This must be Echo Park
For as long as downtown L.A. has been a bustling center for American business and trade, Echo Park has been its nearest escape. A slow walk down the neighborhood’s winding boulevards and up its remarkably steep hillside streets — if you dare — is the best way to take in one of Southern California’s first suburbs.
Get to know Los Angeles through the places that bring it to life. From restaurants to shops to outdoor spaces, here’s what to discover now.
The stately Victorian homes to which 19th century business leaders would retire after long days at their downtown offices are still intact, perched on the high ground above Sunset Boulevard along Carroll Avenue, with a few holdouts along its parallel streets.
So is Keystone Studios, the world’s first enclosed film stage and studio and the birthplace of slapstick comedy, though it has since been repurposed as a public storage facility (not the worst case of historic preservation in Los Angeles).
Even some of the first efforts to make Los Angeles a viable Anglo-American settlement can still be found on a stroll around Echo Park Lake, originally a reservoir for drinking water when it was completed in 1868. Paddle boats have gently treaded its surface since it expanded into a vaguely English-style park in 1892 — the same year that palm trees were imported from Mexico to obscure its proximity to the city center.
In addition to being one of the few neighborhoods in Los Angeles to welcome culturally diverse immigrants during the population boom at the turn of the 20th century, including those from Mexico, Cuba and the Philippines, Echo Park’s illusory distance from the rat race has attracted — and continues to attract — countercultural figures. Ricardo Flores Magón, while in exile from his native Mexico for social reform activism that would later spark the Mexican Revolution, laid low on the northern border in 1915 to live with his comrades on a 5-acre tract. This corner, nicknamed “Red Hill,” was later home to Carey McWilliams, author of “Southern California Country: An Island on the Land” and other landmark texts spreading leftist perspectives on regional development.
The architecture of Echo Park may still be about as low to the ground as it was a century ago (its tallest structure, the Citibank building, is a mere eight stories yet still towers over its neighbors), but displacement and urban renewal have certainly taken residence here as well.
What was once a part of “Edendale,” a cluster of neighborhoods that included Silver Lake and Los Feliz to the northwest, has gone to great lengths to contribute to the hipster image of the Eastside while still preserving some of the idyllic nature associated with its former name.
The trendy cafes, shops and bars lining the three main commercial streets — Sunset Boulevard, Glendale Boulevard and Echo Park Avenue — all vie for attention without being too obvious about it. Crowds, in turn, compete for seats at Canyon Coffee, Honey Hi and Laveta during the day, and hop between late-night spots, including Club Bahia and the Short Stop, well into the night.
That is not to say, however, that Echo Park is a monolith of hipsterdom. Surviving several waves of gentrification, multiculturalism remains active in small businesses, such as Kien Giang Bakery and Centro Botanico Nacional, an herb shop that has offered spiritual cleansings using traditional Latin American medicinal practices for nearly three decades. At this year’s Lotus Festival, hundreds of paper lanterns hovered above Echo Park Lake in honor of the local Filipino community.
Perhaps the neighborhood’s spirit is best expressed on the northwest corner of Sunset and Echo Park. Ricardo Mendoza’s “Sculpting Another Destiny,” a larger-than-life mural of Chicano figures symbolizing the community care that took place in this former maternity clinic building, now frames Cantiq, a “one-stop self-care shop” for gender- and size-inclusive lingerie. Yes, Echo Park is an escape — and it remains among one of L.A.’s most multifaceted.
What's included in this guide
Anyone who’s lived in a major metropolis can tell you that neighborhoods are a tricky thing. They’re eternally malleable and evoke sociological questions around how we place our homes, our neighbors and our communities within a wider tapestry. In the name of neighborly generosity, we included gems that may linger outside of technical parameters. Instead of leaning into stark definitions, we hope to celebrate all of the places that make us love where we live.
Showing Places
(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Restock on ‘Mammoth Chunks’ at the Time Travel Mart
Echo Park Gift Shop
If the deals strewn across the windows of the Time Travel Mart (“Papyrus and Quill Blowout!” and “30% off neural implants”) don’t lure you, the meeting of a robot and a Neanderthal taking place in the storefront might do the trick. Started in 2008 by 826, a nonprofit organization founded by authors Nínive Clements Calegari and Dave Eggers that’s dedicated to inspiring students to approach writing as a creative practice, it is inarguably one of the most creative gift stores in America.
The small market, designed like a convenience store, is animated by conversations between visitors slowly studying the details of every item up for sale. “Which would your boss find funnier,” you might overhear, “this bottle of robot milk or the Dark Ages Breath Ruiner spray?” Whatever choice they make, no matter how frivolous it may feel, is ultimately for the greater good: All proceeds go toward operating 826, which publishes stories by students that are available for purchase in the freezer aisle.
The small market, designed like a convenience store, is animated by conversations between visitors slowly studying the details of every item up for sale. “Which would your boss find funnier,” you might overhear, “this bottle of robot milk or the Dark Ages Breath Ruiner spray?” Whatever choice they make, no matter how frivolous it may feel, is ultimately for the greater good: All proceeds go toward operating 826, which publishes stories by students that are available for purchase in the freezer aisle.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Transport to contemporary Rome at Bacetti Trattoria
Echo Park Italian Restaurant
The adaptive reuse of Bacetti Trattoria’s century-old structure, led by Christian Stayner of Stayner Architects, sells the concept of an upscale Roman-style destination in a neighborhood not typically known for Italian food (aside from the similarly delectable Donna’s). The sumptuous white marble and complementary earth tones beneath century-old Douglas fir beams makes for a cool, airy interior that places the stop-and-go traffic of nearby Sunset Boulevard continents away.
Jason Goldman’s family history in the culinary arts is evident in every dish, beginning with the focaccia ebraica: a pull-apart bread loaded with currants, olives and rosemary that’s rarely found outside of Rome’s Jewish bakeries. The stonefruit panzanella — which pairs burrata with cherries, peaches and basil — is a refreshing summer salad that draws inspiration from the Mediterranean climate shared by Los Angeles and central Italy.
After having your fill of a branzino that’s almost too pretty to devour, head over to the adjacent Tilda Wine Bar, a bar and bottle shop tucked into the restaurant’s tall and narrow alcove. It’s easy to get lost in the abstract paintings occupying every precious inch of wall space while luxuriating with one of the many natural wines. Walk off the Italian fare by ambling north toward the street’s charmingly small and trendy shops, including Los Rodeos, des pair books and Cookbook Market.
Jason Goldman’s family history in the culinary arts is evident in every dish, beginning with the focaccia ebraica: a pull-apart bread loaded with currants, olives and rosemary that’s rarely found outside of Rome’s Jewish bakeries. The stonefruit panzanella — which pairs burrata with cherries, peaches and basil — is a refreshing summer salad that draws inspiration from the Mediterranean climate shared by Los Angeles and central Italy.
After having your fill of a branzino that’s almost too pretty to devour, head over to the adjacent Tilda Wine Bar, a bar and bottle shop tucked into the restaurant’s tall and narrow alcove. It’s easy to get lost in the abstract paintings occupying every precious inch of wall space while luxuriating with one of the many natural wines. Walk off the Italian fare by ambling north toward the street’s charmingly small and trendy shops, including Los Rodeos, des pair books and Cookbook Market.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Get lost in the hills of Elysian Park
Elysian Park Park
There are three green spaces in Echo Park, and they’re all worth a visit. Echo Park Lake is the one that first comes to mind for events and picnics. Vista Hermosa Natural Park is a local favorite as a large patch of recreational space at the neighborhood’s southern tip. But Elysian Park, a hillscape of more than 600 acres surrounding Dodger Stadium, is significantly larger than the other two, and easily rewards any agile visitor with stellar views and other visual surprises.
The western quarter of the 600-acre park that straddles the western edge of Echo Park most notably includes Angels Point, a small mound capped by a 28-foot-tall assemblage of concrete pillars, steel and graffiti. Famed local designer Peter Shire created this delightfully twisted sculpture in honor of Frank Glass and Grace E. Simons, a midcentury couple who saved Elysian Park from the same fate that befell the adjacent Mexican American neighborhood of Chavez Ravine (now the site of Dodger Stadium). From here, more than 130 tree species can be spotted along the trails north of Dodger Stadium that were first laid down in 1886, making Elysian Park one of the oldest public parks in Los Angeles.
The western quarter of the 600-acre park that straddles the western edge of Echo Park most notably includes Angels Point, a small mound capped by a 28-foot-tall assemblage of concrete pillars, steel and graffiti. Famed local designer Peter Shire created this delightfully twisted sculpture in honor of Frank Glass and Grace E. Simons, a midcentury couple who saved Elysian Park from the same fate that befell the adjacent Mexican American neighborhood of Chavez Ravine (now the site of Dodger Stadium). From here, more than 130 tree species can be spotted along the trails north of Dodger Stadium that were first laid down in 1886, making Elysian Park one of the oldest public parks in Los Angeles.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Pregame at Tsubaki or Ototo before the first inning
Echo Park Japanese Restaurant
Many Dodgers fans have been leaving their cars at home in recent years (what’s more frustrating than parking lot traffic?), choosing instead to walk the short but steep incline of Vin Scully Avenue leading to the stadium’s entrance. Restaurateurs Charles Namba and Courtney Kaplan took notice of these pre- and post-game throngs when they opened Tsubaki, an upscale izakaya (“stay-drink-place” in Japanese) at the base of the hill more than six years ago.
The tight space can get frenetic before a game; for serenity, tilt your view up toward the Nihonga-style artwork and the chandeliers loosely wrapped in unbleached canvas. The highlights of the menu, including the chawanmushi (Dungeness crab meat in a bed of steamed egg custard) and the yaki onigiri (charcoal-grilled rice balls served with soy sesame cucumber pickles), decidedly contrast with what one may find on the stadium grounds. And then there’s the Danger Dog Karokke, two potato croquettes filled with bits of Kurobuta sausage, bacon, bell pepper and jalapeño, which masterfully synthesize the stadium’s junk fare and elevate it with black ceramic plateware.
Capitalizing on the local shortage of Japanese bar food and drink, Namba and Kaplan opened Ototo, the relatively casual “little brother” of Tsubaki, right next door. The chicken katsu sando with a sake on tap is a safe choice for a good time, but those late for the first inning would be wise to order the Shotime! Teishoku (set menu) to go: It includes either a jidori chicken, cod tempura or Meiji tofu with sides of yuzu daikon pickles, Japanese potato salad and eggplant tempura.
The tight space can get frenetic before a game; for serenity, tilt your view up toward the Nihonga-style artwork and the chandeliers loosely wrapped in unbleached canvas. The highlights of the menu, including the chawanmushi (Dungeness crab meat in a bed of steamed egg custard) and the yaki onigiri (charcoal-grilled rice balls served with soy sesame cucumber pickles), decidedly contrast with what one may find on the stadium grounds. And then there’s the Danger Dog Karokke, two potato croquettes filled with bits of Kurobuta sausage, bacon, bell pepper and jalapeño, which masterfully synthesize the stadium’s junk fare and elevate it with black ceramic plateware.
Capitalizing on the local shortage of Japanese bar food and drink, Namba and Kaplan opened Ototo, the relatively casual “little brother” of Tsubaki, right next door. The chicken katsu sando with a sake on tap is a safe choice for a good time, but those late for the first inning would be wise to order the Shotime! Teishoku (set menu) to go: It includes either a jidori chicken, cod tempura or Meiji tofu with sides of yuzu daikon pickles, Japanese potato salad and eggplant tempura.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Travel back in time on a walk through Angelino Heights
Echo Park Walk
Before it was awash in bungalows and low-slung apartment buildings, Echo Park was a “suburban” destination for the businessmen of late 19th century Los Angeles. Many of the structures original to Angelino Heights, a small neighborhood that’s walking distance to Echo Park Lake, avoided the floods common in that era thanks to their raised elevation and remain lovingly preserved.
An architecture tour might begin chronologically with a walk down Carroll Avenue, where it is possible to imagine a time before cars roamed the Southland. This short yet meticulous street is lined with ornate, Victorian-era streetlights (then known as “electroliers”), as well as homes that have been featured in everything from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video to the hit TV series “Charmed.” Give special notice to the Foy House, the oldest of the bunch. Built in 1872 (four years before Los Angeles was connected to the transcontinental railroad via San Francisco), the Italianate-style home was moved here after its original location on 7th Street and Figueroa Avenue transformed into the Financial District more than a century ago.
Next, walk past the Old Fire Station No. 6, the first in Los Angeles designed in the Mediterranean style, to arrive at Bob’s Market. The corner grocery store, built in 1913, has both historic and celebrity status. Its weathered façade played a small acting role as Toretto’s Market & Cafe in “The Fast and the Furious”; it remains a popular meetup destination for fans of the movie franchise. The market’s glass display case is stocked with officially licensed model cars, and full-scale lowriders and supercharged Supras often can be spotted out front.
An architecture tour might begin chronologically with a walk down Carroll Avenue, where it is possible to imagine a time before cars roamed the Southland. This short yet meticulous street is lined with ornate, Victorian-era streetlights (then known as “electroliers”), as well as homes that have been featured in everything from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video to the hit TV series “Charmed.” Give special notice to the Foy House, the oldest of the bunch. Built in 1872 (four years before Los Angeles was connected to the transcontinental railroad via San Francisco), the Italianate-style home was moved here after its original location on 7th Street and Figueroa Avenue transformed into the Financial District more than a century ago.
Next, walk past the Old Fire Station No. 6, the first in Los Angeles designed in the Mediterranean style, to arrive at Bob’s Market. The corner grocery store, built in 1913, has both historic and celebrity status. Its weathered façade played a small acting role as Toretto’s Market & Cafe in “The Fast and the Furious”; it remains a popular meetup destination for fans of the movie franchise. The market’s glass display case is stocked with officially licensed model cars, and full-scale lowriders and supercharged Supras often can be spotted out front.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Get a Buzzcocks LP and a buzz cut at Sick City Records
Echo Park Record store
Before the sun goes down, an unmistakably punk-rock energy spills out the storefront of Sick City Records in the Sunset Market Plaza strip mall.
Some are there to peruse the rare vinyl — such as Minor Threat’s only studio album, “Out of Step” (1983) — or the T-shirts hung near the ceiling from concerts that took place half a century ago. A select few are there to have their hair cut in the one barber chair in the back, set before a large triptych of Iggy Pop in his prime.
Sick City Records opened in 2006 in nearby Silver Lake when that neighborhood was still a light smattering of hip shops, but it moved to Echo Park in 2018 due to rent increases. The shop is the same musical haven it always was. These days, it makes a special occasion out of Echo Park Rising, the annual music festival founded by local artist KamranV, by hosting intimate concerts performed by local acts.
Some are there to peruse the rare vinyl — such as Minor Threat’s only studio album, “Out of Step” (1983) — or the T-shirts hung near the ceiling from concerts that took place half a century ago. A select few are there to have their hair cut in the one barber chair in the back, set before a large triptych of Iggy Pop in his prime.
Sick City Records opened in 2006 in nearby Silver Lake when that neighborhood was still a light smattering of hip shops, but it moved to Echo Park in 2018 due to rent increases. The shop is the same musical haven it always was. These days, it makes a special occasion out of Echo Park Rising, the annual music festival founded by local artist KamranV, by hosting intimate concerts performed by local acts.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Take a chance on a small musical act at the Echo and Echoplex
Echo Park Live Music Venue
More than seven decades ago, El Nayarit was an early testament to the neighborhood’s acceptance of immigrant-owned businesses (relative to the rest of the city). Doña Natalia Barraza, who arrived in Los Angeles following the Mexican Revolution, helped bring attention to this stretch of Sunset Boulevard by operating one of the most popular restaurants in Echo Park.
Shortly after El Nayarit closed in 2001, its unmistakably midcentury façade was reappropriated as a marquee for the Echo and Echoplex, two music venues owned by Live Nation Entertainment, stacked one atop the other. Together, they’ve ensured that the interior has remained abuzz for another couple of generations, albeit with a different crowd.
They have consistently hosted performers who could easily sell out in the city’s largest venues, including LCD Soundsystem, Lorde, Kendrick Lamar and the Rolling Stones. But don’t be afraid to take a risk: The free Monday Night Music residency has offered a leg up to once-unknown acts, such as Foster the People and Warpaint. Either way, tickets are typically less than $25 — a bargain by today’s standards.
Lines form late into the night and are responsible for filling up the nearby restaurants and bars. After a workout in a sweaty mosh pit or hip-hop dance session, cool down with the acorn squash pizza at Triple Beam Pizza next door.
Shortly after El Nayarit closed in 2001, its unmistakably midcentury façade was reappropriated as a marquee for the Echo and Echoplex, two music venues owned by Live Nation Entertainment, stacked one atop the other. Together, they’ve ensured that the interior has remained abuzz for another couple of generations, albeit with a different crowd.
They have consistently hosted performers who could easily sell out in the city’s largest venues, including LCD Soundsystem, Lorde, Kendrick Lamar and the Rolling Stones. But don’t be afraid to take a risk: The free Monday Night Music residency has offered a leg up to once-unknown acts, such as Foster the People and Warpaint. Either way, tickets are typically less than $25 — a bargain by today’s standards.
Lines form late into the night and are responsible for filling up the nearby restaurants and bars. After a workout in a sweaty mosh pit or hip-hop dance session, cool down with the acorn squash pizza at Triple Beam Pizza next door.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Escape the city with a stack of lemon poppyseed pancakes at Lady Byrd Cafe
Echo Park Cafe
North of relatively bustling Sunset Boulevard, Echo Park Avenue quietly winds through a neighborhood built up during the streetcar era of the early 20th century, where the occasional shop makes an appearance between single-family bungalows and old apartment complexes. Past a beauty salon with a hand-painted sign and across from an adorably petite Montessori school is a brunch spot so casual it scarcely announces its presence along the winding road.
There are a few tables inside, but the sensation of escaping the city is better experienced from one of the thickly cushioned chairs next to tables arranged between large umbrellas and potted plants. If you’re lucky, you can snag a spot for two in one of a few intimate greenhouse-like interiors. It’s hard to go wrong with the food — the caramelized onion and toasted Gruyère cheese audibly crackles atop the Spanish frittata, and the lemon poppyseed pancakes are circled on the menu for good reason: The two lemon ricotta pancakes, stacked with homemade jam, whipped cream and honey, is a meal even more delicate than it looks.
There are a few tables inside, but the sensation of escaping the city is better experienced from one of the thickly cushioned chairs next to tables arranged between large umbrellas and potted plants. If you’re lucky, you can snag a spot for two in one of a few intimate greenhouse-like interiors. It’s hard to go wrong with the food — the caramelized onion and toasted Gruyère cheese audibly crackles atop the Spanish frittata, and the lemon poppyseed pancakes are circled on the menu for good reason: The two lemon ricotta pancakes, stacked with homemade jam, whipped cream and honey, is a meal even more delicate than it looks.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Sample local food culture at the Echo Park Farmers Market
Echo Park Farmers' market
Though the Echo Park Farmers Market may not have the widest variety in Los Angeles, it demands just as much attention as the city’s largest for the quality of its vendors alone. Occupying a short stretch of Logan Street between Sunset and Echo Park Lake on Friday afternoons, the market has aroused friendly competition between primarily Latin American family-run food businesses across the region for nearly two decades.
Plant-based Mexican food from Sin Karma, featuring carne ASNADA, is as rich and tender as the real thing, while the well-priced jams handmade by Emily of Happy Jellies make a splash with inventive flavors including guava vanilla bean and mango raspberry hibiscus.
Alejandra’s Quesadilla Cart, parked one block over on Echo Park Avenue, is a small food cart deserving of a large recommendation. Arriving in Los Angeles from Michoacán in Western Mexico, Alejandra often can be spotted beneath a multicolored umbrella patiently hand-pressing beautifully textured blue corn tortillas following every order. Tortillas are then brought to the griddle — they’re best topped with squash blossoms, Oaxacan cheese and green salsa.
Plant-based Mexican food from Sin Karma, featuring carne ASNADA, is as rich and tender as the real thing, while the well-priced jams handmade by Emily of Happy Jellies make a splash with inventive flavors including guava vanilla bean and mango raspberry hibiscus.
Alejandra’s Quesadilla Cart, parked one block over on Echo Park Avenue, is a small food cart deserving of a large recommendation. Arriving in Los Angeles from Michoacán in Western Mexico, Alejandra often can be spotted beneath a multicolored umbrella patiently hand-pressing beautifully textured blue corn tortillas following every order. Tortillas are then brought to the griddle — they’re best topped with squash blossoms, Oaxacan cheese and green salsa.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Find a crewneck sweater with a history at Sunday’s Best Vintage
Echo Park Thrift store
Though the cost of clothing seems to be going up at most thrift shops across Los Angeles, there are still deals to be had at Sunday’s Best Vintage. It’s not hard, within the shop’s vast footprint, to find a reasonably priced rarity fashionable enough to garner compliments, such as wide-leg denim Carhartts for $23 or a 1970s Woody Woodpecker crewneck sweater for $70 (alternatively, a splurge on a Marshall Mathers-era Eminem T-shirt, valued at $150, can be just as satisfying). The knowledgeable staff is at the ready to explain the significance of certain pieces, and the store’s Instagram page cheerfully elaborates the history of fashion through its own wares.
The neighborhood’s casual vibe is most evident, perhaps, in the vintage purveyor’s top draw: the search for Sunday, the resident cat who may be snoozing on the counter out in the open, hiding deep in the clothing racks or in a cubby labeled as her “office.” As the inspiration for the store name and logo, Sunday’s long-whiskered mug additionally adorns the shop’s tote bags, which are a common sight around Echo Park.
The neighborhood’s casual vibe is most evident, perhaps, in the vintage purveyor’s top draw: the search for Sunday, the resident cat who may be snoozing on the counter out in the open, hiding deep in the clothing racks or in a cubby labeled as her “office.” As the inspiration for the store name and logo, Sunday’s long-whiskered mug additionally adorns the shop’s tote bags, which are a common sight around Echo Park.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Lounge in a time capsule at Taix
Echo Park French Cuisine
It’s a pity how rare a restaurant like Taix is in Los Angeles. The mid-century French Revival-style building takes up a sizable plot of land, and the porte cochere extending past the entrance takes up just a bit more. Past the heavy wooden door and the multicolored stained glass, the hallways are laden with old paintings of France and even older photographs of the original Taix in Downtown Los Angeles (it moved to Echo Park in 1962), along with 90-year-old advertisements boasting chicken dinners for 60 cents “prepared by a competent French chef in a manner that will be enjoyed by the entire family.”
The restaurant has remained in the Taix family since the beginning, following their immigration from the “Hautes-Alpes” in southeastern France to Los Angeles in the 1870s. Though the menu has changed quite a bit in that time, the offerings are nevertheless transportative. The mussels in the moules mariniere luxuriate in a bath of butter, parsley, shallots and white wine that’s best savored with the slices of bread offered at the beginning of the meal. For an equally sumptuous entree, the roast chicken is served on a large white plate with the signature “Taix” along the rim, the logo nearly obscured by a copious serving of au jus that enriches the pomme frites stacked on the side.
The restaurant has remained in the Taix family since the beginning, following their immigration from the “Hautes-Alpes” in southeastern France to Los Angeles in the 1870s. Though the menu has changed quite a bit in that time, the offerings are nevertheless transportative. The mussels in the moules mariniere luxuriate in a bath of butter, parsley, shallots and white wine that’s best savored with the slices of bread offered at the beginning of the meal. For an equally sumptuous entree, the roast chicken is served on a large white plate with the signature “Taix” along the rim, the logo nearly obscured by a copious serving of au jus that enriches the pomme frites stacked on the side.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Browse tinned salmon with a fried fish sandwich in hand at Dada Echo Park
Echo Park Food & Beverage
Much like the irreverent art movement for which it is named, Dada Echo Park evades easy description. As five types of business in one, it may take several visits to get the full picture.
During the day, Dada [Coffee] shares a space with Dada [Market], an upscale grocery store plainly visible from the street through floor-to-ceiling glass beneath a jet-black midcentury façade. Given that laptops are not allowed inside (a refreshing rarity in an Echo Park cafe), customers browse the wide selection of tinned fish and imported pastas while sipping a Suntory Premium malt lager or a blueberry yuzu espresso tonic (advertised, artfully enough, with an artfully pixelated photo of Dodger pitcher Shohei Ohtani).
Before stepping inside, however, you may rightly be distracted by the offerings at Little Fish, a daytime-only, Michelin Guide-recognized lunch spot that maintains the same casual vibe of the hamburger joint it replaced. The picture-perfect fried fish sandwich is somehow more delectable than it looks, with the corners of an American cheese slice extending past the potato bun and lazily hanging over the edges of a beer-battered Pacific striped bass filet.
The offerings are relatively secretive after sunset. Dada [Restaurant] and Dada [Bar] are approached from the back alley past a door adorned with the letters “DADA” printed as small as possible. A spacious, all-white interior with a pyramidal skylight offers a floral gin and berry Collins that is refreshing with hamachi crudo, mussels and grilled branzino that carry the seafood theme into the night. If you’re more in the mood to burn calories than put them on, the rotating DJs play unpredictable music until 2 a.m.
During the day, Dada [Coffee] shares a space with Dada [Market], an upscale grocery store plainly visible from the street through floor-to-ceiling glass beneath a jet-black midcentury façade. Given that laptops are not allowed inside (a refreshing rarity in an Echo Park cafe), customers browse the wide selection of tinned fish and imported pastas while sipping a Suntory Premium malt lager or a blueberry yuzu espresso tonic (advertised, artfully enough, with an artfully pixelated photo of Dodger pitcher Shohei Ohtani).
Before stepping inside, however, you may rightly be distracted by the offerings at Little Fish, a daytime-only, Michelin Guide-recognized lunch spot that maintains the same casual vibe of the hamburger joint it replaced. The picture-perfect fried fish sandwich is somehow more delectable than it looks, with the corners of an American cheese slice extending past the potato bun and lazily hanging over the edges of a beer-battered Pacific striped bass filet.
The offerings are relatively secretive after sunset. Dada [Restaurant] and Dada [Bar] are approached from the back alley past a door adorned with the letters “DADA” printed as small as possible. A spacious, all-white interior with a pyramidal skylight offers a floral gin and berry Collins that is refreshing with hamachi crudo, mussels and grilled branzino that carry the seafood theme into the night. If you’re more in the mood to burn calories than put them on, the rotating DJs play unpredictable music until 2 a.m.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Savor a Mexican spin on a classic cocktail at Bar Flores
Echo Park Bar
Bar Flores is reminiscent of many types of retreat in a single setting. A seat at the street-facing countertop, at the top of the warm wooden steps lit with many small candles, gives the sensation of being in a treehouse with a cocktail menu; the hillside vista of century-old homes, shrouded in palm trees and eucalyptus, is doubly serene with a Flores michelada in hand. The wood and stucco interior, on a busy night, feels like a convivial house party. And the cozy back patio recalls the lively atmosphere of a Mexico City alleyway, complete with red brick flooring and mismatched hanging lights.
This is also where you’ll find Valendez Foods, a food counter developed by chef José Valenzuela offering traditional Mexican fare with subtle flourishes.
The espresso martini, a blend of tequila and Lolita Mexican coffee liqueur rounded out with Fernet-Branca and lemon oils, is a rich and flavorful pick-me-up if you’re planning for a long and energetic night. To cap off the end of a hot summer day, the rhubarb spritz is a refreshing, mildly bitter take on an Italian classic. But the tequila carrot, filled with passion fruit, ginger, turmeric and honey, is the way to go if you wish to follow along in the health drink craze currently washing over Eastside Los Angeles.
This is also where you’ll find Valendez Foods, a food counter developed by chef José Valenzuela offering traditional Mexican fare with subtle flourishes.
The espresso martini, a blend of tequila and Lolita Mexican coffee liqueur rounded out with Fernet-Branca and lemon oils, is a rich and flavorful pick-me-up if you’re planning for a long and energetic night. To cap off the end of a hot summer day, the rhubarb spritz is a refreshing, mildly bitter take on an Italian classic. But the tequila carrot, filled with passion fruit, ginger, turmeric and honey, is the way to go if you wish to follow along in the health drink craze currently washing over Eastside Los Angeles.
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(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Discover a lesser-known history of Echo Park at the Tom of Finland House
Echo Park Art Museum
Despite being a museum recognized by the city as a historic-cultural monument, the Tom of Finland House does not make its presence known. Hidden behind tall hedges on the steeply sloped Laveta Terrace far from the boulevard, it’s open only two days a week for small tours by appointment only. Touko Valio Laaksonen, also known as Tom of Finland, made a career of bypassing U.S. censorship codes to eventually become the most renowned artist of homoerotic imagery.
In the last decade of his life, the Finnish artist lived at this 1911 Craftsman home owned by Durk Dehner, who helped Laaksonen showcase his work across California during the AIDS epidemic. (The two founded the Tom of Finland Foundation, headquartered at the house, together in 1984.) As photos along the stairwell make clear, members of the local and national queer community (including John Waters, Mike Kelly and Bruce Vilanch) frequently could be spotted within the three-story home or its extensive hillside backyard shrouded in passion fruit trees and ad hoc furniture arrangements.
“Los Angeles is the queerest city in the world,” the guide tells us at the beginning of our two-hour tour, before relating tales about any detail that grabs the attention of visitors. The character of the century-old home is deepened by artistic embellishments beyond the displayed framed drawings by the artist, including Renaissance-esque paintings of nude men on the ceiling and hasty Sharpie drawings on the cabinets by contemporary artists the Haas Brothers.
If you’re lucky, the improvised tour will be interrupted by a visit from Dehner, whose art-filled bedroom (shared with his partner, S.R. Sharp) is part of the tour. Other bedrooms are occupied by artists in residence, who typically stay at the home for three months at a time to carry on the risque legacy of Tom of Finland.
In the last decade of his life, the Finnish artist lived at this 1911 Craftsman home owned by Durk Dehner, who helped Laaksonen showcase his work across California during the AIDS epidemic. (The two founded the Tom of Finland Foundation, headquartered at the house, together in 1984.) As photos along the stairwell make clear, members of the local and national queer community (including John Waters, Mike Kelly and Bruce Vilanch) frequently could be spotted within the three-story home or its extensive hillside backyard shrouded in passion fruit trees and ad hoc furniture arrangements.
“Los Angeles is the queerest city in the world,” the guide tells us at the beginning of our two-hour tour, before relating tales about any detail that grabs the attention of visitors. The character of the century-old home is deepened by artistic embellishments beyond the displayed framed drawings by the artist, including Renaissance-esque paintings of nude men on the ceiling and hasty Sharpie drawings on the cabinets by contemporary artists the Haas Brothers.
If you’re lucky, the improvised tour will be interrupted by a visit from Dehner, whose art-filled bedroom (shared with his partner, S.R. Sharp) is part of the tour. Other bedrooms are occupied by artists in residence, who typically stay at the home for three months at a time to carry on the risque legacy of Tom of Finland.
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(Andres Melo / For The Times)
Score a Henry Miller-signed first edition and a pastry at Stories Books & Cafe
Echo Park Bookstore
Seven mornings a week, storage carts loaded with bargain books on spirituality and the occult are placed beneath a swoopy drawing of a bull (the bookstore’s logo and mascot) above the entrance of Stories Books & Cafe. A glass display case just past the door features a slowly rotating selection of collectible books — including rare photography books and several signed first editions by Henry Miller — and other paper ephemera.
The stacks of (mostly) new books at the center of the space partially obscure the casual cafe in the back, where writers can be found typing away next to a plate they emptied hours ago. The inexpensive coffees and pastries may offset the cost of that ultra-rare copy of Ed Ruscha’s “Thirtyfour Parking Lots” (1974) locked up at the front. The shaded patio in the back is a restful place to wait out traffic and, several times a month, listen to book talks and group readings among local authors.
The stacks of (mostly) new books at the center of the space partially obscure the casual cafe in the back, where writers can be found typing away next to a plate they emptied hours ago. The inexpensive coffees and pastries may offset the cost of that ultra-rare copy of Ed Ruscha’s “Thirtyfour Parking Lots” (1974) locked up at the front. The shaded patio in the back is a restful place to wait out traffic and, several times a month, listen to book talks and group readings among local authors.
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