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Los Feliz is a great little neighborhood in north-east Los Angeles, near Griffith Park (I'm a little biased since I live there...). Anytime but mid-July through August are the best times to go - it can get pretty hot some days during those months. Check out Hillhurst north of Franklin, and Vermont north of Hollywood. Lots of great restaurants, bars and hang-outs (Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Hillhurst has a great patio with firepit). Griffith Park is also nearby, with plenty of great hiking trails, pony rides for the kids, picnic areas, etc.
East of Western, north of Franklin, West of Riverside drive, south of Griffith Park. Get there from the west side by taking the 10 east, 110 North, 5 North, get off at Los Feliz Blvd and head west. Griffith Park will be to your right as you drive down Los Feliz Blvd.
It is a huge mall just outside LA to the north. Where all the locals go shopping and all the usual suspects can be found there, as well as great eating options. It is the sort of place you imagine when you think of an American mall - much better than the (outside) Grove though, admittedly, a drive away.
On the way back to LA you can cut left and drive back down Mulholland Drive as well.
When at IN-N-OUT - don't forget to look for the Biblical references on your cups and remember The Dude.
Fatburger is almost as cheap as the incredible IN-N-OUT Burger with more of a diner feel and no Bible verses
Charcoal - when you want upscale - new but gaining fans - 6372 W Sunset Boulevard, LA, CA 90028
The Oinkster - worth the drive to Eagle Rock - you don't really need a reason to visit ER, just do it before it gets too trendy.
And don't forget a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard while you're out.
fatburger.com/home/
www.theoinkster.com/
traveller.uncommontraveller.com/2007/08/01/hollywood-meets-dollywood.aspx
It's virtually impossible to get onto the beach at Malibu if you don't own a slice of it, but Bob Morris' Beach Cafe is right on the beach at Paradise Cove. The food is also great - lots of surf and turf type dishes - and you can hang out on the beach before and after dining. To get to the beach, you have to drive through what is probably the world's most expensive trailer park.
www.paradisecovemalibu.com/beachcafe
Turn left off PCH North, about 30 mins from Santa Monica.
Great 24 hour cafe on Manhattan Beach Blvd just 2 blocks from the ocean. One of the few places around the area to be open 24 hours. Their sandwiches are great, burgers tasty, but the best thing on the menu is their french onion soup with a chunk of baguette dunked in it and a slice of mozzarella melted over the top. Get the blackberry lemonade too. Good people watching from the (heated) terrace.
1138 Highland Ave (Cross Street: Manhattan Beach Boulevard)
Manhattan Beach 310 545-8511
Take a drive down to Manhattan Beach. Enjoy the pier and beach, but do not miss out on this fantastic restaurant. It's clean, inexpensive, friendly, with utterly delicious food. They have many tasty dishes suitable for vegetarians (but not vegans), as well as the standard Mexican fare very well prepared. I lived in L.A. for many years and ate there regularly.
1005 Manhattan Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA
If you want swank and sophistication, this is not the place. It actually does have sawdust on the floor. It does, however, do truly great home made pizzas and huge salads.
2807 Main Street Santa Monica, Ca 90405
Gourmet organic cafe that's a great place to go if you're sick of burgers and fries. You won't have to subsist on wheatgrass and beansprouts though, they do great chicken salad, hefty sandwiches, soups, good desserts and cakes too.
Urth Caffé - West Hollywood
8565 Melrose Avenue, (310) 659-0628, between Robertson and La Cienegahttp
www.urthcaffe.com
This is one of my compulsory stops in LA especially late nights. I understand that the breakfast is legendary - perhaps next trip - but this is one place where the t-bone is large and the coleslaw legendary. It claims that it has never shut since it opened its doors in 1924. Open 24 hours a day all year round.
Old fashioned cafe with minimal decor that looks like a cinema set for a b-grade movie. Even the cashier is behind a wired cage! Be warned - no credit cards.
Corner of 9th and Figueroa, in downtown L.A. (next to LA Convention Centre)
www.pantrycafe.com
Do not be deceived by it's diner-esque front, the cuisine here is of the very highest calibre. I lived in Hermosa Beach for over a year and ate all over Los Angeles only to find this: by far the best restaurant I went to in LA; in my last week. Mains are $12-$17, but this is a snip for the quality of food and service and for the extremely pleasant atmosphere.
1501 Hermosa Ave, Hermosa Beach
Tel: 310 376 2084
A fish'n'chip joint par excellence! Situated on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), you sit at tables overlooking the ocean eating superb freshly-cooked fish and seafood from an extensive menu. Line up at the cooking shack, choose your food, and it is cooked to order. Those in the know bring their own plates and cutlery, wine etc. Watch the sun set over the Pacific, it's magical - or go anytime for a cheap delicious meal.
PCH (Highway 1), Malibu.
With 2 branches in L.A. (the original in west L.A. on the old Route 66 and a more recent addition in Santa Monica) this is a fine place for a few beers from an enjoyably broad beer menu featuring brews from all over the world. There's no need to go for the usual U.K. available labels so try a nice Fat Tire or Anchor Steam instead, and add a fabulous calzone or chilli bowl from their equally long food menu. Shoot some pool, play the jukebox or look at the tabletops which are full of showbiz memorabilia and great old celebrity pictures.
3rd St Promenade,Santa Monica,CA
Try going on a Saturday night for Karaoke night, really over-the-top OAPs getting down to some of the worst singing you've ever heard. Go REALLY early to get a seat (5.30pm)
Great food, dozens of different open-air restaurants. Argentinian, Middle Eastern, incredible Mexican, Creole, Chinese, French, diners, bars, everything.
You can also buy truly hideous souvenirs here, snow globes with palm trees, bare-breasted salt and pepper shakers, kittens made of rabbit fur (eeek!) deeply un-chic, and perfect gifts for your boss.
It's next to the newer open-air shopping mall called "The Grove", as in Coconut, I expect, not Notting Hill. There you can find a big department store and tons of Gap, Crate and Barrel, Anthropologie type shops.
Great inexpensive day and or evening out.
On the corner of Fairfax and Third
Best Mexican food in California.
1121 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(323) 734-2773
www.elcholo.com/elcholola/index.html
Diner/restaurant at the start of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. Good atmosphere, good food, patchy service but excellent people watching and star-spotting potential. Just like eating at a diner in the movies.
1457 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401-2321
Restaurant, bakery and deli open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The bar next to the restaurant is famous for jamming sessions (every night Wednesday to Sunday) by famous and upcoming musicians.
A late night stop a must!
Canter's Delicatessen and Restaurant
419 North Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90036
Tel: (323) 651-2030
www.cantersdeli.com/aboutcanters/
More than a burger and apple pie, an iconic American experience. Diner seating, limited menu (a couple of varieties of burger, a couple of sandwiches and pie) and endearingly no nonesense service. This could be taken as "gruff", but these guys anticipate your wishes...before I could say "another coke please" it was there and when we decided to share a slice of pie, the piece was delivered with extra plate and spoon without our having said anything at the time of ordering. And if you order fries, they are served *before* the burger.
10801 West Pico Blvd. (at Westwood Blvd.), Los Angeles 90064
A fabulous Mexican restaurant just off Santa Monica Boulevard. Mariachi waiters and fantastic (and reasonably priced) food. Recommended to us by a Swedish woman who ran a clog shop on La Cienega....
1113 N.Harper Ave
Tel: 213 654 1746
As a denizen and big fan of this crazy, mixed-up city, may I recommend:
Yuca Taco Stand www.ericgarcetti.org/blog/000039.php
and there's a lady from Oaxaca who has a cart (the one under the blue umbrella, usually) on Echo Park Boulevard just south of Sunset Blvd., between Sunset and Echo Park Lake, Wednesdays thru Saturdays from noon until 5:30--she's illegal (so no links here) and delicious!
Traditional blue corn quesadillas with huitlacoche (an earthy black fungus paste that grows on ears of corn), squash blossoms, and other wonderful things to put in, pickled cactus to put on top--$3! Sometimes she doesn't show because she's afraid of the policia, but she's worth taking your chances. Yum.
Both of these places are on the eastern side of town, the far more interesting half. While here, work up your appetite and get a taste of local life by taking a hike in either Griffith Park (www.ci.la.ca.us/RAP/dos/parks/griffithPK/griffith.htm) or Elysian Park (www.laparks.org/dos/parks/facility/elysianPk.htm). Views from both.
Tourists head to Rodeo Drive hoping to see the celebs shopping, and all they find are other tourists. That is because the real stars are shopping on Robertson Blvd in West Hollywood.
Go to the Newsroom Cafe for a very reasonably priced brunch or lunch and settle down for a spot of celebrity watching.
120 N Robertson Blvd (Between Beverly Blvd. and 3rd Street) Los Angeles, CA 90048
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