I was walking with a friend, checking out a pop-up, just saying how this place had nothing it, when three young women walked by talking to each other and one went, "This f*cking place doesn't have anything." We laughed. It was beyond true. We were at ROW DTLA, a "cool place" downtown that should be filled with people. The problem is, there's nothing there. They have a coffee shop that some how closes at 5pm Mon-Wed and 8pm the rest of the week, making late night's a no, no. And very little else to keep you fed or entertained.
It's like they have this great beautiful space that's perfect to just shove pop-ups into, because no one has bought office or retail space. There's quite a few high end shops, but nothing that'll keep you more than a few minutes, if you care at all. It's an utterly weird high-end vacant place most of the time.
I bring it up now because The Manufactuary is supposedly in full swing, a cafeteria style eatery that was suppsoe to make a different to the ROW. But the reviews I've been hearing about it, with high prices for very little, don't really make it sound like it's worth the trip.
With so many other places to eat downtown and the gentrified Art District, Little Tokyo and Chinatown nearby it's hard to think of making it to the ROW until the ROW starts making name for itself for actually having something that isn't a pop-up or Smogasburg.
