Genuine L.A foods?

I've never really heard of L.A. being responsible for any particular genre of food.
It's more like the mecca of anything goes cuisine, such as peking duck pizza and the like.
I'm sure you could find any dish you could want, or imagine, somewhere in L.A.

I bet ossobuco comes up with something when she finds the thread.

I'm stumped, because Los Angeles is a fairly old population area, as US cities go, and has had numerous people from very diverse regions in the US and other countries emigrate to live there after the city was founded.

In my own view, what typifies the LA metropolitan area is a small storefront restaurant, or even a food truck, with a specific type of regional cuisine, run by a family from elsewhere. I'll be back with a link or two.

Here are a few Jonathan Gold food reviews to give you a sense of the picture.
The first one is about a specific place in Boyle Heights (east LA) tat serves antijitos, but then Gold goes on to talk more about street food in general in Boyle Heights.

http://www.laweekly.com/2011-07-14/eat-drink/jonathan-gold-reviews-antojitos-carmen/


Here's one that is somewhat about google translate and restaurant menus, and somewhat about Korean blood sausage, called soondae..

http://www.laweekly.com/2011-06-23/eat-drink/jonathan-gold-reviews-eighth-street-soondae/


For more info, look up the archives of Gold's columns that are listed under
"counterintelligence". His general archives are here:

http://www.laweekly.com/content/result/author:28180/

Adds, Gold has a pulitzer prize for his food critic writing.

Edit - we Los Angelenos were all immigrants once, except for the Gabrieleno indians, and the Chumash, and perhaps some I don't remember - though I suppose even they were.

Thank you all for your suggestions! It definitely helps.
Ossobuco, you are a life saver! The links you gave me proved to be very useful. I am actually a volunteer contributor to the Food Wiki - MyCityCuisine, if any of you ever heard of it, so I am trying to put together a dish list of L.A popular, as I've been a couple of times to LA and tried stuff, but I found it a bit overwhelming.
Thanks again and have a great week-end ahead!

p.s: If anyone else has an idea for me, I am all ears!

Well, L.A. is home to the infamous "in-n-out" burger - the best in the West.
http://www.in-n-out.com/history.asp

You're welcome, Koria.

I remembered an article I've tacked up near my desk - again from the LA Weekly.
The reason I printed it out and saved it is that it is about which of two famous meatball sandwiches available in the LA area is better. The place that won out, in the article's view, makes by far my favorite meatball sandwich ever, in one of my favorite markets. The market has changed over the years, markedly more ... interesting ... than when I used to live in LA, but the deli remains true to form, wonderful. I always go there when I visit my old home town.

Here's the link:

Meatball Fight: Bay Cities vs. Eastside Market, by Noah Galuten, Sept 3, 2010

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2010/09/bay_cities_eastside_meatball.php

It's true, people do regard "in-n-out" burgers as easily the best of fast food burger chains.