THE BASICS:

WHAT:  Classic American cuisine w/ a twist

WHO:  Josef Centeno – quickly becoming the DTLA king with his slew of restaurants including Baco Mercat, Bar Ama (love) and Orsa & Winston.

WHERE:  DTLA

WHEN:  daily breakfast, lunch and dinner (closed b/w 3PM-5:30PM)

THE DISH: 

WHAT TO ORDER:  The Cracklin Anson Mills Cornbread ($9) w/ jalapeno cheddar butter and scallion (+ Bacon for $2 – duh — do people ever not add bacon?) was so melt in your mouth delicious. That delicious taste of a classic cornbread without feeling overly heavy. Highly recommend! Also, do not leave without trying to Caramalized Cauliflower ($14) with radish, sungold tomatoes, blue cheese, bacon, sunflower seeds and breadcrumbs. All I’m going to say is we almost ordered a second round of this heavenly concoction — and then we looked around and realized we had already ordered half the menu and decided against it. But seriously, bomb.com. As far as desserts go, the Chilled Rice Pudding ($12) w/ graham cracker crumb, sea salt and caramel was sooooooo good. We were all iffy about rice pudding and ended up licking the plate. So there’s that.

GIVE IT A CHANCE: The Griddled Cheeseburger & Fries ($14/single patty) – IT HAS AN EGG COOKED INTO THE PATTY!!!! I mean talk about unique! Also, pretty sure the burger is part fried? This cheeseburger is definitely not your average burger and while it is supes delish, it’s also very rich! Give it a shot (b/c how do you not) but definitely plan on sharing it with the table. One or two bites is enough…

WHAT NOT TO ORDER: The dumplings (which I no longer see on the menu so maybe they’re ahead of the game) — just blah. After everything else we ordered, these were the least impressive. Also, the fried chicken is good but if you’re going somewhere for their fried chicken, would recommend Osso’s over this (especially b/c it’s also downtown). I will say the the slaw and biscuit it comes with are pretty good though!

WHEN TO GO: We were having a girls night and headed to a Lakers game (who knew burgers and basketball made for the perfect GNO) so we ate on the early side (hence why the restaurant was dead in the pics — it was 5:30PM). Would definitely recommend breakfast, lunch or dinner (probably on the weekends over mid week) and if you’re doing dinner, go past 7PM — you know, like a normal person.

WHAT TO WEAR: Seemed pretty casual to us.

WHAT TO KNOW: Daily happy hour from 5:30PM-7PM and 10PM-midnight. Also, they have a private room you can rent out for a party which you can have catered by any of the 4 restaurants in the group! Time for a party? I think yes.

EDDR LIFE LESSON:  When you have 3 other bomb restaurants behind your belt, it’s a safe bet to assume the 4th will live up to the name.

A² FINAL THOUGHT:  If you’re trying a restaurant for the food over the ambiance, I would definitely recommend Ledlow. While I may not make the trek downtown JUST to go back, the next time I find myself down there (which will likely happen sooner rather than later since I’m still trying to get into The Broad’s Infinity Room), I would definitely head back and give that breakfast/brunch menu a go. If you’re looking for a loud, crowded, bar-like ambiance, I would opt for somewhere else instead.

Who knew I loved cornbread and rice pudding,

Alie

Ledlow ↔ 400 S. Main Street, LA, CA 90013 ↔ 213-687-7015