A few ‘must sees, must dos’ during a day trip to Los Angeles.
While many students at California Baptist University have grown up in Southern California, not all have taken the time to fully experience Los Angeles and all that the nearby city has to offer.
One hotspot in L.A. that brings in a heavy crowd is Grand Central Market a downtown landmark that has hosted multiple food vendors in one warehouse location since 1917, and has been growing in popularity since.
From coffee bars to street tacos to chop suey, Grand Central Market brings together a variety of cuisines from different cultures to one location to give locals and tourists the ultimate customer’s choice meal.
Roxy Jones, barista at G&B coffee bar, speaks highly of the Grand Central Market and its reputation.
“I used to work at the Chelsea Market in New York and a lot of the vendors in there were hit or miss, but the thing about Grand Central Market is that you can’t lose here. I haven’t had any food here that wasn’t amazing. Everything here is amazing,” Jones said.
Another favorite stop in L.A. is the ice cream shop Salt & Straw — a one-of-a-kind ice cream shop because of its rare and interesting flavors.
Each month, Salt & Straw releases a brand new set of bizarre flavors.
For the month of October, the flavors were under the Spooktacular Series, including Dracula’s Blood Pudding-which has actual pig’s blood in the recipe, The Great Candycopia, Creepy Crawling Critters and Freckle & Hyde Potion. All the ice cream sold in the shop is handmade locally in its downtown L.A. kitchen.
“I really like this place because it’s super community orientated. You feel like you’re with family when you’re here. Plus, we play really good music here,” said Graciela Pulido, Salt & Straw employee.
The New Beverly Cinema is another must-see in L.A. While the theater is small, it is extremely significant.
The New Beverly Cinema is owned by American director, actor and writer Quentin Tarantino. However, the building itself was established in the 1920s. Since becoming the owner two years ago, Tarantino decided the New Beverly would only project film.
“I want the New Beverly to be a bastion for 35mm films. I want it to stand for something,” stated Tarantino on the New Beverly website. “When you see a film on the New Beverly calendar, you don’t have to ask whether it’s going to be shown in DCP (Digital Cinema Package) or in 35mm. You know it’s playing in 35 because it’s the New Beverly.”
When it comes to the arts, the New Beverly is not the only entertainment pit stop in LA. Amoeba Music is one of the most popular stops in LA for tourists and locals.
Amoeba is known for being one of the largest independent record stores in the world. The store has the most variety in merchandise with CDs, vinyl, DVDs, T-shirts and posters, and is located at the heart of Hollywood.
Clay Fringe, Amoeba customer, spoke of its reputation and how it brought him in.
“I’m in town for work and I’ve never been here and wanted to see the craziness of it all. It’s huge, you can find a little bit of everything here,” Fringe said. “There’s nothing like this where I’m from. It’s almost overwhelming.”
From food to shopping to entertainment, Los Angeles has a lot to offer for college students looking for something fun to do on a day off.
The opportunities are endless. However these local and tourist favorites are just a short list, not even including the many museums or art exhibits.
