HI GUYS! We’d love to share some of our fave places and recommendations for must see / do LA hotspots. Have a browse through here, and check out this google map. Everything is on there, and will help you navigate around!

Leigh’s Guide to West Hollywood

Where better to spend a day than in our home city, West Hollywood. West Hollywood is a small city within LA, with amazing restaurants, bars and shops. On the north of the city are the famous Hollywood Hills and the celebs houses. We’re at the foot of the hills with all the normal people.The main roads in Weho run East-West, and are Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue. Since the city is small, it’s possible to see it all in one day, with minimal time in the car, or even by foot if you’re feeling fit. 

Hike in the morning at Runyon Canyon

Sam and I often star the day with a hike, it’s a very LA thing to do. “Hike” in LA can be a vigorous uphill dirt track or a very gentle paved slope, depending on your taste.

The most iconic hiking spot in LA is Runyon Canyon, with multiple different paths for different levels of ambition. The entrance is at the top of Fuller Road. Upon entry, veer to the left for the paved fire road, and continue straight for the ‘steps’ to the summit. Stop and turn around if you feel tired! If you’re driving, try to get parking on Franklin Ave.

Lunch

Now you’re hungry, so head back to the heart of Weho for brunch or lunch! There are plenty of choices. 

Hugo’s: Classic american staple dishes, pretty chill.
8401 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

SOL: Australian style cafe with amazing coffee, great food options including some aussie dishes, pretty healthy, nice relaxing vibes. Just off Melrose.
609 N W Knoll Dr, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Gracias Madre: Upscale vegan Mexican. Bougie but still relaxing, nice courtyard seating. 
8905 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Fresh Corn Grill: When I moved to LA and asked the locals about where is a nice, relaxed spot in Weho to grab a casual bite, everyone said, Fresh Corn Grill! Its easy, affordable, and delicious. Right in the heart of Weho.
8714 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Shopping

Anyone that know’s the Keily family knows we are big shoppers. Window and physical. Interspersed with coffee breaks. So, for my West Hollywood afternoon we’re going shopping.

Melrose: The stretch of Melrose Ave between Fairfax and La Brea is full of eclectic, youthful fashion shops, vintage stores, novelty stores, and awesome restaurants and bars. It’s great to visit in the afternoons and for dinner/drinks in the evening. Take a browse and stop at Blu Jam Cafe for lunch eats, Noomoo Burgers for lunch or dinner, or Spartina for dinner. Drink at two of my fave bars in LA, The Snake Pit, or The Village Idiot.

The Grove & The Farmers Market: This beautifully curated outdoor mall, and it’s next door neighbour the iconic outdoor market make a great pit stop for light shopping, fun stalls, insane food of any type or desire, and plenty to look at. Very relaxed and varied, you can do everything from a big Nike store to a small family run sticker store, and food from The Cheesecake Factory (I LOVE it but Sam just tolerates it) to tacos, BBQ, burgers etc in the Famers Market plaza. Plenty of parking in the structure on site.
189 The Grove Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Fairfax: The super trendy small strip of Fairfax Blvd is where all the cool kids go for expensive sneakers and skatewear. Even though both Sam and I are too old (and not cool enough) to shop here, its an exciting strip to see nonetheless, with a few iconic stop-spots in the form of the legendary all night Canters Deli, and one of my fave coffee shops in the city, CoFax, which has a light LA Dodgers theme. Great coffee and amazing donuts. If you’re hungry, eat an epic Chicken Burger at Dave’s Hot Chicken.
Fairfax Ave, between Melrose and Beverly Blvd’s, 90036.

Dinner

Now you’re exhausted from the shops and the walking around (let alone the hike) its time for eats. West Hollywood has SO many restaurants its hard to make choices here, so I’ll just tell you our faves! We’ve got two go-to’s - both asian. So I’ll share those two, and then a third popular fave.

Formosa Cafe: A classic. Featured in a few films, including LA Confidential. Has a red boxcar inside filled with classic portraits of Hollywood actors. The Dan Dan Men noodles are ridiculous good.
7156 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046

Akuma: This reasonably priced, exceptional Ramen and sushi restaurant on Santa Monic Blvd has, in my opinion, one of the best ramen’s in the city. The black garlic is so great. Pints of beer on tap, casual, easy and tasty. Heartily recommend.
8267 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046

Zinque: Sam and I like the lovely outdoor courtyard with perfectly instagrammable lighting at this somewhat upscale, very West Hollywood small plates eatery and wine bar. The’ve got an exceptional wine list and delicious food, modern American with a European twist. Make a rezzzy online at this link.
8684 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90048

Drinks:

Alongside restaurants, there are plenty of awesome places to go for drinks in Weho. Sunset Boulevard is a little more tourist geared and Santa Monica Boulevard has the gay bars, which can be a lot of fun for all.

Hamburger Mary’s: This is a well known Weho spot for burgers and drag queen shows. The shows are VERY entertaining, free, just bring some $1 bills for tipping. Very popular with batchelorette parties, which can be irritating and loud, so we’d usually move on (or just have a drink) if we scope an obnoxious group in there!
8288 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046

Barney’s Beanery: I LOVE this classic American sports bar with bar games and pool. Food is totally fine but the drinks are ace, lots of beers on draft. I’d often go here with a group of friends for the first drink of the night!
8447 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Stache: This is a new gay bar on “the strip” with nice drinks, patio at the front and dance floor at the back. The great news is if you get bored, just walk to any of the surrounding bars, Gym Sportsbar, Mickey’s Weho, Beaches or Roccos.
8941 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

State Social House: This sports bar up on Sunset is relaxed, with reasonably priced drinks, a VERY cheap happy hour, sports games playing on TVs, snacks, and near to the Sunset Blvd hotels and restaurants. Some Sunset Blvd bars can be a bit “poncy/posh” which isn’t really my scene, so these more “regular” bars (that actual LA people go to) are better.
8782 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Electric Owl: In the eastern part of West Hollywood, well, actually in Hollywood… this bar (and restaurant) is cool. It’s in a converted railcar, chic and dark wood inside and the best mirror for selfies in the bathroom that you’ve ever seen. Great cocktails. Sit outside and have two cocktails and you’ll be buzzin.
1451 N Gardner St, Los Angeles, CA 90046

Cafe’s in Weho

I needed to add just a footnote in here with a couple of our fave West Hollywood cafe’s not mentioned above.

Alfred Coffee: Amazing coffee in this trendy, LA local (and sometimes celeb) packed cafe on the iconic Melrose Place.
8428 Melrose Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90069

Cha Cha Matcha: Walk away from this VERY photogenic (read instagram story) hip Matcha cafe. Sit amongst pops of pink, teal and neon interior complete with life affirming quotes on the walls. The matcha soft serve is also kinda amazing.
510 N Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Verve Coffee Roasters: Great coffee here at this popular spot for grabbing coffee and sitting reading inside or in their square courtyard.
8925 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Of course, make sure you’re really LA and don’t leave town without eating a kale salad, having multiple pressed juices with heath conscious add-ins, and an Acai bowl. Make sure you stay at each place long enough to eavesdrop an LA conversation about someone’s ridiculous actor / influencer / agent career or friend. That should happen at almost everywhere we’ve listed here. But if it doesn’t pop down to (the actually quite amazing) Cafe Gratitude in Hollywood for celeb sightings and well thought out, delicious vegan food.

Los Angeles has some of the best museums in the world - and most are free or relatively low-cost. They're also a great way to see Central Los Angeles, which can feel a little more spread out if you don't know where you're going. 

Morning: The most famous museum in LA is the Getty Center. Entrance is free to this world-class museum, which means that you should plan on getting there early before lines get too long (note from Leigh – do not go to the Getty Villa – it is far, far smaller, and tacky).

Lunch: Head to Westwood, the college town surrounding UCLA for In-N-Out Burger, Tender Greens, or Broxton Brewery. 

Afternoon: For those who want to continue with museums have a number of options: LACMA (LA County Museum of Art) is very popular (get tickets in advance) as is the Petersen Automotive Museum (also get tickets in advance). Kids and animal lovers will like the La Brea Tar Pits, which contain dinosaur and Ice Age fossils found below Los Angeles.  

Those interested in a studio tour should consider getting tickets in advance for Paramount Studios (often rated the best tour in Los Angeles).

Dinner: Head to Larchmont Village to feel for a small town/SoCal vibe. Eat at the Village Pizzeria, Vernetti, or Pinches Tacos.  But, do not forget dessert. Salt and Straw has amazing ice cream, but Sam and Leigh’s favorite is Jeni’s. 

Sam and Leigh spent 50% of the pandemic hiking trails by Malibu in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation center.

Grab a breakfast burrito from Lily’s Café in Malibu, trail mix and plenty of water and you can’t go wrong with any of the trails in the mountains behind Malibu. Popular trails that we like are the Solstice Canyon Loop (3 miles, medium difficulty, waterfall), the Zuma Ridge Trail (6 miles, medium/hard, river, great ocean views) and the Backbone trail starting at the Hondo Canyon Trail (67 miles of trail with canyon and ocean views, less trafficked, easy portions to hard portions depending on length of hike).

Lunch / Afternoon

Depending on how far west you are, grab lunch at one of the restaurants in Malibu Village or Canyon Bistro & Wine Bar in Topanga. Then relax by checking out Malibu Lagoon State Beach or the many hippie thrift stores and art galleries from Hidden Treasures to the Will Geer Teatricum Botanicum.  

Sam and Leigh’s third date was hiking from the Eaton Canyon trailhead to Eaton Canyon Falls (Sam and Leigh took several wrong turns and never made it to the falls). Fortunately, like the Westside, you can’t go wrong with hiking in the Angeles mountains.

Grab breakfast near where you’re staying because the trail heads do not have much near them. Note: The air is very dry and inland Los Angeles gets hot quickly so pack lots of water and sunscreen.

Popular hikes include Eaton Canyon and Hermit Falls. Both have scenic views of Los Angeles and waterfalls and are medium difficulty. More difficult hikes include hikes to Mount Wilson (5,713’) and Mount Baldy (4,193’).

Afterwards, treat yourself to shopping and restaurants in Old Town Pasadena. Great options include Rodney’s Ribs, Tibet Nepal House Restaurant, and Mijares Mexican restaurant.

LA’s East Side is the more hip/hipster part of town, with a high density of restaurants, records and handlebar mustaches. Sam took Leigh to his first Dodger’s game here and introduced him to the glory that is the Dodger’s Dog. 

Morning 

Start the day with a morning walk around the Hollywood Reservoir (flat, 3 miles) or a hike in Griffith Park (hikes to the Griffith Observatory or Bronson Canyon Caves are two of the best, hilly 2-8 miles). 

Get brunch in Los Feliz at the Loupiotte Kitchen or Home State. Then, check out the thrift stores, book shops and record stores on Hillhurst, Vermont, and Hollywood Blvd. Favorites include Skylight Books, Starday Vintage, and Crossroads Trading. 

Day 

Head down Sunset to Silver Lake, another trendy East Side neighborhood. Farmer’s Markets are every Tuesday and Saturday, but there’s plenty of eating and shopping down Sunset regardless of the day.  

My favorites include: Intellegenstia Coffee; Mohawk General Store; Silver Lake Wine (wine tasting); 33 Taps (bar with local beers); and Franky’s (a barbershop/vintage t-shirt shop/record store/dessert shop).

Great lunch spots include Scout, Diablo and All Day Baby. 

Afternoon

If you still have energy, head further down Sunset to Echo Park, an even hipper and more up and coming part of the East Side. Head to Echo Park’s lake and rent Swan Boats, check out more vintage stores like Lemon Frog or Sunday’s Best, and check out another favorite, Stories Books & Café.  

Dinner spots include Silverlake Ramen, Night and Market Song (Silver Lake), Masa (Echo Park) and Ostrich Farm (Echo Park). 

Drinks

Red Lion Tavern is a German beer garden, rated one of the best bars in Los Angeles. Other favorites include, Cha Cha Lounge (neighborhood bar in Silver Lake); Tiki Ti (kitsch tiki lounge); Bar Flores (hip cocktail lounge); and Bar Henry. 

People feeling adventurous should go further east to Highland Park. Highland Park Bowl has cocktails, pizza and bowling (make reservations in advance), Good Housekeeping has amazing drinks and is hidden behind Café Birdie, and Checker Bar is a converted Masonic Temple with tropical cocktails.   

Overnight Trips

SoCal is geographically huge – with options from wine country and beach towns to deserts.

 -       Disneyland: It looks close, but it’s not. Plan on leaving early in the morning and spending the night if you really want to enjoy the parks.

-       Santa Barbara: A beach town with mountain views, shopping, missions, and the beach, without the hustle and traffic of Los Angeles. One of our favorite places in SoCal.

-       SoCal’s Wine Country: The area from Solvang to Los Olivos is SoCal’s Napa. In between wineries dotting the valley are small towns with delicious food and walkable town centers. Wine country is approximately an hour from Santa Barbara and can easily be pair with a trip to the beach town.

-       Southern Orange County: Sam’s favorite beach and beach town is Laguna Beach in southern Orange County (also where Leigh took Sam for his surprise 30th). Stay in downtown San Juan Capistrano, an old mission town with a very walkable town center.

-       Arrowhead: Mountain town with evergreens, hiking, camping, rustic cabins and a beautiful lakeside town center. Home to Leigh’s cousins and where Leigh and Sam got engaged.

-       Joshua Tree: Camping and hiking in the high desert. Remote and quirky with very unique landscape (that includes Dr. Seuss-looking Joshua Trees). Frequent getaway for Leigh and Sam – especially Landers, which features live music, delicious pizza, and a brewing company with delicious beer five miles down a dirt road. Note: summer can be extremely hot (90-110 degrees). There is also a risk of flash flooding during monsoon season. Check the weather and plan accordingly.  

-       Palm Springs: Desert resort town with shopping, golf, bars and spas. Note: Palm Springs is extremely hot in July (110-125 degrees) and does not cool off at night. Plan to spend most of the day in the pool and carry water at all times.