{"id":1014723,"date":"2026-08-21T10:34:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T10:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1014723\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T10:34:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T10:34:25","slug":"how-to-have-the-best-sunday-in-l-a-according-to-roy-choi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1014723\/","title":{"rendered":"How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Roy Choi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"la-sf-Roy-Choi-drop-cap-red-C.png\" <\/p>\n

Chef Roy Choi, one of the founders of the food-truck movement, says his Kogi BBQ business could only have started in Los Angeles, a city where food boundaries don\u2019t exist and street culture brings people together.<\/p>\n

\"Sunday <\/a> <\/p>\n

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.<\/p>\n

Choi, who was born in Seoul, grew up in an immigrant family that bounced from Koreatown to West Los Angeles. \u201cEspecially with Asian immigrant families, you live together, you share duplexes, you share houses, and you go through all those iterations until you get your own apartment, you rent your own house, and you finally, hopefully, get to a point where you buy your own house,\u201d Choi says. \u201cIt took my family about 13, 14 years to get to that stage, but they figured it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was November 2008 when Choi, with partners Mark Manguera and Caroline Shin-Manguera, rolled out the first Kogi truck with Korean BBQ tacos, using Twitter to announce where they\u2019d be. The business grew to include several trucks, a catering operation, a bar, the Alibi Room, and his latest restaurant, Best Friend! at the Park MGM Las Vegas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Choi, who lives in Koreatown, says his blend of Korean and Mexican cuisine is an homage to the street culture he grew up in. Today, the chef\u2019s perfect Sunday is a foodie\u2019s dream \u2014 sampling food from around L.A. by driving to different parts of the city, and savoring his alone time the entire day.<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

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6:30 a.m.: Wake up and walk the dogs<\/b><\/p>\n

I have two dogs, so I take them out to do their business. Then you got to walk them a little bit. You got to give them coochie-coos, and that\u2019s my workout. Some people go to the gym or do yoga. I play with my dogs.<\/p>\n

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8 a.m.: Check out the Hollywood Farmer<\/b>s Market<\/b><\/p>\n

The Farmers Market is the first thing on my agenda. I try to do the Hollywood Farmers<\/b>Market <\/b>on Sunday, and that\u2019s my breakfast. All the free samples, you know? I don\u2019t eat the traditional three squares a day. I\u2019m like the Thai, who eat eight meals a day, snacking throughout the day. At the Farmers Market, breakfast is maybe three oranges, two apples, a basket of strawberries, half a melon and two peaches. After that, I\u2019ll shoot over to Los Feliz and go to Maru Coffee<\/b> and get either a cortado or the espresso, because it comes with a little sparkling water, and a croissant. The whole set is really serene and Zen-like. Then I\u2019ll get a matcha latte to go.<\/p>\n

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10 a.m.: Visit with the vendors at Smorgasburg<\/b><\/p>\n

From there, I\u2019ll hit Smorgasburg L.A<\/b>., the largest open-air food market in town. My friend Zach Brooks runs it on Sundays. I love seeing all the vendors because I\u2019m a street-food cook. I love meeting young entrepreneurs with their booths. They\u2019re just full of joy and energy. It inspires me, so it\u2019s like a natural spring well of water that I go to every Sunday. That\u2019s where I get my spiritual pick-me-up. There, I\u2019ll hit up a couple of vendors and maybe get a shawarma and lobster noodles.<\/p>\n

Noon: Head over to Boyle Heights<\/b><\/p>\n

Next, I\u2019ll go to East L.A., Boyle Heights. It depends on what I\u2019m craving, but usually I\u2019ll end up at Burritos La Palma<\/b>, which is a stand, and Mariscos Jalisco<\/b>, which is a truck. They\u2019re a block and a half away from each other, so I\u2019ll get a refried beans-and-cheese burrito from La Palma. They\u2019re called burritos, but they\u2019re rolled tacos. Then at Mariscos, I\u2019ll get their shrimp tacos, which is not a soft taco. It\u2019s a fried taco. That\u2019s like my Sunday brunch.<\/p>\n

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1 p.m.: Drive south to Torrance<\/b><\/p>\n

Then, I love to drive south. I\u2019ve been places there my whole life. I\u2019d roam Gardena and Torrance, eating soba, udon and tempura. I used to mob all throughout Carson, eating Hawaiian food. So I\u2019ll head for Old Torrance and do another doubleheader with Kagura<\/b> <\/a>for katsu, and I\u2019ll hit Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr.<\/b><\/a> for soba or tendon. I\u2019ll do that back-to-back because they\u2019re right down the street from each other. From there, I\u2019ll stop and roam around a bit at Del Amo Fashion Center<\/b>, just to walk it off.<\/p>\n

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2:30 p.m.: Move farther south to San Pedro<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll drive to San Pedro, hit the Korean Bell of Friendship<\/b> and just chill for awhile. I love to drive across the two bridges [Vincent Thomas Bridge and Long Beach International Gateway] from San Pedro to Long Beach. That\u2019s like my hobby because there are not many chances in L.A. that you get to drive across bridges of that magnitude.<\/p>\n

4 p.m.: Drive west for almond milk tea<\/b><\/p>\n

After that, I\u2019ll shoot over to the west, get to Volcano Tea House<\/b><\/a> on Sawtelle for some almond milk tea. The flavor of the milk tea, the atmosphere on Sawtelle, the street, and the punch card at Volcano Tea House makes it special there. Every 10th drink is free!<\/p>\n

Or I might grab a quick strawberry or peanut butter smoothie from Main Squeeze<\/b><\/a> in Santa Monica, then go see the sunset.<\/p>\n

6:30 p.m.: Dinner in Koreatown<\/b><\/p>\n

Then I\u2019ll shoot back up to Koreatown and get dinner. I like the sundubu-jjigae, spicy tofu stew at Surawon Tofu House.<\/b><\/a> <\/p>\n

Or I\u2019ll go to Myung Dong Kyoja<\/b>, a.k.a. MDK, for the chicken kalguksu to get my slurp on.<\/p>\n

Asian restaurants don\u2019t serve dessert, so I\u2019ll go to Anko<\/b><\/a> for some shaved ice.<\/p>\n

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9 p.m.: Take in a movie<\/b><\/p>\n

I like the Regal Sherman Oaks Galleria <\/b>theater. I\u2019ll get a popcorn with butter in the middle and the top, and a blueberry and cherry Icee. Then, after the movie, you need ice cream, right? So I\u2019ll probably hit the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream<\/b> in Studio City if it\u2019s still open. Late night, I like to eat soft serve, versus scooped, ice cream. I like scooped ice cream during the day.<\/p>\n

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Midnight: Zone out and doomscroll<\/b><\/p>\n

I probably won\u2019t go to bed for another three hours, so I\u2019ll just be zoning out. If I\u2019m watching TV, I\u2019d be catching up on \u201cAndor,\u201d Season 2<\/a>. But I\u2019d probably be doomscrolling on the phone. So if you want to DM me, DM me between midnight and 3 a.m. To me, a beautiful Sunday is having \u201cme time,\u201d being connected to the universe and others, but having your own little bubble to maneuver through it.<\/p>\n