LA County Fair Keeps Tickets Low and Food Cheap to Lure In New Customers

A fair affair

Apparently going to the Los Angeles County Fair isn’t quite as cool as it used to be. That’s the determination some within the fair’s governing board are making, reports the LA Times, so the battle is on to draw in prime (read: young) customers with a slew of discounts and updated food prices.

Last year’s weeks-long fair festival netted 7% fewer attendees compared to the year before, and the LA County Fair Association worries the trend could continue thanks to rising prices and warmer summer temperatures during the August-September months. So, despite operating annually at a loss, the fair will keep ticket prices to $14 for weekday adults ($20 on weekends) while artificially deflating the price of food to $6.60 for individual items or combo meals. That’s in keeping with this year’s Route 66 theme, but regardless of the tie-in it could prove beneficial for fair leaders and hungry Angelenos eager to get out and try a bunch of funnel cake and fried Oreos.

Jonathan Gold expounds

LA Times food critic Jonathan Gold took to KCRW to mull over his recent review of Hollywood restaurant Hearth & Hound. The work itself was contentious given the sexual assault allegations levied against one of the restaurant’s owners, so Gold and Evan Kleiman sit down to discuss.

The Chori story

The Chori-man Humberto Raygoza got the chance to share his story with 60 Second Docs, flashing his housemade links and his new San Pedro digs.

Swoon at WOON

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Vegan on the low

Quiet Eagle Rock Blvd. diner Abby’s is undergoing some evening change, thanks to a new nighttime residency by The Vegan Hooligans. As The Eastsider reports, the evening team is flipping the space and turning out Eastside vegan comfort fare on weekend nights.

Inside LiOrient

LA Downtown News goes deep inside the new LiOrient, which opened last year inside the McCormick & Schmick’s space at the US Bank Tower building. The Chinese restaurant is one big gamble, they say, but it could pull off spectacularly.

Walnut on the rise

An upscale new patisserie called Native Fields is coming to 18750 Amar Road in Walnut soon. The Australian-leaning space should be ready in a matter of days.