This is a good resource for modern stuff. I've gone to a few of their open-houses looking for ideas for my own remodel:

http://www.socalmodern.com/

Also this has info that might be of interest:

http://la.curbed.com/

Likewise, I saw Firehose a couple of times back in the '90s, but missed out on the Minutemen:(

Intelligentsia is always good for coffee. Venice, Pasadena and Silver Lake.

Verve coffee just set up shop there. I'm familiar with them from Santa Cruz. They are absolutely top notch.

Took my kids to La Brea tar pits at 10 and 12 and they enjoyed.

MB post is good meal in Manhattan Beach. Pricey but good.

Pizzeria Mozza also good.

If you go to Santa Barbara, don't miss La Super Rica for Mexican. It's a dive, but super popular. Julia Child quoted saying "I would walk barefoot from LA for Super Rica"

Jon

https://www.yelp.com/biz/oo-kook-korean-bbq-los-angeles
Best Korean I've had.

http://dintaifungusa.com/
Not like Taiwan but still effin delicious!


https://www.yelp.com/biz/sapp-coffee-shop-los-angeles
Looks dirty but it's amazing.

D is buried in the same cemetery as Bukowski in San Pedro. I have pics at their graves. I saw the Minutemen many times.

Do whatever Beeatnik says in LA. He knows stuff.

Another Mexican restaurant not popular with Mexicans.

Ok, if I were visiting LA with kids and if I knew what I know as a lifelong LA resident and a former kid (wrap your mind around that twisted syntax), I'd avoid The Outdoor Shopping Mall LA Streetscape. That means, no Pasadena, no Melrose, no Santa Monica-Third Street Promenade. I'd also avoid "highly rated" restaurants; they're all disappointing, out here. Obviously, kids like crowds and activity. And the beach is the beach. So do this:

Avoid Santa Monica, go to Hermosa Beach (with a nice drive through PV into San Pedro for cheesy port fun).

Avoid Pasadena and go to DTLA. Everyone loves the Broad and you can drive 5 minutes East (while seeing the emerging Arts/Loft District) to see how working class Mexican-Americans (60% of Los Angeles) live and eat (definitely not Super Rica style).

Avoid Melrose (does anyone go there anymore?) and bounce around Sunset Blvd from Echo Park to Silver Lake. End with lunch on Vermont and a trip into Griffith Park.

On the periphery and if you enjoy being a car. Check out one of the world's largest chinese communities in the San Gabriel Valley. There's a 2 mile stretch of Colima Rd where you won't see a sign in english. 30 min from DTLA.

If you're an early riser, there are a ton of brunch spots on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks. Great people watching and less superficial (a tiny bit) than the Westside.

.... ..
.

This is exactly what I was talking about. Adding in Boccali is brilliant. Amazing mom and pop Italian food. And, the drive is one I have done many times in my Porsche.

Not sure I agree with Beatnik on many of his takes on things. I think because we are one or two generations apart. I'm old. But again, this is what is so amazing about LA. It is very diverse.

^I don't think it's a generational thing. It may be a transplant thing. There's native LA and there's the LA where people with great jobs end up (Santa Monica, Brentwood, Lincoln Corridor, PDR.

Also, there's the "Photographed/Filmed LA" and the "Real LA." A generation past, people were looking to SEE the few sights (Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood Sign, Studios) and now people are looking to have experiences (eat, play, people watch).

If I were a kid (who will probably not own a car until her late 20s), I'd rather watch the Silver Lake streetscape than stare at the ocean from a restaurant in Marina Del Rey.

In any case, OP, the architectural tour thing is tough. You'll be driving 30 min to see half a block of interesting buildings. If I were you, I'd explore the West Adams area. The University of Southern California has helped revitalize that community more than any developer or politician. Tons of architectural diversity as well.

The West Adams area doesn't have the style of architecture you are looking for. Pasadena for Greene and Greene ( there is also a F. L. Wright tucked away on a small street in Pasadena). It's very cool. And, if you can get to the Eames house, you will see 3 iconic mid century houses on the same block.

Enjoy!

http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/...-adams-terrace

The first significant wave of residential development in West Adams consisted of businessmen and their families, who wanted to move out of central Los Angeles, yet remain within easy commuting distance of downtown. Single family homes in the HPOZ range in size and style from modest Victorian-era cottages to early 20th century Craftsman and Mission Revival bungalows to larger Period Revival and Classical styles. Many of the houses were designed by recognized architects and builders including Frank Tyler, Hunt and Burns, Frank Meline, Paul R. Williams, and E.L. Petitfils.

http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/jefferson-park

Often referred to by locals as “The Bungalows,” the Jefferson Park neighborhood is perhaps one of the City’s finest examples of both an early street car suburb, and the proliferation of the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 1900s, in the form of simple, yet elegant, single-story bungalows for the growing middle class. Fanciful eaves, intricate wood work, turrets, stone, masonry and shingle are displayed in ways that defy the modest scale of these houses and make the many streets of this vast district instantly charming.

http://preservation.lacity.org/hpoz/la/harvard-heights

Harvard Heights HPOZ is predominantly characterized by two-story Craftsman-style residences built from 1902 to 1908. The large and somewhat grand scale of architecture is due to a land covenant that stipulated that houses built within the tract cost more than $2,500, a substantial sum at the turn of the century.

Boyle Heights was never a suburb, btw.

.

Remember, I'm old. My mom grew up in LA in the 1920's when Boyle Heights and Pasadena were suburbs of downtown and Hancock Park was the Beverly Hills of LA before Beverly Hills.

Of course, and I'm not a pedant, but Boyle Heights is so misunderstood. I grew up there and there were traces of it's former "vibrancy" or diversity; a few Japanese families on my block. And, yet, it was called the West Coast Ellis Island for a reason. In any case, in the 20's, if you were Jewish and middle class, you lived in the hills of City Terrace, east of Boyle Heights.

Only interested in Pasadena for the Arts & Crafts architecture.

Love the rest of the suggestions.

Any specific taco joints to check out?

Where to stay...now that is the question!?

Early risers...yes. Getting family motivated...no.

-Mark

West coast is so weird.

There, I finally got to return the favor.

My mom was Jewish and middle class. She grew up in Boyle Heights. Even graduated from Roosevelt High School. She used to speak fondly of it. Very different than what it is today.

Beatnik, when are we gonna meet? Go for a ride sometime? You ever get out my way? Maybe even get Tommy to come out and ride with me again. Check out some lithe women pro beach volleyball players or something.