Time Out Los Angeles news

When it comes to relaunching the Jurassic Park raft ride, Universal Studios has seemingly spared no expense. The theme park closed the iconic splashdown in August to make room for a new Jurassic World-themed revamp, and it doesn’t stop there. This morning the park announced some liquid news that gives even the 84-foot waterfall drop a run for its money: Just in time for the ride’s summer relaunch, Universal Studios Hollywood is unveiling an all-new tiki bar—and we refuse to believe that you aren’t familiar with the concept of attraction to fun drinks. View this post on Instagram Jurassic World The Ride Update: workers were taste testing the drinks at Isla Nu-Bar. Drink come in souvenir Tiki cups and range from $14-19. The drinks are tropical themed and include rum, whiskey, and tequila drinks. #islanubar #jurassicworldtheride #jurassicworld #universalstudios A post shared by M.L.E.’s Adventures (@mleadventures) on Jun 15, 2019 at 1:10pm PDT Throw on your best Nedry-style Hawaiian shirt because Isla Nu-bar is already in soft-open mode, serving tropical vibes, cocktails and collectible tiki mugs from a thatched-roof, open-air setting next to the ride’s entrance. The name of the walk-up bar is, of course, a spin on Isla Nublar, the franchise’s fictional “cloud island,” but instead of dinos amok and Bryce Dallas Howard, you’ll find drinks topped with pineapple leaves and edible orchids. Expect blended concocti

This isn't to say that Pizzana's nouveau-Neapolitan pies weren't worth the trek to Brentwood, but this is to say that some of L.A.'s best pizzas are now available in West Hollywood—a cause for celebration, if you ask us.  The critical darling and recent Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant opened today at 11am serving chef Daniele Uditi's signature blistered-crust, seasonal-produce–topped pizzas, which all get made with his family's dough starter transported from Italy. Yes, that beloved cacio e pepe pizza is on the new menu, and so is the squash blossom and burrata pie—one of our favorite bites of the year—but the new location has much more up its sleeves.  We've been looking forward to the second Pizzana since the announcement last summer, but had we known it would serve New York-style slices and offer late-night service, we would've been counting down the days. The eastward outpost is brought to us by the OG team of Uditi, partners Candace and Charles Nelson (of Sprinkles Cupcakes fame), and partners Caroline and Chris O’Donnell (the latter of Batman & Robin fame). They've brought all of the Brentwood favorites, including the mountains of salads and the sides like the charred artichoke hearts, as well as a separate menu of specials—most notably the Salmone, a smoked-salmon pizza with ricotta crema and bottarga, an ode to new neighbor Spago's iconic dish. Photograph: Courtesy Pizzana/Dane Deaner Keeping the Salmone company on that opening specials list are the new Sud

For those who grew up to the not-so-dulcet tones of All That's "Welcome to Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your orrrrrder?"—your '90s food dreams become reality next month. Nickelodeon's cult-classic sketch-comedy series returns this summer, and to celebrate, the network is launching a Good Burger pop-up where you can buy real Good Burgers, Good Shakes and Good Chunks (no word yet on the Good Weenies or the Good Chickwich) from the fictional fast-food burger shack. And please, no swimming in the shake machine. The "Good Burger" sketch—originally starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell—was so popular it got its own spinoff movie, and on July 10, it's getting its own restaurant for an indefinite turn at the West Hollywood Gateway shopping center, the former home of the insanely popular Saved by the Bell-inspired Saved by the Max pop-up restaurant. Fitting, as the same team is behind both nostalgia-fueled events. Tickets run $30 and include a main course, one side and a commemorative gift item, and once you snag your tix—on sale Monday, June 17—and make your way into that hallowed burger hall, you'll be able to order fast food ripped straight from the "Good Burger" menu, including items topped with Ed's secret-recipe special sauce. The pop-up also promises games, occasional cast appearances, merch and the kind of hokey, zany service mishaps you remember from the sketch; hopefully you won't be the customer who gets a bun with no meat. ("But you said you wan

LA Pride weekend may be over but Pride month is still going strong (and always strong in our hearts forever, far beyond that June 30 end date). But as celebratory, inclusive, accepting and perfect as the entire month of June may be, Pride month is also a time for brands to change their social-media avatars to something rainbow, throw up a "$3 shots!" sign and cash in on the good will and LGBTQ market. Fortunately, a number of L.A. restaurants, bars, companies and other orgs are offering specials throughout June that not only celebrate Pride, but also benefit it. Here's a quick guide to some of the city's best specials whose proceeds help queer-centric nonprofits and other organizations in Los Angeles and around the country.  Photograph: Courtesy Bibo Ergo Sum Enamel pins at Bibo Ergo Sum Enamel pins are in. Great cocktails are in. Pride is in, and forever. Combine all of these easily at Bibo Ergo Sum, one of our favorite bars in town, which recently launched PRIDE pins that feature the bar's logo done all up in rainbow. These babies only cost $8 apiece, and they'll be available well beyond the end of June, all through the summer. The best part? They benefit the Los Angeles LGBT Center, an organization that's been providing the L.A.-area LGBTQ community with housing, health courses, cultural events, advocacy and education for more than 50 years. Photograph: Courtesy Dosist Cannabis pens by Dosist Get high, save lives? We're all about Dosist's contribution: OK, s

Can we pause for a moment and talk about how it feels like we’re in the far-flung future now that Coachella 2020—2020!—is just on the horizon? With that out of the way, we’ll get right to it: Coachella’s 2020 dates have just been announced, and your first crack at tickets starts on Friday. Presale for Coachella 2020 begins on Friday, June 14 at 11am. The music festival will once again take over two weekends—this time April 10–12 and April 17–19—with identical lineups during each. If you’re going to plunk down the cash, keep in mind that presale is your only chance to take advantage of the Coachella payment plan, which allows you to split up the cost between seven monthly payments—which this year includes a lower-priced $25 installment for the first month. Speaking of ticket prices, we had to rub our eyes and triple check our math: they’ve actually gone down this year. (UPDATE: It appears that in previous years, fees were included in the pricing, whereas this year they’re not. So total prices may actually be the same.) It’s unclear whether prices will increase during the general sale period in the winter (they have in previous years, but last year they didn’t), but for now, a general admission ticket is actually $30 cheaper than last year. Here’s a rundown of the costs, before fees (you can find more info about Lake Eldorado’s luxe camping experiences on the Coachella website): GA festival pass: $399 GA festival pass with shuttle pass: $474 VIP festival pass: $929 VIP p

For all its bars, breweries, apartments and galleries, the Arts District can be a tough neighborhood for finding quality late-night food. Thankfully, that gets a little easier starting this week, because unconventional bao shop Bao Hiroo is on the scene and it’s serving massive sandwiches, pillowy bao and fun, house-bottled cocktails until 2am. It’s the latest from chef Hiroo Nagahara—formerly of the Chairman food truck in San Francisco and Charlie Trotter’s Bar Charlie in Vegas—and while he’s spent plenty of time in fine dining kitchens, Nagahara’s fist L.A. restaurant is all about comfort. Using his mother’s bao recipe, he’s energizing a corner of the Garey Building by filling the house-made steamed dough with the likes of katsu chicken with pickles, shiso aioli and cilantro; brisket (or Impossible vegan “beef”) with a coffee BBQ sauce, fennel kimchi and Fuji apple; and char siu lamb shoulder with mint, almonds and mustard greens. And if you think that sounds wild, just wait until you try the fried bao. Photograph: Courtesy Bao Hiroo Nagahara’s more straightforward steamed bao gets formed into spheres and packed with a more traditional Japanese curry, but there’s also a shrimp creole variation that oozes cheddar when cracked open. Even more unusual are the gigantic sandwiches with buns made of—you guessed it—bao, stacked with melty cheese, pork belly and miso glaze, or ground pork and Chinese chives.  The menu is limited but lively, especially when it comes to drink

L.A. is full of phenomenal dim sum, and as of this week, it’s also full of Michelin-starred restaurants—but for those two worlds to collide, you’ll have to drive to Irvine. For a time, Tim Ho Wan was Michelin’s cheapest starred restaurant in the world, which in and of itself was enough to draw thousands of diners to its Hong Kong locations throughout the last decade. The high-quality dim sum was already a hit with overseas locals, and it’s a hit with ours, too, now that California’s just landed its first outpost—just on the other side of the Orange County border. With roughly 50 locations dotting the globe, Tim Ho Wan is one of the world’s most famous dim-sum chains, esteemed for its pork buns and infamous for its hours-long waits to get seated. (Sure, L.A. is already home to some of the best dim sum in the country, but you want to see what all the fuss is about, don’t you?)  California’s location is the fifth in the country, joining outposts in Waikiki, Las Vegas and two in New York City. Ours, tucked into the Diamond Jamboree Shopping Center in Irvine, might feel a little late to the party, but it’s got a few unique traits that made it all feel worth the wait. The Irvine space is the first U.S. Tim Ho Wan to feature a takeout window (a lifesaver when you don’t want to hang out for three hours), and features three California-only items: shrimp toast; an avocado-and-shrimp roll; and a sweet tapioca sago that’s made with California-grown grapes, when in season.  The menu is

  Outside the Black Cat on February 11, 1967 Photograph: Courtesy ONE Archives at the USC Libraries     On New Year’s Eve in 1966, undercover officers at the Black Cat Tavern in Silver Lake began to handcuff and beat the patrons and staff as everyone was exchanging celebratory midnight kisses. An estimated 14 people were arrested, many charged with lewd conduct and forced to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. Other Silver Lake gay bars, including New Faces, a few doors down, were targeted the same evening. Two years before the Stonewall uprising, more than 200 people came together outside the Black Cat for one of the earliest U.S. LGBTQ-rights demonstrations. Picketers gathered on February 11, 1967, to peacefully protest the police raids that had been conducted weeks before. Alexei Romanoff, a former owner of New Faces, describes the Black Cat demonstration as a turning point. During a time in which homosexuality was illegal in most states, LGBTQ people developed elaborate codes and survival strategies to avoid arrest. But that February night, Romanoff says, the community stood up and fought back. Now 82, he is the last surviving organizer of Personal Rights in Defense and Education (P.R.I.D.E.), one of the groups that helped stage the 1967 stand. We traveled back to that monumental moment with Romanoff.   Romanoff in 1968 Photograph: Courtesy Alexei Romanoff     How were the protests organized? We didn’t have computers, we didn’t have

These out Angelenos share where they first discovered community within the city. Gaby Dunn, financial advisor and comedian   Photograph: Courtesy Robyn Van Swank I was lucky to find community initially through—shock of all shocks—entertainment. I made it a point to go to the queer comedy shows and queer networking events. That’s how I found Autostraddle, a gay lifestyle website, and its employees. I never got into the WeHo scene, and instead I cocooned myself in a community of queer and trans women on the Eastside. Then, last summer, I joined a Varsity Gay League kickball team and met a bunch of gay men who I’d almost forgotten existed. We were not a very good team so it became more about laughing on the sidelines and talking about music or the differences between dating apps. Some of these men are now among my closest friends. Although we’re similar, their experiences are also different and something I needed to be around. Especially in these scary political times, it’s more important than ever that all facets of the LGBTQ community have each other’s backs, hang out, and validate each other. It’s easy in L.A. to isolate to just “your” group, even within such a marginalized community, so the best part for me has been to get out of my bubble, kick a ball, and embrace and celebrate the entire LGBTQ spectrum. Ralph Bruneau, marriage and family therapist   Photograph: Courtesy John Fry/Tank’s Takes Eagle L.A. is home to me. The Pulse massacre was so devastating b

Last year’s LA Pride Festival sold out for the first time in its 48-year history, with thousands of rainbow-laden attendees flooding Santa Monica Boulevard. If we’re to glean anything from that record-breaking celebration, it’s to come prepared. What’s the deal? Are you ready to Pride, L.A.? The 2019 LA Pride Festival takes place at West Hollywood Park on June 8 (noon–1am) and 9 (noon–11pm), bookended by Friday’s new opening ceremony (8–11pm) and Sunday’s prized LA Pride Parade (11am–2pm). Activations like the Trans Galeria (a photo-op installation), Erotic City (a leather and S&M workshop) and Sizzle (an alcohol- and substance-free carnival) return to the festivities this year, peppered between the three concert stages. Once a humble street fair, LA Pride has evolved into one of the biggest events of its kind in the country, with increasingly star-studded musical acts. At this year’s fest, soulful pop star Meghan Trainor headlines on Saturday, with electro-pop trio Years & Years on Sunday. CupcakKe, Kodie Shane, Ashanti, Pabllo Vittar, Amara La Negra, Greyson Chance and DeJ Loaf round out the lineup of LGBTQ and allied performers. Though the parade is gratis to watch, the ticketed festival will cost you: $30 for a day (VIP $250) or $50 for the weekend (VIP $450). Want to join in on the fun for free? Sign up for a four-hour volunteer shift and you’ll receive a complimentary single-day ticket. What’s new in 2019? Pride revelers will get more costless access than ever, s