Hawthorne Joins the Food Hall Fight With New $500 Million Project, and More

Hawthorne’s half-billion play

Hawthorne is keen to get in on the big new retail and restaurant model being pushed all across Los Angeles these days. That’s why developers there are pushing forward on a new $500 million project called Magnitude LAX (though it’s nearly three miles from the airport) that promises 500,000 square feet of retail space, plus offices, a food hall, rooftop dining greenspace, a grocery store, and more.

While Downtown has been overrun lately will food hall concepts (and The Proud Bird is almost ready to fly right by LAX), Magnitude’s primary South Bay competition will come from places like the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance and El Segundo’s upcoming Apollo Landing. Check out the whole brochure on the place right this way.

Award-winning design

A number of local restaurants have won design awards for their spectacular interior aesthetics, among them Beer Belly Long Beach, Little Ground Cafe, Cassia, and Salazar, says Curbed LA.

Hollywood comedy

Hollywood’s Black Rabbit Rose is expanding from magic to comedy, with a new evening of laughs starting tonight. This evening’s feature is Jeff Garlin, and like most clubs there’s a two-drink minimum.

Urth Caffe to Vegas

Apparently Urth Caffe is expanding to Las Vegas. That’s according to Eater Vegas, who says the popular coffee chain is jumping into some new real estate inside the Wynn.

Little Fatty’s lunch boxes

As of yesterday, Mar Vista’s Little Fatty is doing $12 lunch boxes. They’re like Chinese/Taiwanese bento boxes of sorts, with options for everything from Hainan chicken to walnut shrimp to fried chicken bao, all offered during lunch only.

Bibibop grows across Los Angeles

Healthy-ish bibimbap option Bibibop is opening up a slate of locations in July, all inside the former locations of ShopHouse Asian Kitchens. Each will be a quick turnaround, with locations in Hollywood, Westwood, Santa Monica, and along Beverly Boulevard all coming online in July.

The best right now in OC

Orange County’s culinary prowess just keeps growing, as evidenced by this recent LA Times piece highlighting some of the must-eat dishes from the OC right now. Rainbow bagels aside, picks like the dried, fried anchovies from Irenia and nopal sorbet from Puesto are spot on.

Fried chicken sandwiches from Ilan Hall

The Gorbals/Ramen Hood champ chef Ilan Hall is collaborating with popular hot dog and sausage franchise Dog Haus on a new menu item: The insanely-named Bad Mutha Clucka. It’s the first such sandwich for the company (and still uses their signature Hawaiian sweet rolls as a bun), and comes at a time of increased fried chicken sandwich popularity in the fast casual market. Look for the sandwich to roll out to all locations on July 6.