Highland Park, already famous for its fondness for putting things on roofs (inspiring the cult of Chicken-Boy among other things), is the proud owner of a new high-kicking, karate-chopping rooftop effigy. Ayta Grill opened last week in an oddly-angled building on Figueroa. The joint project from Empire Restaurant’s Tony Urbina and Devon Glass owner Ruben Herrera finds the two Michoacan-born owners and their kitchen tackling Japanese eats, with white and brown rice bowls and plates of teriyaki chicken, salmon, shrimp, steak, and veggies priced between $4.29-$8.83.
The new restaurant continues the local tradition in getting customers necks craned by putting a life-sized statue of a Bruce Lee-like fighter on its roof, an eruption of wiry muscles in short repose between nunchuck strikes. According to The Eastsider, the martial arts legend has already taken a swipe at Gil Cedillo’s city council election billboard, making him a fierce political opponent.
Ayta Grill, 4017 N. Figueroa St. Highland Park.
Bruce Lee 1, Gil Cedillo 0 [ESLA]
New Restaurant, Ayta, Opens on North Figueroa [Patch]
