The Brief

Picture this: You're with a group of friends, or out-of-town guests, and have spent the morning exploring downtown Los Angeles. You're all now having severe hunger pangs. You've heard about the iconic Grand Central Market (or maybe you've been a bunch of times), so you head over. But when you get there, you look at its overwhelming offerings and think "where do we start?"

So, we ask — why not try it all?

This is our guide to hacking Grand Central Market, the grand dame of downtown dining — what to skip, what you can't miss — so you can try as many delicious things as possible.

(We're serious about this. Think of it like a military operation. If you have time to plan ahead, consider bringing a cooler and some ice packs for the journey back home.)

Start small

It’s easy to experience sensory overload when you first start walking through the various stalls, and you’ll immediately start to see things you like. But remember — you're in for the long haul. Pick some shareable dishes to keep things light. For now.

Here's where you should start:

The shrimp cocktail at Broad Street Oyster Co.

Get ready to squeeze and dip.

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Brian Feinzimer

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Sure, you can go for lobster rolls or a seafood tower, but if you want to go the distance at GCM, the shrimp cocktail from Broad Street Oyster Co. is the way to go. Four plump shrimp arrive over crushed ice with a side of cocktail sauce and a slice of lemon. Having a shrimp cocktail is always a good idea. There’s something about dipping shrimp spritzed with a bit of citrus into quality cocktail sauce that stirs the soul. It’s enough to share with others and won’t fill you up on the long food journey to come.

The currywurst platter at Berlin Currywurst

You can choose to have your bread on the side at Berlin Currywurst, or go all in and have your sausage delivered in a roll.

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Next up: The currywurst from Berlin Currywurst. The dish consists of sliced sausage, with a choice of pork, chicken, veal, beef, or tofu kielbasa, topped with a sweet currywurst sauce containing hints of tomato, vinegar, and spices accompanied by a nice round bun. It makes for a lovely snack to share with others. Dip the sausage into the curry sauce and place it on a torn piece of bread, and you'll feel like you’ve reached some kind of culinary nirvana.

The Korean fried chicken at Shiku

The perfect app: The Korean fried chicken from Shiku.

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Head to the Korean fried chicken at Shiku. The shareable, sizable chunks of fried chicken are made with a quality batter that’s equally crunchy and flavorful with each bite, especially when it comes topped with either their aji verde or srirachujang aioli providing just the right kick. The vegan option, made with pyogo mushrooms, is also a solid choice. Pyogo is the Korean word for shitake and makes for a great non-meat option to try.

The Cali fries at Maple Block Meat Co.

These fries are loaded up!

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Mosey on over to Maple Block Meat Co., located on the outdoor patio section of the market, known for its delicious barbecue. However, our favorite option is their Cali fries. No doubt a play of the popular secret menu option Animal Style fries at In-N-Out, but dare we say we like the ones at Maple Block a tad more? The combination of cheese sauce, housemade thousand island dressing, grilled onions, and chopped chiles always seems to hit perfectly. Not to mention, the fries themselves will pair exceptionally with the cheeseburger from For The Win... which is coming right up.

Main Event: Entrees

Yes, that's entrees with an s.

The cheeseburger at For The Win

If you're sharing, why not add on an order of fries?

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Smash burgers are the gift that keeps on giving. You could throw a dart at a map of the greater Los Angeles area, and there’s a chance you’ll hit a place where you can find a good one. Here at the Grand Central Market, For The Win is where it’s at. The local chain, which has other locations in Hollywood, Glendale, and Whittier, should be on the list for anyone who loves an excellent smashed patty on a soft bun. What differentiates it from other burger joints is that For the Win goes the extra mile regarding the crucial details. The lacy edges on the burger patty tend to be slightly more crispy than most, with just the right amount of fatty flavor. The same goes for the creamy, slightly spicy fry sauce slathered on every burger. While the burger itself isn’t huge, you can cut it into fourths and share, especially if you are still saving room for a few other bites.

The mixed carnitas taco at Tacos Tumbos A Tomas

Those extra tortillas in the back make for convenient sharing: Everyone gets their own taco!

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For those looking for the most bang for your buck, the mixed carnitas taco from Tacos Tumbos A Tomas is the winner. It contains various pig parts, including pork shoulder, stomach, skin, and cheeks. It is piled high with meat, along with diced onion, cilantro, and your choice of red and green salsa. They include extra tortillas to assemble leftover makeshift tacos with taco dregs. Your taco cup will run over, and that’s a good thing. One taco can feed four or maybe even five people, depending on the hunger level, which is perfect as we’re only about halfway through our food crawl of GCM.

The loroco con queso at Saraitas Pupuseria

If you have room in your belly, don't skip the fried plantains and beans from this iconic GCM stall.

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A favorite of ours since writing the DTLA edition of Cheap Fast Eats, the iconic Saraitas Pupuseria always seems to deliver: The loroco con queso, a personal favorite, is made with an edible flower that looks like a vegetable, similar to asparagus. Go ahead and try it. Its flavors meld perfectly into the cheese griddled stunningly into the fresh-tasting masa outside the pupusa. Top the pupusa off with the pickled slaw known as curtido and salsa roja. Don’t forget to add a side of sweet fried plantains, some black refried beans and crema Salvadoreña. It’s a feast that is perfect for sharing — or for taking home.

The LA Galbi BBQ rice bowl at Shiku

This is a favorite on the menu at Shiku.

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Next up, we're heading back for more at Shiku, but this time for a rice bowl: The LA Galbi. The story goes that when Korean immigrants started moving to Los Angeles and frequenting the various carnicerias searching for meat to grill, they discovered flanken-style short ribs thinly cut across the bone. They decided to marinate it in their galbi sauce, containing sweet and savory flavors with hints of garlic and sesame. The result is tender and saucy and pairs well over a bed of short-grained white rice. To add brightness to the plate, two sides of banchan, traditional Korean side dishes, accompany all rice bowls, making it enough to share. It's a dish celebrating two Los Angeles cultures coming together and Grand Central feels like a fitting location to experience it.

Save some room for dessert?

That's right. We're not done yet.

A tiger tail (and more!) from The Donut Man

Donuts are the right choice, no matter what time of day it is. You can also take these to go and enjoy later.

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We've been fans of The Donut Man since visiting their original location in Glendora. But no more do we need to make the long trip on the 210 Freeway in order to get our tiger tail fix and their signature seasonal fruit donut options. If you aren't familiar with it, the tiger tail is like an elongated cinnamon twist donut, roughly a foot-long, so it's perfect for sharing. Not to be outdone, the strawberry donut is a glazed donut cut open and then stuffed to the gills with strawberries until it resembles some kind of explosion. They're a little hard to bite into directly, so it's best to cut them up and share them with others who want to join in on the donut fun. When strawberries are not available, choose from donuts filled with diced apples, slices peaches.

Cookies from Fat + Flour

Why choose just one?

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If you still have room left, (there's always room for more dessert) it's recommended that you make a stop at pastry chef Nicole Rucker’s bakery, Fat + Flour. There’s much to choose from regarding the various baked sweets, but we’ve found the best way to sample Rucker’s skills is to try some of her five to six cookie options, with even a few vegan variations to boot. With selections like chocolate chip oatmeal, lemon lavender, and bourbon chocolate pecan, it’s best to grab a few. They’re that good. The genius in the flavor of each cookie is worth mentioning, but the construction of the cookie itself is something special. Rucker and her team developed a cookie recipe that contains the perfect balance of crispy edges and soft-chewy centers. Grab at least three to share or to take home cause you’ll no doubt still be thinking about those cookies long afterward.

A scoop from McConnell's Ice Cream

And this is why we suggested you bring a cooler. Purchase a scoop or a pint to go.

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You did it! You completed your food journey through Grand Central Market. Why not reward yourself with a scoop of ice cream from McConnell’s Ice Cream at one of the few places you can find this beloved brand in person, outside of its Santa Barbara homestead. There are favorites like coffee, vanilla bean and triple chocolate, but also flavor combos such as honey and cornbread. It will go great with your cookies from Fat + Flour, a perfect combination if there ever was one. Although you might be pretty full right now, maybe grab that scoop or pint to go — did you bring that cooler? — and relish in the victory of everything you accomplished.

Hiring remained anemic in December, closing out the weakest year for job growth since the beginning of the pandemic.

U.S. employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, according to a report Friday from the Labor Department. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dipped to 4.4%, from 4.5% in November, while job gains for October and November were also revised down by a total of 76,000 jobs.

For all of 2025, employers added 584,000 jobs — compared to 2 million new jobs in 2024. That meant that last year was the worst for employment growth since 2020.

Health care and hospitality were among the few industries adding jobs in December. Health care employment is generally immune from ups and downs in the business cycle.

Manufacturing continues to lose workers, cutting 8,000 jobs in December. Factories have been in a slump for the last 10 months, according to an index of manufacturing activity compiled by the Institute for Supply Management. The sector has been hit hard by President Trump's tariffs, since many domestic manufacturers rely on some foreign components.

"Morale is very low across manufacturing in general," said an unnamed factory manager quoted in this week's ISM report. "The cost of living is very high, and component costs are increasing with folks citing tariffs and other price increases."

The federal government added 2,000 jobs in December, but is still down 277,000 jobs from the beginning of the year. The government recorded big job losses earlier in the fall, when workers who accepted buyouts officially dropped off the government's payroll.

While unemployment remains low by historical standards, workers are increasingly nervous about job security. A survey last month by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found workers slightly more worried about losing their job in the coming year, and less confident about finding a new job if they are laid off.

The slowdown in hiring makes people who already have jobs reluctant to give them up. The resulting lack of turnover means fewer job openings for young people and others trying to get a foot in the door.

Concern about the weakening job market prompted the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark interest rate in December for the third time since September.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Producer and engineer Rich Mouser built his recording studio, The Mouse House, more than two decades ago — it was part of his home in the Altadena hills. The space featured 35-foot ceilings, soundproofed isolation rooms and a library of vintage recording gear that the 63-year-old musician had been collecting since he was a teenager. A year ago, the Mouse House burned to the ground in the Eaton fire.

"I went through and started making a list and adding it up. It's got to be close to half a million [dollars] in lost equipment," Mouser tells NPR. "In hindsight, if I had known the house was going to burn down like that, I would have gone to great more lengths to get stuff out."

The Los Angeles wildfires destroyed more than 16,000 homes and businesses. Mouser, who has worked with bands including Weezer, Dream Theater and Spock's Beard, is one of countless musicians doubly impacted by the natural disaster. He not only lost the house for which he'd finished paying off the mortgage and everything inside it; suddenly, a large chunk of his livelihood also vanished.

"Three days after the fire, I went to London to run sound for some live shows. A lot of people were like, 'Are you really going to go? You have to cancel,'" Mouser remembers. "I thought, 'This might be the only work I have for who knows how long, so I'm going to go do it.'"

Adron McCann, a singer-songwriter, visual artist and audio producer who performs as Adron, was facing a similar uncertainty. She'd been renting half of a duplex in Altadena with her partner, who is also a working musician, for two years when the Eaton fire tore through their home. Overnight, the couple lost virtually all their personal belongings — including McCann's three treasured aquariums — as well as their at-home studio setup. A lifetime's worth of gear, instruments, paintings, vinyl albums and a collection of vintage synthesizers disappeared.

"I'm still working on just the personal grief of it, the whole story," McCann says. "And so trying to put the pieces back together professionally — it's just really, really blended with our personal lives."

Starting to piece things back together

Immediately, friends and family for both Mouser and McCann sprung into action, setting up GoFundMe pages that raised tens of thousands of dollars. Mouser says he initially purchased core items needed to get back to work: a graphic equalizer, Neve microphone preamps, a portion of the same model of mixing board he lost in the fire. Fellow musicians loaned him studio spaces, equipment and helped him scour the internet for gear. Much of what he lost is irreplaceable, he says, or has significantly gone up in value since he bought it decades ago.

McCann says her community has majorly stepped up, too. Through the generosity of friends and strangers — including comedian Fred Armisen, who donated a couple of his guitars — McCann and her partner have been able to continue playing gigs. Artists share resources about grants and other rebuilding efforts, leaning on one another to find housing, work opportunities and instrument replacements. None of this, McCann says, would be possible without being plugged into their local music scene.

"I'm really aware of the trade-offs that we make as musicians," McCann says. "We trade off stability and security, but we gain friendship and community and the care and concern of people very far away who we don't even necessarily know in person, but they are moved by the art we make, and so they come to us when we're hurting."

Adrienne McCann in her original home studio before the fires.

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Both McCann and Mouser say they've received support from a wide patchwork of colleagues, mutual aid networks and official relief organizations, all working together to address the ongoing needs of wildfire survivors as time passes. That includes government agencies like FEMA and Los Angeles County, nonprofits like Guitar Center Music Foundation and MusiCares, and more grassroots collectives like Altadena Musicians, an instrument-giving network started by composer Brandon Jay.

Myka Miller, the executive director of Guitar Center Music Foundation, says that for the first six months of 2025, the organization fulfilled grants for over 700 people to replace lost or damaged equipment, in addition to supplying instruments to 15 affected schools and community organizations. Miller says it's the largest natural disaster relief effort the nonprofit has tackled in recent history. "What was surprising to me was that a lot of people were asking for studio gear overwhelmingly," Miller tells NPR. "Studio monitors and microphones were one of the top things — DJ equipment, that kind of stuff."

One of Guitar Center's partners has been MusiCares, the nonprofit founded by the Recording Academy to support the financial, mental and physical wellbeing of people in the music industry. The organization says that since the wildfires broke out last year, it's provided more than $15 million in assistance to over 3,200 music professionals. In December, the nonprofit hosted a health and wellness clinic in Altadena for industry professionals impacted by the fires. The event offered physical therapy, vision and hearing screenings and opportunities for survivors to connect with one another over the ongoing challenges of finding a new normal. Executive director Theresa Wolters says these kinds of spaces — and a focus on mental health specifically — will be a big part of the work going forward, along with ongoing financial help.

"It is not too late to access support. We are still here," Wolters tells NPR. "We know that so many people are just now starting to come up for air through this disaster. They're just now starting to figure out what they need and what kind of assistance they might benefit from."

Looking ahead

As the anniversary of the fires passes, Wolters emphasizes that recovery is a long and nonlinear process. While some artists have made significant progress, others are still operating on survival mode.

Today, Rich Mouser and his wife are renting a house with a converted garage that doubles as Mouser's temporary studio. He's been able to continue his work mixing albums, touring with bands and is getting used to the newer equipment.

He's also working with an architect and sound engineer on rebuilding plans for his permanent home and studio in Altadena. They'll be prioritizing concrete over wood in case of future fires, he says, and are planning on a few improvements, like building a separate entry for The Mouse House so musicians don't have to walk through his kitchen to enter the studio. Mouser hopes building can begin within several months so the project is completed by summer or fall of 2027.

Insurance and relief aid are currently covering his rent, but he's worried that won't last all the way until the new house and studio are ready. Finding and applying for grants, he half-jokes, is a full-time job of its own. "We need this place because it's got this back house where I can work," Mouser says. "If we didn't have this situation, we could move into a smaller apartment, but I'm able to work out here and generate income."

McCann and her partner, on the other hand, are still taking things day by day. They are no longer living in their dream neighborhood of Altadena, but they're settled into a new rental home for now. Due to federal funding cuts to public radio, she recently lost a significant portion of her income as a producer for WABE, leading to more fear and uncertainty. Songwriting, she says, has taken a backseat for now.

"We're still not done recovering in the immediate sense. We're still not done trying to figure out home and gear and recording and our basic building blocks of our life we're still working on," McCann says. "I'm just going to keep trying to get a more stable foundation under my feet. But as an artist, that's a surprisingly comfortable place for me."
Copyright 2026 NPR

Maria Silva works at the El Super off Century Boulevard in Inglewood, in the same sprawling parking lot as a Home Depot.

She's been on the job for 17 years. The work is hard, and her wages are low. But since summer, her role as a supervisor at the grocery store chain has included a new challenge: co-workers and customers are worried about ICE.

Her customers come in talking about recent sightings, or asking if federal agents have been in the area. After a regular stopped coming into the store, Silva said she heard through the grapevine that he'd been picked up by federal agents.

" It's somebody that I would interact with almost every single day, because he would come and get his coffee and bread," she said, holding back tears. "It upsets me. It makes me feel like I can't do anything about it."

Silva is among the workers at seven unionized El Super locations in Southern California, including the store in Inglewood, who are asking their employer to implement more protocols to protect them and shoppers at their stores from federal agents.

Around 700 workers are currently negotiating a new contract with the grocery store chain. Their union, United Food and Commercial Workers, says the supermarket's owner, Chedraui USA, which also owns Smart & Final, is refusing their demands, including substantial wage increases.

Chedraui USA declined to comment on the specifics of ongoing negotiations.

"We value our team members and the communities we serve, and remain committed to bargaining in good faith, following all labor laws, and creating a safe and respectful workplace for every associate while continuing to provide affordable food for our customers," the company said in a statement.

What are they asking for?

Maricruz Ceceña, the organizing director for UFCW local 770, said the El Super workers want the company to agree to establish certain safety protocols in the contract, such as not allowing federal agents into non-public areas without a signed judicial warrant and establishing private areas in stores.

She said they also want the employer to re-affirm compliance with certain laws, such as a requirement that federal officials give three-day notice before inspecting I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms.

According to UFCW, other major grocery chains, including Ralphs, Super A, Vons, Pavilions, Gelson's and Albertsons, have agreed to similar protections in contracts with workers represented by the union.

"That Chedraui or El Super is still refusing to put basic language in that would protect its customers and its workers when other companies have already done so?" Ceceña told LAist. "I think workers just find that baffling and insulting."

Why workers are pushing for this

The grocery store workers are part of a broader effort to win immigration protections through labor negotiations. Victor Narro, an expert on workplace rights for immigrant workers and a lecturer at UCLA Law School, said more and more unions have been adding the type of language El Super workers want to their contracts in recent years.

"Especially unions that have a large immigrant workforce as members," he said. "One of the misconceptions is that the unions are then trying to circumvent immigration laws in the union contract. But that's not the case. What they're trying to do is get the employer to do what they are able to do under the law."

The first push for these types of union protections dates back to the 90s, Narro said, in the wake of a Reagan-era immigration law that established penalties for employers who knowingly hired unauthorized workers.

Narro said contract language can help add a layer of protection for some workers, but pointed out that the vast majority of private-sector workers in the U.S. have no union representation. He said policy change is needed to keep all workers safe.

" So what unions have been doing for the majority of workers who are not unionized is doing the policy work," he said.

'Customers, they're scared'

El Super markets itself to a Spanish-speaking clientele. Its website states "El Super is at the heart of your cocina." The union says most customers and workers are Latino.

Araceli Ortiz has worked at a unionized El Super store in Pico Rivera for eight years. She said after immigration sweeps ramped up in June, her store was quieter than usual, and she saw customers buying groceries for multiple families who were too afraid to do their grocery shopping in person.

She had one customer burst into tears at the checkout counter, saying her husband had recently been detained by ICE.

" We get customers, they're scared," Ortiz said. "Mostly every day they mention ICE, immigration and their surroundings. And they ask us, 'Have they come around here?' And what can I say? They're everywhere."

Ortiz is on a team of El Super workers who are bargaining with their employer over the new contract. She said that the grocery chain has said verbally that it will follow the law.

" But you know, we want them to put it in the contract," she said. "Because if there's signs right there [saying] it's only for employees only, the employees are gonna feel a little bit safer."

An upgrade to the website used to make camping reservations within California State Parks may have you locked out of your account — just as highly-sought-after campsites are being released for the summer. 

The overhaul, which happened in late October of last year, requires anyone who had a ReserveCalifornia account before the change to reauthenticate their account before making any camping reservations.

That means if you’re planning on logging on at 8 a.m. to snag a campsite for a busy summer weekend, you may get caught in login troubles while other people are snapping up your top choice.

If you have a ReserveCalifornia account, keep reading for step-by-step instructions on what to do now — so you’ll be ready when summer reservations become available.

Jump straight to:

• What should people with existing ReserveCalifornia accounts do?
• What about those who never had an account?

What happened to the California State Parks reservation website?

On Oct. 29, 2025, the ReserveCalifornia website, which California State Parks uses to help visitors book campsites and other park amenities, underwent a system upgrade, said Adeline Yee, a spokesperson for the agency.

That upgrade helped improve the system’s operations and incorporated multi-factor authentication for users, requiring anyone trying to log into an account to provide a code sent to their email address to improve system security.

A public campground near Camp Richardson is shown on Aug. 4, 2013, in South Lake Tahoe, California. 

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An email about the changes was sent to ReserveCalifornia account holders in advance of the Oct. 29 switchover, Yee said — but the initial instructions it contained for reauthenticating accounts, encouraging users to use a “Forgot Password?” link, didn’t actually work on the version of the website that went live on that date.

The day after the update went live, Yee said, state parks added a banner alert to ReserveCalifornia with updated login directions – which now required even existing account-holders to hit “Create Account” to reauthenticate their details.

Yee said while the update affected all 1.2 million ReserveCalifornia accounts, only around 400,000 of those accounts have been active in the past two years. During the first five days after the update, the ReserveCalifornia customer service line saw a 30% increase in calls and emails, Yee said — around 300 more inquiries per day than normal.

“State Parks apologizes for the confusion and inconvenience and will work with ReserveCalifornia so future website updates and account enhancements go smoother,” Yee said.

I have a ReserveCalifornia account, and I want to reserve a state parks campsite soon. What should I do?

First, don’t panic. Your account is still active, and your reservation and account history haven’t been lost — so if you were signed up for the lottery of a must-have spot like the Steep Ravine Cabins, you’re still on the list.

But you will have to go through a couple of steps to log back in – and it may take a few minutes, so it’s best to do it before you’re racing others to get a prime camping spot this summer.

Campsites are filled at Half Moon Bay State Beach in Half Moon Bay, California, on June 29, 2010. How to reauthenticate and reactivate your ReserveCalifornia account:

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Paul Chinn

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How to reauthenticate and reactivate your ReserveCalifornia account:

Go to “Log In/Sign Up” on the top right of ReserveCalifornia.com, and click the “Create an Account” link.

Then, use the same email address of your existing account, and re-set up your profile. You can use the password you previously used for your ReserveCalifornia account, or create a new one.

Once you do so, your new ReserveCalifornia account should be automatically linked to your old one, Yee said — and you’ll be immediately able to make campsite reservations once more.

If you got an email or searched the web and got different instructions, like those saying to hit the “Forgot Password” button — ignore those.

And if you’re still having trouble or are stuck in password reset purgatory, try refreshing the page and starting over — or call ReserveCalifornia between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. PST at 800-444-7275.

I’m new to ReserveCalifornia. What should I know?

New account users shouldn’t have any issues. Simply go to ReserveCalifornia.com, hit the “Sign Up” button in the top right corner and create a new account.

Make sure you know the reservation policies at state parks, as they’ve just changed this year — and make canceling campsites more costly in an effort to keep more reservations open.

And you should know that campsite and cabin reservations open up to six months in advance at 8 a.m., so if you have big summer plans to get out into the wilderness, you may want to check now for availability. Read our full guide on how to snag desirable California campsites for summer 2026.