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LA has long been a city where people enjoy eating in their cars.
When I got my driver’s license in the mid-1980s, it took me less than an hour to drive through the smoggy summer haze of Los Angeles and eat my first meal in my car.
For me, it was a rite of passage, and I was very good at it. Long before cup holders were commonplace, I figured out how to tuck a large soft drink between the seat and the emergency brake. I always kept a copy of the Los Angeles Times on hand and used it to flatten the sloping surface of my Datsun bucket seat so I could dunk my McNuggets in barbecue sauce and eat them without them splattering when I hit a pothole.
I always had an old dish towel on me to wipe down any messes I might have bought for four: pizza slices, dim sum, KFC drumsticks, etc. My trusty ballpoint pen was a great tool for poking around in the nooks and crannies of the car to find packets of french fries or paper straws that might be hiding and be found by unaware passengers.
In this part of my life, I feel like I’m a pioneer, even a risk taker.
There are now homemade products that make eating in the car easier, including french fry holders, dipping sauce clips, dining trays that can be attached to the steering wheel, and even mini fridges.
The latest comes from Heather Wong, owner of Flouring LA bakery in Chinatown. As Times food columnist Jen Harris described it, the next big idea is the car cake: “a small rectangular layered cake housed in a finger-protecting white parchment-paper sleeve.” Flavors include carrot cake, chocolate, ube and coconut, and passion fruit.
A selection of cake bars from Flooring LA in Chinatown.
(Heather Wong)
Wong told Harris he came up with the idea when customers came for curbside pickup during the pandemic, but it also offers a mess-free way to eat cake in the car.
Some say the pandemic has given car-eating a new fanbase.
A fast-food enthusiast at Car and Driver magazine offered a list of the best options for in-car dining (McDonald’s cheeseburger, Chick-fil-A’s chicken sandwich, and Starbucks’ bacon and Gouda sandwich) and the worst (pretty much everything from Panda Express and Subway, plus Taco Bell’s Crunchy Taco Supreme).
Who knew Burger King’s French toast sticks and “dripless sauce” were invented to be eaten in the car?
Eating while driving has long been a safety and health concern, with many institutions recommending against it and federal transportation officials saying it’s a leading cause of distracted driving and resulting accidents.
All of these warnings are valid. But let’s face it: Most people have compiled a list of foods that are dangerous to eat in the car, especially in congested places like Los Angeles, where multitasking is essential during your commute. In 2002, Times reporter Hugo Martin published a list of the most dangerous foods to eat in the car:
Coffee (a popular drink in the car, but it is served hot and can leave unsightly stains.) Hot soup (also served hot, making it difficult to eat while driving.) Tacos (tend to crumble with every bite, splattering the contents all over the car.) Chili (chili-covered foods can drip and spill over the slightest bump in the road.) Hamburgers (special sauces and greasy gravy can turn a $5 meal into a $500 car repair bill.) Barbecue (finger-licking delicious food is best eaten over the sink.) Fried chicken (drivers often try to clean their oily hands immediately.) Jelly and cream doughnuts (drippling jelly seems to be attracted to drivers’ laps like a magnet.) Soft drinks (also a popular drink while driving, but it can be spilled with the slightest mistake.) Chocolate (sticky and prone to staining, drivers try to clean up immediately.) 
McDonald’s restaurant.
(Rogelio V. Solis/The Associated Press)
I’ll admit I’ve tried all 10. I also ate a sauce-dripping chunk of baby back ribs on the 710 Freeway and left an embarrassing red mark on my beige roof liner that even a trip to the auto repair shop didn’t erase.
Intrigued by Flouring LA’s new innovation, I aimed my Toyota toward Chinatown on Wednesday with a plan to grab some cake. Unfortunately, the bakery was closed. But a block away, the landmark Phoenix Bakery was bustling with customers. I ordered a slice of blueberry layer cake, which came served on a paper wrapper that served as the perfect handle.
The friendly cashier offered me a fork, but I politely declined (she seemed a little confused), figuring this was a manual-only test operation.
With the purple icing precariously holding the two slices of cake in place, eating it while driving seemed dangerous, so I got back in my car, turned off the engine, and took a bite by holding the paper bottom of the cake.
So far, so good.
The cake is gone, but the damage has already been done.
(Shelby Grad/Los Angeles Times)
The paper kept my hands clean, but the cake was pretty wonky. The first few bites were fine, but then the middle icing layer crumbled and my hands were soaked with cream icing. The top of the steering wheel and the seat belt were also scratched. It took a couple of antibacterial wipes to clean up the mess. (Jen Harris said her Flooring LA car cake had about a quarter-inch of icing on it, which she said was perfect: “You can’t rub off the icing on the car cake.”)
Despite the minor confusion, I left Chinatown feeling very satisfied, like I’d once again been ahead of the curve in the art of eating cake in a car. Then a friend introduced me to TikTok, where people are making art out of eating cake in a car.
But there is one thing they all have in common.
They all use forks.
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On the weekend
Don’t miss Baroo’s tasting menu, which includes dishes like sweet, delicate stingray deep-fried in a seaweed batter and wrapped in leafy vegetables, and slices of charred pork shoulder tossed in a kimchi jjigae-style sauce.
(Silvia Razgova/The Times)
Go out
Stay at
LA Affairs
Immerse yourself in fascinating stories about dating, love and marriage.
(Levi Hastings/The Times)
For years we were Matt & Ted. Except I wasn’t Ted. I was Amy. I was sad to see my happy relationship with my husband end. But I imagined myself living as a woman every day. I couldn’t keep hiding that anymore.
Have a great weekend! Yours, The Essential California Team
Kevinisha Walker, Multiplatform Editor
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