Lazzat Grill

🇹🇯 TAJIKISTAN / In front of a Hollywood Ralph's, a converted Bluebird school bus has been painted blue and now stands as a focal point of Central Asian community.

🇹🇯 TAJIKISTAN / 🇺🇿 UZBEKISTAN
📍 7257 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, California
🅿️ Most customers park in Ralph's lot
🥤 No Alcohol

EDITOR'S NOTE: The food truck parks on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and N. Fuller Avenue. Please check with business for current hours and changes.

The plan seemed straightforward. After studying the menus and pictures of food online, a full takeout order of at least a half dozen items would be placed upon the first visit to Lazzat’s converted blue school bus almost two months ago. But seeing the community that grew on this corner because of the presence of this food, more than half the order was immediately scrapped so that follow-up visits could be made in person to enjoy the food here amongst the friendly owners and their customers. When meals are eaten here, they come on beautiful plates and in big wooden bowls for communal enjoyment.

It made more sense after all. While Uzbek plov and mastava might work for reheating at home, homemade lagman noodles and Tajik kurutob demand to be eaten as soon as they are made. And it is that final item, which happens to be the national dish of Tajikistan and not yet seen in Los Angeles, which prompted the plans to return to eat in the very late autumn shadows of the bus.

For the small amount of Central Asian peoples that make Los Angeles their home, stumbling upon or being shared the Instagram profile of Lazzat Grill must be accompanied by the sounds of the gates of heaven opening. The flags of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan are all displayed in the profile, which also proclaims to be offering "Authentic Uzbek and Tajik foods." Apparently the word has gotten out in the community because the truck seems permanently busy. Besides the one person who approached hesitantly and asked if they had burritos, everyone here seems to be after the foods they miss from their original homes.

A good chunk of the cuisine enjoyed in these four nations is shared well beyond the artificial borders laid down by colonial powers a hundred years ago, recipes that outdate these lines by centuries. There is a smattering of Uzbek food around town, but most of it is cooked by Russians (no shade), who have assimilated a lot of the cuisine into their own. If you have spent time in Central Asia or places like Brooklyn and Queens where there are a lot of restaurants, a discernible difference between dishes cooked by Central Asians is apparent. Thankfully the truck here on Sunset has both Tajik and Uzbek people inside, and the food is therefore popping with beautiful flavors.

They already outgrew the blue bus and upgraded.