In 2024, two impressive operators became recent additions to Montebello’s popular shipping container food hall, BLVD MRKT. Filipino restaurant and 2021 San Diego Eater Awards recipient White Rice opens on Thursday, October 11. Earlier this year, LA’s For The Win started cranking out smash burgers in late May.

Since opening in 2021, Montebello’s BLVD MRKT’s popular shipping container food hall has shined a big culinary light in a historic Latino neighborhood. BLVD MRKT also employs an incubator program where restaurants rotate in and out of the space. White Rice replaced the shuttered Burrito Company by the Pez Cantina crew, while For The Win moved into the Chicken Koop. That’s by design, says founder Barney Santos, who initiated a shift in 2023. “We don’t see Blvd MRKT as just another food hall or restaurant. We see it as a creative experience where young families can build and be a part of the community,” says Santos. “We want our restaurants to help us elevate that experience to a place that stands out for Montebello and Southern California.”

After boosting the profile of Filipino food in San Diego, South Bay native Phillip Esteban is excited to return to the Los Angeles area. When an invitation arrived from Santos, he couldn’t refuse. “Barney’s been trying to get us to come up for some time now,” says Esteban. His team will prepare the same menu as the two White Rice San Diego outlets with his top-selling pork belly lechon kawali bowl and ube pandesal with whipped ube butter. White Rice also serves a tofu mushroom sisig, lumpia, and sweet longanisa sausage bowl with egg and garlic rice. Every dish costs $15 and under. To drink, expect calamansi iced tea and a bright-purple ube milk tea.

“I know all of LA’s great Filipino chefs, and they’re great at what they do,” says Esteban. “But for White Rice, it’s doing Filipino food the way we see it — with our own experience.”

Fully aware of For The Win’s popularity across LA, Santos pursued the burger maker because he says the restaurant hit the right notes for BLVD MRKT. “We want operators who care obsessively about their food and operations as equally as their branding and marketing,” says Santos. For The Win has been on an expansion tear throughout Southern California, with new restaurants in Hollywood and Alhambra.

Though some are not confident about the future of food halls, Southern California still boasts a number of newer players, including LA Chef’s Kitchens, Blossom Market Hall, and Topanga Social. BLVD MRKT’s longtime tenants include Alchemy Craft, Cafe Santo, Los Taquero Mucho, and Vchos.

White Rice is open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday to Sunday until 9 p.m. For The Win is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. BLVD MRKT is located at 520 Whittier Boulevard, Montebello, CA, 90640.