The starting gun fires at 7:20 a.m., sending Memorial Day marathoners streaming south down Figueroa Street. For 26.2 punishing miles, many runners stick to energy gels and electrolyte-spiked sports drinks, but spectators have no such concerns. Tens of thousands of supporters line the L.A. Marathon course and often wait hours before their friends and family run by. Even watching all that running makes a person hungry. Here's where to get a good meal:
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A guide to dining for the Los Angeles Marathon
You can build up an appetite watching all that running. Good thing that there are plenty of places to eat along the route.
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Figueroa corridor
Former Mayor Richard Riordan owns the Original Pantry Cafe (1). The 85-year-old institution never closes, so you can grab breakfast before, during or after the race.
L.A. Live is AEG's new sports and entertainment campus. The complex offers plenty of dining options, but for breakfast, just one: The Farm of Beverly Hills (2). The bordered patio is the best area to eat dishes like caramelized pear crepes.
USC Hospitality recently launched a dining strip along the edge of campus, including Rosso's Pizzeria and the Lab gastropub, but only McKay's (3) is open early for breakfast. Build your own omelet or trust in the huevos rancheros at the restaurant named for legendary USC football coach John McKay.
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Crenshaw
Leimert Park is best known for Phillips Bar-B-Que (4). Louisiana native Foster Phillips opened his first 'cue parlor in 1980. Now he douses red oak-smoked pork ribs and sliced beef with lip-stinging sauce at three locations -- this one without seats.
Around the corner on Crenshaw Boulevard, Get It N Go (5) features outdoor seating, zydeco music and stick-to-your-ribs Bayou classics like jambalaya, boudin and boiled crawfish.
Leroy Ross, the patriarch of a three-generation barbecue family, smokes rib tips, pork ribs and sliced beef with a mix of oak, hickory and almond at Tasty Q Barbecue (6). Ross is also Crenshaw's "king of the fried turkey."
Chef Marilyn's Soul Food Express (7) is a popular low-priced buffet, where 99 cents nets you red beans and black-eyed peas, to name just two options.
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The great in-between
Cruise up Crenshaw, hang a left on Venice Boulevard and discover Maria's Cafe (8), a coffee shop inside AMF Midtown Lanes. Farther west, Con Sabor Pupuseria (9) has been dispensing Salvadorian comfort food since 1997, including an array of filled griddlecakes.
Cuba native Orlando Garcia and son William now own five branches of Versailles (10), serving the classic dishes of Dad's youth, like garlic chicken and ropa vieja.
