Los Angeles is celebrating TV the way it knows best: with bagels, martinis and a little merch-fueled chaos. To toast the premiere of I Love L.A. on HBO Max, a handful of beloved Eastside restaurants will serve limited-edition, show-inspired menu items from October 31 to November 2. Think comfort food, winking references and the kind of hyper-specific vibes that say “Yes, I do follow at least 10 comedians who moved here from Brooklyn.”
This one isn’t just a logo slapped on a napkin. Courage Bagels, Canyon Coffee, Capri Club, LaSorted’s and Lowboy are going all in with specials tied to star Rachel Sennott’s favorite orders, custom menus and signage, plus secret phrase-unlocked swag. If you sidle up to the counter and utter “sink or swim,” you could walk away with limited-edition hats, proving once again that self-conscious cool and carbs are the real pillars of L.A. culture.
The menu highlights are pure local catnip: Courage Bagels is serving the I Love Lox L.A. bagel stacked with smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill and capers; Canyon Coffee is pouring an I Love L.A. Flash Brew; LaSorted’s is tossing Spicy and Unique Wings in Calabrian heat; and both Capri Club and Lowboy are channeling peak Eastside chic with Vesper martinis. The result feels more curated field trip than promo gimmick, merging the city’s ever-present “might run into someone from a Hulu pilot” energy with the thrill of ordering something you can’t get next weekend.
The show at the center of it all follows Sennott as Maia, a hustling, chronically online talent manager trying to balance ambition, friendship and the sun-drenched weirdness of Los Angeles. Expect satire about influencer ecosystems, career anxiety disguised as confidence and friendships that double as business partnerships because… L.A. The central tension isn’t just whether Maia and her crew can make it here, but whether the city will chew them up before they can even land reservations at whatever the new hottest patio is this week.
Catch the series premiere Sunday, November 2, at 10:30pm on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. Until then, you’ve got three days to carb-load your way through Sennott’s favorite haunts. Bagel in one hand, Vesper in the other and the quiet satisfaction of knowing you earned that free hat the old-fashioned way: whispering a coded phrase at a cashier in Echo Park. L.A. really is the main character sometimes.