This Japanese arcade is located in Burbank. It has tons of arcade games, bowling, billiards, and karaoke!
A botanical garden in the Pasadena area
A shopping mall in Glendale - lots of good food and stores!
Our favorite coffee place in LA. We always keep a stock of beans to use for the smoothest batch of siphon coffee in the morning. Philz mostly does pour overs, but does have a few cold brew options as well. For our suggestion on blends - Our everyday cup is the dark roast Jacob's Wonderbar. For medium roasts, we like the Tesora and the Philtered Soul. There's quite a few locations throughout LA, including Glendale, Pasadena, and El Segundo.
This egg sandwich place is super popular in Downtown LA. Try this much less busy location in the Glendale Americana. Also, there's a Philz Coffee next to it.
A sizzling plate Japanese restaurant. As the name suggests, the food is pretty peppery and it all comes out on a ripping hot teppanyaki plate.
A Persian kabob place in Glendale. Very famous, very good. We'd suggest going in a group and ordering family style.
We're not sure exactly what cuisine these are, but the Perashki and Ponchik's here are some of the best. If you're from Seattle, it's easily better than Perashky Perashky. We like the potato or beef perashki and the Nutella ponchik.
This place is like Chipotle, but for spring rolls. Have fun building your own! One of our favorite places to get a healthy meal.
Featured in the New York Times, this shop is run by an Italian man in his late 80’s who wakes up early every morning to make fresh bread. He sells the best $6 Italian sandwiches, making it Clare and Jared’s favorite cheap lunch in Pasadena
Korean shaved ice, also known as bingsu. The large sizes can come out in hollowed out fruit! Our favorites include the Mango Melon, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Injeolmi.
Venturing more into Los Angeles, there are two Korean BBQ places that we've been frequenting. Before you ask, no these are not all you can eat, but the quality of the meats is a lot better. Wait times may be long, but both are in the middle of Korea Town. Ahgassi Gopchang has a nice coffee shop in the same plaza, while Quarters has a Starbucks and some interesting retailers next to it. There is also an Oakobing very close to these two for a dessert after.
There's plenty of good Japanese food in Little Tokyo, but this place has been our favorite. It is also not to be confused with Marugame Udon, which is a completely separate restaurant chain.
Need some late night tacos? Try either of these. El Chato is better overall, however the tacos are slightly smaller and slightly more expensive than other taco trucks. Beware that it is also cash only. Leo's has some very good Al Pastor. It always comes with a slice of pineapple. Leo's and El Chato are very close to each other if you're interested in both.