What to do in LA?

[Lex Diamonds]

I'm gonna be staying in Torrance with my girlfriend's aunt for a month.

Someone tell me great things to do... both cheap & cheerful and baller shit please.

[Micodin]

Doing all the drugs off of Pico and Labrea.

[Echewta]

Torrance? Oh man...good luck.

What do you like to do? You have Long Beach and Manhattan Beach nearby.
Disneyland is close. They sell turkey legs there and you can pretend to be a gross American.

You would probably dig Santa Monica (3rd Street) and Venice Beach. Lots of people watching.

[YoungRemy]

you might be able to take Metro Rail from your area into downtown.

you can explore some areas around the Grammy Museum and LA Live complex. any night there is a sports jumble, (thanks DandyFop) you can hang out in the plaza and do more of that people watching pastime.

from there you can go into the heart of Hollywood via subway, or into Culver City via the new Expo line above ground. that path (expo line) takes you through the USC campus and passes the Museum of Natural History and California Science Center, which currently houses a Space Shuttle Endeavour exhibit.

in the Hollywood area, you can visit the Capitol Records building or take a hike above the Hollywood Hills, see the Griffith Park Observatory, or watch insanely vapid people and porn stars hiking Runyon Canyon.

go visit the former G-Son studios and MCA mural in Atwater Village off of Glendale Blvd.

in your area, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo's nice.

co-sign Venice and Santa Monica area.

[Micodin]

Doing all the drugs off of Pico and Labrea.

[Lex Diamonds]

Originally Posted by Echewta

Torrance? Oh man...good luck.

What do you like to do? You have Long Beach and Manhattan Beach nearby.
Disneyland is close. They sell turkey legs there and you can pretend to be a gross American.

You would probably dig Santa Monica (3rd Street) and Venice Beach. Lots of people watching.

What do you mean good luck? From what I hear it's a fairly generic US town.

I like the usual things: good music, food, comedy, art etc. When I go to a new city I generally like just trying to meet cool and/or crazy people who will be able to show me around. I know there isn't much of that near Torrance but people have told me to check out Venice Beach and Santa Monica already.

[Lex Diamonds]

Originally Posted by YoungRemy

you might be able to take Metro Rail from your area into downtown.

you can explore some areas around the Grammy Museum and LA Live complex. any night there is a sports jumble, (thanks DandyFop) you can hang out in the plaza and do more of that people watching pastime.

from there you can go into the heart of Hollywood via subway, or into Culver City via the new Expo line above ground. that path (expo line) takes you through the USC campus and passes the Museum of Natural History and California Science Center, which currently houses a Space Shuttle Endeavour exhibit.

in the Hollywood area, you can visit the Capitol Records building or take a hike above the Hollywood Hills, see the Griffith Park Observatory, or watch insanely vapid people and porn stars hiking Runyon Canyon.

go visit the former G-Son studios and MCA mural in Atwater Village off of Glendale Blvd.

in your area, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo's nice.

co-sign Venice and Santa Monica area.

This looks like a helpful post. Thanks, bruh!

[Micodin]

Is it your first time in Cali?

If so, you should do the obligatory Beastie stuff. Go to Atwater Village. Check out the Capital building. YoungRemy knows whats up.

[Echewta]

Nothing is wrong with Torrance, just crackin yo ribs.

Try to get to downtown l.a. at night if possible on a Friday or Saturday night. A mix of people going out, a new family scene, and a number of homeless. There are roof top bars, some old school pubs, crazy art galleries and randomness.

I know a number of places to drink and eat down there if you are looking for something specific.

[Micodin]

I gotta get back to LA soon. There's a lot of graffiti artists that have stopped by recently and I'd like to see their work before it's gone.

[cosmo105]

I swear there was a thread like this that I replied to not long ago but I can't find it now, argh!

Downtown: The Edison early in the evening for a delightful cocktail and burlesque (dress nicely, they do not fuck around with the dress code). Bar 107 for a good dive, Cole's/Varnish for fancy Manhattans/Old-Fashioneds.

West Hollywood: Cinefamily for independent movies. El Carmen for literally hundreds of fancy tequilas in a rad luchador setting.

Silver Lake/Echo Park: this is the coolest neighborhood. everyone admits they're hipsters and we're all cool with that. Mohawk Bend is great for food and drinks. Get a reservation if it's going to be on a Friday at 8 or whatever, otherwise it's usually not bad. The beer selection is great, as are the cocktails. The kitchen is open kinda late too. Brite Spot is open even later and is great for peoplewatching, especially bands coming back from shows at either the Echo or the Echoplex - great venues that you can always see amazing shows at. I'm partial to Funky Sole at the Echo. funk dancing every saturday night . Intelligentsia is the fancy snobby coffee place and pretty much that whole area of Sunset Junction is worth walking around. Great gelato at Pazzo across the street. I also really love the Thirsty Crow for their namesake drink. Not quite Silver Lake but you should definitely check out UCB LA for at least one show.

As far as the West Side, Santa Monica is fun-ish, lots of great food around there. Touristy sure, but still fun to walk around. Venice is kind of gross but as a visitor you kinda have to see it. I really like the actual beach - most people just go along the boardwalk, so the beach at Venice is rarely that crowded. Malibu is really beautiful to drive around and park and sit on the beach for a bit.

Museum-wise, MOCA is worth checking out, LACMA and the surrounding tarpits are great. The Huntington Library and Gardens are beautiful if you're academically and/or botanically inclined.

Olvera Street is fun to visit on a weekend. Lots of crappy little vendors and decent restaurants and local color.

Nobody takes the bus. Sometimes people take the subway. Parking sucks. It's worth paying for a lot downtown instead of hunting for a spot.

I'd mention restaurants but obviously most of my recommendations will be all vegan stuff. But you have to try In 'N' Out.

It's a hell of a toooooown!

[cosmo105]

laist.com

laweekly.com

^great places to see what's going on

[cosmo105]

Oh yeah, Griffith Park and the Observatory are beautiful. Not sure when you're getting out here, but if it's during the season, check out a Dodger game! Meltdown Comics has great comedy shows too.

One of my favorite things to do when I wasn't such an old lady was to go to art gallery openings every week or so. You can usually find them on LAist. Free food, free cheap wine, fun people-watching (people-making-fun-of) and "culture!" There's literally something amazing to do every single night in LA. you just have to find it.

[Lyman Zerga]

Originally Posted by cosmo105

I'd mention restaurants but obviously most of my recommendations will be all vegan stuff. But you have to try In 'N' Out.

It's a hell of a toooooown!

'in n out' burgers are my favorite
i think theres 'round table' restaurants 'all you can eat pizza/salad' places near LA and same with 'golden corral' only that you can get all kinds of all you can eat foods there

[cosmo105]

those are chains that are all over the US.

Brunch is one thing I forgot to mention - Home in either Silver Lake or their other location Los Feliz (silver lake one is less crowded) is baller. Swingers in West Hollywood or Santa Monica is similarly fun and tasty. Rose Cafe in Venice is really nice. There are tons of great places to go for brunch. And if you're in LA, you have to do brunch.

[Lyman Zerga]

Originally Posted by cosmo105

those are chains that are all over the US.

round table is mostly a californian thing from what i know

[cosmo105]

I'm trying to say nicely that it's not very good

[Lyman Zerga]

Originally Posted by cosmo105

I'm trying to say nicely that it's not very good

haha ok, i learned to like it but nothing compared to the real italian pizza though

[DandyFop]

come see some GREAT LIVE COMEDY that i do. seriously come out it's fun, also I can show you the old g-son studios. hit me up and I can tell you about shows or whatever

Torrance is kinda far from LA is what Echewta was indicating I think, you'll have to trek up here

[Micodin]

Originally Posted by DandyFop

Torrance is kinda far from LA is what Echewta was indicating I think, you'll have to trek up here

Hells yeah, Marky Mark had to take a bunch of buses to get there to LA from Torrance in Boogie Nights.

[MC Moot]

Find as many of Roy Choi’s trucks as you can…cause he’s the most interesting person in L.A...well excluding David Choe…L.A is all about the Koreans these days…

[Lex Diamonds]

Great replies guys, especially cosmo! Very informative and seems pretty well suited to my interests. Many thanks!

[kll]

We're in Redondo - like 2 minutes from Torrance, so if you need local restaurant info or local local stuff to do, hit me up. Have fun!

[Lex Diamonds]

Cool. Thanks again peoples, I was worried a month would be too long but we're planning a week or so in SF and it looks like there's plenty to get around and see so I'm feeling hyped now!