The 20 best things in L.A. under $20

All of the fun that the 101 and 405 suck out of your commute must end up here at this kitsch minigolf course and arcade next to the freeway. Putt-putt is surprisingly scarce in L.A., but this ivy-covered castle landmark makes up for it with three 18-hole minigolf courses. Moreover, the prices are an absolute steal: $6.50 will get you on the tee, and it’s only another $3 to play again.

If time is money, then the most budget-friendly meal at Grand Central Market is whichever vendor in the Downtown L.A. food hall has the shortest line. But if money is, you know, money, then we’ve cracked the perfect under-$20 combo: Two pupusas from Sarita’s Pupuseria ($4.50–$4.75 each) and a fresh fruit doughnut at the Donut Man ($6).

Want to admire L.A.’s urban architectural heritage at a walking pace? Let the Los Angeles Conservancy be your guide. We’re particular fans of its two-and-a-half-hour Art Deco tour, a $15 guided walk through Downtown L.A. that covers about 10 remarkable Art Deco buildings.

Owned and programmed by Quentin Tarantino, this single-screen, celluloid-loving revival house is one of our favorites for so many reasons. Among them: the $12 double features, which regularly pair classic crime flicks, Golden Age comedies and grindhouse discoveries. Don’t pass up the $10 Friday night screenings either: a midnight Tarantino movie, pulled from his personal 35mm archive.

For only a Hamilton, you take unlimited trips to the edges of the county on a Saturday or Sunday with Metrolink’s $10 Weekend Day Pass. It’s an absolutel steal for a day trip to a spot like San Juan Capistrano or Oceanside—with free transfers to and from Metro and most local bus systems, too. Just pay attention to the schedule since service is infrequent and wraps up around rush hour.

At Shin-Sen-Gumi, the Hakata ramen starts at $10.50 and already includes the best accoutrements: chashu, green onions, sesame and red ginger in a rich pork broth. It’s a meal in itself as is, but its reasonable starting price means you can keep piling on the add-ons and still keep things under $20. We suggest the soft flavored egg ($2.25), garlic chips ($1.50) and chashu ($3.25).

In general, if you want to rent a bike to ride along the Strand, you’re looking at between $10 and $15 an hour, plus a similar rate for additional time. We think the Bike Center in Santa Monica offers one of the best coastal deals, at $12.50 for the first hour or $20 for two. Alternatively, opt for a Metro Bike Share day pass if you want to cruise through Venice and along Ballona Creek; there’s a flat $5 fee for 24 hours of access, but that’ll get you free rides up to a half hour, with a $1.75 charge per 30 minutes beyond that (and a handful of docks only blocks from the beach).

Alternatively, for an L.A. River ride head to Spoke Bicycle Cafe in Frogtown and you can grab a bike for an hour for $15, with enough room in your budget left for a cup of coffee.

Like the name says: This $15 platter is only available on Wednesdays from the Park’s Finest, a Historic Filipinotown restaurant serving up Southern barbecue with plenty of Filipino flavor. Each plate includes portions of coconut beef, a medley of hot links, pulled pork, candy-coated chicken, vegetables and rice, plus a hefty piece of the restaurant’s must-order cornbread bibingka.

Walk around the leafy grounds of this suburban Sylmar wildlife sanctuary to see everything from monkeys to foxes to Zeus, the starry-eyed blind owl in the gift shop. You can also book one-on-one encounters with residents like sloths and porcupines for an extra charge. It’s a flat fee for as many as five people, so if you bring along four friends, you can all pick up an admission ticket and pet an armadillo for $20 each.

Pinball and California beer and wine collide at this easygoing Eagle Rock dive bar. Hang out on the patio with a locally-brewed beer for around $7 and a plump hot dog for $5, then head inside to tackle an assortment of classic pinball machines for 50 cents per game (there’s a change machine but it only takes small bills).

Slurp your way through a creamy coconut curry soup with flat, chewy egg noodles at this Thai Town standout. At only $9.99, the chicken-based dish still leaves some extra room in our budget, which you should fill with a $4 Thai iced tea or two.

Yes, these two excellent museums are technically free, but parking at them most definitely isn’t. It’ll cost you $20 to park at the Getty Center, the hilltop complex of pavilions that houses ornate French furniture and recognizable Impressionist pieces, as well as the Getty Villa, a coastal mansion filled with antiquities. But if you don’t mind driving between both of them in the same day (except for Monday and Tuesday, when one of them is closed), you can pay once and park twice (just ask for a coupon at the information desk of the first museum you visit).

There are flea markets, and then there’s the Rose Bowl Flea Market. Held the second Sunday of each month, the staggeringly colossal market loops around the Pasadena stadium, with rows and rows of secondhand finds that spill into the adjacent parking lots. Serious thrifters pay double for early entry, but a standard $10 admission ticket (cash only) is worth it for the window shopping alone—and keeps a little extra room in your budget for some low-cost finds.

A former reservoir turned public recreation area, Echo Park’s manmade lake boasts skyline views and summertime lotus blooms. You can push your way through the lake in a swan boat for $11 per person per hour (you’ll have to go splitsies to stay within our $20 target). Reserve a time after 5pm and the boats will all be illuminated. 

If there’s a 20th-century local pop culture curiosity that’s vanished from L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, there’s a good chance some remaining shred of it has found a second life at this Lake Balboa museum. A pair of spacious hangars at the Van Nuys Airport is stuffed with cars, bikes, celebrity memorabilia and neon signs from defunct businesses. Book a visit, available on weekends for $15, and you can tap away on old-school arcade cabinets and pinball machines set to free play.

This hillside botanical garden in La Cañada Flintridge harbors a year-round collection of native flora. No matter when you pick up your $15 admission ticket, you’re sure to see something in bloom, whether one of the hundreds of varieties of camellias in the winter or tulips and cherry blossoms in the spring.

This graceful Pasadena house, originally built for one of the heirs of the Procter & Gamble fortune, remains one of the best examples of Greene and Greene’s Craftsman designs. For less than $20, you can choose from a few tours to admire its dark hues and handmade details: an hour-long interior tour (on hold until March 2022), a guided stroll through the gardens and terraces, and a docent-led walking tour of the Craftsman-rich neighborhood.

The LA Phil’s summertime home fetches upwards of $100 for box seats. But the most coveted spot at the Bowl only costs a buck: A limited number of bench seats are available for select classical performances for only $1. Pair that with the $7 park and ride shuttle and you’ll have plenty of leftover cash for a supermarket run before you head to the BYO snacks and booze venue.

See L.A. as it looked over a century ago with a walk around Heritage Square, a collection of beautiful salvaged and restored Victorian-era houses from L.A.’s past. A $10 ticket will get you onto the charming grounds—a perfect setting for a weekend picnic—while an extra $6 will secure a tour of a few of the homes’ interiors.

With huge portions and a flavorful blend of spices, meat and basmati rice, this family-run Pakistani eatery’s fiery chicken biryani is one of the absolute best cheap eats in L.A. One $13 order from the Hawthorne restaurant can easily feed two or three people, and comes peppered with whole spices and bone-in pieces of chicken.