A nocturnal food stand named Miss Wraps is spreading Armenian cuisine and culture throughout the city, one taco at a time.
Founder Diana Gasparyan and her cousin, Grigor Madaryan, spotlight the Levantine staple of lahmajune—a minced beef or lamb-topped flatbread some refer to, despite being cheese-free, as “Armenian pizza,” but is translated simply as “bread and meat.” And they’re doing it in the form of Armenian wraps and tacos.
The duo sets up their extensive stand on weekends, fulfilling a shared mission of introducing Angelenos to something different from the Armenian kitchen besides the ubiquitous kebabs, mantee, and basturma we’ve learned to love.
“We wanted to do something different’” Gasparyan recalls. “Not just another food stand. Everybody loves going out and eating in L.A., so why not serve them tacos, only Armenian-style, to reel them in.”