VICE Guide To Los Angeles
San Diego County
People who aren't familiar with San Diego County usually associate it with Sea World, the zoo, ASR, beaches, and Comic Con. But they mistakingly overlook the rich fucks in La Jolla, conservative old people, rednecks in the East County, and military...
The Cantinas That Fuel the Tijuana Sound Machine
Some of the best and most original music to come out of Mexico over the past ten years has been produced by the Nortec Collective in Tijuana. When they released the Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1 in 2001, they blew everybody’s minds with their...
Orange County
Everything you hear about Orange County is 100 percent true. It's a huge, homogenous area full of rich Republicans, girls from MTV's Laguna Beach, and dudes rocking Affliction, Ed Hardy, flames (yes, still), and spiked hair. Essentially, it's a...
Eating Downtown and in Mid-City
You got your crack alleys and tent cities, as well as wannabe artists in lofts and longtime Chinatown and Little Tokyo residents. It's supposedly getting cooler-but people have been saying that for years. Santee Alley is like NYC's Canal Street. There...
Westside Restaurants
Beverly Hills is Armenians with lots of plastic surgery driving Daddy's BMW or Mercedes. West LA is UCLA kids living off Daddy's money, frat boys, and sorority girls. Brentwood is very Nicole Brown Simpson-esque, while Santa Monica and Venice are full...
Eating in the Eastside
There's old money in Los Feliz, and art school kids and Hispanics everywhere else. Plus some industry people are in Glendale, since it's close to Burbank.
Eating in South Central
Whites are the minority here; it's mostly a black and Hispanic population, except USC-a lot of rich white kids there. Be careful which alley you accidentally drive down. There are lots of couches on front porches and bars on windows.
Eating in the Valley
It's porn central and Burbank's the movie-studio hub. There are definitely unsafe parts of the Valley, e.g., Van Nuys. I think Bob Hope called it "Cleveland with palm trees," which pretty much describes a lot of LA.
Eating in Hollywood
West Hollywood is still primarily boystown last time we checked, and rich. Hollywood proper is old Hasidic families in the Fairfax District who hate the youngsters who've moved in. Everyone hates the Hills-type kids and guys who wear Ed Hardy...
Traffic Tips for Tourists (and Transplants)
First and foremost, you must have a car in LA. If you visit, you must rent a car. Cabs are laughably expensive and no one wants to drive your sorry ass around everywhere. Walking is out of the question
Places to Go When You Want to Get All Historical
These places may or may not have good food. That's not the point, even though this is a guide to eating. The point is that they are super-historical and often have the waitstaff to match (as in the curmudgeonly 90-year-old "waitresses" at Canter's Deli...
Places to Go When Someone Else Is Paying
If you have an expense account or work in "The Industry" or are just an LA gold digger, then you've probably been to a lot of these places already. If not, here's a list of places to suggest to your boss on Administrative Assistant Appreciation Day...