DTLA: Jamaican Patty Crawl Featuring ABeautifulLife Cafe and Green Grotto Juice Bar

 

I’ve wanted to do a Jamaican patty crawl in Downtown Los Angeles for at least a year now. I had seen ABeautifulLife Jamaican Cafe (A Beautiful Life) and had been curious about the menu for a while. Then I realized Green Grotto also served patties down the street and a food crawl was born. Really, it was a food hop since it was only two stops but this just meant we had room to try the jerk chicken as well at abeautifullife.

Jamaican patties could be described as empanada-like being a pastry stuffed with savory bits. It’s like a tasty hand pie that’s great for lunch.

 

I wanted to order the beef patty and also the veggie but they were out of beef that day so we got the chicken and the veggie (spinach). These were a lot bigger than I espected but they were also on the flatter side.

 

 

I really liked the veggie and considering how many people ordered just the veggie ones, I would say this was a very popular item at the cafe. I liked the crust quite a bit.

 

I actually wanted the oxtail bowl but they had sold out so we opted for the jerk chicken. The chicken was very tender and had great spicing. I wasn’t really into the plantains though as I found them a bit dry. The rice and beans were good and filling.

I’d be interested in trying the tacos or chicken curry next time.

A Beautiful Life Jamaican Cafe (abeautifullife) 

216 S Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012  —  (213) 972-9900

 

 

 

Then we headed a few blocks down to the Spring Arcade to check out the Green Grotto Juice Bar. This colorful, instagram friendly juice shop seems really focused on their fresh juices and acai bowls. But they do have Jamaican patties and that’s what we were here for.

 

They had just run out of the chicken patties which is fine because we got the veggie and beef ones.

I didn’t realize at first we were eating the veggie one as it was so savory. However it was just carrots, cabbage and corn– definitely no meat. Even the crust was very healthy seeming… was it just whole wheat?

 

These patties were smaller but puffed up higher so possibly it was really the same amount as the ones down the street. I loved the beef one and finished my half rather quickly.

Now I’ll have to try the Jamaican patties across town… perhaps I’ll start with Culver City.

Green Grotto Juice Bar

541 S Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013  —  (213) 265-7409

 

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