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David Javerbaum

David Javerbaum

Articles (404)

The best dine-in movie theater options in Los Angeles

The best dine-in movie theater options in Los Angeles

Movie theater snacks are great, but being able to order a full meal (plus alcohol!) certainly sweetens the deal. The dine-in movie theater concept has become the crème de la crème of movie-watching experiences, with servers at your beck and call so you don’t have to miss a scene. (The cushy reclining seats don’t hurt either.) As the film capital of the world, Los Angeles isn’t hurting for places to catch a movie—there are plenty of traditional theaters and outdoor movie options—but for a premium experience, dine-in movie theaters are the way to go. Make no mistake: This will be a spendy night out, with all of the picks on this listing starting around $20 for a ticket—and that’s, of course, before you add in dinner, drinks and tip.  You get what you pay for, though. Dine-in theaters tend to be tidier (no more sticky floors!), and there are fewer people crammed into the auditorium and roaming the aisles (aside from your sever, of course). Don’t fret about missing your favorite movie theater snacks like Milk Duds, Twizzlers and overly buttery popcorn—those are all still available. The hard part will be trying to stay awake in the darkness of the theater, with a full belly, while fully reclined to a prone position. Luckily an action-packed thriller or endearing romantic comedy on the big screen will help keep you engaged.  Next time you’re planning dinner out, enjoy it with a blockbuster film at one of L.A.’s best dine-in theater spots.

Things to do in L.A. this weekend

Things to do in L.A. this weekend

We don’t know about you, but our mind is always focused on the weekend. It can never come soon enough—which is why we’re already thinking about what new restaurants we want to try or where we can drive for the day. Whether you’re looking to scope out the latest museum exhibitions or watch a movie outdoors, you’ll find plenty of things to do in L.A. this weekend. We curate an L.A. weekend itinerary of the city’s best concerts, culture and cuisine, every week, just for you.

The best beaches in Los Angeles

The best beaches in Los Angeles

With 70-degree-plus days nearly year-round, Angelenos are spoiled with things to do outside. Whether it’s January or July, L.A.’s best hikes (including hikes with waterfalls) are rarely off the table—and the same can even be said for beaches, too. Now, you might not exactly want to actually go in the water (even in late summer the ocean temperature barely hits 70), but you’ll certainly want to be by the water. And with miles of picturesque coastline from Malibu to the South Bay, the best beaches in Los Angeles are aplenty for outdoor enthusiasts, surfers, families, sun worshippers and beach bunnies (and at a couple of dog beaches, for pups). If you’re new to L.A., there are a few oceanfront weather basics you should know: On hot days, the beach is typically 10 degrees cooler than central parts of L.A. and 20 degrees cooler than the Valley. (The exception: Long Beach tends to be in lockstep with L.A. temps.) Sometimes—particularly toward the beginning of summer—you might have clear blue skies inland but the beach is all fogged in; that marine layer tends to burn off in the afternoon, but sometimes it sticks around all day. From Venice and Santa Monica to Manhattan Beach and Playa Vista, here are the best beaches in L.A. to sunbathe, surf, and play. RECOMMENDED: See the best things to do in Los Angeles

Summer concerts in L.A.

Summer concerts in L.A.

Get out your calendars: Your guide to the best summer concerts of 2023 has arrived. Here, our picks for the best warm-weather gigs, including summer concert series, free shows, summer music festivals and more. Make sure to check out our monthly concert calendars, too, for shows in outdoor venues, clubs and theaters. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to things to do in the summer in Los Angeles

The 48 best things to do in Los Angeles

The 48 best things to do in Los Angeles

Looking for the best things to do in Los Angeles? We have you covered with the very best that L.A. has to offer. Whether you’re a culture vulture, outdoorsy type or simply a lover of our fine city, there’s more than enough here to keep you busy. Even lifelong Angelenos will find something new to add to their to-do list, between the city’s landmark attractions that are still accessible, an ever-changing inventory of the best restaurants in Los Angeles, essential L.A. museums and even some off-the-beaten path secrets. How many of the best things to do in Los Angeles will you try? June 2023: With summer properly here—June Gloom aside—we’ve refreshed our music festival and outdoor movie picks, and added some new seasonal series and free outdoor concerts. Plus, we’ve included some of L.A.’s largest Pride celebrations. You can also find out more about how Time Out selects the very best things to do all over the world, or take a look at our list of the 50 best things to do in the world right now. 

May 2024 events calendar for Los Angeles

May 2024 events calendar for Los Angeles

You can almost hear the antsy teenagers tapping their toes as the school year wraps up. That’s right, May is the last month to enjoy your favorite L.A. attractions before summer vacation (and crowds) arrives—parents, time to start brushing up on some kids activities. So make the most of that sweet, pre-summer stretch between Cinco de Mayo and Memorial Day with our May events calendar. RECOMMENDED: Full events calendar for 2024

The best concerts in L.A. this May

The best concerts in L.A. this May

As May arrives in Los Angeles, so too does summer and a season of outdoor concerts. Whether you’re looking for local bands or arena-caliber acts, these are the best concerts in L.A. this May. RECOMMENDED: See more upcoming concerts in L.A.

The best things to do in Los Angeles this week

The best things to do in Los Angeles this week

If we could write the rules of living in Los Angeles this would be our No. 1, always at the top of our list: When you live in this city, there’s no excuse for boredom just because it’s a weeknight. There are hundreds of things to do in Los Angeles each week, whether you hit the beach at sunset or go for a morning bike ride, or catch a concert or a comedy show—and that’s really only scratching the surface. Well, we don’t make the rules, but we will provide you with plenty of ideas for your next free weeknight right here. Now go out (or, in a few cases, stay in) and tackle these things to do in L.A. this week.

The best TV shows of 2023 (so far) you need to stream

The best TV shows of 2023 (so far) you need to stream

Do our sofas need to see more of us? Probably not after the past few years, but such is the calibre of small-screen (and let’s face it, iPhone) entertainment these days, they’ll just need to lump it. Because the so-called golden age of television and streaming continues to produce nuggets with indecent and almost impossible-to-keep-up-with regularity, bingeing options are almost limitless. Some older viewers may even find themselves pining for the days where the remote control was a passport to three or max, four, channels, and it all felt manageable.   The tyranny of choice can be overwhelming, so to help, we’re narrowing things down... a long way down. We’re ranking the must-see series of the year to date to pare things down to telly’s must-watch elite.  And there’s loads of potential bingeable fare ahead too, with another season of Netflix’s warm and fuzzy Heartstopper and Hulu’s massively ace The Bear, a long-awaited return for Charlie Brooker’s bleakly brilliant dystopian visions in Black Mirror season 6, more regal shenanigans with The Crown, the thrilling climax of Stranger Things and an emotional finale for Henry Cavill in The Witcher. Keep an eye out for more hits to come, in other words. They’ll all be here. RECOMMENDED: 🔥 The best movies of 2023 (so far).🎞️ The best movies to catch at the cinema this month. 📺 From House of Cards to Beef: the greatest Netflix originals,

The best things to do in Palm Springs

The best things to do in Palm Springs

If you’ve got a trip planned to Palm Springs, we can guess which activities might sit at the top of your list. Namely soaking up lots of sea and sun, and lounging around to your heart’s content. Well there’s a hell of a lot of that going on, that’s for sure. But Palm Springs is also a city that is buzzing with culture, just waiting to be explored.  Keen hikers will find ample opportunity to get up into the mountains, and there’s plenty of hidden botanical gardens and meadows to discover on a sunny day. Palm Springs is also home to a number of great museums, and yes, huge, 100-ton Brontosaurus and T. Rex sculptures too. Here are the best things to do in Palm Springs right now.  RECOMMENDED:🍽️ The best restaurants in Palm Springs🏨 The best hotels in Palm Springs🏘️ The best Airbnbs in Palm Springs🌴 The ultimate guide to California

Jyan Isaac Horwitz is rising up in the L.A. food scene

Jyan Isaac Horwitz is rising up in the L.A. food scene

Jyan Isaac Horwitz had his paperwork all ready to move to Germany. ​​After baking at popular Venice Beach spot Gjusta for a few years, the then-19-year-old eyed the border town of Freiburg im Breisgau to learn underneath one of his favorite bakers. He even went out there and interned for a few days to make sure it was the right fit—in February of 2020. You can guess what happened next. Like the rest of the world, Horwitz turned to baking bread at home instead. But unlike most of us, he’d already been doing so since he was 13, when a visit to Tartine in San Francisco sparked his interest in sourdough starters. “I was very intrigued because it’s alive, you know? So I wanted to learn how to make one,” he says of his initial after-school starter experiments. His naturally-fermented sourdough was a pandemic hit among friends and neighbors, and as Instagram orders started flooding in, Horwitz’s 100 loaf-output had quickly outgrown his family’s kitchen. Jyan Isaac Bread transitioned to a storefront that his dad owned in Santa Monica (it was sitting vacant due to the pandemic) in 2021, and the lines down the block almost immediately followed and persisted. Now at 22, Horwitz has been learning how to manage the half-dozen full-time bakers who work for him, many of whom he knows from his days at Gjusta. He’s also busy readying his next step: a centralized production space in Culver City that’s five times the size of his current kitchen. Horwitz says he’ll be stepping up his wholesale b

The 10 best things to do in Santa Barbara

The 10 best things to do in Santa Barbara

Sure, you’re probably heading to Santa Barbara for its glorious sandy beaches, and all the good things that come with it. Surfing, sunbathing, that sort of thing. But once you’re done with the miles and miles of breathtaking coastline, there’s a whole lot more of Santa Barbara to be explored – and it’s a lot more than just sandy beaches.  Santa Barbara is actually home to a whole host of great restaurants, museums and attractions, and it’s pretty easy on the eye too – most of its historic landmarks are just begging to be photographed and stuck on an Instagram story. So whether you’re there for its annual film fest or its wine festival, you’ll never be stuck for things to do in this city. Read on for the best things to do in Santa Barbara right now.  RECOMMENDED:🍴 The best restaurants in Santa Barbara🏨 The best hotels in Santa Barbara🛏 The best Airbnbs in Santa Barbara

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KCRW Summer Nights

KCRW Summer Nights

Everyone’s favorite NPR member station has a hand in a slew of summer concert slates at public plazas and beloved museums, and this summer’s schedule is particularly packed. Familiar KCRW DJs and local buzz bands will be providing free, open-air tunes on select nights from June through September at the Hammer Museum, CAAM, Descanso Gardens, Bowers Museum, the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, JANM, OCMA, KCRW’s Santa Monica headquarters and—our favorite—the party-till-midnight bashes at Chinatown Central Plaza. There’s also an evening at the Huntington, though that one’s for KCRW members only. The details slightly differ at each spot, but you can typically expect a bunch of food trucks, beer gardens and after-hours museum admission. Regardless of the location, you really can’t go wrong with any evening spent at Summer Nights.

Wilco

Wilco

More than two decades in, Wilco sounds just as magnetic and Jeff Tweedy’s lyrics just as sweet and sharp as they’ve ever been. The Chicago group has shuffled its lineup and sound over the years, mostly ditching its alt country roots for detours into noise rock and jam band territory or more quiet meditations. Live, you can expect to see the incredibly tight band alternate between krautrock grooves and Lynyrd Skynyrd-like guitar attacks.

The Bellwether

The Bellwether

Los Angeles gets a welcome addition to its stable of midsize music venues with the opening of this club on the edge of Downtown L.A. The Bellwether features a 1,600-person main room (for comparison, that’s bigger than the Fonda but smaller than the Wiltern) that touts a balcony and wooden dance floor, as well as a restaurant, bar, open-air lounge and private event space. It’s the latest venture from Michael Swier, who runs the Teragram Ballroom and Moroccan Lounge (and launched New York’s Bowery Ballroom), and has teamed up with Bay Area promoter Another Planet Entertainment. As for the music, the Bellwether will debut with an absolutely stellar lineup, including Phantogram (July 11, grand opening), Tycho (July 13), HAIM (July 17, 18), Andrew Bird (July 21), Porter Robinson (July 27–29), Santigold (Aug 8), Carly Rae Jepsen (Aug 11, 12), Tegan and Sara (Aug 14), Isaiah Rashad (Aug 18), a Fool’s Gold 15th anniversary party with A-Trak (Aug 26), Princess (Sept 23), Yo La Tengo (Sept 29) and Wilco (Oct 11). You’ll find the venue at 333 South Boylston Street, just on the other side of the 110 from DTLA, right next to L.A. Center Studios. For each show, you can also book tickets for the Emerald Room, a buy-up option that includes a dedicated entrance, viewing area, bar and bathroom.

Oogie Boogie Bash

Oogie Boogie Bash

Well, well, well, what have we here? The Nightmare Before Christmas’s bug-stuffed sack is once again taking over the Halloween duties at Disneyland for Oogie Boogie Bash, an after-hours, specially ticketed seasonal event at Disney California Adventure Park. Here’s the gist if you’ve never been to Disneyland’s previous seasonal parties: Halloween spirits begin to materialize around both parks by Labor Day with glowing decorations and spooky ride overlays, but this five-hour ticketed event (held on select nights in September and October) throws in a bunch of exclusive Halloween entertainment with the promise of considerably shorter wait times for select rides. You’ll find a mix of longstanding Halloween fixtures and more recent additions at Disney California Adventure for the event: trick-or-treating trails, kid-friendly shows, the Headless Horseman-led Frightfully Fun Parade and the maze-like Villains Grove. The World of Color show “Villanous!” that debuted in 2019 doesn’t appear to be on this year’s lineup; instead, you can pick up a general admission ticket to Disneyland, which will shoot off its “Halloween Screams” fireworks show. There perks of the after-hours event aren’t just Halloween-y: You’ll be able to venture through and hop on rides in most areas of the park, including at Avengers Campus (the Guardians of the Galaxy ride that predates the land will once again flip to its Monsters After Dark edition).  Tickets go on sale June 27 by 9am for Magic Key holders, and to

In-N-Out Burger 75th Anniversary Festival

In-N-Out Burger 75th Anniversary Festival

In-N-Out Burger and cars are about as quintessential of a Southern California duo as you can get, which makes this burger bash and drag racing pairing perfect. Last year, in a video full of Sunday, Sunday, Sunday energy, owner and president Lynsi Snyder announced that the beloved burger chain will host a 75th birthday celebration on October 22, 2023 at the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip—the future name of what’s now the Auto Club Raceway on the corner of the Fairplex property in Pomona. Expect drag racing, a car show, rides and, of course, In-N-Out food trucks. In addition, ZZ Top, 311 and .48 Special will headline a separately ticketed concert dubbed Rock 2 Freedom, which includes admission to the rest of the fest. The whole thing wraps up with fireworks at the end of the evening. Festival tickets cost $25, while the concert portion will run you an extra $50; parking costs $10.   View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lynsi Snyder (@lynsi_snyder)

Keith Haring: Art is for Everybody

Keith Haring: Art is for Everybody

Keith Haring’s colorful, energetic designs—like his barking dogs or crawling stick figure-like radiant baby—have moved well beyond the world of street art over the past four decades and ingrained themselves as instantly recognizable pieces of pop art. Now, the Broad is examining that body of work in a museum setting (for the first-ever time in L.A.) with this display of over 120 artworks and archival materials. The specially ticketed “Keith Haring: Art is for Everybody” explores the late New York graffiti icon’s artistic practices as well as his activism, including his work centered on nuclear disarmament, anti-Apartheid movements and the HIV/AIDS crisis. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Time Out Los Angeles (@timeoutla) The energetic show opens with a Day-Glo display of paintings and sculptures before moving into a wall-filling gallery of some of Haring’s most recognizable motifs. Alongside works on tarps, canvases and windows, you’ll find photos of Haring and an homage to Pop Shop, his New York retail shop (much of it set to a soundtrack pulled from the artist’s own mixtapes). In conjunction with the show, the free-to-visit permanent galleries upstairs at the Broad will display works from Haring’s contemporaries, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, George Condo, Jenny Holzer, Kenny Scharf and Andy Warhol.

Head in the Clouds

Head in the Clouds

It’s been at L.A. State Historic Park and Coachella, but pan-Asian music and media collective 88rising’s music fest has seemed to settle on the grounds outside the Rose Bowl for its summertime home. The 2023 edition’s headliners include DPR Live, DPR Ian, Jackson Wang, NIKI, Rich Brian, Rina Sawayama, XG, YOASOBI and Zedd.

Wildlife Learning Center

Wildlife Learning Center

Walk around the leafy grounds of this suburban Sylmar sanctuary to see everything from monkeys to foxes—and school trips and birthday parties. For hands-on photo ops, request a close encounter with a porcupine, a Siberian lynx, a two-toed sloth or an impossibly adorable fennec fox. Make sure to say hi to Zeus, the starry-eyed blind owl in the gift shop. Swing by during the week, otherwise you need to book a private tour on weekends.

Marine Mammal Care Center

Marine Mammal Care Center

This San Pedro rehabilitation center scoops up distressed marine mammals along the coast between Long Beach and Malibu in hopes of reintroducing them to the ocean. Though these stories can be sad—sudden blindness, a shark bite—the mood stays light thanks to a cordial crew of volunteers and a comical chorus of sea lion barks. Viewing is restricted to a sidewalk outside the fences—close enough to see the sweet faces of belly-flopping baby elephant seals.

Animal Tracks

Animal Tracks

Where do animal actors go when they retire? If they’re lucky, they get to go to this Agua Dulce backyard. Stacy Gunderson, a veteran Hollywood animal trainer, cares for injured or rejected exotic animals—on our first visit, we met residents like Jabba the bullfrog and Luke Skywalker, a squirrel monkey born at the Playboy Mansion—at this family-run nonprofit. The two-hour tour is as educational as it is hands on, with opportunities to pet everything from a hybrid wolf to a baboon.

Farm Sanctuary

Farm Sanctuary

This bicoastal rescue isn’t shy about its advocacy for vegan living; before you rub a pig’s belly, you’ll hear about the horrific fate from which it was spared. But the sanctuary’s saved residents are ambassadors for all livestock and reminders that animals we often think of as commodities are lovable creatures, from turkeys with a fondness for massages under their wings to an adorable donkey.

Grand Performances

Grand Performances

This epic (and free) outdoor concert series features live performances by artists from around the world at the totally overhauled California Plaza stage in DTLA, where the shallow water separating the stage from the audience has been replaced by a proper event lawn. Don’t miss a diverse and highly intriguing mix of bands, DJ sets and dance parties.

News (1425)

Metro is capping its fares at $5 a day

Metro is capping its fares at $5 a day

Only a couple of weeks after the opening of the system-reshaping Regional Connector, Metro will roll out a new fare structure for its bus and rail lines that the Los Angeles transit agency touts as “the more you ride, the more you will save.” Under the new plan, base fares will remain at $1.75 and transfers are still free for two hours. The big change, though, comes from how the cost of multiple rides stacks up: Metro’s single and multi-day passes are being eliminated in favor of a fare-capping structure that means you’ll never need to pay more than $5 a day or $18 a week as long as you use a TAP card. In addition, the J (formerly Silver) Line and express buses will no longer have a 75-cent upcharge. The new fare structure will go into effect starting July 1.   Courtesy Metro   Until this point, you’ve needed to specifically purchase a day pass ($7, though it’s currently half price—but more on that in a minute) if you wanted to nab unlimited rides in a 24-hour period. With fare-capping, though, once you’ve spent $5, all rides for the rest of the day are free. The same applies on a weekly basis, albeit with an $18 cap (there’s no monthly cap). For students and seniors, these caps are even lower, as you can see in the table above. The new pricing is cheaper than Metro’s existing fare structure, but some riders may end up paying slightly more than they do at this current moment due to a temporary price cut that’s yet to be lifted. Since January 2022, Metro has been offering it

These new DTLA Metro stops could save you 20 minutes. Take a look inside the Regional Connector.

These new DTLA Metro stops could save you 20 minutes. Take a look inside the Regional Connector.

Five of Metro’s seven rail lines roll into Downtown Los Angeles. But hopping between them can sometimes involve multiple transfers that have you darting between platforms and across stations. That all changes come June with the opening of the Regional Connector. The Regional Connector isn’t a new line, rather it’s a 1.9-mile stretch of subway that will more seamlessly tie together DTLA’s rail service thanks to three new underground stations: Little Tokyo/Arts District, Historic Broadway and Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill. Moreover, it’ll take three shorter routes and streamline them into two longer ones: You’ll now be able to ride from East L.A. to Santa Monica on a single train, as well as from Azusa to Long Beach, which Metro says will be the longest light-rail line in the world. We had a chance to visit the three new stations ahead of their opening on June 16—the whole Metro system, including rail, buses and bike share will be free that weekend to celebrate. Below, you’ll find our photos of some of the massive art installations gracing each station (and a new pedestrian bridge that directly links to the Broad), as well as a quick primer on how these three new stops will reshape nearly the entire system.   Photograph: Time Out/Michael JulianoGrand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill Station     Here’s how the Regional Connector will redraw the A and E Lines  In the works for more than a decade now—and initially slated to open in 2020—the Regional Connector essentially creates a pair o

Exhibits on cyberpunk, Indigenous Futurism and holograms are coming to L.A. as part of Pacific Standard Time

Exhibits on cyberpunk, Indigenous Futurism and holograms are coming to L.A. as part of Pacific Standard Time

Starting in September 2024, you’ll be able to step foot inside exhibitions on cyberpunk, artificial intelligence, constellations, climate change and dozens of other topics at the intersection of art and science. “PST Art: Art & Science Collide” will see more than 50 Southern California museums and galleries organizing exhibitions around that theme for the latest edition of the Getty’s multi-museum initiative. In addition to $17 million in grants awarded (so far), the Getty also announced that it will permanently fund PST Art (formerly known as Pacific Standard time, now with a more easily Google-able name) for its return every five years. “We’re going to make sure that we keep Southern California at the absolute forefront of global culture and art and continue to solidify our place as one of the significant global art capitals in the world,” said Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, during a kickoff event on Tuesday.  If you’re unfamiliar with PST Art, it last surfaced in 2017 with dozens of exhibitions about the crossroads between L.A. and Latin American and Latino art. Before that, 2011’s inaugural Pacific Standard Time staged a coming-out party of sorts for the L.A. art world with survey of 20th-century local art.  The 2024 theme, “Art & Science Collide,” pulls an even wider breadth of museums into the fold thanks to its subject matter, with participation from science-minded institutions like JPL and the Griffith Observatory, and spans farthe

Live Nation is offering $25 tickets to some pretty major L.A. concerts

Live Nation is offering $25 tickets to some pretty major L.A. concerts

There are more than a half-dozen music festivals near L.A. going down this May, not to mention countless other concerts at clubs and amphitheaters. Secure seats for even just a couple of those and you’re looking at some budget-breaking purchases—especially once you add in fees. So thankfully, one of the main sources of those expenses has opted to give us a temporary reprieve. Live Nation will once again offer “$25 all-in tickets” to some 3,800 concerts around the country when purchased during its annual Concert Week. And unlike most tickets from major platforms (like, ahem, Live Nation) these limited-time $25 tickets won’t have any extra fees on top of them (that price tag is technically before tax, but California doesn’t tax concert tickets). The $25 all-in tickets go on sale Wednesday, May 10 at 7am and are available through May 16, while supplies last. If you happen to be a Verizon subscriber or Rakuten member, you can nab them a day early, on Tuesday, May 9 at 7am. In addition, if you have a Hilton Honors account, you can connect your hotel chain loyalty account to Ticketmaster if you want to pay with points. We don’t know yet exactly which shows will be eligible for the deal in Southern California, but we do know that not all of the 300-plus participating artists will have valid shows in L.A. (for example, Janet Jackson and Boy George are both on the national list, but their local concerts are LA Phil-produced shows sold via the Hollywood Bowl, not Live Nation). That sai

You can sip among the roses at the Huntington’s newly renovated tea room

You can sip among the roses at the Huntington’s newly renovated tea room

Stroll through the mansion-adjacent rose garden at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens and it’s hard not to daydream what it must’ve been like to have a taste of early-20th-century luxury. You can kind of come close with the return of the San Marino museum’s signature dining experience, where you can steep in upper crust existence for an afternoon while sipping tea among the roses. The newly renovated and expanded Rose Garden Tea Room is now broken up into three spaces: the Tea Room, a refurbishment of the original rose garden-facing dining area that restores its historic bones and adds some welcome contemporary touches; the Herb Room, which doubles as a private meeting space with a small patio overlooking the herb garden; and the Shakespeare Pavilion, an open-air terrace on the east side that abuts the lush Shakespeare Garden and the colorful archways of the rose garden. Photograph: Time Out/Michael JulianoTea Room Photograph: Time Out/Michael Juliano Photograph: Time Out/Michael JulianoHerb Room The Rose Garden Tea Room officially opens to the public on May 24, though member previews begin starting May 1. As long as we’re talking about dates, there’s one more you’ll want to remember: May 10. That’s when reservations open up for dates through the end of September; tables will be released incrementally on OpenTable following that initial block. (You can choose between inside or outside when making a reservation and note which room you prefer.) When

Everything you need to know before heading to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve

Everything you need to know before heading to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve

Eschscholzia californica is as essentially Californian as Disneyland, In-N-Out and Huell Howser. Never heard of it? You probably know it better as the California poppy. When we’ve been bestowed with plenty of wintertime rain, our beloved state flower dots the region in bright golden blossoms. We Angelenos are particularly lucky to live less than two hours away from the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve—a more than 1,700-acre park of poppy-blanketed hills. The Poppy Reserve isn’t the only place to see wildflowers, but it’s definitely usually the dreamiest. The reserve (parking lot at roughly 15101 Lancaster Rd; $10) is open year-round from sunrise to sunset, but it’s only dotted with poppies for a very small slice of the year. So before you hit the freeway, make sure you keep these things in mind. Photograph: Time Out/Michael JulianoAntelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in 2023 Follow the bloom status (which is a little complicated this year). As of late April, the limited poppy blooms at the reserve are already on their way out—but you can still see some fleeting displays of poppies just outside of the park. (Note: All of the photos in this story are from mid-April, when the blooms were at their peak.) Here’s what happened: The reserve received snow (snow!) in late February, which set the bloom back a few weeks. With more rain after that and a streak of cool weather, brome grasses and fiddlenecks began to outcompete the warm-weather–loving poppies at the reserve.

You can catch Local Natives, Darren Criss and a ‘Selena’ screening at the Ford this summer

You can catch Local Natives, Darren Criss and a ‘Selena’ screening at the Ford this summer

Wish there was somehow even more on the Hollywood Bowl schedule? With the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association now handling the lineup at the Ford as well, consider this slate of outdoor shows just up the street a second serving of those Hollywood Hills concert vibes. For this summer’s season, which runs from mid-July until just before Halloween, you can see sets from Mac DeMarco, Local Natives, Lucinda Williams and Os Mutantes. That’s in addition to Broadway hits from Darren Criss (not far from his Hollywood piano bar), stand-up hosted by Marcella Arguello, a production of The Barber of Seville by the Pacific Opera Project, a set from Icelandic singer Laufey backed by the LA Phil, a folk fest that features Waxahatchee and the Milk Carton Kids, a kid-friendly series of shows that includes the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, Street Food Cinema-presented screenings of Selena and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and nearly 30 other shows. Tickets are on sale now for packages of three or more events; single tickets go on sale May 9. The the kid-friendly L.A. Soundscapes series, each full-priced ticket includes up to two free children’s tickets. If you’ve never seen a show at the Ford before, here’s a quick primer: The century-old outdoor theater sits just on the other side of the 101 from the Hollywood Bowl. But unlike the staggeringly huge Bowl, the Ford and its castle-like stage are intimate by comparison with only 1,200 seats (and the same picnic-friendly policy). Even at that sma

Vidiots’ movie theater, bar and video store is finally coming soon

Vidiots’ movie theater, bar and video store is finally coming soon

After a few years of announcements, teases and setbacks, beloved video store and film nonprofit Vidiots is finally ready to debut its new home at a restored, 94-year-old Eagle Rock theater on June 1. The Eagle Theatre, which has operated as everything from a vaudeville stage to an adult cinema over the past nine decades, will now screen new indie releases alongside repertory picks, classics and hard-to-find features seven days a week. You’ll be able to watch them all in a 271-seat auditorium equipped for both film (35mm and 16mm) and digital. That’s in addition to a beer and wine bar with some light bites, plus space for special events and educational workshops. Of course, it wouldn’t be Vidiots without a video store, and that’s made the jump, too: The organization’s 50,000-strong DVD, BluRay and VHS collection, a fixture of its quirky Santa Monica shop from 1985 until 2017, will be open and available to rent. (You can see an in-progress preview of the auditorium below.) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vidiots Foundation (@vidiots) “We’re overjoyed to finally see our dream of bringing Vidiots back to Los Angeles,” said Vidiots founders Patty Polinger and Cathy Tauber in a statement. “We could not have accomplished this incredible feat without the loyal and steadfast support of a community truly devoted to cinema and creating a space for new generations to be inspired and enlightened by the arts, and where they can fall in love with film as we ha

Disneyland’s Splash Mountain will close in May for its ‘Princess and the Frog’ transformation

Disneyland’s Splash Mountain will close in May for its ‘Princess and the Frog’ transformation

We’ve known for nearly three years now that Splash Mountain was headed for the briar patch, but now we finally have an official date for when the three-decade-old Disneyland ride will take its final plunge before it transforms into a Princess and the Frog-themed log flume—and it’s soon. Splash Mountain will close on May 31, 2023 (meaning May 30 will be your last day to ride), according to a post on the Disney Parks Blog. The ride, which is currently themed to the controversial Song of the South, will then embark on its redevelopment into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which is slated to open in late 2024. (The version of the ride in Florida, which will undergo a similar transformation, closed earlier this year.) From the outside, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will look pretty familiar: A model shown off at last year’s D23 Expo still shows a largely similar mountain structure and plunge, minus the hollowed-out tree trunk at the top and plus some Louisiana-inspired flora and The Princess and the Frog-themed touches, like a branch with the titular frogs and a water tower with Tiana’s name. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Time Out Los Angeles (@timeoutla) Inside, you can expect an entirely new story that follows Princess Tiana and trumpet-playing gator Louis as they prepare a Mardi Gras celebration, with new songs and animatronic critters—and the smell of beignets wafting through the queue. (Speaking of beignets, that popular counter in New Orleans Square will

You can have a sleepover at the Last Bookstore

You can have a sleepover at the Last Bookstore

If we were to build a fort out of books, it would probably look something like the Last Bookstore: arches constructed out of hardcover publications, windows made out of well-loved volumes and just a general handmade, cozy vibe to everything. So… want to curl up with a good read and spend the night at the world’s most-Instagrammed bookstore? From April 1 to 14, Downtown L.A.’s most beloved bookstore will host a series of intimate sleepovers. Each night, the Last Bookstore will welcome up to 14 guests from 8pm until 8am the following morning. The evening starts with a light reception and some chill music, but then it’s lights out at midnight. You’ll have to bring your own sleeping bag, air mattress or tent—and, yep, you can even bring your own beer and wine (though outside food isn’t allowed). Tickets to the 21-and-over event vary in price depending on where you want to sleep. A general admission ticket costs $195, but if you want to secure a spot in the recognizable tunnel or inside the old bank vault of horror books, that’ll run $500 for two people (the same goes for the classic vault and portal). Or you can go big and rent out the entire place for $4,000. (Oh, and if you’re a little confused while trying to make a reservation, you’ll find all of the dates in the “more options” dropdown of the “date and time” section of the ticketing page.) If those prices are a little steep for you, the shop is also asking Angelenos to tag a friend on the post below for a chance to win ticke

Green lasers and lots of red yard await at the fully realized Hammer Museum

Green lasers and lots of red yard await at the fully realized Hammer Museum

There’s an animation you can watch on the Hammer Museum’s website that tracks all of the Westwood institution’s expansions and alterations since it opened in 1990. If you’re just staring at the map, the building’s largely unchanging footprint doesn’t make for a dramatic before and after—at least not compared to, say, a bunch of mid-century boxes that are transforming into an amoeba across town. But a lot has changed—and improved—at the contemporary art museum since its opening. Now, 23 years after its Michael Maltzan-designed master plan was first hatched, all of the courtyard enhancements, restaurant openings, gift shop renovations and theater and gallery conversions have culminated in the Hammer’s most significant (and near-final) transformation yet: the pedestrian-first additions of a 5,600-foot gallery, sculpture terrace and reconfigured lobby entrance—all, as has been the case for the past decade, free to visit. Photograph: Courtesy Eric Staudenmaier Photo: Jeff MclaneHammer Projects: Chiharu Shiota, Installation view, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, March 26–August 27, 2023. Most visitors will still probably enter the museum from the attached parking garage. But if you do venture in on foot, rather than an unceremonious set of doors on Wilshire Boulevard, you’ll now be met with a proper grand entrance at the corner of Westwood Boulevard. (The clear signposting here should be particularly helpful come 2027—though, let’s be real, probably later than that—when a Metro stat

These are the 2023 L.A. Marathon road closures you should avoid

These are the 2023 L.A. Marathon road closures you should avoid

Good luck to all those running the L.A. Marathon on Sunday. Also, good luck to anyone thinking about driving anywhere near the L.A. Marathon route on Sunday. It’s your friendly annual reminder that thousands of runners will descend on 26.2 miles of L.A.’s streets this weekend, and an even greater mileage of rolling road closures will shut down traffic near Dodger Stadium, around Downtown, toward Hollywood and in Beverly Hills. (Of course, you’re always welcome to use the Metro to avoid some of these closures and cheer on the runners.) When the L.A. Marathon kicks off on Sunday, March 18, you’re going to want to avoid driving near some of the city’s busiest areas starting at 4 or 5am and until later in the morning or afternoon: Steer clear of Downtown until a little after 10am, avoid Hollywood (specifically near Hollywood Boulevard) until around noon and Beverly Hills until 1pm. West of there, things get a little more complicated. This year’s marathon once again drops the stadium-to-the-sea route for a “Stadium to Stars” one that makes a U-turn around Brentwood and then wraps up in Century City. So Santa Monica won’t be affected by street closures, but Brentwood, Westwood and Century City will be doubly impacted: All of Santa Monica Boulevard from Wilshire Boulevard to Sepulveda Boulevard will stay closed until 6pm, while San Vicente Boulevard in Brentwood will be closed until 5pm. And consider Century City, where you’ll find the finish line and festival, mostly shut down to c