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With distinct neighbourhoods, multicultural influences that cross the globe and strong local pride (especially for the Lakers and Dodgers), Los Angeles is a city that’s endlessly surprising. From Hollywood hikes to cult culinary classics, here are six of LA’s most essential experiences.
1. Lunch at Superba Food + Bread
Equal parts bakery, cafe and laidback hang-out spot, Superba Food + Bread‘s driving ethos is that good food is made to be shared. Menu highlights include the little gem caesar salad, an earthy delight tossed with a delicious vegan dressing and charred romano beans.
The chicken chopped salad is another great pick, with garbanzo beans and fresh mozzarella accented with bright bursts of flavour from the za’atar vinaigrette. With locations in Calabasas, Hollywood, Noho, Pasadena and Venice, Superba makes for the perfect mid-explore pitstop, even if you’re just stopping by for a fresh loaf.
Superba Food + Bread images courtesy of Superba.
2. Hike the Hollywood sign
Originally built as an advertisement for a real estate development called ‘Hollywoodland’, the Hollywood Sign has since become an icon. Hiking to the sign is an easy undertaking, with several trails of varying difficulty. Trek through Griffith Park, before looking back across the Santa Monica Mountains and the upper Beachwood Canyon.
Pass mansions, the art installation ‘the last house on Mulholland Drive’ and the region’s goats, sent to help the prevention of fires by eating their weight in grass. If you want to really look back at Los Angeles, hike to the top of Mount Lee behind the sign – here it feels like the world is at your feet.
Griffith Observatory image courtesy of Shutterstock / fivetonine.
3. Take a lowrider tour around LA
Hop into the passenger seat of a baby blue 1964 Impala Lowrider, where a loud engine, smooth leather seats, open skies and a premium sound system set the tone for a timeless tour through Los Angeles. With an operator like Lowrider Tours, cruise past Sunset Boulevard, film locations, star homes, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, the Hollywood Sign, Downtown, or Santa Monica.
4. Watch a Lakers basketball game
Join passionate fans (including celebrities) in a packed arena for one of the city’s best-loved spectacles: an LA Lakers basketball game. Watch athletes crash into courtside seats, and enjoy a high energy atmosphere of music, cheerleaders and a roaring band during timeouts. The regular season is from October to April and is worth the hype.
5. Dinner at Ka’teen
Born from a roving LA food truck, Ka’teen takes ancient traditions from the Yucatan Peninsula and reimagines Mexican fare with California’s fresh produce and ingredients, hand-picked from local purveyors and farmers. It feels like you’ve entered a jungle as you walk into this moody corner of Hollywood, accented with fire pits and potted palms. Chef Wes Avila is rightfully renowned as a master – his corn esquite is as creative as it is delicious, smothered in thick lashings of coconut cream instead of butter.
6. Try the classics: In-N-Out Burger, Crumbl Cookies, Erewhon
Born in Baldwin Park, Los Angeles in 1948, In-N-Out is a tried-and-true favourite. In-the-know locals order from the restaurant’s secret menu, with choices like the onion-wrapped Flying Dutchman: beef patties, mustard and American cheese, topped with a tightly-held secret sauce (whose recipe hasn’t changed in seven decades), sandwiched between onion slices rather than buns.
If you have a sweet tooth, look no further than Crumbl Cookies. The latest LA obsession specialises in large cookies of all types, which are so good they often sell out. A weekly rotating menu brings trendy flavours; Martha Stewart’s menu has offerings closer to cake than biscuit, with a lemon pie and New York cheesecake cookies a dessert-lover’s dream.
High-end grocery chain Erewhon’s smoothie selection has become a symbol of Los Angeles’ wellness culture, with its celebrity collaborations going viral online (like the recent Hailey Bieber ‘Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie’, with almond milk, strawberries, bananas, avocado, sea moss gel and more). It tastes like the best acai bowl you’ve had.
Discover Los Angeles
Feature image: Hollywood. Source: Shutterstock / Sean Pavone.
