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The Delta Terminal Will Soon Have the Best Food at LAX, Full Stop

Plus, where to find Chinese doughnuts, and a fundraiser for Pakistan flood victims

Digital images for the future Homeboy Cafe at Los Angeles International Airport.
Renderings for Homeboy Cafe at LAX’s Terminal 3.
Chris Rank
Mona Holmes is a reporter for Eater Los Angeles and a regular contributor to KCRW radio. She has covered restaurants, dining, and food culture since 2016. In 2022, the James Beard Foundation nominated her for a Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award.

Travelers coming in and out of LAX’s Delta new terminal can anticipate a slew of new restaurants, retail, and coffee options in the coming months. The terminal actually opened in April, but today’s news is all about where to dine while traveling through Terminal 3 at LAX.

Five restaurants will open in various phases when Delta opens Terminal 3 on October 5, though chef Nyesha Arrington’s Native later in the month. In the coming months, expect to be able to order from local coffee chain Alfred Coffee, as well as Homeboy Cafe, rapper Ludacris’s Chicken + Beer, and Jamba for smoothies, bowls, and fresh juice. Dine-in will be available, but there’s also mobile pickup and delivery via LAXOrderNow.com.

Delta’s $2.3 billion-dollar terminal took four years to complete, with nine new gates and larger seating areas equipped with more coveted power strips for device charging. For some time now, LAX has been nearly unrecognizable as construction has been underway. Spectrum News reports that LAX also completed the final pedestrian bridge structure for an automated people mover yesterday.

Fire at Hotville Chicken

Hotville Chicken owner Kim Prince experienced a fire at her restaurant earlier this week. Prince tells Eater LA it started due to a combination of static, heat, and oil residue, which turned into a smoldering invisible flame. She reports no injuries, just inhaled fumes. Hotville is open, but it’s a stark reminder about the constant challenges of restaurant ownership.

A quest for Chinese doughnuts

Local writer Jean Trinh went deep for the Los Angeles Times and ventured to 20 restaurants throughout the Southland in search of tiao, or Chinese doughnuts.

Plant-based restaurants have sprung up

It’s been quite a year for LA’s plant-based dining. VegOut News published a list of 10 great vegan restaurants — and one butcher — that opened in 2022.

Exterior at Maciel’s in Highland Park.
Maciel’s.
Wonho Frank Lee

Alice Waters’s restaurants get a comparative review

San Francisco Chronicle writer Soleil Ho recently visited Lulu from chef Alice Waters. Ho’s new review is a detailed look at her Westwood restaurant, with some comparisons to the author-chef’s established Berkeley outpost, Chez Panisse.

A fundraiser for Pakistani flood victims

Khan Saab Desi Craft Kitchen will continue to donate 15 percent of all sales to Pakistan’s flood relief through October 15. Flooding in the region has devastated the country, displacing as many as 33 million Pakistanis in recent months. The halal Fullerton restaurant recently received the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand designation.