INTRODUCTION 1
Maps
Map 1 Los Angeles Neighborhoods 2
YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW 8
Where to find the best views of the city (8) • How to drive the
drive (9) • How to pass the parking test (10) • Where to smoke (10)
• How to stay out of trouble (11) • Female trouble (11) • How to see a
whole bunch of union guys standing around shooting the s—t with
the rent-a-cops while a movie/TV program/commercial isn’t being
made (11) • Why we give our cars names (12) • How to get around
without a car (12)
1 ACCOMMODATIONS 14
Basic Stuff 18
Winning the Reservations Game 18
Is There a Right Address? 18
The Lowdown 19
Wrong side of the freeway, right side of the wallet (19) • Sunset Strip
joints for the hipeoisie (19) • Convention-al choices with unconventional
style (20) • For Health Nuts (21) • Bunking on Bunker Hill (21) •
Boardwalk daze (21) • The international hostel experience (22) •
Upscale homes near the homeless (23) • Beach bums and beauties (23) •
The royal treatment (24) • And the “Dorian Gray Slept Here Award”
goes to (25) • And in second place (25) • Escape to Catalina Island (25)
• B&Bs in Pasadena (26) • Hotels for finishing your screenplay (27) •Icons of Beverly Hills (27) • Slums of Beverly Hills (28) • Gay gay gay
(28) • East beats West (29) • Miracle miler (29) • Smells like roach
spray, tastes like Marilyn (30) • Très snotty (30) • Anti-très snotty
(31) • Another midcentury marvel (31) • Classic views (32) • The price
is right... isn’t it? Please? (32) Maps
Map 2 Los Angeles Accommodations Orientation 16
Map 3 Hollywood Accommodations 33
Map 4 Downtown Accommodations 34
Map 5 L.A.’s Westside & Beverly Hills Accommodations 35
The Index 36
An A to Z of places to stay, with vital statistics
2 DINING 46
Basic Stuff 50
How to Dress 51
Getting the Right Table 51
The Lowdown 51
Eastside essentials (51) • L.A. icons: safe for eating (52) • L.A. icons:
for drinking only (no eating) (54) • More Italian than Chef Boyardee
(54) • Burgers and dogs (55) • A side order of belly dancers (56) •
Tongue-Thai-ed (56) • Living treasures of Little Tokyo (57) • Eat it
raw (58) • French connection (59) • Forget it, Jake—it’s Chinatown
(60) • Late-night bites (60) • Where to write your screenplay (61) •
Planet Carnivore (62) • Planet Vegan (62) • Organic orgasms (63) •
Bend it like Bollywood (64) • Attitude a la carte (65) • Breakfast with
bohos (65) • Sex food (66) • Escape from LAX: Airport Dining (66) •
Tired hangouts for the hipeoise (67) • Queer food (67) • Damn the
Merlot! Fill ’er Up (68) • You can’t go wrong (68) • Tacos, pupusas,
tortillas (69) • Cheap eats (70) • What is it about fire stations that gets
people salivating? (70) • Good evening, Vietnam! (71) • Location,
location, location (71)
Maps
Map 6 Los Angeles Dining Orientation 48
Map 7 Hollywood Dining 73
Map 8 Downtown Dining 74
Map 9 L.A.’s Westside & Beverly Hills Dining 75
The Index 76
An A to Z list of places to dine, with vital statistics3 DIVERSIONS 90
Basic Stuff 94
Getting Your Bearings 94
The Lowdown 94
We are unreal (94) • Wild kingdom (95) • Ethnics ’R’ Us (96) • Nav-
igating the Getty (97) • Wall eyes (98) • New downtown landmarks
(99) • Annual events (99) • Neon Sights (100) • Autoeroticism (103)
• Architecture Tours (103) • Who needs MoMA? (104) • More free art
(104) • Words on paper and in your ear (105) • Art openings (106) •
Community art (107) • Left of MoCA (108) • Oddball museums
(109) • Beautiful buildings we haven’t torn down for mini-malls...yet
(110) • Downtown: not for skyscrapers only (110) • Hollywood icons
(111) • Valentino and other frights (112) • Living in concrete (113) •
Elite art in public places (113) • Parks of note (113) • Behind the
scenes (114) • Garden Spots (115)
Maps
Map 10 Los Angeles Diversions Orientation 92
Map 11 Hollywood Diversions 116
Map 12 Downtown Diversions 117
The Index 118
An A to Z list of diversions, with vital statistics
4 GETTING OUTSIDE 128
Basic Stuff 130
The Lowdown 130
Inner-city beaches (130) • Caddy hacks (131) • Feets do your thing
(132) • Pollution’s a beach (134) • Surf City, here we come (135) •
Ringside seats for the circus (136) • Camping it up (136) • Where to be
humiliated in pickup basketball games (137) • Fat-tire fanatic (138) •
The dawning of the age of aquariums (140) • Peerless piers (141) •
Stairways to heaven (141) • Peace and quiet...finally (142) • The
recovery process (143)
5 SHOPPING 144
Basic Stuff 148
Target Zones 148
Bargain Hunting 150
The Lowdown 150
Ethnic one-stops (150) • Nice (Spice) Rack (151) • Tokyo prose (152) •
Armchair travel (153) • Produce supreme (153) • Zeitgeist landmark,
audio (154) • Nice buns (155) • Word freaks (155) • Midcentury
mania (156) • Habitat (157) • Used (or refused) (157) • High-endvintage (158) • Strange and bizarre, disturbing and wonderful (158) •
A different kind of haircut (160) • Living treasures of Little Tokyo
(160) • Pacific rim shots (161) • Clothes for slumming celebs (162) •
One-of-a-kinds (162) • Mentioning unmentionables (163) • Gewgaws,
knickknacks, froufrou (164) • Set stylists’ resources (165) • No one will
believe it’s secondhand (165) • Shoe fetish (165) • Museum Shops (166)
• Music/records (166) • Bookstores with a twist (167) • Browsers’ havens
(168) • Between the covers for kids (169) • Paper, plus (170) • Toys for
adults (170) • Dildos ’R’ Us (171) • Easy rider (171) • Road weenies
rule! (171)
Maps
Map 13 Los Angeles Shopping 146
The Index 172
An A to Z list of places to shop, with vital statistics
6 NIGHTLIFE 184
Basic Stuff 188
The Lowdown 189
The A list (189) • Downtown gutter crawl (190) • So-last-year bars
(191) • Noise makers (191) • Tiki Ti (192) • Hotel bars (192) • Where
the real swingers have moved on to (194) • Okay, you’re really not a
pathetic loser, you just want to see some titties and have a drink (196) •
Living L.A. rock roots (196) • Bars for locals (197) • Pub-crawl,
Hollywood-style (197) • Toujours gay (198)
Maps
Map 14 Los Angeles Nightlife 186
The Index 199
An A to Z list of nightspots, with vital statistics
7 ENTERTAINMENT 204
Basic Stuff 208
Getting Tickets 208
Sources 209
The Lowdown 209
Class acts (209) • Outdoor venues (210) • Moving-picture palaces (211)
• Taking the ultrawide view (212) • Special stages (213) • And now
for something totally different (214) • Big dreams, small spaces (215) •
I’ve Got No Strings (216) • Bowling for boredom (216) • Bohos with
flip-flops (216) • Making it up (217) • Professional sports (217)
Maps
Map 15 Los Angeles Entertainment 206
The Index 218
An A to Z list of venues, with vital statisticsHOTLINES & OTHER BASICS 224
Airports (225) • Airport transportation (225) • ATM (226) • Buses
(226) • Bus-bike combination (227) • Car rentals (227) • Child care
(228) • DASH (228) • Disability services (229) • Doctors (229) •
Driving around (229) • Earthquakes (230) • Emergencies (231) •
Foreign-currency exchange (231) • Gay and lesbian resources (232) •
Gridlock (232) • HIV/AIDS (232) • Homeless (232) • Newspapers
(233) • Parking (233) • Pharmacies (234) • Phone facts (234) • Post
offices (234) • Radio stations (234) • Smoking (235) • Subways and
trains (235) • Taxis (236) • Tipping (236) • TV tapings (236)
GENERAL INDEX 237
Accommodations Index (241)
Restaurant Index (242)
