Brunch is sacred in Los Angeles. On any given day you can drive around any neighborhood in the city and see a line forming for this day defining meal. One menu item that seems to be growing in popularity is the BLAT- a bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich with avocado. A simple sandwich at heart, the addition of locally grown and almost always in season avocados add just the right kick to really punch up the flavor.
Here are the top 5 places to score a BLTA or BLAT in Los Angeles:
Square One Dining: Located in South Hollywood and across from a large scientology building, Square One Dining has perfected their version of the BLAT. With three strips of crispy, thick applewood smoked bacon, two fresh leaves of Bibb lettuce, two juicy slices of ripe tomatoes and a healthy portion of California avocados, this tasty BLAT comes together on a five grain bread with aioli sauce. The sandwich is perfect to share with two people, although I’ve seen many people take the whole thing down themselves.
The Sycamore Kitchen: Defined as an ‘urban bakery-eatery’, the Sycamore Kitchen is owned by award winning local chefs Karen and Quinn Hatfield. Since they live in the community, they pride themselves and the restaurant on serving what locals want in a refined environment. Only open since summer of 2012, they are already known for their Double B-LTA, with its two types of bacon- crispy bacon and braised pork belly. The bacon is then sandwiched between butter lettuce, avocado, balsamic glazed tomatoes and stacked between country bread with light mayo. The balsamic tomatoes give just the right amount of flavor to counter balance the bacon and pork belly and make this BLAT stand out.
The Highland Café: East of the 2 freeway and just south of Eagle Rock, this café is not the easily to get to. But, their ‘healthy’ version of a BLAT is worth the drive. The Highland Café has totally kicked the traditional BLAT out of the park. With turkey bacon, alfalfa sprouts, and homemade sun-dried tomatoes, you’ll think you’re at a health food restaurant. It’s not until they add the garlic cream cheese on toasted wheat berry bread that you realize you just hit the BLAT jackpot. This sandwich is both sweet and savory and served with a hearty portion of curried potato salad. Graphic designers will love the signage, and hipsters will love the quirky atmosphere, but all are welcomed.
The Golden State: Nestled in a cozy little spot on Fairfax near Melrose Blvd, you could almost miss this place if you weren’t looking for it. With a strong philosophy of buying locally grown and harvested food, The Golden State sources and showcases foods from California in every menu item. Their BLTA is a traditional one, throwing glazed applewood smoked bacon in the mix. Come here for the ambience and feel good eating local foods that taste delicious.
With turkey bacon, alfalfa sprouts, and homemade sun-dried tomatoes, you’ll think you’re at a health food restaurant.
Blu Jam Café: Before we even get into the food, let’s talk location and parking. Blu Jam is on tourist friendly Melrose, so it’s between weird one off clothing boutiques and tattoo parlors. There isn’t any convenient parking and there is always a wait. But don’t be discouraged- lets talk about why you put yourself through all that hassle on a weekday afternoon. The BLTA might be the best in the city. Using nearby farms to source as many ingredients as they can and as many organic and free range meats as possible, Blu Jam gets a grade A for health and environmental cooking. Using most of the same ingredients that the other restaurants on this list use, I’m not exactly sure what makes this BLAT stand above the rest. Maybe it’s the perfection of their crispy bacon, or that they use argula instead of butter lettuce, or maybe still it’s the pesto aioli sauce that is slightly spicy. Whatever it is, you will not be disappointed.