OT: Living in LA

Submitted by MCT on

I am a Michigan Undergrad who recently received a summer internship in LA. I figured I'd start a post asking for advice from anyone that's stayed there past or present. I have personally never been before and was looking for ideas for places to visit and bars/restaurants to go have a beer (or ten) at.

Any information from the MGoCommunity is greatly appreciated.

UNCWolverine

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:19 PM ^

Where is your job, downtown? Do you know where you are living yet?

There are many many pockets of areas so it's hard to give you advice until I know where you are living.

ken725

April 22nd, 2010 at 3:58 PM ^

There are lots of places to eat and have drinks in Westwood. Westwood Brew Co. and Maloney's is pretty cool. If you are into Persian girls or guys dressed in Ed Hardy or Affliction there are couple hookah bars as well.

If you find out where you are living it might be better. I always liked going to Los Feliz area. Lots of nice places to eat/drink.

UNCWolverine

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:44 PM ^

I agree with the board. Westwood is decent but it's a pretty small pond especially in the summer. Santa Monica should be your goal most nights that you go out. The following places are worth checking out.

I'm assuming that you are in undergrad so spots like South, Qs, and Busby's would be decent targets for you. They are also in east Santa Monica towards Brentwood so they would be closer for you.

Wilsire on Wilshire is a good spot.

Father's Office as mentioned below is good.

The Viceroy Hotel pool/cabanas and the Huntley Hotel's Penthouse are higher end spots that can be fun.

Then there are some nice spots in Venice on Main Street and Abbott Kinney that are worth checking out.

Understand that drinks are going to be about twice as expensive as you are used to so trying to find some cheap college nights at the first three places that I mentioned will probably be a priority.

I forgot to add that I agree with the poster that said get/stay in great shape if you plan to go after some serious tail in LA. Having money helps but not everyone has that luxury. However almost everyone is in great shape. I'm 35 and in better shape than I was when I was 25. You really have no choice.

Good luck and have a great time.

SFBlue

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:15 PM ^

Westwood bars are dead in the summer (and in the school year for that matter, except for Thursdays). Go to Rene's for a laid-back scene, Father's Office for killer local brews, the hotel bars for a flashier scene (Casa Del Mar, Viceroy). I also really like this dive-ass place called Chez Jay.

Baldbill

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:15 PM ^

Do not get the brain taco's from the taco truck, you will to regret it.

Eat a burger at In-N-Out

Go visit the Rose Bowl, Michigan will be there in Jan or 2011.

Go to the La Brea Tar Pits.

Go to a beach, anyone will do.

Zone Left

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:26 PM ^

Good luck, it's tough to come out here and go back to Michigan. My advice is this: learn how to surf, meet some women, get in great shape, and come back after graduation. It's great out here.

anonbastardo

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:42 PM ^

Okay, I've been reading this blog forever but never registered, been in L.A. for 10 years.

- Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles. Name says it all.
- Kogi BBQ taco truck - tacos made with Korean BBQ meat, website has a schedule of where/when it will be.
- Pink's Hotdogs - best dogs in town, the line always sucks though.
- El Chavo Mexican restaurant - campy as hell, but food is reasonable and the $5 house margaritas will knock you on your ass. The giant picture of Dolly Parton is a nice touch.
- Santa Monica Last Fridays - last Friday of the month, businesses/restaurants/art galleries along main st. in santa monica stay open late, serve drinks (some free!). I am old so I like this kind of crap but free drinks is free drinks!
- Venice Beach - worth going once to watch the freak show that is the boardwalk.
- If you are going to the beach to swim on a regular basis, drive up to Point Dume or Zuma, they have cleaner water. Surfing is no good there though...
- Hike up as close as you can to the hollywood sign, jump the fence and watch how quickly the police helicopter will be on your ass. They have motion sensors all over the place past the fence. Worth the trespassing ticket.
- Go to the skybar, order a well martini, then vomit when you get the bill for a $16+ crap martini. Promptly bolt before paying, and be sure to run by the Standard Hotel on the way to see the anorexic model in a fishtank!

pasadenablue

April 22nd, 2010 at 4:43 PM ^

Cafe Habibi - Hookah in Westwood. Good food too.
President Thai - Great Thai
Zankou Chicken - Amazing middle eastern food. Get the #10.
Japon Bistro - Awesome sushi. Say hi to William.
The Edison - Bar/Lounge
Fred 62 - 24-hr Diner with great food. Try the SWS.
ABC Cafe - Asian place serving 6 dollar steak and eggs at 3 AM
BJ's - Brewpub chain with good food and very good beer

Santa Monica is a good place to go out at night. Its also fun during the day - spend a few hrs on the beach, and then explore the city.

Take a trip out to Vegas for a weekend

Lucas

April 22nd, 2010 at 7:03 PM ^

A general note on LA - everything you've heard is true - it is a huge massive sprawl. If you are going to work in Westwood, don't live too far away or you will hate yourself. You may have heard something about the traffic...

Neighborhoods to consider living in - Westwood itself - West LA, Culver City, Century City, Santa Monica, Brentwood and Beverly Hills (and anything in between will also be fine). Howeva - all of those neighborhoods are pretty pricey unless you've got a roommate (or 3). I would not recommend living in Beverly Hills or Bentwood - they are beautiful places, but they don't have much going on in terms of things to do. Also expensive. I live on the East Side (Los Feliz/Silverlake/Echo Park).

Despite the stigma, living in the valley isn't totally miserable but the commute will suck. It will be much cheaper though. (Also - The valley is only okay if you live in Sherman Oaks or Studio City - Burbank and Toluca Lake are okay, but probs a bit far for you - don't live anywhere else in the valley if you can help it.)

UCLA/Westwood is a beautiful part of town. Apt.'s will be more expensive and parking will suck big time, but Westwood is one of the few neighborhoods in LA where you can walk around.

Restaurants/Stuff to do (a lot of the bars have good food too):
-Go to Diddy Riese (http://www.diddyriese.com/) for a homemade ice cream sandwich. It's in Westwood so you can walk there. The line will be huge, but there are lots of cute college girls/boys (depending on which way you swing) so it will be worth it.

- I find the Apple Pan to be a tad overrated (only because it's way too crowded for what you get), but the burgers and pie are pretty decent.

-There is a very curious trend of 'upscale' (they grind their own blend from 'choice' cuts) burger joints' popping up all over town. They are all good, but expensive. Umami Burger and Stout are my rec's for that.

-The Bread Bar in Bev Hills has awesome breakfast and has fantastic coffee.

-Intelligentsia will make you gag on hipsters, but their espresso is right on. I am a sucker for good coffee.

-Good Microwbrew and Grill has over 200 kinds of beer and good(ha!) food.

-Alcove on Vermont is another good spot, mostly outdoor seating. You order/pay at the counter and they bring your food out.

-Largo is a great place to see music - The owner only picks shows he approves of. They have comedy too. I highly recommend seeing Jon Brion do one of his regular Friday night shows. He knows every pop/rock song ever written. I'm not kidding - he never goes on stage with a set list and just takes requests/makes shit up as he goes. Also (and this might be the best part) he plays every instrument himself - the engineer will loop his drum/piano parts through the PA while he plays guitar/sings alongside them.

-The Troubadour is the best venue for touring bands.

-Amoeba is the largest independent record store in the world (it's like going to Costco, but only has Records/CD's/Music/Movie memorabilia.

-Next door to Amoeba is the Arclight Cinemas - The best place to see a movie. Every seat is reserved, so you can show up 10 minutes before the movie without having to worry about sitting in the front row. The sound/picture quality is always perfect, it is exceptionally clean and the staff are super friendly. They also have a bar and 21+ movies. Lots of premier's here too.

-Also - during the summer, the Hollywood Forever Cemetery screens movies outdoors. Bring a picnic, a camping chair, some beer and enjoy.

-You've probably heard of the Getty - it is awesome, but I strongly recommend the Huntington. That place will blow your mind.

-Dodgers games are almost never sold out and you can usually buy decent cheap seats at the gate. Don't sit in the family section - they don't sell beer.

- I am not a fan of the Sunset Strip - It's total chaos (in a bad way) on a weekend night. All the drinks are more than 10 bucks (even beer), the lines to get in are insane and you'll probably have to pay 20 bucks for parking.

Bars:
-You should be able to find all of these just by doing a google search with the name and 'los angeles'. I live on the east side (Los Feliz), so that's how this list will be skewed. Also there are literally hundreds of great bars in LA. Go nuts.

-3rd Stop is awesome. It's near Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. It has a very decent number of beers (i think 40+ on tap) and the food is also pretty good. Not a dive bar, though I wouldn't call it 'up-scale' either. They also have a number of HD TV's at the bar and are always playing sports of some kind.

-St. Nicks is right down the road from 3rd Stop. Also a pub, a lot bigger and very casual.

-Barney's Beanery - is the place to go if you are looking to get rowdy. They have a few locations, but you'll stick to the ones in West Hollywood or Santa Monica. Pool Tables, Foosball and a ton of beer. You will get wasted here. You will not be able to help it. This place gets super crowded Thursday-Saturday, so keep that in mind.

-Sonny McLeans is an Irish Bar in Santa Monica and an unfortunate magnet for Red Sox/Boston sports fans. You'll have a good time though.

-Formosa Cafe and Jones are both on Santa Monica near Highland (Basically Hollywood) - good stuff at both places. Jones is the place if you want to get a little 'dressier'. Formosa is an old Hollywood hang-out.

- The Cat and Fiddle in Hollywood is an English Style Pub. English food, English stouts/porters/ales and kind of a magnet for English folks in town. I love it - it's set back from the street with a great outdoor patio and fountain, so it doesn't really feel like you're in the city. They have darts and a good juke box.

- 1739 Public House in Los Feliz has over 60 beers on tap and is probably my favorite bar in LA (but i also live around the corner so...)

- The Dresden is also in Los Feliz and if you are a fan of 'Swingers' you need to go. Very old school kind of bar - all the wait staff are in their 50s (and up) and of course Marty and Elaine are the only two who 'aren't' in on the joke. Get some kind of out dated cocktail, like an 'old fashioned'...

-Other good east side bars are the 4100, Big Foot Lounge, The Rustic Inn, The Drawing Room

-The Standard Hotel has two spots (Sunset Strip in West Hollywood and Downtown) - it's kind of a trendy place, but it's a roof bar which is always a good thing in LA.

-7 Grand is also downtown - this will be a bit far for you, but it's a whisky bar. A lot of whisky. Pool tables, cigars, etc. It's awesome - very classy gentlemen's bar.

This will get you started.

Welcome and Cheers!

liquidroad

April 22nd, 2010 at 6:20 PM ^

I have been living in LA for a year and a half and agree a lot with what people have to say, especially Lucas. I used to live in West Hollywood, and now in Hollywood/Los Feliz area, and have some suggestions that haven't been mentioned. I used to work on Melrose right down the block from a good bar/restaurant called The Village Idiot. Great beer, great liquor selection, and really good food. However it's best to go in the early evening or else it gets really crowded and loud. A plus is they do have a back room that is good for partys. There is a decent bar across the street from that called the Darkroom which is decent as well. Bar Lubitsch on Santa Monica has a cool design to it and makes good specialty drinks. There is Coach and Horses on Sunset east of Fairfax, The Woods on La Brea and Sunset, and Three Clubs on Vine near Santa Monica. Tom Bergin's and Molly Malone's are good Irish places on Fairfax; Bergin's more for an old-school Irish feel, and Malone's to see live music. In Hollywood, I would recommend the Frolic Room, Blue Palm, and Dillon's (kind of. It's a new Irish place on Hollywood and Vine that has a bunch of TV's, great beer selection with great beer prices, and waitresses that are dressed like they work at Hooters, but it can get kind of douchey.) Also, there is Hollywood Billiards in Little Armenia that is great for watching college football and a lot of Michigan fans watch games there. Just down the street on Los Feliz from Bigfoot Lodge are The Roost (a decent divish bar) and The Griffin, which may have my favorite interior of any bar in LA and they make strong drinks. In Silverlake, right across the street from each other, are the Cha Cha Lounge and the Red Lion Tavern. Cha Cha is better in the early evening when the drinks are cheaper and it's not too crowded, and Red Lion is a German place that has a festive biergarten and good beer. I think that is all I have to add at the moment, and I think it would be fun to get a bunch of us LA guys together for some Michigan games, or Red Wings games or the like.

Lucas

April 22nd, 2010 at 7:01 PM ^

liquidroad - also great suggestions! Totally dropped the ball on Cha Cha's and The Red Lion - agreed that if you do one, you'll probably be at the other that same night. The top floor of the Red Lion is also sort of outside (mostly covered roof). And the Roost has free popcorn, self serve from a carnival style popper. I second all the other bars you mentioned as well.

-It's funny that you mention Hollywood Billiard - it is the only place I've gone to see Michigan games outside of the house (I get too intense about the games to watch them with strangers). The State game last year was amazing for the final two drives of regulation. I think we outnumbered Sparty fans by 10-1. Then overtime happened.... and the place was empty.

-On that note - anyone know if there are any 'Michigan' Bars in LA?

WolvinLA2

April 22nd, 2010 at 7:18 PM ^

I don't care where you'll be working, if you're in LA, you should live in the South Bay (Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach) and I suggest Hermosa Beach. Tons of midwesterners, more women than you can handle, all the bars are in walking distance. It's paradise. I've lived in Westwood, it's pretty lame in comparison, especially during the summer.

I'm sure there are a number of M grads on here who live in the South Bay, it's the only place to be if you're young in LA during the summer. Plus it's cheaper than Westwood and Santa Monica (both in rent and the bars that are there).