It looks as though soon enough, pest control company Western Exterminator will be able to have their bugs and eat them too. Quite literally, as the company is sponsoring a one-day pop-up in Santa Monica with the folks behind Mondo Taco, and will feature all kinds of creepy crawlers for your dining pleasure.
The stunt was, ahem, cooked up by Western Exterminator as a way to get more people to interact with the insects and bugs they tend to otherwise fear. It’s a smart marketing ploy for a company that otherwise only hears the phone ring when something is very, very wrong.
The Mondo Taco pop-up goes down Saturday, October 8 during lunch hours at the Third Street Promenade. The event is actually free for all, and will take place outside right on the tourist walking boulevard itself. As for the menu, the restaurant says to expect everything from a Thai mealworm salad to barbecue beetle tacos, with plenty of grasshoppers (a common Oaxacan ingredient) thrown in for good measure. There will also be a cricket-eating contest, if that’s more your speed.
Ultimately the bug-eating cause is a good one, as Western Exterminator is donating $1 for every menu item eaten to the Westside Food Bank. So, y’know, eat up because it’s for charity. The so-called Pestaurant hits October 8 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.