We will be travelling to LA for the first time as part of a two-week California road trip. Only three days of sightseeing and eating. I’ve been researching the postings here, which have given me many ideas. Our first meal is to be lunch at Spring, our only reservation. Our priorities are Korean, Mexican, Chinese and Thai. My wife is Korean born and raised, which in her case means that she is not easily pleased and will prefer more traditional food, which I like too. (I haven’t noticed much discussion of Korean Fried Chicken in LA, but that’s ok as we have a very good place called Turntable in New York City.) We’ll be staying near the Griffith Observatory, and days will be given to the Getty Villa, Getty Museum, California Science Center, The Broad, LACMA, and maybe Santa Monica. We’ll have a car and in the evenings we will drive for food. I don’t do well in traffic. On my radar are Soban, Seong Buk Dong, Beverly Soon Tofu, Broken Spanish, Holbox, Luv2East, Sea Harbor, Chengdu Taste, Szechuan Impression, LASA, Meals by Genet, Sqirl, and PYT. (I was also interested in the goat stew at Mirak, but my wife is not.) We tend to avoid tourist meccas, but not religiously. Sometimes those places are good. Thanks…
Your priorities are spot on. I’d go to Pailin for Thai. You also have to add some traditional Mexican places, maybe guelaguetza when the music is on. A visit to Hermocillo for beers and wine and then a quick walk to Huaraches Aztek is a pretty amazing thing for lunch. Where are you driving on your trip? I maybe of help there.
@foodforthought You can easily try anything in LA so long as you have a car and are willing to drive. Evening traffic may be a bit trying for you…because it still is for me and I was born and raised here. You’ve listed a lot of great options.
Within close proximity to Holbox is Chichen Itza (the folks behind Holbox), where they make some glorious cochinita pibil…add some of their pickled onions and a bit of salsa and you have a very fine taco. Also in the USC neighborhood is La Flor de Yucatan. They specialize in Yucatan-style tamales (vaporcitos and colados). The colados are huge and the filling is solid, but the masa and airy, fluffy, and dreamy…truly unlike any tamale I’ve ever tried. It’s a family favorite. The vaporcitos are also good…they’re flat with a more dense masa and good filling…you will need the sauce they offer to eat these ones. They also make a solid cochinita pibil.
If you end up in SGV, I would suggest trying Din Tai Fung for their XLB…these are amazing soup dumplings that exist in NYC, but are likely to be leagues better.
Have a great trip!
That sounds like a perfect three day vacation to me, and I live here.
You should really try to hit up a taco truck while you are here. I know you have taco trucks in NY, but ours are way better. 
We all love Guerrilla Tacos, as you probably know from reading through the website. You can find them on twitter or at http://www.guerrillatacos.com. They also have a permanent location downtown, I haven’t visited, so can’t say how it is.
I’m sure others can chime in with other recommendations.
And, yes, where are you spending the rest of your vacation time in California? Welcome, btw!
+1 for Luv2Eat. The crab curry is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. Just make sure you can tolerate spicy…
You’re staying a very traffic-heavy area. The traffic for food at most of the places you’ve listed (outside of the SGV) isn’t going to be any worse than the traffic you’ll fight for the museums, and I think most of the places you’ve listed are sort on the way to/from the museums.
I think Sqirl is very good (based on one visit), but I think it’s almost more interesting from a people-watching perspective, personally…
If you do visit Santa Monica, Erven is certainly worth a visit.
Depending on where you are staying near Griffith Park, I would keep in mind that the Red Line subway stop at Vermont and Sunset can get you to many of your desired locations.
Specifically, if you take it west it will pass you through Thai Town and on to Hollywood.
If you take it south / east it will pass you through Koreatown and on to downtown. From downtown you could transfer to the Expo Line which will get you to the USC area. I’d highly recommend considering the subway if you’re traveling at rush hour times as it will be not only be faster but less stress.
Second this. Especially for Thai and Korean, it’s much easier to take Metro to a lot of the spots. For example, you could easily take the Metro to California Science Museum, hop back on to go downtown to Broken Spanish or any other downtown spots. Afterwards take it to Ktown or any Thai town spot.
For traditional Korean, perhaps consider Jun Won. OB Bear for Korean Fried Chicken. Both of those easily accessible from purple line. Heck, you can take Gold line to many places in East LA.
If you map out your desired visits, using the Metro for at least one day would greatly reduce stress levels. Only $7 for an all day pass. Save another day for using the car to get to places not easily accessibly by train. The third day can be flex for either train or car depending on what else you want to visit. Truly if you’re not familiar with LA traffic patterns and going around unexpected delays, which happen a lot, you could easily lose a couple of hours in traffic trying to go from one spot to another.
There’s plenty of posters here who are very Metro savvy, if you list out some thoughts, you’ll get plenty of advice on how to easily get around to maximize a day of using the Metro.
Your day at the Science Center would be a good opportunity to hit Holbox + Chichen Itza, since they are right nearby and in the same marketplace, and they’re both phenomenal. In that area I’d also recommend Revolutionario, where they make North African tacos, a combo that feels unlikely to occur in other cities.
Or, if you want something more traditionally Mexican, you could also easily get to Tire Shop Taqueria or Super Tortas DF, both outstanding street food experiences, and somehow both quintessentially LA with and very Mexican. At Tire Shop both carne asada and chorizo are great in vampiros and tacos, and at Super Tortas DF they make a badass Torta Cubana. Both nighttime hours only tho, I think.
For Mexican you might also consider a seafood truck like Ricky’s Fish Tacos, Mariscos Tocho, or Mariscos Jalisco.
I’ll leave Korean, Thai, and Chinese to better-informed others, except to add that Luv2Eat is indeed awesome, Din Tai Fung is great but is a global chain and I think you can do better at, just for one sort of similar example, Hui Tou Xiang, and I think that hitting either Szechuan Impression or Chengdu Taste is a great idea.
Also to Santa Monica.
Tickets to The Broad sell out days in advance, so I’d make sure to get those early.Not sure when you are visiting, but tickets for June have been available since the beginning of May. They release tickets the 1st of the prior month. There is a standby line the day of, but it’s hit or miss from what I’ve heard.
not yet
Since it’s your first time i would bang bang at GCM (Grand Central Market) and guisados and bs taqueria (get the churros), before or after the broad.
Is there anything especially unique at GCM that’s not available in New York? Other than Chiles Secos.
+1 Luv2eat and Chengdu Taste
More high end go to Chi Spacca or any Mozza restaurant.
Korean @ Kobawoo house is pretty bomb if you’re looking for more traditional.
We will also be going to Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Point Reyes, and points in between. We are skipping SF this time, except for the airport. I hear Santa Barbara has some mean tacos.
Thanks, we did get tickets for The Broad, and the Science Center. Should we drive in from the Griffith Observatory area, or take public transportation?
How much time do you have allocated and what other food options did you have in mind? One option is to take Red line to downtown for The Broad, transfer to Expo line for Science Center. Make sure to wear comfortable walking shoes.
Yes a taco truck or two is mandatory, and one might as well be guerrillatacos. For the rest of our CA itinerary see my response to Nemroz.
Metro advice is appreciated! I have no fear of the metro.
Hope the drive to Monterey from Santa Barbara is through Big Sur and the road is reopened.
For Santa Barbara I would suggest a few things.
Santa Barbara Shellfish Co, Los Agaves on milpas (imo better than tacos super rica everyone’s going to tell you to visit), and the best restaurant i’ve been to up there recently Barbareno.
Do you enjoy fine wine because that needs to happen at a few places depending on where you’re eating? I’d prioritize, Les Marchands, Whitcraft, Jaffurs, Au Bon Climat, Margerum, Kunin and Muni are fun too.
Then you need to actually go to the wine country, I’d just stay around Buelton and hit a bunch around Santa Rita and Los Olivos. Eat at Industrial Eats and Bell St Farms, breakfasts at Ellen’s Danish Pancakes. Do visit Morro Bay and Cambria, and if you dare enter Paso Robles for wines, I have a list of 20 favorites