Things to see and do during your Super Bowl visit.
(Nigel Sussman / For The Times)
Have guests in town for the Super Bowl? 35 things beyond football to keep them entertained
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If you have friends, family or other guests coming to Los Angeles for the Super Bowl, they may be planning to spend all their pregame hours at the Convention Center at the NFL’s official Super Bowl Experience activities. But how about helping them discover some of the locales, attractions, eateries and nightspots that make L.A. special?
We’ve organized our recommendations by proximity to SoFi Stadium: Inglewood, the Westside, the South Bay and the rest of L.A.
This is obviously not a comprehensive list of things to do in L.A., so send us your own recommendations for where visitors should go! (Thank you to reader Joel Gardner for the suggestion to add Coni’Seafood, which The Times’ Laurie Ochoa also wrote about in a guide to the best places to eat around SoFi Stadium.)
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Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen
Inglewood American $$
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Native and longtime Angelenos occasionally mention to me how much they still miss Aunt Kizzy’s Back Porch, a Marina del Rey institution that served fried chicken, cornbread muffins, collards and cinnamon-scented “Sock-it-to-me” cake for nearly 15 years. Adolf and Mary Dulan opened the restaurant in 1985. Adolf was the chef. Born in Oklahoma, he moved to Los Angeles as part of the second wave of African Americans’ Great Migration out of the South. He died in 2017 after a long career in hospitality, but his family carries on his legacy at the two locations of Dulan’s, originally opened by Adolf in 1999. The cooking remains bedrock sustenance for L.A. I frequently enjoy the crackling fried chicken and smothered pork chops, but mostly I order the long-simmered oxtails in gravy with sides of vinegared collards and near-molten mac and cheese.
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Randy's Donuts
Inglewood Breakfast/Lunch
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
A 32½-foot rooftop donut, previously painted blue and gold as a nod to the Rams, makes Randy’s an immediately recognizable L.A. landmark. It’s featured in “Iron Man 2” and the music videos for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication” and Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” Celebrate the shop’s 70th anniversary this year by stuffing your face with sweets while debating whether the Midcentury drive-up shop technically counts as Programmatic architecture.
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The Dunes
Inglewood Apartments
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
The HBO hit “Insecure” is over, yes, but a new L.A. landmark remains. The Dunes apartments in Inglewood, the main character’s first home with her on-again,-off-again boyfriend, has become a hot spot for Instagramers and fans alike. Show creator Issa Rae told The Times that she was pleasantly surprised that people have made the complex a popular spot; however, she has heard some complaints about increased traffic. So get your photo and move along.
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Sip and Sonder
Inglewood Coffeehouse
Enjoy a quiet cup with a friend at this Black-woman-owned coffee house in downtown Inglewood. Open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. The shop offers indoor and outdoor seating with a view of their in-house roasting process.
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Park to Playa Trail
View Park-Windsor Hills Urban Trail
11.0-mile point-to-point
Moderate
700 feet
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Urban trails help us navigate Los Angeles in new ways. Put the Park to Playa Trail on your to-do list. Parts of the 13-mile route have been open for years, but it wasn’t until November that it was completed. Good views of L.A. are guaranteed on the dirt-and-paved route from Baldwin Hills to Playa del Rey. Enjoy side trips in Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area (the MLK Memorial has great views of L.A.), Stoneview Nature Center, the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook and the Ballona Creek Bike Path that will keep you going in the right direction. Set up a car shuttle, call a ride-share or use public transit to return to the start.
Park or take transit to the start at the Stocker Corridor Trail in the Baldwin Hills area. Directions to trailhead.
Park or take transit to the start at the Stocker Corridor Trail in the Baldwin Hills area. Directions to trailhead.
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Coni’Seafood
Inglewood Mexican $$
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
It’s hard to think of a more celebratory feast than Coni’Seafood’s pescado zarandeado. It’s a whole snook split in half Nayarit-style, then grilled. You take a piece of the tender fish, put it on a warm tortilla and top it with marinated onions and a bit of salsa. Perfect. But it’s not all about the snook. Start your meal with a cold beer or icy lemonade and a plate of smoked marlin tacos. Your next move might be the aguachiles, made here with raw shrimp and a tart and spicy green sauce. Of course, there are more than a dozen other shrimp dishes here, and several ceviche variations too. But whatever you do, leave room for snook.
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Getty Center
Los Angeles County Museum
On a clear day, the views of L.A. from the Getty are spectacular.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Trade the gridiron for art and exquisite gardens at the Getty Center. From the hilltop campus, you’ll also get one of the best views of L.A. — the Pacific, the urban landscape, even the distant Port of L.A. on a clear day. Can you spot SoFi Stadium too? Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free; parking is not. Reservations for timed entry, masks and proof of vaccination required.
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The Museum of Jurassic Technology
Culver City Museum
Up for something unique on the Westside? This is your museum.
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Deadpan humor meets natural history; high jinks ensue. We can’t say too much about the collection here without spoiling the experience, but if you’re looking for a museum unlike any you’ve previously visited, this is your place. You’ll need to reserve a time in advance.
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Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills Italian
Technically “Beverly Hills adjacent,” this provider of luxe accommodations can be a magnet for movie and music celebrities, especially in awards season. Head to the ground floor restaurant and put your head on a swivel.
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Gjelina
Venice Italian $$
(Trip Davis / Gjelina)
Have you been to Gjelina lately? In the decade I’ve been having meals at Venice’s main culinary attraction, the food has never been better. The format hasn’t changed: a dozen front-and-center vegetable dishes (not including the salads rowdy with herbs), pastas, pizzas, the obligatory pan-seared salmon and butterscotch pot de crème. Everything tastes sharper somehow. The romesco atop gorgeous dragon tongue beans has extra nutty, vinegary depth; the mushroom toast glossed with crème fraîche is richer than ever. Juan Hernandez, the executive chef for the Gjelina Group, is responsible for the boost in excellence. He’s spending more time in the mothership’s kitchen while he waits to reopen Valle, the group’s Oaxacan-inspired restaurant he conceived with fellow chef Pedro Aquino.
Gjelina’s patio has always been magnetic, and never more so than over the last two years. I’d never noticed until this year that a nook along the building’s right side, paneled with rustic mixed woods and just big enough to fit four tables comfortably, is one of the city’s loveliest outdoor dining spaces.
Gjelina’s patio has always been magnetic, and never more so than over the last two years. I’d never noticed until this year that a nook along the building’s right side, paneled with rustic mixed woods and just big enough to fit four tables comfortably, is one of the city’s loveliest outdoor dining spaces.
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Mt. San Vicente
Brentwood Mountain Trail
7.4-mile out-and-back
Moderate
730 feet
(Damian Dovarganes/AP)
Come face to face with Cold War-era fear at a Nike missile site in the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s one of 16 places in Southern California that housed anti-aircraft missile launch sites. The site has been preserved and turned into San Vicente Mountain Park, which means you can see the missile structures up close. Signs help explain the era and the hardware. It’s a drive-up park, but better to go on foot and enjoy time on the trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. You’ll get good views from atop the 1,960-foot peak.
Park and start at Westridge and West Mandeville fire roads. Directions to trailhead.
Park and start at Westridge and West Mandeville fire roads. Directions to trailhead.
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Korean Bell of Friendship
San Pedro Park
(Josie Norris / Los Angeles Times)
The Korean Bell of Friendship was donated in 1976 to the people of Los Angeles by the Republic of Korea and sits on a knoll overlooking the Los Angeles Harbor and the port community. The park and its historic bell is the perfect spot to soak up history, reflect, fly a kite and enjoy a picnic.
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The Arthur J
Manhattan Beach Steakhouse $$$
(Dylan + Jeni / For The Times)
Steakhouses tend to flourish as high-end chains, as de facto corporate boardrooms and as slick dens of vice. I favor another model: the steakhouse as swank supper club. The Arthur J delivers Midcentury Modern plushness in Manhattan Beach — tongue-and-groove ceilings, horseshoe-shaped booths and curvy Eames-style chairs, geometrically patterned wooden room dividers — when there’s no time to get away to Palm Springs. Chef and partner David LeFevre updates the chop house blueprint with tweaks that give the classics renewed life. This is the place to delight in shrimp cocktail (fresh and bouncy rather than rubbery) alongside a dirty martini; dry-aged, bone-in Kansas City strip steak; creamed corn sparked with Aleppo pepper; and thick fries cooked in beef fat, with malt vinegar and Dijon aioli. The service is appropriately debonair; that very much includes distinguished L.A. food writer Patric Kuh, who charms the guests these days as the restaurant’s assistant manager.
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The Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum
El Segundo Museum
Los Angeles is famous for its car culture (and its epically bad traffic), and this museum’s more than 130 vintage cars offer a taste of that four-wheel obsession. There’s a special muscle car show on Feb. 12 (tickets required – check availability online), and on Super Bowl Sunday, you can ride in a historic vehicle (first-come, first-served).
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Bruce's Beach
Manhattan Beach Beach
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
In the early 20th century, two beachfront lots between 26th and 27th streets were the site of a lodge owned by Willa and Charles Bruce, one of the few beach resorts open to Black Southern Californians like themselves. The city seized their property in the 1920s in an act of blatant racism; last year, Los Angeles County agreed to return it to the Bruces’ descendants.
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Coffee Cartel
Redondo Beach Coffeehouse
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Meet a friend for a lavender latte at this long-established coffee bar in Redondo Beach’s pretty Riviera Village. There’s plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, as well as books for sale and tunes playing in the background. Perfect for people watching, or stroll a few blocks and gawk at the sparkling Santa Monica Bay.
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San Pedro Coastal Hike
San Pedro Urban Trail
4.25-mile out-and-back
Easy
250 feet
(Matt Pawlik)
This two-mile path offers coastal views, giant Moreton Bay fig trees and photo opportunities with the picturesque 1874 Point Fermin Lighthouse. Be on the lookout for peregrine falcons too. Start at Point Fermin Park. Free parking. Dog-friendly.
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Phenakite
Hollywood Eclectic $$$$
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
The story goes like this: Minh Phan, one of the city’s most beloved chefs, accepts a weekend residency to serve tasting menus in the courtyard of Second Home, an unusually beautiful work-share space in a garden setting in Hollywood. This happens in November 2020, as a terrible wave of COVID-19 cases begins to crest in Southern California. She’s struggling with how best to operate Porridge + Puffs, her neighborhood restaurant in Historic Filipinotown, and she sees the Second Home opportunity as a chance to be the culinary artist she’d never yet had the bandwidth to be. Phan names the project after a rare, very hard gemstone known for its high degree of clarity.
The cooking is astounding, and it defies easy labeling. Black sesame vichyssoise, lardon-stuffed mochi and porridge gilded with brown butter and smoked abalone liver ignite under Phan’s signature touches: savory jams made from scraps of fruits and vegetables that might otherwise go to waste, pickles and other acidic sparks. Of equal importance: A spirit of kindness animates the project. Phan comes to the table and sets up a fish course for each guest. Her eyes dance and crinkle at the corners while she chats; you know she is smiling behind her mask. She embodies welcome.
Phenakite is the Times’ 2021 Restaurant of the Year.
The cooking is astounding, and it defies easy labeling. Black sesame vichyssoise, lardon-stuffed mochi and porridge gilded with brown butter and smoked abalone liver ignite under Phan’s signature touches: savory jams made from scraps of fruits and vegetables that might otherwise go to waste, pickles and other acidic sparks. Of equal importance: A spirit of kindness animates the project. Phan comes to the table and sets up a fish course for each guest. Her eyes dance and crinkle at the corners while she chats; you know she is smiling behind her mask. She embodies welcome.
Phenakite is the Times’ 2021 Restaurant of the Year.
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"Urban Light"
Museum
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
You don’t need a ticket to see (and take a selfie at) LACMA’s Urban Light art installation, nor at Levitated Mass. Nearby are the La Brea Tar Pits, still bubbling after thousands of years; the Petersen Automotive Museum, where a vault tour is unforgettable; and the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, where, if you can’t secure a reservation, at least you can admire the architecture and look for a pigeon-chasing hawk.
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Chateau Marmont
Hollywood Hospitality
(Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press)
The chateau has seen its share of Hollywood scandals: Jim Morrison swinging between balconies; Led Zeppelin’s wild parties; a wayward cigarette from Bette Davis. Today you’re more likely to see Tinseltown types enjoying a quiet lunch.
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Spoke Bicycle Cafe
Elysian Valley Café
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Do your visitors know L.A. has a river? This time of year, there’s even water in it. At Spoke, line up to order (or place an order online to avoid the queue), then grab one of the tables next to the riverside bike path at this all-outdoor cafe. Take in the view of speedy cyclists, hip Frogtown locals, water-loving birds, passing trains and the San Gabriel Mountains. You can even rent a bike if you need to work off some excess caffeine (or excess calories from the waffle fries).
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Two Bit Circus
Arts District Entertainment Venue
If you like your entertainment powered by microchips, this is the place for you. In addition to more conventional arcade games, this downtown Arts District spot offers high-tech takes on carnival midway games and a number of mind-blowing virtual reality experiences, either solo or in teams. Reservations required.
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Switzer Falls
Los Angeles County Mountain Trail
3.7-mile out-and-back
Moderate
700 feet
(Matt Pawlik / Los Angeles Times)
Water, water, water. It’s the most sought-after item on a Southern California hike, whether it’s bottled in your pack or streaming down a hillside. The waterfalls in the front range of the Angeles National Forest are popular (code for “expect big crowds, especially on hot weekends”), but that’s no reason to avoid them.
The site was one of the first mountain resorts to open to “tourist hikers” in 1884, and it’s easy to see why. The downhill hike takes you to the top of the falls and then into cool Bear Canyon. Refresh yourself at the 50-foot lower falls and maybe swim in its pool (the upper falls are hard to access on a sketchy route). Hang out by the water or in one of the shady picnic areas along the way. The way out is the same — only uphill. Go early to snag a parking spot and beat the hordes.
Park and start at the Switzer Picnic Area on Angeles Crest Highway about 10 miles north of La Cañada Flintridge. Directions to trailhead.
The site was one of the first mountain resorts to open to “tourist hikers” in 1884, and it’s easy to see why. The downhill hike takes you to the top of the falls and then into cool Bear Canyon. Refresh yourself at the 50-foot lower falls and maybe swim in its pool (the upper falls are hard to access on a sketchy route). Hang out by the water or in one of the shady picnic areas along the way. The way out is the same — only uphill. Go early to snag a parking spot and beat the hordes.
Park and start at the Switzer Picnic Area on Angeles Crest Highway about 10 miles north of La Cañada Flintridge. Directions to trailhead.
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Pink's Hot Dogs
Fairfax American
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
This L.A. institution, which dates to 1939, is known for long lines and more than 40 varieties of hot dog. It closed for two months last year because of the pandemic but is now back to slinging its specials named for Hollywood touchstones and L.A. royalty.
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Lunasia
Alhambra Chinese $$
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
The question as to which restaurant makes the best dim sum in the San Gabriel Valley will never have a fixed, everlasting answer; making the rounds to update opinions is part of the fun. Lunasia is my current favorite. The har gow look almost worrisomely large each time they arrive. Will they be gluey masses? They never are: The delicate, translucent wrappers give way to pieces of shrimp with actual snap to them. Lo mai gai, the sticky, meaty rice bundles wrapped in lotus leaves, are particularly fragrant and balanced, and the layer of lap cheong over taro cakes adds a porky dimension. The dining room in Alhambra (the superior of the three locations, as the endless weekend crowds will attest) has become a handsome labyrinth of plexiglass partitions. Since Lunasia never relied on carts for service, the setup feels safe and snug and could stay up indefinitely.
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Park’s BBQ
Koreatown Korean $$$
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Jenee Kim sustained her marquee Korean barbecue restaurant through the most difficult months of the pandemic by selling galbi, banchan and short rib soups to go; amping up her online shop with freshly butchered and marinated meats for home cooking; and, like many other area businesses, setting up grills with propane tanks in the parking lot, the scent of sizzling beef wafting down the block. Diners have returned inside to preside over their own tabletop cooking again, searing and turning cuts like ggot sal (a boneless short-rib specialty of Park’s with mesmerizing marbling patterns), prime beef tongue and, for a splurge, Wagyu rib-eye cap. Barbecue specialists are rife in Koreatown — showcasing duck or dry-aged steaks, in swank dining rooms and themed atmospheres — but to revel foremost in the quality of the meat, the first choice remains Park’s.
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Game Haus Cafe
Glendale Bar
Need a little competition before the big game? Tapping into the growing popularity of board games, this cafe offers dozens of titles that range in complexity from the kid-friendly to the big-rulebook variety. Light food, desserts, coffee, beer and cider are available. There’s a cover charge to enter, and you’d be wise to reserve space at least a day in advance.
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Tamales Elena y Antojitos
Bell Gardens Mexican
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Before discussing the namesake tamales, the pozole verde must be extolled. Maria Elena Lorenzo, the matriarch of the family that runs the restaurant, adds both pork and chicken to the stock before stirring in a puree of tomatillos, serranos, pumpkin seeds, cilantro and other herbs. It tints the soup the pale green of Hass avocado flesh. A dizzying number of condiments follows, including customizations like fried tortillas that you break into shards and scatter with chicharrones. The style of the pozole, as with the rest of the menu, is specific to the Afro-Mexican cuisine of Costa Chica, part of the southern coastal state of Guerrero. The Guerrero-style tamales — which Lorenzo, husband Juan Irra and their five daughters began selling in Watts from carts and then a truck almost 15 years ago — are delicate masa rectangles, filled with pork in red salsa or chicken in green salsa and steamed in banana leaves. Eat several of them on the Bell Gardens restaurant’s small, beautifully tiled patio (although drive-through service is also an option).
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Al & Bea’s Mexican Food
Boyle Heights Mexican $
(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
The Carreon family’s 50-year-old burrito stand in Boyle Heights is a neighborhood institution and home to arguably the city’s most famous bean and cheese burrito. A hearty chile relleno burrito wrapped in yellow paper is fine takeout fare, though taquitos with guacamole and green chile cheese fries carry well too. Ask for extra oregano-kissed house hot sauce. Pickup or delivery.
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Mariscos Jalisco
Boyle Heights Mexican
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
When a friend who’s a native Angeleno came to town in May to see family and friends for the first time since the pandemic began, she had a request: Can we go to Mariscos Jalisco? Absolutely. Since 2002, Raul Ortega has been parking his shiny lonchera on Olympic Boulevard, serving what has become one of the city’s canonic dishes: tacos dorados de camaron. Two fried corn tortillas grip spiced shrimp that maintain a mysterious creaminess (Ortega gives away no secrets) even as their edges crisp a bit in hot oil. A thin tomato salsa, its juices already soaking into the hot masa, blankets the top with avocado slices. Don’t delay, don’t take them elsewhere: Wolf them down right there, perched on the short, painted brick wall in front of the truck. For variety’s sake, order the Poseidon, an aguachile-ceviche mashup of shrimp, octopus, cucumber, avocado and tomato finished in a scorching salsa. My friend and I? We asked for another round of tacos.
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Desert 5 Spot
Hollywood Bar
Desert 5 Spot — a sprawling western-themed bar with decor influenced by Pioneertown, Joshua Tree and vintage Palm Springs — is on the roof of the new Tommie Hotel in Hollywood and features a mechanical bull, a 1967 jukebox, live rock and county music, cocktails tinged with prickly pear and agave, and large-format drinks served in cactus-shaped containers. Recently chef Wes Avila opened Yucatán-inspired restaurant Ka’teen on the ground floor; in the spring, Avila will debut a menu of lighter, street-food-leaning bites for Desert 5 Spot. The rooftop bar and lounge is open 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.
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Kobe Bryant mural
Inglewood Public Art
Hundreds of murals have sprung up around Southern California and elsewhere, memorializing Kobe Bryant, his daughter and the others who died in a helicopter crash in early 2020. This one is at Stadium Cuts barbershop in Inglewood. See others near you on the kobemural.com map, and read about its creator and some of the artists here.
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