Your Daily Dose of Food News, Events and Must-Read Miscellany

1. Chuck’s Central District is finally, happily, open at 20th Ave. and Union St. Hours are still in flux, but beer will be poured and bottles sold from 2:00 through 10:00 pm this week. That’s until Friday, when the first food truck is scheduled to roll into the all-ages space. Families with strollers and dogs are sure to follow. This weekend’s hours are Friday through Sunday from noon to midnight; regular opening and closing times will be in place in a couple of weeks. Check Facebook for details and a grand opening announcement.

2. Edmonds resident Hans Lienesch has reviewed 1,273 varieties of ramen (and counting) over on his blog The Ramen Rater. Lienesch named January 19th “The Ramen Rater Momofuku Ando Day” after the man who invented instant noodles back in the 1950s. To celebrate, Lienesch is throwing a photo contest on his holiday, with the winner receiving a horde of prizes from Nissin Foods…and a free lifetime membership in the The Ramen Rater Official Fan Club.

3. You’ll probably have to wait a bagillion minutes to be seated at the new Din Tai Fung location at U-Village, but you can always kill time browsing the menu. To help you further prepare, Zagat rounded up a list of five best bets at the new, perpetually jammed dumpling chain.

4. Lunchbox Laboratory is running a cheap-o burger special through the end of January. Buy one burger between 3:00 pm 11:00 pm and get the second for $5. The offer is valid at Lunchbox Lab’s Seattle, Bellevue and Gig Harbor locations.

food@seattleweekly.com