EightyTwo
Photograph: Jakob N. LaymanEightyTwo
Photograph: Jakob N. Layman

The 10 best ways to make friends in L.A. as an adult

Looking to make friends? Here's how to meet new people in L.A., from food classes to sports leagues to volunteer opportunities.

Michael Juliano
Advertising

Ask an outsider to paint a picture of an average Angeleno and they’d conjure up a portrait of Hollywood obsessives trapped inside of automobile bubbles. The reality is that Angelenos are mostly warmer than that, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to figure out how to meet new people. This oversized city can often feel isolating, especically when you first move to L.A.. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Plenty of people will tell you to just “put yourself out there” but what does that even mean? We’re here to instead offer some specific ideas to make friends in L.A.—and very few of them revolve around approaching strangers at a bar or bugging people at the gym.

Ways to make friends in L.A.

Advertising

As we mentioned up top, bars aren’t always conducive to making new friends, especially if you’re solo. But we’d make an exception for arcade bars. If you’re a product of the ’70s or ’80s in particular, you’re not the only one pining for those glory days of pinball and Street Fighter tournaments; at these spots, you’re sure to find fellow old-school video game enthusiasts looking to get their buzz on and tackle The Simpsons with a partner.

Make friends on two wheels with a group ride

Make like Freddie Mercury and ride your bicycle where you’d like. Meetup has lots of entries for L.A.-area bicycling meetups, with groups for two-wheeling enthusiasts from the Valley to the South Bay.

Advertising
  • Things to do

We Angelenos have lots of reasons to be thankful for living here, but we also have a responsibility to take care of our city—its people, animals, trees, beaches and more. Give back and meet other empathetic, like-minded Angelenos along the way, whether you have time for a one-off cleanup or a regular commitment.

  • Things to do
  • Classes and workshops

Everyone loves bread (sorry, celiacs) and cheese (sorry, vegans and lactose intolerants), so master both with a cooking class. You won’t be the only one struggling to slice and dice your way through the class, so seize on that vulnerability to get some help from your classmates. Even if you don’t manage to make friends at a class, your cooking skills will certainly come in helpful when it comes to maintaining friendships via a bit of culinary bribery.

Advertising

Wait in line at a super hyped restaurant

If you head to Courage Bagels or Howlin’ Ray’s, there’s one thing for certain that awaits you there (other than delicious carbs, of course): a very, very long line. Take your head out of your phone for the hour that you’re standing there and try to strike up a convo with the person next to you in line who’s just as equally bored.

Take an improv class

Learning the art of “yes, and…” is just as useful for conversational skills as it is for improvisational comedy. No matter where you take classes—the Groundlings and UCB are two go-tos—you’re bound to find fellow attention-starved students (we kid, of course). Just remember not to go overboard when it comes to inviting people to see you perform.

Advertising
  • Things to do

We know this might sound a little close to the not-always-helpful advice to just “put yourself out there,” but, well, just get out of the house and go to some things. L.A. is bursting with worthwhile concerts, exhibitions and fests practically every night of the week—start going to a few and you’re bound to bump into some interesting people. Don’t expect instant connections at all or many of them, but worst case you’ve at least spent an afternoon or evening out doing something fun.

Recommended
    You may also like
    You may also like
    Advertising