Our favorite half-century–old L.A. venues still going strong

Stepping into Tiki-Ti is like traveling back to 1961, when the pint-size tiki bar first unleashed its heavy pours onto Sunset. Not much has changed: Knick-knacks sit everywhere, it’s still cash only, and regulars’ names from the past 30 years proudly hang on the walls.

Not only a world-class art museum, LACMA has long been one of our city’s most iconic backdrops (we’re looking at you, Urban Light), but the O.G. LACMA of 1965 is nearly unrecognizable now. In another 50-odd years, thanks to a soon-to-commence redesign, the museum’s campus will have shifted again—and we can’t wait to snap the results.

Midcentury elegance abounds in the Music Center’s first theater. Maybe it’s the chandeliers, which each feature 24,000 hand-polished crystals, or that mirrored maze of stairways, but we almost forget that we’re here for the opera and not the building itself.

The griddled burgers taste great anywhere you sit, but we’re partial to the counter. That’s where this 1963 Pasadena staple sports a retro pie case, wooden swivel chairs and a view of the grill. Food trends come and go, but Pie ’n Burger’s recipes, nostalgia and decor are forever.

It’s no longer the swingin’ ’60s affair that it once was—RIP that glass cage above the stage—but the Whisky a Go Go has become so much more through the years. Synonymous with Sunset Strip’s gritty nightlife scene, this venue helped to launch the careers of the Doors, No Doubt and other heavy hitters.

Sure, this Disneyland attraction has its own movie franchise, but board one of its boats and you’ll see why we’ll take the ride over the blockbusters any day. Even with a few welcome tweaks, like replacing the bride auction with the ride’s first female pirate, much remains of the charm and detail that Walt Disney himself originally instilled.