Silver Lake was voted L.A.’s coolest neighborhood—but these five areas were right behind it

Los Feliz manages to balance its trendiness with approachability—which propelled it into the runner-up position in our voting results. Sidewalk seating at Little Dom’s has kept the street scene feeling alive long before the recent push toward outdoor dining, while the indescribable Soap Plant Wacko complex still keeps things eclectic.

What’s new

Highland Park fave Goldburger is now smashing patties on Vermont Avenue while the Cara Hotel set up a courtyard oasis just on the edge of the nabe. And come the end of the year, the century-old Vista Theatre will reopen under a new owner: Quentin Tarantino.

If you only do one thing…

Have a cocktail and some bakery snacks at Big Bar on the friendliest patio in town.

Sure, the always-awake Sunset Strip isn’t any sort of secret, but West Hollywood is one of the rare neighborhoods here where you can stumble from bar to restaurant to bar on foot. You’ll find some low-key gems tucked between tree-lined streets and Art Deco high-rises, if you know where to look, whether for rooftop movie screenings, food pop-ups on a speakeasy patio or a tour of a Modernist art co-op.

What’s new

A parade of swanky restaurant openings, including Soulmate, Merois and Ardor. Also, the fortitude to be the first city in the region to enact a strict proof of vaccination mandate.

If you only do one thing… 

See some of the consistently best stand-up lineups at the Comedy Store.

The pandemic may have thrown a speed bump in the way of Downtown L.A.’s cultural resurgence, but that absolutely hasn’t been the case in the Arts District. The increasingly chic warehouse district has welcomed major opening after major opening—alongside the return of the beloved Smorgasburg.

What’s new

Like we said, a ton of notable new restaurants and bars, including—deep breath—Mexico City-syle rooftop LA Cha Cha Chá, Chicago export Girl & the Goat, hard kombucha brewery Flying Embers, back-alley taqueria Ditroit, ramen and dumpling spot Afuri, breakfast burrito specialists Guerrilla Cafecito and new outposts of Father’s Office and Death & Co., both of which opened just before everything shut down.

If you only do one thing…

Mega art gallery Hauser & Wirth continues to put together fantastic exhibitions (and boast a beautiful courtyard restaurant, Manuela).

We were surprised to see the San Gabriel Valley city this high up in the results. Pleasant and pretty? Absolutely. But cool? Well, actually, after the past year or so, you could make a pretty compelling argument between the rise of all things drive-in at the Rose Bowl and an energized sidewalk dining scene (which, yes, included a short period of allowing outdoor dining when the rest of the county banned it).

What’s new

Though we love Pasadena’s local eateries, there were few that we’d consider destination-worthy—which made the addition of two such places, Saso and Agnes, that much more notable, alongside Union spinoff U Street Pizza and a new HomeState location. 

If you only do one thing…

It’s technically just outside the border in San Marino, but an afternoon at the Huntington Library is a must, especially to see its exquisitely expanded Chinese gardens and a new Kehinde Wiley commission.

Venice has long staked its claim as L.A.’s sort-of-grimy but beautiful bohemian enclave. For better or worse, that’s still the case, though the beachfront neighborhood continues to shed a bit of its New Age-y vibe for a more farm-to-table one.

What’s new

We’ve seen a recent rise in plant-filled patios and plant-based menus—and sometimes a little bit of both. See: colorful outdoor Mexican cantina Nueva, palm-frond–filled vegan spot De Buena Planta and sort-of-tiki bar Belles Beach House.

If you only do one thing…

Stroll along the waterfront walkways and footbridges of the Venice Canals.