!

Milk Bar

Power your sugar high at Milk Bar.

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Courtesy of Milk Bar

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If you can only stop at one place during your Tour de Melrose, we'd have to recommend it be Milk Bar, an L.A. destination for all things sugar. If you're lucky, you can score some of the famed funfetti-style birthday cake that Taylor Swift served at her birthday party ($12.10). There’s also a variety of cookies to try, including their corn cookie ($3.58) and compost cookie ($3.58), or if you've worked up a sweat you can cool off with some of their famed cereal milk soft serve ($7.70).

Oui Melrose

Influencers and locals alike regularly flock to Oui Melrose for the delightful creations served up at this cafe space. Take your pick from standouts such as their Nashville hot cod sandwich ($13.49) as well as their Swiss and soujouk baguette ($14) to any number of their laffa wraps, an Iraqi-style pita that can be stuffed with garlic shrimp ($15.99) or filet mignon ($15.99), just to name a few of the available choices. Then, it's loaded up with hummus, tahini, fries, pickled cabbage, red onion, and tomatoes.

Maison Matho

Grab some French baguette sandwiches to go from Maison Matho along the CicLAvia Melrose route.

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Andre Karimloo

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Courtesy of Maison Matho

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The fact of the matter is that L.A. is a sandwich town. A perfect example is the walk-up cafe counter window, Maison Matho. Chef and owner Daniel Matho brings his French influence to a delightful selection of sandwiches, pastries, and coffee, all perfect for anyone on the go.

Get your jolt of java with a pink praline latte ($7), made with pink praline syrup containing vanilla and orange blossom, served hot or iced. Another option includes Zinedine Zidane ($5), named after the French headbutting soccer player, which is half raspberry iced tea and sparking lemonade.

Once you’ve successfully quenched your thirst, try any of the sandwiches, such as the jambon beurre ($18), made with Parisian-style ham, butter, and cornichons on a house-made baguette. Another choice not to be missed is the omelette sandwich ($18) made with comté cheese, a French cheese similar to gruyere that contains both fruity and savory notes, perfectly folded over onto a baguette and served over a simple bed of lettuce and topped with herbs. One bite later, you’ll feel ready to win the Tour De France.

Kuya Lord

Go for the lechon kwali, served over pancit chami.

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Jakob N. Layman

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Courtesy of Kuya Lord

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Kuya Lord is a fast-casual concept located in the microneighborhood of the moment, Melrose Hill. The menu channels chef and owner Lord Maynard Llera’s take on southern Filipino-style cooking. A great dish to try is their lechon kwali, a twice-cooked pork belly that manages to walk the line between a crispy, crackly outside and succulent inside.

Order it over some pancit chami ($16), a thicker noodle similar to chow mein (the name chami derives from the Chinese word for fried noodle) mixed with cabbage, carrots, and fish cakes. It makes for an excellent sweet and savory bite that will propel you through the next leg of the route. For planning purposes, note that Kuya Lord closes its doors between lunch and dinner services.

Mozza2Go

Top off your Melrose adventure with a little bit of pizza. For those in the know, Osteria Mozza, the temple of Cal-Italian cooking that Nancy Silverton built, has an excellent to-go storefront, Mozza 2 Go. Our favorites include the burrata pizza ($27) made with a pomodoro sauce containing notes of bright sweetness or the ‘nduja (a spicy spreadable sausage from Southern Italy) with leeks, scallions, and bacon ($25).

For the antipasti, consider their roasted cauliflower ($13), containing fresh mint, red onions, lemon and yogurt vinaigrette, or fire-grilled wings alla diavola ($16) served with a green onion creme fraiche. Save room for butterscotch budino ($10) if you want a sugar high to power you through the rest of the course. Also, Mozza2Go has plenty of fabulous wine options to enjoy with your meal or take home to celebrate the completion of your ride.

State regulators voted Thursday to stop Southern California Gas Co. from charging customers to help pay for planning miles of pipelines that would bring hydrogen gas to the L.A. Basin.

The company says the project would reduce the region’s reliance on methane gas.

Southern California Gas estimates it would cost about $266 million to study and plan the project — called Angeles Link — and asked the state Public Utilities Commission to allow it to recover those costs through customer rates. The company had proposed a monthly increase of $0.35 on the average residential customer bill over the course of three years.

The commission unanimously rejected the request, saying the company had not proved any direct benefit to customers. The decision effectively halts the project for now, and comes amid a stall in federal funding for hydrogen projects under the Trump administration.

Local environmental groups involved in the community advisory process had also grown frustrated by negotiations that they said, in a letter to state regulators, “does not prioritize genuine community engagement.”

As global pollution levels continue to climb, the commission’s decision also highlights the growing challenge of transitioning to a cleaner energy supply amid rising utility bills and open questions about the safety and true environmental cost of largely untested technology.

Why hydrogen?

Hydrogen is a colorless gas that is considered "clean" because it doesn’t involve carbon, which — when burned to create energy — becomes carbon dioxide, a major planet-heating gas.

But it takes energy to produce hydrogen, and most hydrogen these days is created by burning fossil fuels. “Green” hydrogen is created by using clean energy sources like solar and wind to split water into oxygen and hydrogen.

SoCal Gas said the Angeles Link project would prioritize green hydrogen.

Most experts see green hydrogen as an important clean-burning fuel for hard-to-electrify industries, such as long-haul trucking and gas-fired power generation. The city of Los Angeles, for example, wants to retrofit its Scattergood Power Plant near El Segundo to burn hydrogen instead of methane gas to generate electricity.

There are many open questions about how safe the highly-combustible gas is for proposed uses and how much water it will require to make. At the same time, extracting and burning fossil fuels for electricity and fuel also takes water — a growing problem as climate change drives longer and hotter droughts.

Experts say, if done right, hydrogen can reduce that water intake and not have a major impact on water supplies.

Also, burning hydrogen could actually worsen local, lung-damaging nitrogen-oxide air pollution, at least with the technology as it currently stands, according to energy researchers.

Reactions to the decision

SoCal Gas will now have to turn to shareholders or other sources of funding if the company wants to proceed. The company did not directly answer LAist’s questions about whether it would.

“We continue to believe that hydrogen—including clean renewable hydrogen—can help advance California’s energy and climate goals while supporting the long‑term affordability, security and reliability of energy service for customers,” SoCal Gas spokesperson Brian Haas wrote in an email to LAist.

Environmental groups celebrated the vote, while emphasizing they see green hydrogen playing a role in the state’s future.

“Residential customers should not subsidize speculative infrastructure for large industrial users,” said Michael Colvin, director of the California Energy Program at Environmental Defense Fund, in a statement.

“We look forward to working with regulators, utilities and large customers to build a credible, cost-effective strategy to cut climate pollution from sectors that are hardest to electrify,” the statement read.

Global events like the World Cup and the 2028 Olympics are sure to draw thousands of new visitors wanting to get to know Los Angeles.

L.A. has a lot to offer, including its vast and varied portfolio of public art. It’s even been referred to as the mural capital of the world. So if you want to explore some of the city’s art, here are a few murals you won’t want to miss.

Sports 

“LA Rising” at the Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo celebrates the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, depicting him in his two roles — hitter and pitcher.
- Where to find it: 328 First St., Los Angeles

“Blue Heaven on Earth” is a love letter to the Dodgers, depicting both Shohei Ohtani and the late Fernando Venezuela.
- Where to find it: 1647 Blake Ave., Los Angeles

A mural honoring Winter Olympics Gold Medalist Alysa Liu in Gardena.

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Jay L Clendenin

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Getty Images

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California native and Olympian Alysa Liu captured the world’s attention with her figure skating in the Winter Olympics. This mural in Gardena celebrates her win.
- Where to find it: 15532 Crenshaw Blvd., Gardena

A mural of L.A. Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna can be found outside Hardcore Fitness L.A.

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Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag

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Los Angeles Times

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“City of Angels!” pays tribute to Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gigi.
- Where to find it: 400 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles

Music

Whitney Houston, Rihanna, Aaliyah, Amy Winehouse and Selena are memorialized on this Hollywood mural.
- Where to find it: 7677 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles 

“Jazz on the field” is an ode to Wrigley Field and the Dunbar Hotel in South L.A. and depicts jazz icons Louis Armstrong and Etta James, as well as Martin Luther King Jr.
- Where to find it: 43rd St. and Grand Ave., Los Angeles

When Kendrick Lamar featured Tam’s Burgers in his “Not Like Us” music video, the burger spot in Compton commissioned a mural highlighting the rapper’s unforgettable single.
- Where to find it: 1201 Rosecrans Ave, Compton

Historic to LA

A section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural, designed by muralist Judy Baca, that showcases pivotal moments in Los Angeles History.

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Ashley Balderrama

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LAist

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“The Great Wall of Los Angeles” is one of the largest murals in the world, and it’s supposed to get bigger. The half-mile art piece depicts California’s rich history.
- Where to find it: Along the L.A. River in the San Fernando Valley, on Coldwater Canyon Avenue between Burbank Boulevard and Oxnard Street. 

“The Blessing of the Animals” at La Placita Olvera depicts the Catholic tradition of blessing one’s animals.
- Where to find it: 115 Paseo De La Plaza, Los Angeles

“El Grito” depicts a scene that sparked Mexican independence from Spanish rule.
- Where to find it: Placita de Dolores at 831 N. Alameda St., Los Angeles

When you take a bite of the lomo saltado burrito from Merka Saltao, a fast-casual Peruvian restaurant in Culver City, one of the first things you'll notice is the sauce.

The wok-fried chunks of steak, dressed in a soy-and-oyster sauce reduction spiked with vinegar, saturate the rice inside the tortilla, highlighting the sweet heat of ají amarillo mixed with the velvety texture of pinto beans.

It's a beautiful confluence of flavors. It is also, depending on who you ask, either a creative act of evolution or a betrayal of Peruvian culinary heritage.

Standing on business

The lomo saltado burrito at Merka Saltao wasn't exactly a calculated move. Lifelong friends Alonso Franco and Ignacio Barrios — who met in high school in Lima — came to Los Angeles to bring Peruvian food to the masses, first through a ghost kitchen concept they ran from 2021 to 2023. The burrito happened almost by accident: a member of their kitchen team brought in a tortilla one day, someone suggested wrapping the lomo saltado in it, they ate it, and within three days, it was on the menu.

Merka Saltao co-founders Ignacio Barrios, left, and Alonso Franco, right, inside their Culver City restaurant. The two lifelong friends from Lima opened the fast-casual brick-and-mortar location for their Peruvian concept in August 2025.

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Courtesy Merka Saltao

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The data from the ghost kitchen made the case for keeping it there. Franco and Barrios had launched with around 140 dishes — lomo saltado, ceviche, chicken dishes, the works. But the numbers kept pointing to the same thing: wherever lomo saltado appeared on the menu, in whatever form, burrito, bowl, salad, it was the winner.

(Ceviche, for all its cultural cachet, is raw fish with raw onion — a harder sell for a weekday lunch. Lomo saltado, Franco noted, is steak and fries — basically a hamburger.)

The backlash

The two friends made the leap to brick-and-mortar in August 2025, opening Merka Saltao in downtown Culver City. It's one of the more competitive dining corridors in L.A., the kind of block that can support a $16 wellness bowl and a craft beer bar in the same stretch, populated by Amazon employees on lunch breaks, families on weekend outings, and food-literate regulars who will absolutely have opinions about what goes in a burrito.

Those opinions arrived faster than Franco expected. Within the first week of opening, an influencer came in and posted about the restaurant — but instead of showing the full menu, the bowls, the chicha morada, the flexibility of the concept, they showed the burrito. Just the burrito.

Franco working the wok at Merka Saltao. The high-heat wok technique at the heart of lomo saltado traces its roots to Chinese immigrants in Peru

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Christopher Mortenson

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Courtesy Merka Saltao

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The comments turned quickly. "No! Peruvians don't eat burritos. ¿Qué car—o es eso?" — roughly, "what the hell is this?" — wrote one commenter. Another said "Burritos? We don't eat burritos in 🇵🇪”. Franco describes sitting at his computer reading the pile-on, feeling something between anger and devastation. "There was a moment where I probably even cried," he said, "thinking, I've made a mistake." But then he looked at the numbers. 30,000 had seen the post…. And half the comments were in his defense.

He took the conversation to Reddit, posting to r/FoodLosAngeles asking the community directly: am I wrong for this? The response was overwhelming — hundreds of comments, almost entirely in his favor, and a surge of new customers walking through the door shortly after.

Fusion by default

This is Los Angeles, where many of the dishes that define the Southern California diet were born precisely from cultures colliding. Roy Choi built an empire on Korean tacos. Al pastor traces its technique to Lebanese immigrants who brought the vertical spit. The California roll, invented by Japanese chefs in Los Angeles in the 1960s, introduced an entire country to sushi. None of these dishes destroyed the traditions they borrowed from. If anything, they expanded their audience. And the lomo saltado burrito isn't exactly a novel concept in Southern California to begin with — everyone from Pablitos Tacos in North Hollywood to Le Hut in Santa Ana, run by 2025 James Beard Award-nominated chef Daniel Castillo, has featured their own version. Even Disney's California Adventure got in on it, serving a lomo saltado burrito out of the Studio Catering Co. food truck as recently as last year.

The lomo saltado bowl and burrito at Merka Saltao in Culver City — two versions of the same dish that sparked an unlikely online debate about Peruvian culinary identity.

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Courtesy Merka Saltao

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Franco would also point out that lomo saltado itself — the dish the purists are so eager to protect — is a product of Chinese immigrants bringing the wok and soy sauce to Peru roughly 300 years ago. "Peruvian is by default fusion," he told me. "So we have all the right to wrap it up in a burrito." What the online critics were really doing, whether they knew it or not, was defending a dish that was itself once considered inauthentic — and doing so in the name of authenticity.

Where things stand

Since the backlash, Franco says business has been mostly steady — breaking even, which for a concept that requires high volume at a low price point, he considers a good sign. The controversy changed things in ways he didn't expect: people started coming in specifically because of the story, not just the food. He began putting himself front and center in the brand, regularly making videos on social media about what it's like to run the business, occasionally poking fun at himself and the whole debate. When we visited during the weekday lunch rush, there was a steady line of people waiting to order, many stopping to talk with Franco directly.

In a way, he's answered the authenticity question not with an argument but with a presence — showing up, telling the story, letting the food speak. "Honoring my food, if that requires pairing lomo saltado with a salad or wrapping it in a tortilla, I have no problem," he said. "I'm not being less authentic. We are evolving in Peru anytime. I have to be authentic on the individual flavor and then be flexible to reach more people to discover our flavors."

The burrito, it turns out, was never the point. It was just the door.