For a home base, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica probably make the most sense. BH is the most central place to stay in Los Angeles. Rodeo Drive is infamous for its shopping.
If you have a car, you might want to start in Hollywood. Otherwise, I suggest taking a taxi to Santa Monica.
Drive to Hollywood: Park in the Hollywood & Highland Center Mall parking structure (enter from HIghland Av, just north of the intersection of Hollywood Bl). If you validate your parking by buying something in the mall — like a cup of coffee, you’ll pay only $2 for 4 hours of parking.
There’s a great view of the Hollywood sign from the REAR patio of the mall (the side furthest from Hollywood Bl). Starline’s Depot is in the courtyard of the Chinese Theater, a very short walk West on Hollywood Bl. From the mall.
Return to your car, and drive to SM. Stop for hot dogs at Carney’s on the Sunset Strip or in Beverly Hills for a sandwich at Nate N Al’s deli.
Thursday
If you happen to be in LA on the second Thursday of the month, you should definitely check out the free, self-guided Downtown Art Walk. All the hipsters are busy lining up for the food trucks, so you can either join them or take the opportunity to eat in without the long wait.
Look out for Guisados (2100 E Cesar Chavez), as seen on Heat Seekers, it’s not your typical taco joint. Freebirds is another great place, but it’s more of a fast food joint. Pretty much a better version of Chipotle.
Once you’re down town you should probably check out some of the touristy places like the MOCA, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, the California Science Center, or Disney Hall.
Friday
If you don’t have car, staying Santa Monica near the beach can be pretty ideal: A beautiful place with excellent stores and restaurants. Take a taxi to and from the airport.
Start off your day with a walk along Beverly Hills right next to Santa Monica Blvd. It’s real pretty as you pass Beverly Gardens Park and the Beverly Hills while you look at some of the beautiful houses in the area.
Santa Monica is also great for lunch. Cha Cha Chicken (1906 Ocean) is a personal fave. Delicious Caribbean food. You might also want to try Umami Burger (500 Broadway), Joe’s Pizza (111 Broadway) or Blue Plate Oysterette (1355 Ocean Drive). Oysterette is turning into a bit of a tourist trap, but it still has great oysters and mac n cheese.
If it’s tacos you crave, Tacos Por Favor serves up arguably the best Mexican on the West side. El Texate (316 Pico) is another nice, low key, casual place for good food, beer, and prices.
For some great happy hour deals, grab a good margarita at Lula Cocina (2720 Main Street) or some fish tacos at the Yard (119 Broadway). Bar Pintxo also has some decent deals.
For dinner, head over to Musha.
Saturday
Make the effort Saturday morning to get to The Getty (in Brentwood), even if you don’t care for museums. It will make a memorable impression.
If it’s still around lunch time, you probably want to make your way back to Venice Beach. People watch as you walk the beautiful boardwalk. From Venice Beach, head to downtown LA to Griffith Park Observatory for the sunset. While in the downtown area I would particularly recommend visiting Olvera Street, where Los Angeles began, as well as Union Station across the street (Alameda) for the beautiful architecture alone. This is what train stations looked like when trains were the main mode of long distance transportation, and the decor and architecture reflect that very well. Back across the street, check out Philippe’s, which lays claim (along with another restaurant) of being the birthplace of the French Dip sandwich.
For a great beer selection and some delicious sausage, look out for Wurstkuche Venice. You probably want to drop off your friends in line as you look for parking. It’s great to people watch here, but come to eat and drink.
For a few more beers (or a great wine selection), hit up the very low key Otheroom (1201 Abbot Kinney).
Sunday
If you’re going to stay near the Santa Monica area, Road to Seoul (1230 South Western Avenue) serves up some great Korean BBQ. Otherwise, head out to a theme park.
Universal Studios. It’s probably smart to leave some time for sightseeing; such as the Mulholland Drive tour (which begins westward from Cahuenga Blvd. West (of the Hollywood Freeway) very near Barham Blvd). Take Mulholland Drive as far as the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405) and back to Santa Monica. If you have time to kill, return to the vicinity of Universal Studios via I-405 north to US 101/Ventura Freeway east to US 101/Hollywood Freeway south. Exit the freeway at Hollywood Blvd. and see the beginning and the ending of this well known street. Use either La Brea Avenue or La Cienega Blvd. to get to Sunset Blvd. taking you past Beverly Hills and back to Santa Monica.
Nice Drive:
If you drive up Pacific Coast Highway, I recommend going as far as Point Mugu; some drop-dead beautiful views of the Pacific along the way and several places to pull over and stroll the beaches. On the way back, you could stop at one of Malibu’s ocean front restaurants. Duke’s would be my recommendation.
LA Food Trucks to look out for:
- Phamish (great banh mi – especially the steak one).
- Nom Nom (not as good as Phamish, but still really good).
- Grilled Cheese Truck (get the mac n rib – it’s a grilled cheese sandwich with mac and cheese, bbq beef and sauteed onions).
- Frysmith (fries topped with steak, chiles and cheese).
- Tastymeat (very good gyros).
- Fishlips sushi (surprisingly good quality sushi and really cheap).
- Don Chow (Kung Pao Chicken and Carne Asada tacos are good).
Good Bars
A-Frame (Culver)
Varnish (downtown)
the Edison (downtown)
Association (downtown)
McCormick & Schmick’s (DT) – Killer happy hour. $2 burgers.
Laurel Tavern (in the valley) – Excellent Burgers.
Mad Bull Tavern (in the valley) – Good food. A lot of television sets.
The Highlands (West Hollywood)
