J&G Fried Chicken, one of Taiwan’s most popular fried chicken restaurants with 500 stores worldwide, is opening its first U.S. location in Hacienda Heights at 1631 South Azusa Avenue this May. The original J&G Fried Chicken started in 1973 as a street food operation on Jiguang Street in Taichung. Today, the brand has 70 stores in Taiwan and 430 internationally, with plans to open 150 U.S. stores in the next 10 years and over 1,000 worldwide. The Hacienda Heights location is in partnership with 85°C Bakery Cafe.

Headlining the menu is Taiwanese-style fried chicken prepared in custom-designed fryers. Offerings include fried chicken sandwiches in flavors like original, spicy deluxe, yuzu, and sweet and sour. A smoked salmon sandwich is available for pescatarians, as are fried oyster mushrooms for vegetarians. Rounding out the menu are fried sides and specialty drinks, including boba milk tea and taro pudding milk tea.

J&G Fried Chicken

A trip down memory lane

Journalist Katherine Spiers takes a look at the historic Sportsmen Lodge in Studio City in a recent edition of How to Eat LA. “The San Fernando Valley urbanized as the entertainment industry grew, and Sportsmen’s Lodge became less of a country-fried diversion and more of a meeting hall for the many Midwestern transplants who brought their earnest, community-minded culture with them,” she writes. Peruse the Lodge’s quirky past here.

Lunch is served at Carla’s Market

Carla’s Fresh Market in Highland Park is serving lunch starting Wednesday, April 3 at 11 a.m. Owner Ariell Ilunga and chef and chocolate maker Julia Ziegler-Haynes are serving a tight menu of salads and sandwiches made using locally sourced ingredients, homemade condiments, and Bub and Grandma’s bread. Highlights from the daytime menu include a poached wild salmon salad with radicchio, spicy sauerkraut, pickled shallots, and a preserved lemon and tahini dressing, all wrapped in lavash bread, and a BLT made with Autonomy Farms crispy bacon, roasted tomato jam, butter lettuce, and homemade aioli.

Carla’s Market

DJ jams and Japanese bar bites

Beginning Friday, April 5 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) is hosting listening parties with In Sheep’s Clothing on the first Friday of the month under the stars of the James Irvine Japanese Garden. Chef-in-residence Chris Ono will be serving bar snacks like skewers, sashimi, ceviche, and sweets, along with Japanese whisky, beer, and wine. Tickets are available on the JACCC website for $12 per person.

A new seaside spot is opening in Santa Monica

The LEED-certified Shore Hotel on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica is opening a new restaurant and bar called Shoreside this summer. The menu features California-coastal fare made with ingredients sourced from the Pacific and produce from the nearby farmers market. The restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows promise epic sunset views.

Shore Hotel