What should I do in LA in late April / early May?

March 18, 2011 2:49 PM

Los Angeles - last week of April, first week of May. What should I absolutely not miss? And... can you recommend some good eats/drinks/hangouts in West Hollywood?

I'm visiting Los Angeles from April 26 to May 10. I will be staying in West Hollywood.

Last year I saw Bonnie Prince Billy play in the back of a small guitar shop in Santa Monica. This year, I just bought tickets for Tindersticks playing the scores of Claire Denis films.

What cool art, music, film, events will be happening that I should not miss during my stay?

In addition, what about West Hollywood in particular just for day to day stuff? Restaurant, bar, music stores, etc., that you can recommend?

Thanks!

posted by dobbs to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

The LA Times Festival of Books is glorious. Held during the weekend of April 30/May 1, the FOB hosts countless panels, demos, signings, debates, and talks with illustrators, authors, publishers, editors, and scholars.
posted by HotPatatta at 3:05 PM on March 18, 2011

Oh, and almost all events at the festival are FREE!
posted by HotPatatta at 3:06 PM on March 18, 2011

for food- The Gorbals appears to be not too far from West Hollywood. There was recently a thread here about their broccoli.
posted by tangaroo at 3:08 PM on March 18, 2011

The Festival is at USC, which is closer to downtown than West Hollywood, this year. The Gorbals is also downtown.
posted by Ideefixe at 3:28 PM on March 18, 2011

Kings Road Cafe has possibly the best coffee I've ever had in my life.
posted by asterix at 4:34 PM on March 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

Personal favorites from the good ol' days when I lived in West Hollywood: Bossa Nova (W Hollywood), Swingers (Hollywood), The Kitchen (Silverlake) Callahans (Santa Monica), Fatburger (all over -- and way better than In-n-Out IMO). Sorry my list is all over the place. Hopefully you have transportation.

The only record store left in the area is Amoeba, as far as I know.
posted by puritycontrol at 8:28 PM on March 18, 2011

Steingarten LA is the newest cool place to eat in West LA. It's on Pico west of Beverly Glen. It's primarily sausages and good beers.

If you like Persian food, come to Westwood. You can't go wrong with Shaherzad or Flame. Both are on Westwood Blvd north of Wilshire.

Puritycontrol is right about Amoeba, although Vacation Vinyl in Silverlake seems to be becoming kinda hip.
posted by starscream at 9:47 PM on March 18, 2011

I was only a weekend tourist, not a local, but my friends and I adored our dinner at Ajisai. People on Urbanspoon, Yelp, and Citysearch seem to mostly agree.

Plaisir has decent food, good coffee, and a great view for people watching. They also have an abundance of power outlets, including some actually located outside by the sidewalk tables.
posted by tantivy at 11:20 PM on March 18, 2011

Here are some yummy higher-end restaurant ideas, in no particular order: Bazaar, Katsuya, Providence, Hatfield's, Osteria Mozza, Craft, STK, XIV, Animal, Comme Ca, Jar.
posted by phaedon at 12:13 AM on March 19, 2011

Here is a website that aggregates daily posts from food blogs about Los Angeles. Here is a weekly radio show ("Good Food") with great restaurant reviews.
posted by conrad53 at 7:03 AM on March 19, 2011

If you like the indie rock, check out the listings for clubs like the echo/echoplex (echo park), satellite (formerly known as spaceland, on silver lakd blvd), and bootleg theater (south of echo park).
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 9:10 AM on March 19, 2011