Santa Monica's pop up Food Alley

Komodo truck's tacos, clockwise from top left: Soi (tofu), Java (pork), Fish n' Grapes, Komodo 2.0 (steak)

Driving around the white-collar entertainment jungle east of 20th Street and south of Santa Monica Boulevard, it’s hard to imagine finding anything more exotic or affordable to eat for lunch than a burrito from La Salsa.

Adventurous budget-conscious lunch hunters can celebrate, because Santa Monica’s very own Food Alley is open for business.

Located on Pennsylvania Avenue, a short one-way road off of 26th Street, a colorful train of about 20 food trucks park their aromatic frames, sandwiched by buildings that house local offices of MTV, Yahoo!, and a branch of Santa Monica College.

Every weekday starting around 11:00 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m. workers from the surrounding neighborhood trickle onto the unobtrusive street, asking themselves the all-important question: which truck will feed me today?

Luis Acosta, a student at SMC, likes having lots of options to choose from. He likes how each truck and each food selection has a theme.

Almost like an amusement park, every truck does have a theme; on one particular day, the options ranged from Komodo, to Aloha Fridays, and Baby’s Badass Burgers. Competition may be what helps keep food truck prices low.

“There’s a lot of options, so it’s not particularly good for each truck, versus spots where people come to find us just for us,” says Erin Stack, an employee at the Baby’s truck.

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