This past summer I took a few trips around the country, but one of my favorite weekend excursions was the one I took to La La Land itself. I don’t know how, but that girls’ trip was the first time I had to been to LA on my own (without my parents, a school trip, etc.) Living in Phoenix means I’m only 6-hour drive from my favorite California spots, like Disneyland and San Diego but I had yet to take advantage and explore the city of angels. Needless to say, I was ready to take in all the Los Angeles had to offer so I started doing my research to find the best places to check out. Looking back on my trip, the thing that stood out to me the most was the food I got to experience while I was there. It was hard finding places to eat, since there are so many to choose from. That’s when I decided to write a post dedicated solely to the restaurants I went to while visiting the :
Bottega Louie: This was probably one of my favorite spots to eat and it was right down the street from the Garden Hilton we stayed at that weekend. Not only is this place gorgeous on the inside, but everything was absolutely delicious. The first night we were there we headed to Bottega for dinner and shared the Brussel sprouts with pistachios, crab beignets, and their burrata pizza while we sipped on Prosecco Gancia Brut (aka sparkling wine). To finish off that amazing spread, we splurged on the Sacher Torte, which is a chocolate almond cake, and a few shots of espresso. Now, I know what you must be thinking: that sounds like a dream, I would have spent every meal there. Well, we basically did, so don’t you worry your pretty little heads. The last day we were in town we made it a point to spend our breakfast basking in their bakery goodness and sipping on some hot cappuccinos. I can only assume that, by now, your mouth is probably watering envisioning that amazing dinner mentioned earlier so I won’t go into detail on what exactly we had for breakfast but I can tell you, it was just as delectable as our first visit. I highly recommend you stop in if you’re in town, if not for a meal, at least just to admire the sea of macrons that will make you feel as if you’ve traveled all the way to Paris, France. This fabulous restaurant is located at 700 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA and since they have seating for more than 250 guests they don’t take reservations, but don’t worry! They wait isn’t bad at all and it’s worth it!
Eggslut: If you’re looking for a fast and easy breakfast spot that’ll blow your taste buds away then this is the perfect spot. Although there are multiple locations I suggest checking out the one inside Grand Central Market. The market is a cool spot to check out a bunch of places at once, it’s high energy and will have something to eat for everyone. Eggslut may have had a long line wrapped around the stand but it went by extremely fast. The menu is small, which is great for me since I’m the most indecisive human known to man, and regardless of what you decide to get, I can assure you that whatever egg sandwich enters your mouth you’re going to LOVE IT. Just make sure you grab some napkins and you’ll be good to go.
Blue Plate Taco: lf you’re headed to the infamous Santa Monic Pier; you have to check out this taco house. Unlike Bottega Louie, Blue Plate takes reservation and has the most adorable patio that lets you look out onto the crowd of people shuffling towards the pier. I ordered the fish tacos, which is my go to at any taco shop, and satisfied is an understatement.
Villa Blanca: Walking around Rodeo Drive is tiring, especially when you have to look at all of those five figure price tags.
My trip to LA was one for the books and the food I got to eat made it that much better. Although this list doesn't include all of the great places I went to eat, it’s all of my very favorites and I hope you get the chance to check them out! I know that eating isn’t the main attraction of traveling, I mean it is for me, but I know for normal people there is much more to a new city than the restaurants nestled in between the culture and entertainment. That being said, I’ll be following up this post with another LA travel guide focusing on places to see and things to do, so stay tuned!
XO,
Sonny Rae