Hey Vickey,
Thanks for everything. As promised, here is a list of places to go/things to do when you go to Los Angeles. This takes a lot out of me because I like to keep these things secret so that I can share them with my friends, myself. But this list is all cool, good stuff (if it’s touristy, it’s because it’s worth checking out). These are places I would take you and George if I hosted you guys.
Helpful Information
- www.going.com – very cool site to see what’s going on, and who’s going.
- Flavorpill.com – kind of cool, artsy stuff do in NYC and LA.
- Yelp.com – real reviews on restaurants
- Juxtapoz.com – go here to see art show openings. Very cool stuff that you will LOVE.
LOS ANGELES
What to do (must sees). I’ll also give you a day trip you can do and just a list of things you may want to check out. You can look in the tourist guide books for the big stuff, but if you want to get a sense of what the city really has to offer, look no further than me!
DAY ONE
Venice Beach boardwalk - you can rent bikes at the end of the Venice Beach (look for the VENICE pier at the end of Washington Blvd. and ride it along the bike path). There are a bunch of shops at the end of Washington (get an Acai’ bowl at Cow’s End..very good smoothie that will blow your healthy mind, George can go across the street to Hinano Café and get a cheeseburger…very good and the cheapest you can get around there) There are lots of performers. You can rent bikes and ride them around the boardwalk (street performers, all kinds of stuff, very touristy but you must see it, it’s cool…don’t eat there, the food is shitty). If you want to check out a cool street go to
Abbott Kinney Blvd - it’s a small strip of boutique shops and artsy stuff). It’s only a few blocks off the boardwalk, worth checking out if you ride a bicycle; not worth walking to. You may see Owen Wilson or other celebrities hanging out here, but you may have to look carefully.
Santa Monica Promenade – outdoor shopping area you can walk around and check out. Nothing special but definitely worth checking out. Don’t eat here, either. Make sure you also check out Main Street (Santa Monica). It’s a street of shops just a little east of the boardwalk, you can go there after Promenade and then head up Abbot Kinney and then back to the Venice Pier to return the bikes. Everything I just mentioned can be done on bicycle and can take all day to do. But you’ll really get a sense of my lifestyle over there. Very relaxing! Don’t spend too much time on Santa Monica Pier..it’s full of shit. Also, don’t get scared of the people there, but be a little careful if you choose to go late at night.
- If you really like hamburgers, you can get an expensive (but one of the best hamburgers at My Father’s Office…$15 for a burger but it’ll be the best you’ll ever have. It got listed, many times, as the country’s best burger). If you want a better option, look for a Tommy’s Burgers (on Lincoln and Ocean Park). Very greasy, but cheap and good when you’re drunk. For food around there, California Chicken Café offers good vegetarian food. Real Food Daily is my favorite vegan restaurant, but expect to pay about $25 for both of you guys to eat). If you’re renting a car, I’d suggest you go to India Sweets and Spices (on Venice and Bagley) for some very very very cheap vegetarian Indian food or to Samosa House (on Washington Blvd. and Inglewood Blvd) for the same thing (price is a little higher but food is a lot better).
- Cool bars around there are The Otheroom – very beautiful people (Abbot Kinney), any on Main Street (I recommend barcopa), or if you want a “dive bar” (something just chill) go to Hinano Café or The Whaler (beautiful ocean view) – both at the end of Washington Blvd.
If you have enough energy, you can go to The Getty Museum (right off the 405 north). It’s free to get in ($6 parking) but you’ll see a lot of classic art, the architecture and views are amazing. You can watch the sunset there. Or go there first, and watch the sunset at the beach…you need to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean at least once. You can drive up PCH for a bit also and park wherever you can to watch the sunset. Even throughout my trip, I think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Everything there can be done in ONE DAY.
If you can do this whole thing on a Sunday, make sure you go to the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. This would be a great, relaxing day. Bergamot Station in Santa Monica is a haven for art…dozens of galleries all in one place. Often times art shows open up on Fridays/Saturdays so make sure you go to those…DJs..free drinks…good times.
Silverlake/Los Feliz Area
Go to the Silverlake area (off of Silverlake Blvd and the 101…near downtown) and just walk around there for some cool shops and cafes. You can eat anywhere here, kind of pricey but a lot of vegetarian options.
Bars – the cheapest/coolest you can get
- The Drawing Room – cheap drinks
- Good Luck Bar – affordable drinks in a good location
- Big Foot Lodge – cheap and it looks like the inside of a cabin
- The Griffin – a few blocks away from the Drawing Room. Nice atmosphere – two fireplaces and real, mixed crowd of what people in Los Angeles are really like. Not all pretty!
If you go there, you MUST go to WACKO book store (it’s on Sunset or Hollywood). It’s a bookstore that has thousands of cool art books, there’s an art gallery attached to it (La Luz De Jesus). It’s not fine, classic art. It’s cool, low brow art….like the stuff you’ll find in Juxtapoz Magazine (juxtapoz.com)
Hollywood Area
The Farmer’s Market (on 3rd and Fairfax) is a cool place to check out and eat all kinds of food. I was never too impressed with the food, but I always take people there and they all love it. A lot of people in Los Angeles don’t even know about this place but it’s still a destination so you can check it out and spend a few hours there. From there, you can walk around Melrose Ave. – long strip with a lot of cool shops and thrift stores (don’t eat here). Melrose starts at Melrose and Fairfax Ave. I go there just to people-watch, I don’t even buy anything there! It’s artsy stuff, but pricey, but you can always find cool stuff for cheap because you’re a chick with cool style. From there you can go to Fairfax village (just go south/west on Fairfax from the Melrose area). Domiano’s is a good late night place to eat the best calzone you’ll ever have. The wait can be a little long, just get a small one and share with George..it’s big!). The Dime is a cool, little bar down the street from there – very weird because the people are kind of flashy but they play underground hip hop there on Thursdays. There’s Canters Deli there also – it’s a historical landmark in Los Angeles that’s known for their Pastrami sandwiches. It’s bullshit and pricey. Next to the Deli is a tiny bar called The Kibitz Room – they usually have some hardrock bands. My friend is going to open up a bar/coffee shop there soon..hopefully by the time you get there. Let me know if you are interested in that area and I’ll have him take care of you (we’re good friends and I can get a few free drinks out of him). If you’re feeling adventurous, you can drive a little more down Fairfax and go to Little Ethiopia for authentic, vegetarian Ethiopian food. If you want to eat the most interesting gelato, go to Scoops – right off the Melrose exit from the 101. They have crazy flavors there and it’s so cool and underground that 99.9% of my friends don’t know about it.
NIGHTLIFE WORTH DRIVING OUT TO
I know George likes to chill and not really dance so I’m not going to list night clubs. I can find out what the hottest clubs are for you, but I really only know the underground places
The Little Temple Bar – go there on Thursdays for The Rootdown – really the only underground hip hop joint left in LA. You’ll LOVE the music here.
Firecracker – go there on Saturday nights for live, “free” (improvised) jazz downstairs, underground hip hop/funk/soul upstairs. It’s in the heart of Chinatown so you can go eat cheap, late night food after.
Rooftop bar at The Standard (Downtown Los Angeles) – check it out for the most beautiful view LA has to offer at night. I would only go for one drink because it’s pricey and the people there are pretty fake. Not your crowd at all. But the view is amazing.
All those bars in Silverlake/Los Feliz are great to go to. As you can see, it’s my favorite area in LA and it’s the cheapest you’ll get.
FOOD – rules of thumb and specific places to eat at
In-N-Out Burger – the best fast food burger that’ll make Big Macs taste like dog diarrhea. If you want to eat vegetarian, get the “grilled cheese.” Whatever burger you get, make sure you get it “animal style.” Those aren’t listed, but it’s on their secret menu. If you’re going to break your vegetarian habit just one time, this should be it. They’re only found in California, Nevada and Arizona (I hear the one in Arizona always has a 2 hour wait)
Sushi – the best sushi outside of Japan can be found in Los Angeles, and it’s the highest quality you can get for the money. Just go anywhere, really. I’d say Kabuki (it’s a chain) is the best bet for money. Sushi Mac is cheap but decent. Really, just go anywhere.
Japanese Food – go to Little Tokyo for them, but my favorite place is a Ramen shop called Santouka, that’s found in the Mitsuwa Japanese Grocery Store (you can drive here if you’re in the Venice Area..it’s in Culver City). It’s a chain that is straight from Tokyo and tastes just as good as the ones found in Tokyo. If you go, get the Salt Ramen. Insane!
Hawaiian Food – also, you can go to Rutt’s Hawaiian Café if you’re in the Venice area. Super cheap and huge portions. Any Hawaiian, I’d recommend getting the Spam Musubi (no matter what) as a little appetizer/snack.
Mexican Food – this is usually everyone’s favorite food here. If you see those little taco trucks on the side of the road, go there and get yourself some tacos/burritos! Carne Asada is marinated steak. Al Pastor is marinated pork. Those are your best bets. Just look for a bunch of Mexicans eating there – the more you see, the better, more authentic, and cheaper it is. White people are usually scared to go here, be careful when you go late at night, but in all honesty...people are just people. Don’t be scared of anyone.
Roscoe’s Chicken n Waffles – though I don’t really consider this a real soul food place, it’s very popular amongst black people that don’t really want to get real soul food or white people that want to be cool and go someplace “ghetto.” It’s a little pricer than you’d expect but they’re known for their fried chicken and waffles. It’s a good combination that’ll give you a stomach ache after. People really just go here just to say they go here. If you want real soul food, look for an M&M Soul Food, it’s a lot cheaper, but they’re all located in the ghetto. If you go to Roscoe’s I’d recommend the on Sunset and Gower (Hollywood/Silverlake area) or the one on Pico and La Brea (Fairfax area).
Chinese Food – you can get this anywhere, but the best Chinese food can be found in Monterey Park (5 minutes east of downtown, LA). Just go anywhere that you can’t read the sign and the people there are actually Chinese. As you can see, if you want ethnic food, go to where the ethnic people eat. If you go to ethnic places where white people eat, I guarantee you it’s not going to be as authentic and it’s going to be a lot more expensive. If you ever see Vietnamese restaurants, make sure you try the Pho’ (good noodle soup, usually very cheap) or the Bhan Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches that are cheap…many people that try it say it’s the best sandwich they’ve ever had).
Versailles – this is a Cuban restaurant that’s pretty good, very good if you like garlic. It’s not super authentic either (you can tell because White people go there) but it’s worth checking out for their garlic chicken. You can find them in Manhattan Beach, Hollywood, and Venice areas. The roasted, pulled pork is also tasty.
Pinkberry – I know Bulgaria’s national treasure is yogurt, so you have to try this! They’re everywhere (Venice, Hollywood, Los Feliz). It’s a frozen yogurt chain that’s growing as fast as Starbucks did. Very, very very good. Don’t get anything else but Pinkberry. Don’t get Starbucks, either. If you want another option – Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is a better coffee chain. They’re known for their Ice Blended drinks and Tea Lattes. But if you can, avoid all those coffee chains – support the local businesses!
Really though, let me know what cuisine you’re interested in and I can recommend anything to you.
MUSIC – you can’t leave Los Angeles without seeing some live music. The best thing is to go to any cool coffee shop/newsstand/bookstore (in those cool areas) and pick up an LA Weekly and just thumb through the pages to see what’s going on. They get released every Thursday. If not, then I would just go onto going.com or ticketmaster.com to see who/what you’re interested in. If you don’t find anything worthwhile, just go onto the following places’ websites to see whose performing. Just get some of the band names, download a song or two, and then decide if they’re worth checking out. You will always get a good experience at these small venues:
The Troubadour (West Hollywood) or The Viper Room/Hotel Café - these places gets good talent before they ever get big. Very small, intimate space where you stand no further than 10 meters from the stage. A lot of great hip hop/indie bands come through here. THE TROUBADOUR IS THE BEST PLACE TO CATCH A SHOW.
The Temple Bar (Santa Monica or Silverlake) – they usually have old school hip hop here. Nothing major or impressive really, but sometimes good ones perform here.
The Avalon/El Rey Theatre/Orphean Theatre/The Music Box – good bands usually come through here. The place is a bit bigger but you can still at least see the performers. A lot of cool indie bands perform here. The Avalon spent a shitload of money on reengineering the acoustics of the place so the sound should be good.
Walt Disney Concert Hall – designed by the same person that did the Guggenheim (Frank Gehry). Beautiful to see, even if you’re only on the outside. Classical music performances here but, if you can, get “student rush” tickets for cheap. You have to go a few hours before, on the day of the performance and ask for these tickets. $40-100 tickets can go for as little as $10. If you don’t have a student ID, just make a fake one, you’re a designer!
Spaceland/The Echo (Silverlake area) – Good places to catch indie and hip hop also. Spaceland is free on Mondays. Good LA acts usually come through here first before they even make it to the Troubadour and then worldwide status. For example, Sea Wolf, The Postal Service, Rilo Kiley all made it through here, first. (download their songs to get a taste).
Let me know what you think or what you’re thinking of, I can suggest more stuff or tell you what not to do. Orange County is beautiful for their beaches also, but really, fuck Orange County….there’s no culture, art, or anything that will interest you two over there.
The big tourist places to check out are:
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Venice Board Walk
- Griffith Park Observatory
- LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
- MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art)
- Getty Center
- The Getty Villa (ancient Greek art, up on Pacific Coast Highway)
- Disneyland of course
Etc. etc…I don’t want to go into it too much but you catch the drift. Remember Vickey, these are only places where I would take you and George. Just real “under the radar,” underground stuff that a lot of Los Angeles natives know about. It’s a great city and a lot of people will never get the chance to experience stuff like that. Not even people that move here. Really though, you’ll need a rental car of some sort. It’s not worth spending your entire day traveling through LA on public transport. I only have a limited knowledge of New York, but I’ll do that for you soon enough.
Peace,
Roe
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