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RBTA Is Highland Park's Den-Like Robata Grill Slated for Figueroa

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Grilled skewers and beer in a shoebox space on a burgeoning block.

Matthew Kang is the Lead Editor of Eater LA. He has covered dining, restaurants, food culture, and nightlife in Los Angeles since 2008. He's the host of K-Town, a YouTube series covering Korean food in America, and has been featured in Netflix's Street Food show.

RBTA is soon joining the ranks of Birdie, Civil Coffee, The Greyhound and the currently-in-renovation Mr. T's Bowl on Figueroa, adding a quality robata grill from Sticky Rice (GCM) owner David Tewasart and chef Justin Baey (formerly sous chef under Ricardo Zarate).

The robatayaki, scheduled to open by June 2016, takes heavy cues from the yakitori and kushiyaki dens (also known as grill-things-on-skewers) in Japan and pits it right next to the upcoming Birdie from the Horse Thief guys. But the menu won't stick to a traditional game plan, adding things like house-pickled vegetables, and other composed plates like you would find at something like the ever-popular Robata Jinya on West Third.

In all, it's an exciting new concept to hit Highland Park, which keeps adding quality dining destinations as the neighborhood comes up. Does it means that a lot of the older residents will buy in? Time will tell, but with Silver Lake Wine, Intelligentsia, and ETA on the docket, this section of Highland Park is quickly becoming the hottest restaurant neighborhood in Los Angeles.