Talk to me about LA

ashley8918

Hello Internet!

I have a business trip to sunny Los Angeles in a few weeks, and I've never been, so I decided to take a week off afterwards and stick around. I'm also going to fly H out and make a proper vacation out of it.

So, what are some of your favorite things to do in LA (especially on the cheap ), and where do you love to eat?

Help a sister out!

jenna8984

Awesome!! I haven't been in a few years, but if you're looking to spend any time at the beach, The Shorebreak Hotel on Huntington Beach is awesome!

ashley8918

jenna8984 said:

Awesome!! I haven't been in a few years, but if you're looking to spend any time at the beach, The Shorebreak Hotel on Huntington Beach is awesome!

We definitely are planning some beach time

lacqueredlover

I was just there 2 weeks ago and my brother and sis in law live there.

OMG Gusto is the best pasta I've ever had outside of Italy.  Seriously amazing.  If you want to try something very "LA" then Gracias Madre is a plant based organic mexican restaurant with some amazing margaritas.  If you want a cool bar that's very hot right now, check out Ysabel.  No cover or anything but for a bit of a nicer night out, it's cool and not too expensive.  Lots of celeb sightings there (just be cool about it haha.)  I was there a few weeks ago and ended up chatting with Jeremy Piven.  For Brunch, try Joan on Third.  And obvs you have to try In N Out Burger.  Get it Animal Style if you like grilled onions.  And if you go to the one in Westwood, it's around the corner from DiDi Riese which an amazing ice cream shop where you pick the kind of cookies you want and ice cream to make a custom ice cream sandwich, it's a famous LA thing.

Definitely go down to Venice and check out Abbott Kinney, just a cool street to walk around with a lot of quirky stores.  Legit virtually every store has a coffee shop in it!

ashley8918

@lacqueredlover you had me at pasta!

I am loving all the food recommendations! Thanks!

knottie9c5ed33df4bbd226

My friend is going next month and I just sent her this list yesterday! I've been a few times (you'll LOVE it) and I get really excited when people go there!

Millions of Milkshakes http://millionsofmilkshakes.com/branches/west-hollywood/
****Starline Tours http://www.starlinetours.com/los-angeles-tours.asp
(Walk of Fame, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood Bowl, etc) You should really try to do this, it's a great way to see all the landmarks!
Warner Bros Tour http://vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com/vip-tour/
(Make sure your phone and cameras are charged, mine died because I was taking so many pics!)

HalloweenTown Store http://www.halloweentownstore.com/
Santa Monica Pier/beach
Universal Studios City Walk
In & Out/Carl’s Jr.-best burgers
Griffith Observatory http://www.griffithobservatory.org/
Kitson (shops on Robertson blvd are very popular)
Rodeo Drive
Roosevelt Hotel (to eat or for a drink) http://www.thompsonhotels.com/hotels/la/hollywood-roosevelt
The Grove (mall) /Farmer’s Market http://www.thegrovela.com/

 

Popular Restaurants
Beso
Madeo
Pinks
Joans on Third
The Ivy
Moonshadows
Dan Tana’s
Geisha House (celebrities love it for the sushi)

knottie9c5ed33df4bbd226

lacqueredlover said:

I was just there 2 weeks ago and my brother and sis in law live there.

OMG Gusto is the best pasta I've ever had outside of Italy.  Seriously amazing.  If you want to try something very "LA" then Gracias Madre is a plant based organic mexican restaurant with some amazing margaritas.  If you want a cool bar that's very hot right now, check out Ysabel.  No cover or anything but for a bit of a nicer night out, it's cool and not too expensive.  Lots of celeb sightings there (just be cool about it haha.)  I was there a few weeks ago and ended up chatting with Jeremy Piven.  For Brunch, try Joan on Third.  And obvs you have to try In N Out Burger.  Get it Animal Style if you like grilled onions.  And if you go to the one in Westwood, it's around the corner from DiDi Riese which an amazing ice cream shop where you pick the kind of cookies you want and ice cream to make a custom ice cream sandwich, it's a famous LA thing.

Definitely go down to Venice and check out Abbott Kinney, just a cool street to walk around with a lot of quirky stores.  Legit virtually every store has a coffee shop in it!

SO jealous! I have a Jeremy Piven obsession. How was he??

ashley8918

hicoco said:

My friend is going next month and I just sent her this list yesterday! I've been a few times (you'll LOVE it) and I get really excited when people go there!

Millions of Milkshakes http://millionsofmilkshakes.com/branches/west-hollywood/
****Starline Tours http://www.starlinetours.com/los-angeles-tours.asp
(Walk of Fame, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood Bowl, etc) You should really try to do this, it's a great way to see all the landmarks!
Warner Bros Tour http://vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com/vip-tour/
(Make sure your phone and cameras are charged, mine died because I was taking so many pics!)

HalloweenTown Store http://www.halloweentownstore.com/
Santa Monica Pier/beach
Universal Studios City Walk
In & Out/Carl’s Jr.-best burgers
Griffith Observatory http://www.griffithobservatory.org/
Kitson (shops on Robertson blvd are very popular)
Rodeo Drive
Roosevelt Hotel (to eat or for a drink) http://www.thompsonhotels.com/hotels/la/hollywood-roosevelt
The Grove (mall) /Farmer’s Market http://www.thegrovela.com/

 

Popular Restaurants
Beso
Madeo
Pinks
Joans on Third
The Ivy
Moonshadows
Dan Tana’s
Geisha House (celebrities love it for the sushi)

Awesome, thank you! I'll have to forward all of the on to H.

knottie9c5ed33df4bbd226

ashley8918, I am actually from the Chicago burbs too! If you guys are into TV/movies, I would DEFINITELY do the WB tour. I can't recommend it enough. We got to see the set of Big Bang Theory and Pretty Little Liars, got to see Central Perk from Friends and got to see where they do a lot of other filming.

ashley8918

hicoco said:

ashley8918, I am actually from the Chicago burbs too! If you guys are into TV/movies, I would DEFINITELY do the WB tour. I can't recommend it enough. We got to see the set of Big Bang Theory and Pretty Little Liars, got to see Central Perk from Friends and got to see where they do a lot of other filming.

Oh, no way! This sound awesome! We have been binge watching Friends lately, hahaha

blabla89

For seeing the tourist attractions, I recommend a hop-on hop-off bus tour.

If art is your thing (and even if it's not) I recommend the Getty Center. Griffith Observatory is free (I think) and has great views of the city. Huntington Gardens in Pasadena are nice, too. I love flowers, so I had fun perusing the flower markets and picking out flowers to keep in the hotel room.

lacqueredlover

hicoco said:

lacqueredlover said:

I was just there 2 weeks ago and my brother and sis in law live there.

OMG Gusto is the best pasta I've ever had outside of Italy.  Seriously amazing.  If you want to try something very "LA" then Gracias Madre is a plant based organic mexican restaurant with some amazing margaritas.  If you want a cool bar that's very hot right now, check out Ysabel.  No cover or anything but for a bit of a nicer night out, it's cool and not too expensive.  Lots of celeb sightings there (just be cool about it haha.)  I was there a few weeks ago and ended up chatting with Jeremy Piven.  For Brunch, try Joan on Third.  And obvs you have to try In N Out Burger.  Get it Animal Style if you like grilled onions.  And if you go to the one in Westwood, it's around the corner from DiDi Riese which an amazing ice cream shop where you pick the kind of cookies you want and ice cream to make a custom ice cream sandwich, it's a famous LA thing.

Definitely go down to Venice and check out Abbott Kinney, just a cool street to walk around with a lot of quirky stores.  Legit virtually every store has a coffee shop in it!

SO jealous! I have a Jeremy Piven obsession. How was he??

Oh I've met him a few times in NYC too.  He actually hooked up with a friend of a friend lol.  He's a dick haha.  Always has been.  But he has worked with my brother and I was with my sis in law so we chatted for a bit.  He was with some 22 year old who couldnt' string a sentence together to save her life.  And he's definitely had some work done since I last saw him.  Either he was wearing a hair piece or got plugs

jenna8984

lacqueredlover said:

hicoco said:

lacqueredlover said:

 

SO jealous! I have a Jeremy Piven obsession. How was he??

Oh I've met him a few times in NYC too.  He actually hooked up with a friend of a friend lol.  He's a dick haha.  Always has been.  But he has worked with my brother and I was with my sis in law so we chatted for a bit.  He was with some 22 year old who couldnt' string a sentence together to save her life.  And he's definitely had some work done since I last saw him.  Either he was wearing a hair piece or got plugs

That's disappointing! I've also had a crush on him since "PCU" in the mid 90's

lacqueredlover

jenna8984 said:

lacqueredlover said:

hicoco said:

lacqueredlover said:

 

SO jealous! I have a Jeremy Piven obsession. How was he??

Oh I've met him a few times in NYC too.  He actually hooked up with a friend of a friend lol.  He's a dick haha.  Always has been.  But he has worked with my brother and I was with my sis in law so we chatted for a bit.  He was with some 22 year old who couldnt' string a sentence together to save her life.  And he's definitely had some work done since I last saw him.  Either he was wearing a hair piece or got plugs

That's disappointing! I've also had a crush on him since "PCU" in the mid 90's

Oh yeah he's a total creepster haha.  Sorry!

[Deleted User]

Ah I am soaking up all this info as well--going there for a week in the beginning of May! I would love updates on how you liked it!

knottie9c5ed33df4bbd226

lacqueredlover said:

jenna8984 said:

lacqueredlover said:

hicoco said:

lacqueredlover said:

 

SO jealous! I have a Jeremy Piven obsession. How was he??

Oh I've met him a few times in NYC too.  He actually hooked up with a friend of a friend lol.  He's a dick haha.  Always has been.  But he has worked with my brother and I was with my sis in law so we chatted for a bit.  He was with some 22 year old who couldnt' string a sentence together to save her life.  And he's definitely had some work done since I last saw him.  Either he was wearing a hair piece or got plugs

That's disappointing! I've also had a crush on him since "PCU" in the mid 90's

Oh yeah he's a total creepster haha.  Sorry!

Pretty much what I've heard/figured. What a bummer haha!

knottie9c5ed33df4bbd226

ashley8918 said:

hicoco said:

ashley8918, I am actually from the Chicago burbs too! If you guys are into TV/movies, I would DEFINITELY do the WB tour. I can't recommend it enough. We got to see the set of Big Bang Theory and Pretty Little Liars, got to see Central Perk from Friends and got to see where they do a lot of other filming.

Oh, no way! This sound awesome! We have been binge watching Friends lately, hahaha

I really can't stress enough how awesome it was! They also show you the park from "The One Where Phoebe Runs", which was one of my favorites. Here are some pictures from that portion of the tour:  

JennyColada

I've lived in the LA area for forever!

What you want to do/eat depends a bit on where you are (LA is pretty big, and travel isn't always the easiest).

So for now I guess I'll just comment on the other posts:

In N Out is a CA must. Diddy Riese is pretty popular (not my favorite, personally), Milk (other location) is what I prefer.

I haven't been to Gusto, but I really love Della Terra for Italian.

In N Out isn't the same as Carl's Jr (Carl's Jr is just the west-coast version of Hardees), and I wouldn't say that it's really worth it to check it out...since it's just a burger chain. Umami Burger is a pretty popular LA chain burger restaurant as well, which may be worth checking out.

I definitely think that Citywalk or Santa Monica Pier are great for cheap outings. They are fun and popular areas and don't cost anything to enter (although you will have to pay for parking). Also, Grauman's Chinese Theater/Kodiak (but I think it's called something else) Theater/Hollywood and Highland complex. This is where the Academy Awards is held and they often have movie premieres here (it's also has the Hollywood Walk of Fame). Across the street is the El Capitan Theater (https://elcapitantheatre.com/) which is owned by Disney. There's also the Soda Fountain which I think is pretty cool and a fun place to grab a milkshake or a snack.

I'd really recommend looking up places on Yelp.com (it's very popular!) and will give you a price point and you can often check out menus too.

Pinks is good for hot dogs, but I'm a big fan of Carney's the Train (and it very rarely has a line!), alternatively I'd totally recommend that you go for one of the late night street dogs from the cart (during the day they tend to sell awesome fresh fruit - look for the rainbow umbrella!). Roscoe's is popular (even the President likes it!).

You clearly want to see the Hollywood Sign too, and there are various great lookout spots or hikes.

Public transit isn't really that great, so if you're renting a car that's good, but if you don't want to drive then I'd recommend using a service like Uber or Lyft (taxis can't just be waved down, they have to be called, so they're rare).

Let's see, that's all that I can think of now.

I know that there was a similar topic a couple of months ago and I posted some more there, so let me see if I can find that too.

photokitty

Take a road trip to Temecula - Southern Cali wine country! 

JennyColada

photokitty said:

Take a road trip to Temecula - Southern Cali wine country! 

Shit, if you're doing that ~2 hour drive then you might as well go in the other direction and go to Santa Barbara/Solvang!

photokitty

JennyColada said:

photokitty said:

Take a road trip to Temecula - Southern Cali wine country! 

Shit, if you're doing that ~2 hour drive then you might as well go in the other direction and go to Santa Barbara/Solvang!

Didn't realize it was that far, I came from San Diego. I visit SD way more than LA, so I haven't ventured North of LA yet. 

ashley8918

Thanks for all the suggestions, ladies! As far as where exactly in LA i'll be, i'm not actually sure yet. I'm pretty open. I'll actually be staying in downy for work, but plan on relocating after I am finised working on Tuesday.

ashley8918

JennyColada said:

I've lived in the LA area for forever!

What you want to do/eat depends a bit on where you are (LA is pretty big, and travel isn't always the easiest).

So for now I guess I'll just comment on the other posts:

In N Out is a CA must. Diddy Riese is pretty popular (not my favorite, personally), Milk (other location) is what I prefer.

I haven't been to Gusto, but I really love Della Terra for Italian.

In N Out isn't the same as Carl's Jr (Carl's Jr is just the west-coast version of Hardees), and I wouldn't say that it's really worth it to check it out...since it's just a burger chain. Umami Burger is a pretty popular LA chain burger restaurant as well, which may be worth checking out.

I definitely think that Citywalk or Santa Monica Pier are great for cheap outings. They are fun and popular areas and don't cost anything to enter (although you will have to pay for parking). Also, Grauman's Chinese Theater/Kodiak (but I think it's called something else) Theater/Hollywood and Highland complex. This is where the Academy Awards is held and they often have movie premieres here (it's also has the Hollywood Walk of Fame). Across the street is the El Capitan Theater (https://elcapitantheatre.com/) which is owned by Disney. There's also the Soda Fountain which I think is pretty cool and a fun place to grab a milkshake or a snack.

I'd really recommend looking up places on Yelp.com (it's very popular!) and will give you a price point and you can often check out menus too.

Pinks is good for hot dogs, but I'm a big fan of Carney's the Train (and it very rarely has a line!), alternatively I'd totally recommend that you go for one of the late night street dogs from the cart (during the day they tend to sell awesome fresh fruit - look for the rainbow umbrella!). Roscoe's is popular (even the President likes it!).

You clearly want to see the Hollywood Sign too, and there are various great lookout spots or hikes.

Public transit isn't really that great, so if you're renting a car that's good, but if you don't want to drive then I'd recommend using a service like Uber or Lyft (taxis can't just be waved down, they have to be called, so they're rare).

Let's see, that's all that I can think of now.

I know that there was a similar topic a couple of months ago and I posted some more there, so let me see if I can find that too.

Ah, I didn't think about this. It's not as popular in my area, so I kind of forget about it!

We were really on the fence about renting a car, but it sounds like we will definitely need one. Good head's up, thanks!

All of these are great recs