December 31, 2017

Downtown LA Food & Drink Diary: Spitz – Mediterranean Street Food

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Los Feliz – Little Tokyo – Eagle Rock – Studio City’s Spitz – Mediterranean Street Food.

Every restaurant has its own history, backstory, etc. We’d love to hear yours.
My business partner Bryce Rademan and I opened the first Spitz 10 years ago after falling in love with döner kebab while traveling abroad In college. It seemed like there was a stand, shop or cart on every street corner In Berlin, Madrid, and London slinging this amazing kebab. It was tasty, it was cheap and oh man did it soak up the alcohol! When we got back to the states we missed it so much! We begin writing a business plan and messing with recipes to try and recreate what we had eaten almost every night in Europe. We signed a lease on a small building in Eagle Rock the month after graduation and Spitz was born.

We now have other locations in Little Tokyo, Los Feliz and Studio city and pair our kebabs with craft beer and a variety of housemade sangrias. Our creative director Devon Paulson keeps our street art inspired design on point and basically we all have a lot of fun creating the Spitz experience. Over the years we’ve added items like our famous street cart fries and döquitos (think Mediterranean taquito) and board games and DJs on the weekends. Basically whatever we can think of to create a good vibe. “Great nights start at a Spitz” is a common refrain around here.

Tell us about the challenges of running a food service / restaurant business.
The restaurant business is notoriously tough and we’ve definitely had our challenges from the trial by fire of opening our first location at 23 to opening our second spot in Little Tokyo at the beginning of the Great Recession but at the same time we wouldn’t do this if we didn’t love it. It keeps you on your toes!

What separates Spitz – Mediterranean Street Food from the other similar spots?
See previous answer….

Most Popular Items

Street Cart Fries

Our famous fries topped with garlic aioli, feta cheese, pepperoncinis, tomatoes, onions, peppers and olives.
Housemade Sangias

Red with cinnamon and cardamom. White with peach and basil, Rose with apple and mint.

Döquitos

Think Mediterranean taquito with beef and lamb or chicken, spicy feta spread and topped with garlic aioli and fresh veggies.Parking Advice:
street parking is available at all our locations.