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Los Angeles-based freelance journalist, fiction writer, restaurant enthusiast. LA eating diary: @pastrami_burrito

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New feature today in @nytimes about a subject I have thought way too much about: the rise and fall of the sit-down middle class chain. I’ve spent the last few months speaking with researchers and CEOs and industry experts about where these chains came from, who they replaced, and how eye-rolling over endless appetizers and mass-produced fun may have caused otherwise savvy diners to miss essential role they play in American life. Feeling very lucky to have my words alongside @phdonohue’s photos by @meghanmccarron

I eat at a lot of restaurants around Los Angeles, my home of over ten years. But I don't post much of it. This new account is my experiment in keeping a public eating diary and sharing more of what I'm scouting out around town.

First up: Momo Souls in Palms.

You're here for the momos, specifically for the endless variations of what momos can be, something not easy to find in LA. I went normie — butter masala momos, made with chicken — and maybe that was a mistake, because I missed out on crispy momos, momos filled with vegan soy or vegetarian paneer, and the delightfully named Coco Momo.

In addition to the endless momo possibilties, there's a menu of Indo-Chinese noodles, fried rice and a section designated as "the chili zone." Plus, there's ice cream for dessert. This is one of the only fast-casual restaurants I've visited lately where I could imagine eating with a big group.

The strip mall at Palms and Overland sees a lot of turnover, and I'm glad to see such a great place settle in. The owners have a connection to the Momo Fomo truck that used to park outside the Smart & Final on Venice, which has since transformed into a stall at a few farmers markets around town. by @meghanmccarron

On the cover of the Food section today! Thanks to everyone who is reading and engaging with this story on Sysco. Link in stories — or if you’re in LA you could pick up a print copy at Gelson’s, I’m just saying : ) by @meghanmccarron

Since April, I’ve been reporting a big-picture feature about Sysco for @nytimes. It’s now live. I traveled to a diner in New Jersey, a potato farm in Idaho, and the Sysco headquarters in Texas to report out why an enormous broadline distributor is making such inroads into small, independent restaurants, and what it means for the future of how we eat.

That’s seven months of reporting, but really I first started thinking about this story seven years ago — it was going to be my big 2020 project, before 2020. . . 2020’d. In the ensuing years, Sysco has only become more compelling a window into how our industrial food system and restaurant industry interlock. It’s also become a bit of a meme.

The spine of the story is a convenience food we all love: frozen french fries. At a french fry tasting I attended at the Sysco test kitchen, the clients said (and my taste buds agreed) that the fresh-made fries tasted best. But the frozen fries were pretty tasty, and so much easier to serve at the volume and price guests have come to expect.

And seeing the scale of the farms and storage facilities and factory floors and frozen warehouses and trucks, not to mention all of the people doing hard jobs it takes to get those pretty tasty fries to thousands of restaurants — it sparked its own kind of awe.

We’re at a moment in American culture where we’re asking a lot of questions about what we’ll give up for convenience, or for the efficiencies of scale. I hope this story makes for an interesting read on a day when definitely no other news is happening (!).

Thank you to my editor @bthomasg, and it was a real pleasure to spend the day with photographers @doctorfresh and @arturoolmos. I’m so grateful to get to go on the road and do this type of in depth reporting. And I’m always available for more : ) by @meghanmccarron

New story from me in @technologyreview about something that might finally move the needle on one of the climate crisis’s most persistent challenges: getting people to eat less beef. A new crop of startups have developed burgers, meatballs, and other products that taste like meat but contain up to 50% plants, usually mushrooms.

It sounds simple, and in the 2010s blended products were eclipsed by the promise of purely plant-based meat. But the blends of meat and mushrooms give people what they care about the most – taste and texture — while still dropping meat consumption in a dramatic way, since consumers seem much more open to making the switch.

One source described this category to me as a hybrid car — but like hybrids, all of these foods can be rolled out immediately. Your kid might be eating a mushroom-based meatball in the cafeteria for lunch this week.

Thanks to editor extraordinaire @corinneiozo for the assignment and guiding this story so expertly. What a thrill to be in print in a magazine I’ve been a fan of for so long. by @meghanmccarron

Summer 2026 in North Carolina, Philly and (mostly) Los Angeles by @meghanmccarron

$Today would have been my dad’s 77th birthday. I associate him so strongly with the summer — but he did summer, like everything else, intensely. He dug us enormous holes at the beach with a clam shell. He sailed a Sunfish so fast I worried we would tip, and when we did, I learned that all you had to do was tip the boat back over again. He was always doing hot, sweaty work in the backyard or careening through the breakneck itinerary of whatever family vacation he planned. I miss him. I miss his intensity. I hope I can give my kid a fraction of the summer memories he’s given me — even if it means driving eight hours a day every day on some insane road trip through the blistering hot Southwest, just to be sure we don’t miss a thing. by @meghanmccarron$

New story from me in the @nytimes about how Los Angeles’s restaurant woes have spilled into the tight mayoral race. Multiple candidates have proposed policies to fix everything from permitting delays to the weak nightlife economy, or are touting their accomplishments supporting the industry. It’s unusual to see restaurants as political issues, not just political backdrops. But COVID may have changed for good, priming voters to react to the hospitality world’s needs. Link in stories! by @meghanmccarron

Thrilled to have a story in @gourmet.lives today! I went up to Portland to visit Brian Russell, a botanist who runs a quirky bean business with a refreshing take on how our food system works. Also, I got to spend time in one of the most beautiful and inspiring gardens I’ve ever visited, which somehow is also not his main passion project. Thanks to my editor @nzle. What a treat to finally get to work together. Get your bean boxes at beanyear.com by @meghanmccarron

Another new story from me in @losangelesmaterial, this time about the remarkable revival of century-old clubs around the city. Thanks to the folks at @labreakfastclub, @garibaldinasociety, and @the_adventurersclub for speaking with me, and to folks like @kevinsegall and @tongsonator for the insight into what has been drawing Angelinos to these spaces. TY to my editor @jessicagarrison001 and the whole LA Material crew — I’m thrilled to have 2 stories be part of the rollout of such an essential new publication by @meghanmccarron

Meghan McCarron

@meghanmccarron