RIP Del Taco

On my way to work I noticed the Del Taco at Santa Monica and Highland was completely demolished. It had been fenced in for awhile now so I knew it was on it's way out, but it was surreal to see it gone. They are replacing it with a Walgreen's drug store, and it was an issue I followed closely during my time at the Media District because it was a big development. As much as the Del Taco was a magnet for loitering, crime, drugs and prostitution, I love their food (as far as fast food taco joints go - much better than Taco Bell), and it was also sort of a landmark. I remember going there, or at least driving by it, with Dudley when we first started shopping around Hollywood and he told me it's where all the tranny prostitutes and drug dealers hung out. So, it's actually probably a good thing for the Media District that it's gone, since it probably would never shed that stigma (or the realities of it). But, I hate Walgreens because they are owned by Jesus freaks and don't sell alcohol.
We had a staff lunch today at the new Hard Rock Cafe at Hollywood and Highland, which was great. It's definitely a tourist place, but it's fun for locals although most locals probably won't want to pay that much for a hamburger. The cool thing is they have all these new interactive, high-tech features such as these screens at each booth which are like iPads on the wall where you can look up information about all the Memorabilia that Hard Rock has all around the world. The food was good (I had a Red, White and Blue burger) and the people that worked there were nice. The best thing though was that they actually play music videos on the big screens that are all over the place. One of the few places where you can still have a drink and watch music videos, since Revolver (the last video bar) closed.