Corn Man- Food Stand

Corn Man Food Stand
2338 Workman St
Los Angeles, CA 90031

Corn Man is a very popular food stand in Lincoln Heights!  He has his own yelp page.  He has his own Instagram location- The Corn Station.  He has been written about in all the food websites!  Everyday, from about 10:30pm until he runs out, Corn Man sells Mexican style corn on the cobb and cups of corn loaded with mayonnaise, butter, chili powder & cotija cheese!  Both are $2.50 each.  I got there about 9:30 pm and there were already about 5 people in line.  By the time he arrived, about 10:45pm, the line was at least 50 people long!

The line starts at the wall of the Workman St. entrance of a public parking lot.  It's about 100 yards south of the Workman and Broadway.  The above address is the parking lot.  It's a residential neighborhood. 

This was a huge piece of corn, very fresh, hot and stayed hot for about the hour drive.  Filled with tons of mayo, butter, chili powder & cotija cheese, it was great!!  I didn't want too much topping, as I want to taste the sweetness of the corn.  But, the toppings make the corn, addicting!  I could have eaten two or three more!!

The corn cup is good, maybe a bit too much cheese, but fresh and full of flavor.  I prefer the corn on the cobb, but I would get this cup again.

Service is good.  He has a helper, his daughter, the night I was there.  They move quickly and are very friendly!

Corn Man lived up to all expectations!  It's worth the wait!  My advise, is to arrive early, 9:30pm, seems to be the time when most people suggest to arrive.  But, even at 9:30pm, there maybe 25 people already in line!!

Mom's Tamales-Closed

Mom's Tamales
3328 Pasadena Ave
Los Angeles
323-226-9383

Mom's Tamales has been featured in the Food Network show; Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  Now I can't stand that loudmouth jerk host of the show.  Him yelling at the camera and playing a clown, just drives me up the wall.  Most of the time the food looks great on the show, but honestly some of the other restaurants in LA that have been featured on show have been underwhelming.  This is a list of the restaurants I've reviewed that have been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives; some of the restaurants I went to long before there was a bleached blonde loudmouth jerk, yelling at people on The Food Network.

Restaurants I liked: Don Chow Tacos, Brats Brothers, Polka, and Fab Hot Dogs.

Restaurants that I was underwhelmed: Jaybee's BBQ, Baby Blues Bar-B-Q, Chili John's, Mac's Fish and Chip Shop, and Oinkster.

Well add Mom's Tamales into another underwhelming restaurant featured on the show.  Located in the Lincoln Heights area of LA, Mom's is really the covered patio of a house.  It is surrounded by other houses and easy to miss when driving by.  There is a good sized seating area, but I got my tamales to go.  All tamales are $1.84.

Spinach and cheese, fresh spinach, stir fried together with tomato, onions and spices topped with monterey jack cheese.  The first thing I noticed after cutting into the tamales was the terrible masa to filling ratio.  There was way too much masa compared to the filling.  While the masa was soft and moist, there was just too much of it.

The filling was very good.  Lots of flavors going on with the spinach, tomatoes, and cheese.  This was by far the most flavorful and best tasting tamale that I ordered.

Pork-  Again that terrible masa to filling ratio.  What little pork in this tamale was cooked in a red sauce that was too bland and lacked flavor.  The pork was a bit tough and chewy.  This was my least favorite tamale.

Green chicken. I normally do not fix any photos. I just place The New Diner 2's watermark and post them. I was an accurate picture of the food. But, the picture for the green chicken tamale was too bright. So I darken the picture. Again, the masa to meat ratio was terrible; way too much masa. The chicken lacked flavor and the green sauce, a tomatillo jalapeno sauce wasn't spicy at all.

Service is overall was good until I got my order.  I was greeted by a nice older man when I walked in, who promptly got a server to take my take out order.  The young lady who took my order was nice and friendly.  But another young lady who brought my order lacked people skills and should not work in customer service.  She didn't take my order, so she doesn't know who I am.  But, she handed me a bag and said very rudely, $5.52.  When she got my change, all she said was "Here you go."  No thank you for coming?  No, "Come back soon?"

The tamales here are pricey and not worth the prices because it's about 80% masa and 20% filling.  There is no reason for me to come back here again.  Another underwhelming restaurant on Triple D. 

Lanza Brothers Market

Lanza Brothers Market
1803 N Main St
Los Angeles
323-225-8977

After reading the LA Weekly Story about 6 Tasty Cold Cut Subs under $5, I went to Vince's Market and Lanza Brothers Market. Lanza Brothers Market is located in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles, which used to have a large Italian population back when Lanza opened in 1926.

Vince's is about two blocks east of Maddalena Restaurant at San Antonio Winery. It's really a market that serves sandwiches at a great price. There are some tables outside, otherwise this would be a great place to grab a sandwich before seeing the $200 million a year Dodgers lose next season. Of course, assuming the rude jerk security force at The Dump, Dodger Stadium, allow people to bring food into The Dump stadium.

Italian combo, $5, ham, mortadella, salami, cheese, mayo, lettuce and tomatoes.  WOW, just wow!!  What a great sandwich.  A great Italian roll, about six inches, with a nice chewy and soft texture.  The meats were fresh, they use Boar's Head- a good quality meat.  I know Boar's Head isn't the top of the line meats.  But, it is a good quality meat.  The meats are cut into thick slices and piled high on the sandwich.  What a treat and deal.  Much better than those Subway sandwich for $5.

Service is good.  The lady who made my sandwich was nice and friendly.  She quickly made the sandwich correctly.  The cashier was also nice and friendly.

If I am around the Lincoln Heights area I am coming back to Lanza!  What a great sandwich at a great pice!! The sandwich is just as good, if not better than the sandwich at Eastside Market Italian Deli, and it's about $2 less!