Hidden gems in Los Angeles that you need to explore

Griffith Observatory and the trails of Griffith Park in Los Angeles on May 20, 2023. Photo / Tanveer Badal / The New York Times

I know you’re going to hate me for leaving out your favourite place, but Los Angeles is huge. There’s no way to cover its vastness in a weekend — or without a car — but it’s possible to capture its romance by avoiding the 405-10 interchange and sticking to one part of town each day. In this guide, we go west to east and loop back to the middle. While downtown has yet to return to its 2019 energy, there are notable happenings in myriad other neighbourhoods, including the renovated Hammer Museum’s reopening in Westwood and the burgeoning number of restaurants, bars and shops in Hollywood. Locals know the best spots are hiding in plain sight, and an appreciation for beloved classics and an openness to all that’s new define the City of Angels. Well, that and embracing the drives.

ITINERARY

Friday: Head West

3pm | Hit three beaches

If you flew into Los Angeles International Airport, swing by the In-N-Out on Sepulveda before heading toward the beach. (Order your cheeseburger, US$4 ($6.60), off-menu like a local: “Animal-style” comes with grilled onions, pickles and extra sauce). Milkshake in hand, drive to the quieter side of Venice Beach and pull into the municipal lot on Ocean Front Walk and Venice Boulevard (US$9 for the day, weekdays). In that parking lot, rent bikes at Perry’s Cafe & Rentals (US$12 per hour) and cruise north along the bike path to check out Venice’s funky shops and skate park and Santa Monica’s pier. Pedal 11km from where you started to the peaceful Will Rogers State Beach. After you drop your bike back in Venice, take a dip in the chilly Pacific.

5pm | Covet thoughtful design

A short drive east down Venice Boulevard will take you to Tortoise General Store. This shop is a wonderland of Japanese goods and a serene alternative to the luxe chains and boutiques of Abbot Kinney Boulevard, a few miles away. The collection of handmade pottery, etched glass, tenugui cloths, titanium camping gear and everything else you never knew you wanted feels like a design exhibit. But you can touch and even afford small luxuries such as fine-tipped pens (from US$16) and tiny baby socks (US$12).

7pm | Dine in old glamour

Frank Sinatra was a regular at Dear John’s, the steakhouse that opened in 1962. Still in its original Culver City location, it retains the charm of clubby Rat Pack-era dining after a 2019 revamp by new owners. Chefs Hans Rockenwagner and Josiah Citrin modernised the chophouse menu with items including playful “bougie tots” crowned with caviar, and brought intense freshness to standards such as creamed spinach. Book a table in the dining room, dim and moody with red tablecloths and stunning art curated by the co-owner Patti Rockenwagner. Whether you order steak or lobster thermidor, don’t skip the tableside Caesar salad. (Dinner for two, without drinks, about $200.) If you’re looking for a meatless meal, head to Rahel’s Ethiopian Vegan Cuisine on Fairfax for brilliant spiced vegetables and legumes.

10pm | Unwind all night

Yes, it’s late, but Wi Spa is open. Leave the Westside for K-Town (more formally known as, but never called, Koreatown). This huge spa offers its services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Once inside, guests sign waivers (that include acknowledging likely exposure to nudity) and head to huge, sparkling locker rooms (where clothes-free is the norm for the hot tubs, cold pools and showers). But Wi Spa is especially fun when you slip on the T-shirt and shorts twin sets they provide to hang out with friends in communal saunas, each built with different materials. Progress through them as recommended — oak, salt, clay, jade and ice — then return to your favourites. (Admission, US$30; reserve extra services, which have additional costs, in advance.)

A bronze animal head by the artist Ai Weiwei at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles. Photo / Tanveer Badal, The New York Times

Saturday: Go East

9am | Start strong

You can find a solid breakfast burrito nearly anywhere in the city, from food trucks and stands to drive-thrus and diners. For a day on the east side, head to La Azteca Tortilleria in East Los Angeles, where they make their flour tortillas in-house and fold juicy grilled tomatoes into the vegetable options (US$9). If you’re coming from farther north, try Tops Burgers in Pasadena. The crisp browned edges of their potatoes add a nice crunch to soft scrambled eggs (US$6 for eggs, cheese and potato).

10am | Roam through gardens

You’re going to have to walk off that burrito, so you might as well do it in a meticulously planted estate. There are more than 80 hectares of flowers and foliage at the Huntington Gardens, plus art galleries and libraries. Wind through the bridges of the Chinese garden, which reflects the influence of the Chinese families in surrounding San Marino. From there, stroll through the Zen Japanese grounds before exploring the flora that ranges from roses to cactuses. If you have little ones, bring them to the children’s area, where they can get sprayed with playful water features. The Huntington requires reservations for the weekend, and early slots book up quickly. (Adult admission, US$29.)

12:30pm | Roll into lunch

All around the Huntington are the renowned Asian restaurants of the San Gabriel Valley, where Asians make up more than half of the population in many of its cities. The San Gabriel branch of Golden Deli, a short drive from the gardens, has a menu that includes pho, bun and banh mi, but the must-order item is their cha gio. Filled with juicy pork, the rice paper-wrapped rolls crackle with crispness. South of the Huntington in Alhambra, Lunasia serves especially delicate dim sum, with steamed rice rolls translucent enough to reveal the pink shrimp inside and barbecue pork buns nearly airy in their lightness.

2pm | Spy the Hollywood sign

There’s something compelling about the bright white letters of the Hollywood sign. Yes! You’re really here! And something grounding about actually going to see it, on dusty paths in green hills, rocky nature around the glitz. You can’t hike to the sign, but you can get clear sightings in Griffith Park, particularly at the one-mile mark of the Mount Hollywood trail that starts at the Art Deco Griffith Observatory, which has stunning city views. There’s also a flat loop around the Hollywood Reservoir, which was built in 1924 and provided water that was key to the city’s growth. To capture that old somewhat Wild West feel, traverse the hills for an hour on horseback with Sunset Ranch Hollywood’s Mulholland Trail Tour from their Beachwood Drive base (US$75pp).

6pm | Go beyond sushi

This city is flush with high-end omakase restaurants, which are as exquisite as they are expensive. It remains nearly impossible to get a table at chef Niki Nakayama’s fine-dining n/naka in the Palms neighbourhood, but booking a reservation at n/soto, her more casual spot with a handsome dining room in West Adams, doesn’t require careful timing and frantic clicking. During the pandemic, Nakayama and her sous chef and partner, Carole Iida-Nakayama, pivoted to bento-box takeout at n/naka, then opened n/soto in 2022 to continue serving their refined takes on homestyle dishes. Their sushi is impeccable, but their hot dishes — crunchy chicken karaage, silky warm housemade tofu, rice and trout steaming in a donabe (a Japanese clay pot) — are as exciting as a perfect slice of toro.

The Rat Pack-era charm of Dear John's, the steakhouse where Frank Sinatra was a regular. Photo / Tanveer Badal, The New York Times

8pm | Laugh with the stars

A trip to Los Angeles doesn’t feel complete without a star sighting, and you can force the issue by going to a show at Largo at the Coronet on La Cienegedians including Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein and Saturday Night Live alumnae Melissa Villasenor and Sasheera. Com Zamata test out their material here — you may hear bits that make their way into television specials — and invite friends to perform sets. Judd Apatow, Sarah Silverman and Will Ferrell have been known to show up. They’re sometimes joined by musicians, and the way everyone chats casually on their mics makes you feel that the stars are, maybe, just like us. (Tickets from US$35, book ahead.) Seating is first come first serve.

10pm | Sip a nightcap or two

Keep laughing over cocktails expertly stirred or vigorously shaken next door at the Roger Room. With its leather booths, long wooden bar and curlicue font throughout, it feels like a speakeasy with a side of saloon. There are seasonal drinks, but the classics taste right in this old-timey room. The dirty martini is bracingly crisp, the old-fashioned warm and round, and the Boulevardier not too sweet and just bitter enough. (Cocktails, about US$16.)

Sunday: Mid-City

8am | Breakfast under arches

To enjoy pastries in a stunning space, head to Republique on La Brea. Inside the building, designed by architect Roy Seldon Price and built in the 1920s by actor Charlie Chaplin, stone arches soar in the double-height main room, flooded with sun from skylights and tall windows. Chef Margarita Manzke’s baguettes are still warm from the oven in the morning — all the better for spreading cultured Normandy butter — and her pastries (about US$5) often include flavours such as coconut and ube, inspired by her native Philippines.

9am | Score vintage denim

Every Sunday, the grounds of Fairfax High School turn into the Melrose Trading Post, an outdoor market with an eclectic mix of vintage Levi’s and hyperlocal clothing, antique film cameras, handmade jewellery, soy candles and artisan goods. Once you find the tricky parking entrance at Fairfax and Clinton (valet parking is free), you pay US$5 to enter the market. (That small fee goes to the school.) Bring cash for the entry fee and vendors. For pricier new wares, including the latest streetwear, there are shops along Fairfax and Melrose.

11am | Admire art and cars

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA (admission, US$25), is currently replacing four buildings with the David Geffen Galleries, a single new building designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. Within the existing truncated gallery spaces, one show, Afro-Atlantic Histories, examines the global slave trade through paintings, sculpture, video and drawings. Walk past Ai Weiwei’s outdoor sculpture of bronze animal heads, then across Wilshire Boulevard to the Petersen Automotive Museum (admission, US$20). You can’t help but have fun seeing the Delorean from all three Back to the Future movies. Also, there’s beauty in the long, royal blue curves of the 1939 Bugatti, a wedding gift from the French government to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi when he was the Prince of Persia. This is the best you’ll get to see of LA car culture.

1pm | Finish with a taco stop

You could spend 36 hours (or more) on a taco crawl to fully appreciate how this city has the best Mexican food in the United States. If you’re in Mid-City, go to Sonoratown. Teodoro Diaz-Rodriguez Jr. and Jennifer Feltham opened their first shop downtown in 2016 to showcase their excellent tortillas and the northern Mexican specialties that go in them. Made with flour from the Mexican state of Sonora, the tortillas are at once supple and chewy and delicious enough to eat on their own. But they’re even better filled: The steak in the costilla tacos (US$3.50) is smoky and the chorizo perfectly spiced. To get even more tortilla per bite, try the chicken chivichanga (US$5.50) and don’t skip the horchata or seasonal agua fresca (US$4.75). They sometimes have packs of their tortillas for sale. If so, bring one home to keep enjoying Los Angeles for at least a few more hours.

KEY STOPS

The Huntington offers 52 hectares of 16 themed gardens, in addition to libraries, art galleries and cafes.

Griffith Park includes scenic hikes, including the Mount Hollywood trail that starts at the Griffith Observatory.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art combines exhibits of new art with its vast permanent collections.

Petersen Automotive Museum celebrates car culture and history with its stunning vehicles.

Patrons dine at La Azteca Tortilleria in Los Angeles on May 21, 2023. Photo / Tanveer Badal / The New York Times

WHERE TO EAT

Dear John’s is a modern steakhouse with a clubby Hollywood vibe and great vegetable sides.

Rahel’s Ethiopian Vegan Cuisine serves an array of spiced vegetables, legumes and breads.

La Azteca Tortilleria, an East Los Angeles mainstay, is known for its burritos, tacos and quesadillas.

Golden Deli offers Vietnamese classics including pho, bun, banh mi and, its specialty, cha gio.

Lunasia specializes in dim sum and other Cantonese dishes, including banquet fare.

N/soto serves both exquisite sushi and hot Japanese dishes in a handsome dining room.

République transitions from a French cafe for breakfast and lunch to a fine-dining dinner spot.

Sonoratown makes its flavourful flour tortillas from scratch for tacos and chimichangas.

WHERE TO STAY

Large multinational chains offer the best lodging deals throughout the city. Below are options for independent and smaller group hotels.

Shutters on the Beach, right off the bike path in Santa Monica, has rooms from about US$775 per night. Drive farther up the coast to stay right on the sand at Malibu Beach Inn. Rooms from about US$825.

Set in a pleasant residential neighbourhood of Pasadena, the Langham Huntington feels tranquil, all the more so if you use the spa. Rooms from US$359.

Palihotel Melrose is ideal for walking to shops and restaurants. Rooms from US$263.

For short-term rentals, look in the Los Feliz neighbourhood, which has cafes, restaurants and shops along Hillhurst and Vermont Avenues and easy access to Griffith Park.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Writer: Genevieve Ko

Photos: Tanveer Badal