There are vapid whores everywhere, but don't miss the...

I go to the University of Wisconsin and, for those of you who don't follow college football, we'll be going to the Rose Bowl this year. I already have a ticket reserved and I will be buying my flight to LA/Pasadena tomorrow. I haven't been to LA in about seven or so years and, even though I wasn't a huge fan of anything outside of Manhattan Beach, I'm giving it another chance for the Rose Bowl. The only people I've ever met who actually enjoy the city of LA suck. A lot. However, I'm sure there's some cool shit in the city. There are a lot of other cities that generally suck but probably have some good parts (Philly, Cincinnati, etc.). It seems like a lot of you guys are pretty well traveled and have lived a good amount of places so...

Focus: What should I not miss in LA? I'll be there for four or five days. I'm on a college student's budget, although since I'm a senior, I'm basically approaching the whole thing as "go big or go home."

 

We had a "cool shit do do in Vegas" thread a while ago that turned out pretty well, so maybe we can occasionally take a little trip to other major cities that people visit.

For my part:

• Have lunch or dinner at the Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax, preferably at the Brazilian stall. Walking into the Farmer's Market for me is like stepping back into 1935. Bonus: the Grove is next door, which is a pretty cool little shopping area (although you're unlikely to find anything you want to buy). Good place to look for celebs, though.
• While you're in the area, you can walk through the La Brea Tar Pits right around the corner. That's free (although it's not if you want to go into the museum. Speaking of museums, either of the Getty museums is worth a trip. I personally really like the Griffith Observatory. It's sort of small; more of a half-day activity, but the planetarium show is pretty great. If you stay until after dark you can get a chance to look through a real telescope; last time I was there they had it pointed at Saturn. The rings were edge-on but you could still see them.
• You can go fight the rest of the tourists on Hollywood and Sunset Blvds. and take a picture with all the weirdos that dress up as superheroes.
• All the action is in Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Manhattan/Redondo/Hermosa Beaches.

 

Canter's Deli, 419 N Fairfax Ave, LA. It's a pretty fucking awesome deli, and nothing I say here will improve on the tastiness of its Reubens or matzoh. Gee, what ethnic/religious group could they belong to?

 

For food:

Chinese Friends Restaurant, 984 North Broadway: Get the Sizzling Rice Soup, House Special Shrimp and Moo Shu at the very least. Will run around 20 bucks a person at most.

Zencu (Little Tokyo, 319 E 2nd St # 206): The go to sushi place for me and my friends. Good prices and pretty tasty sushi. The Tempura California rolls are delicious. 10-20 bucks a person depending on how hungry you are.

Manna Korean BBQ (3377 West Olympic Boulevard): All you can eat meat for 20 bucks. The side items they provide are pretty tasty too. Try to Pineapple Soju and Hite if you want some drinks.

The Pantry (877 South Figueroa Street): Open 24/7, basically diner food slathered in gravy. Get kind of busy after Lakers and Kings games so try not to go right after one of those.

 

If you want to get on the price is right, get there about 12 hours before the taping. I got there 11 hours before the taping and was number 319 in line. They only take 317. I had a shirt on that said "My name is Drew and I'm from Ohio too!" I would have definately been on the show if I got there earlier.

In Hollywood we went to a bar called 8oz. They had $2 PBR before 7pm every day. It was a regular bar. I loved it. They also had bacon infused vodka. They made a bloody mary with it that had a crispy piece of bacon as the stir stick.

Visit a marijuana pharmacy. I had never seen anything like it. I don't even use drugs anymore, and this was impressive. Pounds and Pounds of ti being chopped up in the back room. More varieties than I had ever heard of. So awesome.

 

In N Out Burger. Double-double, fries and a chocolate shake.

Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger from Carl's Jr.

Every time I visit back home (I'm from L.A., but live in RI now) those are the first two things I want.

Magic Mountain is an hour away if you want an amusement park, and the weather will be perfect for it.

 

Well, I've never been to L.A., but I heard about this legendary sushi chef called Nosawa.

Apparently this guy is a serious, old school sushi chef. He runs his restaurant like the soup nazi ran his( in Seinfeld), but the sushi is supposed to be amongs the best you can get in LA. This is why you will most probably hear M. Nosawa called "the sushi nazi". If you go to Nosawa's and sit at the bar, you apparently don't get to choose what you get : you get the "trust me special"

It might be a little out of your budget, but if you like sushi, and would like to experience a different kind of experience, i would suggest to check it out.

(even the reviews about this place are entertaining to read : <a class="postlink" href="http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/321700/studio_city_ca/sushi_nozawa.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profil ... ozawa.html</a>)

 

I second frebis' suggestion about 8oz. The guy that runs it was on either Top Chef or Iron Chef, but they have awesome drinks and burgers there. Also, just up the street is a vintage t-shirt shop. A little on the hipster side, but I found the old band and concert shirts absolutely fascinating.

Check out the Largo at the Coronet. It's an old theater with a bar that has a lot of semi-big name comedy and music acts that perform there. Its cheap (~$20-30), and the crowds are small. The acts usually will hang out afterwords to chat and have a drink. http://www.largo-la.com/largohome.html

Universal Studios is touristy, but I had fun nonetheless.

Other than that, LA blows. This city is what happens when the stupid have money and power...

 

Applepan on 10800 Pico Blvd. Cash only. Best pie you'll ever taste in your life. Burgers are pretty damn good, too. Continue west on Pico and at about 18th St, just across from Santa Monica College, is Abbot's Pizza. It's gourmet pizza with a bagel crust. BAGEL CRUST, man. Delicious.

If you're a boxing fan, Wild Card Boxing club at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Vine. Don't be intimidated by the ghetto area. Some of the best fighters in the world are there.

 

I lived a few hours from L.A. growing up. I went there for Dodger games mostly. I was never a huge fan of the rest of the city, but one place I always went before games was Phillipe's. They have some ridiculously awesome French dip sandwiches. It's gotten really popular, so there's probably gonna be a line, but it's worth it if you ask me. The pork sandwich, double dipped, is the best french dip I've ever had.

I also went down Sunset Blvd. a few times. Definitely worth it to see all the nutjobs dressed up as superheroes, and to check out the walk of fame.

Also, if you're feeling ballsy, you can climb up to the Hollywood sign up in the hills behind Sunset Blvd. You aren't actually "supposed" to, but fuck that, if you can get up there, it's worth it.

Here's me in the hollywood "O". Worth it for the picture alone.

 

Fuck all this shit. I agree with $100T2. In N Out Burger is a life changer. Make sure you check out the secret menu before you go. Animal Style is where its at.

When I was visiting, I made it a point to drive down PCH and make a stop in Malibu. Absolutely gorgeous. Especially if you get onto Pepperdine campus and up the hills for better viewpoints.

Beverly Hills at least deserves a drive through, to show how different it is to live on the west coast as opposed to, in your case, Wisconsin (I'm from Cleveland, so it was pretty amazing).

Pinkberry.

LA Memorial Coliseum. Its a piece of shit, but the history is cool. I got to go earlier this year to a game. Seeing foot long churros as the main type of stadium food, as well as 'death dogs'...well, it was interesting, to say the least.

If you can score tickets...Kimmel, Leno, Conan tapings. Also, Kevin Smith has his own black box theatre in Santa Monica where he tapes his podcasts. If you're a fan, it's really cool to sit in and listen and watch. Usually some sort of meet and greet after, or at least some Q&A. Tickets usually run 20-30 bucks.

I did all of this on basically a college student budget. You'd be surprised how much you can do out there if you watch your cash wisely and understand from the get go that its not Prime Rib and cocaine every night. Its definitely a place thats cool to visit once or twice if you're not from the area....but I agree with you in that Manhattan Beach was awesome. Did you check out Wahoo's Fish Tacos while in MB? If not, do so.

 

Find a hole in the wall taqueria (mexican food) where nobody speaks any english and get tacos. You'll probably get the shits, but it's well worth it. Asada and al Pastor are my favorites.

I try to stay out of LA as much as possible, but everytime I go up to my buddy's I go to Barney's Beanery on Santa Monica in W. Hollywood. The place has been there forever, since the 30's I believe. Jim Morrison pissed on the bar. It has a surprisingly good beer list, and the food is awesome. There's the occasional hipster, but not your typical entitled LA douchebags. Mostly just fun people looking to get as drunk as you.

Hermosa has Pier ave. blocked to traffic with a bunch of bars on it. You can do a bar crawl with the Pacific as your backdrop. I like to day drink here.

Go down to Redondo Beach and hit up Naja's Place - great hole in the wall bar with something like 100 beers on tap.

 

*So, being a Cali native born and raised, it kills me to agree with sack, but...While your in that town I will second a lot of stuff already mentioned. Double Double is mandatory (and cheep) don't forget to go animal style. For drinks hit up the El Coyote (7312 Beverly Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90036 (323) 939-7766) Huge margaritas are strong and awesome, the food is average americanised Mexican, but might be more pleasing to a bland Midwestern palate (no offense). You do have to hit up a 2am taco truck or all night carnicería, words just can't describe it to the uninitiated, you have to do it for yourself. Magic mountain is fun as shit if you have the time, and people watching at LAX is incredible. If you never plan on living in Cali, I agree...Go fucking big or don't go. Enjoy your time in our communist camp of a state and just remember.....if the waitress tells you that she wants to be an actress...the price of the BJ just doubled.

*I no longer live in the LA basin but "This message approved by the California visitors association"

EDIT: While doing all this....try not to get stabbed.

 

Don't forget to get in the far left lane on the highway and do 60 miles per hour. It must be a lot of fun because it seems to be a favorite pastime among the other tourists.

Edit:

I just realized the unintentional comedy in the fact that I'm listening to AEnima whilst perusing this thread.

 

I'll be going to LA next week, won't have a whole lot of time there (something in the area of a day); what's cheap and public transportation-adjacent?

Also, anything to know about the subway or bus system there? I lived in NYC for 4 years, so I'm pretty used to public trans, but does the LA system have any quirks I should know about? Like it stop running at 10pm, or you can only pay with magical tokens on the bus?

 

LA's public transportation is pretty awful unless you're going fairly short distances. It's probably easier to just take a cab.

 

What are cab prices like out there?

And is there an equivalent of Brooklyn? (ie: where cab drivers refuse to go)

 

From USC to Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, it was around 30 bucks. I didn't take cabs too often, since some of my friends drove unless we were all drinking, but I haven't ever had a cab refuse to go somewhere.

 

Anyone have a good estimate on travel time from West Hollywood to LAX on a Tuesday night?

Just got my ticket; have the redeye Tuesday night.