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Scoops = Best ice cream EVER

712 N Heliotrope Dr

go east on Melrose, turn on Heliotrope. Next to the Bike Kitchen and LACC.

The dude there has made 1000 + different flavors...but he puts out like 10 per day and the flavors change daily.

When I went last time, he made liquor infused ice cream - coffee/guiness, peach/pabst and so on. He also had Goatmilk & Pinenuts...but that was kinda nasty.

The time before was Stawberry/Jasmine, Pistachio/Orange. The only flavor that is available daily is Brown Bread, which is AMAZING (trust me). In the past they have had everything from Thai Tea (yeah!) to Kimchee (vomit). Fool is crazy.

And if you are in Santa Monica...Father's Office for the dopest burgers and a good selection on beers (I think it is on 4th and Montana, someone correct me if I am wrong please) or The Counter on Ocean Park.

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where u from man? im from cerritos and there's ALOT of chinese/taiwanese around here.

Haha Cerritos represent, although I'm only here two months out of the year and Cerritos is truly the gaping anus of LA County, coming from someone who once lived at 104th and Century in Inglewood.

Speaking of the West Side, you guys should try Killer Shrimp in Marina Del Rey on Washington. http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/151458 I also second Father's Office on I think Montana and 9th? I hate numbered streets. There's also this place called Violet on Bundy and... Ocean Park? They had some awesome lamb meatballs last time I went.

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My family just made the last minute decision to drive up to LA tomorrow. However, I want to visit the stores on Melrose AND Rodeo Drive (My mom wants to see Rodeo Drive, although I'm sure it's just boutiques piled upon boutiques.)

What's parking like? Can we just park along the sidewalk and hope our car is still there when we come back? Or are there dedicated parking structures for different areas in LA and Beverley Hills?

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I second the Scoops recommendation. By far the best gelato/vegan ice cream flavors ever. Get two flavors for $2.

For Melrose area parking. The streets that run north/south are permit and the streets that run east/west are okay. (If I remember correctly) You think I'd know, I work there. Maybe I will see some people unwittingly.

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Melrose itself isn't too bad for parking. I've never had to drive more than a couple of blocks to find a spot. I typically park just east of La Brea or near La Cienega. The La Cienega side is probably better if you want to hit the stores on 3rd as well.

Or for hilarity, try the little parking garage on the north end of Rodeo. One time coming back I found my car boxed in by two SUVs and since my sunroof was open, my date and I climbed in through the top, and some Japanese tourist took a picture of us doing it.

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you made your date crawl into a car from the top instead of you just driving out a bit for her to get in through the doors. interesting.

any more dates after that? ;)

It was a bonding experience, kind of like a family activity, or something :P

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If you're in Santa Monica/Main St. area, check out Hama sushi. Good sushi, cool vibe. If you're in La Brea/La Cienega area by the beverly center, check out Hokusai or Gonpachi; both are really good japanese reastaurants.

Shopping wise (other than what was mentioned)

If you're in Santa Monica/Main St. check out B.N.Y, and Klasse LA. Both are right on Main St. next to Urth Cafe.

Also opening ceremony has a store on La Cienega now.

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^ the opening ceremony store is pretty nice, stopped by there one night. decent stock of stuff in multiple rooms instead of just a small space with a few garments, pleasant surprise.

I liked LA quite a bit, many people I've talked to were underwhelmed by the city, I think its largely due to europeans not being used to american cities where you have to drive everywhere, I've lived in the US so it wasn't anything new for me. if you go to LA expecting New York or SF you're in for a surprise, but if you're familiar with the fact that its very scattered I'm sure anyone can enjoy the city a lot.

few things I don't recall seeing in any of the LA threads here, if you want to really stretch your stomach, go to Norm's. its a very classic diner and even the 450lbs guy by the door was sweating with his meal. good basic food. Koi is a nice trendy spot (thus expensive as well) with a very intimate atmosphere and greally nice interior. service was great for us and the food was very good.

if you have a car, drive around some of the hillside roads above W Sunset Blvd, I found it to be pretty intense with the narrow-ass driveways and insane angles in the roads. theres a lot of funny and cool houses and you can also spot some great views from between them. going up Miller or N Kings should get you started.

I didn't have time to check out half the stuff I wanted to but had a good time!

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Thanks guys.

I didn't end up going to Rodeo Drive, but parking was actually not so bad on Melrose. I had a spot right next to Marc Jacobs and I think it was 2 quarters and hour. We somehow found ourselves on Robertson so we looked around and I didn't really like ANY of the stores I passed by. Everybody yaps on and on about Kitson so I went into Kitson Men.

Worst shop in the world. The store was small, the ceilings were too low, and the stuff was overpriced.

I think I can rip my own t-shirt.

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We somehow found ourselves on Robertson so we looked around and I didn't really like ANY of the stores I passed by. Everybody yaps on and on about Kitson so I went into Kitson Men.

Worst shop in the world. The store was small, the ceilings were too low, and the stuff was overpriced.

I think I can rip my own t-shirt.

maxfield bleu moved up or down on robertson, the old adress houses an upcoming D&G store (wohoo). so theres not really that many worthy stores there.

who yaps on and on about Kitson though, Teen Vogue?

does anyone know of a good hotel in the LA area? I'll be there for 4 nights...

theres probably a couple of thousand hotels, so you'd need to be a bit more specific.

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just going off the list tablethotels.com gives for the LA area, which would be the best value one? I see that they have the likes of Hotel Bel Air and Raffles for 450 a night but does anyone know if these expensive ones are really worth it? I'm looking for something romantic for a 4 day vacation but i'm also looking to save some hotel money for nice dinners. the chamberlain hotel looks nice for its price, any opinions? thanks!

http://www.tablethotels.com/The-Chamberlain-Hotel/Los-Angeles-Hotels-California-USA/63810

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What spot in MDR?

Irori, not the greatest but pretty good. Staff are cool (and mostly female), and everyone I take likes the seating :P It's one of the places with tatami mats, low tables, but with a hole under the table so you don't have to lose circulation to your legs :P

http://www.yelp.com/biz/irori-japanese-restaurant-marina-del-rey-2#hrid:lWTnxhFk5SXU-fuNms8JEQ/query:irori

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is there a particular part of LA that would be most convenient for a first time tourist? i plan on having a car, but would like to spend more of my time at a particular place rather than driving there. i do plan on going to the getty, sunset/santa monica/ hollywood blvd., the walk of fame/chinese theater stuff and santa monica promenade while i'm there. cheers!

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^

You can definitely skip the walk of fame and the chinese theater, it's just a bunch of tourists and chain stores.

And if I were you, I'd pass on third street promenade too, unless you want to be near Fred Segal. If you really want a Socal outdoor shopping experience, at least check out the grove/framer's market or melrose.

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as some people have mentioned, LA is very scattered, in that sense its not much more exotic than a thousand other american cities. its mostly the individual places that make it a great city.

The Grove and farmers market are nice areas, you can walk around in Venice (Abbot Kinney Blvd) and Santa Monica (Main St?), or around Rodeo in BH, but you have to drive to those places as well. just read england's post above, its very thorough and very much on point as well. I noticed pretty much everything he said to be true when I was there.

and yes, skip the chinese theatre. hollywood blvd is full of tourists, guys dressed up as superheros, terrible t-shirt dives and thats about it. I drove by and saw enough, the traffic is most likely slow as well.

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is there a particular part of LA that would be most convenient for a first time tourist? i plan on having a car, but would like to spend more of my time at a particular place rather than driving there. i do plan on going to the getty, sunset/santa monica/ hollywood blvd., the walk of fame/chinese theater stuff and santa monica promenade while i'm there. cheers!

No way, you'll have to drive, trust me on this one, and it will take ages. Plan that into your schedule and you'll be fine. For reference, I used to live next to the airport (literally, Century and 405, first block) and getting there to work at test screenings at the Arclight, Egyptian, or Mann's Chinese took about 45 minutes to an hour and half at 5:30pm for about 6 - 8 miles ish. Speaking of the Arclight, go see a movie at the Arclight, it's the best theater out of all three, even if it's damn expensive. It's probably the single nicest theater I've ever been to and I used to work at least 4 or 5 different theaters a week and probably have hit up all the notable theaters in LA/OC.

If you want to get all your shopping and whatnot done in one park and you don't mind a little bit of walking, park at the Beverly Center and branch out from there. If you're really ambitious you can hit most of Melrose, most of West Hollywood, Robertson, 3rd, La Cienega, all the way to Beverly Hills if you're really determined. Still though, walking in LA sucks ass because even though it's not terribly hot right now, it's loud, boring, and long.

Hollywood is a shitty ass tourist place, but the bars are okay and the restaurants are pretty sweet. I like to start my night off with a Mojito possibly at O-Bar and move my way from there, but I spend 6 months out of the year in snowy-snowy-land and I need something to remind me that the sun still rises, so your mileage may vary. I also have a soft-spot for Minibar Lounge on Cahuenga.

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  • 1 month later...

So i'm looking for weekly hipsterish electro nights in Los Angeles. I already plan on going to Dim Mak Tuesdays at Cinespace but was wondering what other nights are out there. Hopefully things you don't have to wait outside for hours and be on super hard guest lists. I guess i'm just spoiled with Philly and it's dive bars.

I'll be visiting Feb 26th to March 1st so if anyone can put me on some decent party nights then i'd appreciate it.

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If you're into hipster crap where the likes of Steve Aoki and Shephard Fairey hang out, look no further than Vapor Mags weekly parties. I don't think there are any requirements to get their e-mail invites, the guest list is free, and there is usually always free booze:

http://www.vaporsmagazine.com/index.aspx

Not my scene at all, but you may enjoy it.

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