Roy Choi Announces New Delivery App Empowering South LA Chefs

Chef Roy Choi announced a new restaurant delivery app called Chewbox on Thursday. In an Instagram post, Choi states that Chewbox will function through a delivery model, similar to Kitchen United in Pasadena. It appears that the general public doesn’t have access to Chewbox yet, and the first customers will be Los Angeles teachers. In the same announcement, Choi says his former restaurant LoCol — which closed in 2018 — is making a comeback within Chewbox as a virtual restaurant with the same menu. He’s also looking for staff and drivers, hoping to bypass restaurant delivery apps like Uber Eats and Postmates. Here’s a portion of his Instagram post below:

“LoCol has definitely had a full arc of ups and downs. But we’re back, we never left. We’re still here. We’ve always been here. We just did some remodeling and rethought the whole concept. We’re coming back out with this thing called Chewbox. So instead of it being just a physical restaurant, what we’re gonna be, is we’re gonna be an app that delivers. Chef cooked meals local meals directly to the neighborhood, supplied by the neighborhood, employed within the neighborhood. And so we’re starting out with the teachers that need a great beautiful hot meal the most. And we’re going to take care of you and take care of them. From the teachers, if the program goes really well, we’re gonna continue to expand out to the businesses and organizations all throughout South Central and continue to work outward and maybe move throughout other cities all throughout America.”

In other news:

—Chez Jay celebrates 60 years on Ocean Avenue on November 16. From 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., they’ll provide live jazz, original menu pricing from 1959, and a throwback menu.

Courtesy of Chez Jay

—Quentin Tarantino’s movie Once Upon A Time was shot throughout Los Angeles, including restaurants like Casa Vega, El Coyote, and Musso & Frank Grill. Deadline.com spoke with Tarantino’s production designer Barbara Ling, where she outlined her approach to make each iconic restaurant look as if it were truly 1969.

—The Los Angeles Times is looking out for Las Vegas regulars. In an incredibly useful story, Vegas restaurants that tack on a “concession fee,” “venue fee,” or “CNF” is not mandatory, and can be removed from the bill. These fees can increase the check amount up to five percent of the bill. Keep an eye on the fine print at the bottom of the bill.

—Singaporean soup dumpling specialist Paradise Dynasty landed a restaurant inside Bloomingdale’s at the South Coast Plaza. Paradise Dynasty’s parent company maintains over 100 locations across Asia, and next year’s opening will be the first in the U.S.

—Shake Shack’s latest move is to Long Beach. The new location at 2nd and PCH opened Thursday. The opening might just crown the neighborhood as burger central, with In-N-Out Burger and Five Guys only blocks away.

• Roy Choi Makes Tough Call on Locol, Closing Watts Restaurant [ELA]