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Olvera Street
89 reviews
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Museums
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Sam Who Bar-B-Que…
1 reviewNeighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Chinese
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Saigon Plaza, Chinatown…
3 reviewsLos Angeles, CA
Category: Shopping Centers
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Chinatown Express
1 reviewNeighborhood: South East LA
Category: Restaurants
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New Dragon Seafood…
21 reviewsLos Angeles, CA
Category: Chinese
Chinatown
Rating Details »
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
39 reviews for Chinatown
Why Chinatown?
...because my lady suggested it
...because I needed bracelets (2 for $4 @ K & A CO.III)
...because he needed a beanie ($4 @ Your Collection)
...because she needed toe socks ($3 @ Your collection)
...because my lady needed two pairs of earrings (2 for $7 @ K &A CO.)
...because Angie's Boutique carries domino's. We got a pack. I got the regular Big 6's $5 and the Big 12's $18.
-yeah I won the first game.
Every store was cluttered. In one store this woman was keeping me in close eye sight. Why was I being followed? Do I look suspect? It just made me want to walk fast down each aisle. She was on some "take your time but do it quickly" type chit.
I was hoping to get some food at one point but that didn't happen. I need to go back and find a good bakery that bakes their own bread - the kind I like with a large variety. I also want to find some shoes. I think it may be hard trying to find my size though. I have large feet.
I find it very bizarre how most people hate Chinatown because of the lack of "Chinese" people. Oh, I didn't get the memo that only Chinese people in traditional native costumes should be roaming the streets to be photographed by tourists. And should only the Chinese be operating the stores and restaurants? The reviews consist of people complaining how it's more "Vietnamese."
Well, sure. Things evolve. But most of those Vietnamese are actually ethnically Chinese. And they speak better Chinese than you do, I'm sure.
And then the other complaint is this Chinatown isn't SF or NY. In general, I hate that kind of snarkiness. Nothing can ever be the greatest thing in your mind. Fortunately, LA's Chinatown is my favorite Chinatown. Not because I was born at French Hospital (now known as Pacific Alliance Medical Center) and have memories of practically every nook and cranny of the place but because I think SF and NY's Chinatowns aren't LA. Aha!
SF's Chinatown is cramped. And talk about a dirty Chinatown, be careful of the fruit you eat in NY. I once saw a vendor pick up the fruit that had rolled into the gutter (think dirty NY city sewers) and put it back on the table for sale. LA's Chinatown has a myriad number of small grocery stores as well as a farmer's market during the week.
But let's not get into a pissing match here. You want good Chinese food? How do you define good, anyway? Sure, I go to the SGV for more authentic Chinese food but you can still find great tasting food in Chinatown. One of my faves is Plum Tree Inn, a clean restaurant with booze! It's not the stuff you find in China (hey, they have mu shu) but it's good. I like it better than Yang Chow which for some reason gets a lot of publicity for their slippery shrimp.
Chinatown also has a number of dive bars for the incoming hipster invasion. This means art galleries along Chung King Road which is way cool. It combines my love of kitsch, history and art.
And if you don't want Chinese food, there's still other eats like BBQ (Spring Street BBQ), Italian Sandwiches (Eastside Market), French dipped sandwiches (Phillipe's) and nearby Olvera Street has your Mexican eats. Go explore and eat an lesser known places! You might stumble upon Colima, the Peruvian restaurant on the edge of Chinatown.
But if you really, really want dim sum, my picks are CBS and Golden Dragon. There's the much hyped Empress Pavilion but I personally find it overrated these days. And Won Kok must be the greasiest food on earth. Still, for late night eats, you'd be surprised what else is open in Chinatown. Perhaps a bacon-wrapped hot vendor in front of the bar?
A bar crawl could include Hop Louie, a horrible little bar but in a wonderful building. I know some love it though. And for a little dancing action, check out Mountain Bar or Grand Star.
Chinatown has plenty of cheap lots around town and it's also easily accessible via public transportation. Check out the pagoda roofs on almost every building in Chinatown including the Bank of America, the cheapola souvenirs, plentiful eats and come for the lively festivals such as Lunar New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival. There's also the Chinese America Museum if you want to learn more about LA's Chinatown.
I've been thinking about LA's ethnic enclaves lately and really besides Olvera Street and Chinatown, nothing is really set up for as many tourist photo ops as these two places. I guess I should put on a cheong saam the next time I head to Chinatown to be photographed by tourists.
Today was my day off and I decided- do a major workout at the gym or work this body out by walking while taking in culture and art. I chose option 2 and headed to Chinatown. I was immediately excited at first when entering the dragon gates. $4 flat rate for parking all day. As I walk around I realize I've never truly taken my time discovering this few blocks of Chinese culture.
Perks:
Empress Pavillion- best dim sum(don't let them give you more than you want, they will charge you)
Shopping for healing Chinese herbs- yay Eastern medicine
Bamboo, cheap asian sandals and roasted duck hanging in restaurant window heaven.
Great Jade stone shopping.
Non-perks-
Same crap at all shops and it's appalling how some the vendors attempt to rip you off. Saigon Plaza is way too overwhelming! The smaller shops are better deals.
My great moment of the day- passing an open door to a Chinese older men's society and getting a glimpse of them playing either ma jong or chinese dominos, drinking beer and smoking. That was awesome.
Chinatown is where I grew up. But I live in L.A. now. ROFL
There aren't that many chinese here. THey are mostly vietnamese. There are some chinese left in ctown. But they all moved to sgv and alhambra.
The summation of my love of Chinatown is best articulated by the following:
Me: Hello, Miss. How much are these shoes?
Asian woman: Twenty dolla..
Me: Twenty, eh?
Asian woman: Nyenteen dolla..
Me: Did I hear ten?
Asian woman: Ten dolla..
Me: Ten dolla.
Epic win.
Los Angeles Chinatown is not as fun as the Chinatowns in New York or San Francisco. Yes it's crowded, dirty and smells funny, but I'm Chinese so I go to Chinatown =P There are a lot of Chinese restaurants there, but most of them are not good. Go to San Gabriel Valley area if you want to eat good Chinese foods. Yang Chow and Won Kok are two of my favorite Chinatown restaurants-see my reviews on them. You can find bakeries, medicine stores, clothing stores and a lot of jewelry stores there. Don't forget to bargain and bring cash because most of the businesses are cash only. There is Bank of America in the area in case you need some cash. One more thing...you'll see a lot of Chinese there =P
Chinatown has a ton of potential but it's really just a glorified flea market with an occasionally good bar mixed in. Don't come here expecting a NY or SF style Chinatown, this is LA people! You are lucky to even find decent Chinese food in this neighborhood. It's still fun though. Your best bet is doing a bar crawl of Hop Louie, Grand Star, and the Mountain Bar before getting some grub at Full House. They're open late!
Tourist trap.........Lame.....
The shopping is weak, it's a swap meet, everyone is selling the same cheap crap. You can bargain but then again you can go to the 99 cent stores and find the same things.
Not sure how the restaurants are....i'll have to try em out and conduct an update.
china town in LA is pretty weak compared to SF or NY.
there isn't much hustle & bustle in this town. i think montery park is a LOT more like "china town", and they have great dim sum places there. i don't think i've ever had dim sum here! maybe just once.. who knows, and who cares. what i am saying is that it's not that exciting to come here.
I moved to Chinatown in January 2009, above the art galleries on Chung King Rd, with no overarching ulterior motive other than I have a strange affection towards the rudeness I'm always subjected to by the bartenders at Hop Louie and also I was pleasantly surprised my rental application was accepted given my credit history so I figured I better call their bluff before I ended up living somewhere much more car-jacky and cracked out, so wham, bam, here I am.
In Whittier where I grew up we used to call Uptown our "two blocks of magic" and the same sort of dubious honor here applies. Chinatown in Los Angeles is small, smelly in pockets, sometimes entirely inscrutable. There is a storefront by the fish pond which if you look inside the door you will be guaranteed a vision too strange for fiction: a old school Tiger Beat era poster of Ricky Schroder in all his flaxen-locked prepubescent glory. Faded and folded beyond prospect of sale. Why? What does it all mean? Is this a sort of Chinese custom to alert people of a pedophile in their midst, the same way American pedo's have to go door to door to alert their neighbors? Perhaps behind the poster an entrance to the Chinese Narnia? Maybe the storeowner is an ironic hipster if only in spirit?
In any case, I've been here almost 4 months now and haven't even begun to scratch the delightfully smelly and suspect surface. There are plenty of places to eat on the cheap, though if you go to a dim sum place and order what they call the "Chinese Tamali" be forewarned; I think mine might have had meal worms in it, but hey, it wasn't sabotage baby, it's just Chinatown.
If you're entertaining friends that are leery of the fecundity found in the more down and out eating establishments, try the Via Cafe which is very reasonably priced, tasty, stylish, and easy on the ears; last time I went they played Bjork, Nick Cave, Portishead, Tom Waits. Banh mi sandwich and a beer will run you $10.
Master Chef has schezwan shrimp and garlic-y green beans I would pretty much eat every day if I could afford it, but not a big fan of the beef or of the having to ask more than once for a glass of water EVERY TIME I EAT THERE, gawdammah.
Wong Kok. Wow. This place stays open way late and by the time you will end up getting there, shit-faced and slap-happy, everything you taste will be amazing. Was there a couple of weeks ago and one of my friends literally passed out cold in his crispy noodles. Nobody batted an eye. My friend jokes that every time he's been there, at least 2 out of 3 of these groups of people will be there: mariachis, hookers, police. One big happy family.
The art scene in Chinatown is also a hoot and a holler. Oftentimes the galleries will coordinate their openings on the same night so there will be something of an "art-walk" and my little quiet street will hum to life. I went to one of these on a date and had a great time, enough free booze to get a good buzz and so much art to dissect and verbally eviscerate. Occasionally there is actually something pretty good to look at, too, mostly more fart than art though, imho.
Celebrity sightings so far, Paul Giamatti walking into an obscure gallery where Bernard St dead ends, Vince Vaughn waiting patiently in a crappy long line like everybody else at Phillipes, and my favorite, David Cross grabbing a cold one between takes at Hop Louie while filming Alvin & The Chipmunks 2 in the square outside. The conversation that followed:
My friend: Have you heard Maria Shriver is trying to ban the word "retarded?"
David Cross: Man, that is so autistic!
Chinatown, you're a whore. But you're cheap and intriguing with way too many good stories to not buy a drink.
I remember coming here as a kid and thinking it was so cool and big and that there was so much to do.
I went back, 10 years later and what do you know. there's nothing to do. the stores arent cool, no one speaks english, and it's ugly. it's like being in any other part of downtown, except the jewlery was even worse, AND no one spoke the native tongue.
After walking around for a disappointing 20 minutes, at least we were looking forward to some good food. Oh, what do you know? Every place was either really sketchy looking and you could get a full meal for 4 dollars ( i don't trust that shit), or every place has a B.
thank god for internet on phones. We looked up where the "best" place to eat in chinatown was, and it was a Sechzwan place. i was excited because i love Sechwan food.
we walk in and theres alllllllll of these autographs and jerseys from celebrities who come here. I got more excited.
We get our food and its literally just typical $10 chinese food that i could have gotten down the street from my house.
what a dissssapppppponitment.
haha, so we headed over to old faithful, Olvera Street and that made it a little better even though we'd been there a million times.
oh welllll.
things really are just so much better when you're a kid. thank you, Chinatown, for making me depressed.
I am a huge fan of anything Asian. So, obviously, Chinatown is one of my favorite places in Los Angeles.... well, next to Little Tokyo and Korea Town.
I love the store Munkey King! Asian and pop art at its funnest. All of the stores are super cool and super cheap. If you've never been to Chinatown, please, take a Saturday and spend the day. There is so much to do and see here.
The only downfall, is that Chinatown smells like a fish market and ass all wrapped into one. If you don't mind the sewer smell, make it happen!
C-town looks like a Chinese Disneyland...
...Minus the rides.
...Minus the magic.
...Minus Mickey and Minnie
...Add chinesey people (even more than D-Land)
...Add one dollar chinese food joints.
...Add velour suits, plastic heels, herbs, and bamboo.
...Add a lot of Pho places. wtf. I didn't get the memo that china merged with vietnam yo.
...And lastly add a sign that says "Chinatown Land" with colorful pagodas. and dragons. you gotta have dragons.
3 stars for the 3 hours it kept me fascinated.
I want to be helpful and write a semi-long review for Chinatown, Los Angeles; however, I can't.
I'm sorry, but this place is so disgustingly dirty and it smells.
Little Saigon in Westminster and even the Korean District in Garden Grove are both so much better than this place because not only are they cleaner, but they're both located in Orange County i.e. nicer people.
I'd like to say this is the most half-ass Chinatown I've ever seen.
1. no ambiance
2. empty deserted streets
3. no Chinese park for the mahjong/chess/tai chi/ etc etc
4. tourist trap with HIDEOUS clashing bright colors with fake chinese-style "architecture"
5. where are the good food?
6. where are the cheap groceries?
7. not crowded mimicking the So-Cal culture of sub-urban sprawl
8. signs pointing to destinations where the destinations are either non-existent, uninteresting, or just a marketplace selling CRAP
9. 1/2 of the shops were close on a Thursday lunchtime!
One star for illegal turtles (quarter size) 2 for $5! and STINKY fresh poultry shops
One star for at least existing (no Chinatown in San Diego) and "trying" to educate the public with description of points of interest (except they are by nature uninteresting)
One sad thing: There was a sign for Little Italy, but I think the Chinatown is SO crappy that the 4 shops that consisted of LI closed down.
Coming from New York City with Flushing and Chinatown, LA's Chinatown is a dump. The only great thing is parking all day for $3-4 but who wants to spend all day here. The place was deserted - no hustle or bustle. Restaurants looked old (like 1970's old) and real dirty. No major Chinese supermarket. Yes, I did notice a lot more Vietnamese stuff than Chinese. The only "Chinatown" thing about it was the usual fishy/ass smell that you get in any Chinatown.
What I like about Chinatown LA....
A couple of my favorite restaurants...
Tiny shops along Broadway that sell plants...
You can get 'fresh' poultry... You can pick..and name your dinner before they de-feather it for you... AND, so fresh in fact...that the body is still warm when you take it home.
AND most importantly...a hidden(or not so hidden) Black market where you can buy things such as: fire crackers and baby turtles...
Also,...LA Dim Sum Kicks SF Dim Sum's ASS!!!!
It's surprisingly small considering the sprawl of the LA area (ok I'm excluding Monterey Park here). However there's no wrong in being succint right? SF, NYC, and Sydney seem to sport larger districts but in turn those seem too dense, crowded, and chaotic.
I still have many memories as a child eating dim sum, roast duck, wonton noodles and various bakery buns. Following my parents around to the various interesting shops and experiencing sensory overload. After all this time I'm still fascinated by those wacky wishing wells and I find myself frantically searching for pennies to huck in when I pass them. Still ornately beautiful, despite it's age and still sometimes a movie star. A good balance of bustle, culture, history and eats.
I don't understand why all Chinatowns are the same in that they all have crappy Chinese food and that it always looks so cliched like they show in old stereotypical movies.
Like SF, the Chinatown here is 2nd to Monterey Park (Sunset district in SF) in terms of food and anything really Chinese. There are still a few very old herbalists in this Chinatown (Wing Hop Fung and Tak Shing Hong), but other than that, if I wanted some real Chinese food, Chinatown wouldn't be the first place of choice.
However, parking isn't expensive on weekends and once in a while you'll find those pirated DVDs sold by Mexicans on the roadside and that's a huge plus. That saves me the trouble of driving to downtown LA and paying $8 for parking.
Unlike San Francisco's, the stores are spaced out yet certain areas can still get really crowded. It doesn't have the cozy feeling that SF Chinatown has where people just jaywalk to get to their next destination since LA's streets are so big, but it does have its good sides. They serve freshly squeezed sugar cane juice at the side of one of the shopping centers. If you dig hard (or come upon it by accident), you can score some cheap vcds/movies/cds. Food is cheap, just like in any other Chinatown. I like it here...but I love SF's. And don't even get me started with NY's Chinatown...I'd marry it.
JONASAPPROVED!
One question though. Where's Little Italy? Isn't it usually Chinatown's neighbor?
This is probably the saddest Chinatown I've seen. It's spaced out really weird. It has the usual shops and restaurants; nothing that special.
Nothing looked to appetizing to eat, so I bypassed the food. I even saw one place with a C rating ! EEK .
Chinatown has more of a Vietnamese population nowadays. Don't live here because most things close at 6:00 p.m. I used to help out at an art gallery here. I was blocked from entering the area because of the LA Marathon or something. This area was created when Union Station was built on the location of the old Chinatown.
Great place to see hang out and get great green tea. I love the small plaza towards the end of Broadway going north. I usually toss a few coins in the fountain whenever I visit. I also love to sit and walk around with a cigar in hand. There's so much color to see in every spot.
I suggest going in the evenings.
When I come down here, I feel as if I'm hosting my own episode of "No Reservations", wandering the tiny alleys filled with street vendors selling all kinds of greasy goodness!! The last time I went down there I tried curry fried taro root, and loved it!! There's the Dim Sum restaurants that have their carts full of squid topped egg plant, and a dozen or so other interesting food. Wash it down with a bottle of Tsing Tao and continue the journey through all the little boutique shops full of nick knacks and curios. I can't end a visit to Chinatown without a stop at Sam Woos for a taste of my favorite food on Earth, Peking Duck. I'm still not sure if this stuff was meant to be dinner or a dessert!! I don't visit as often as I would like to, but I haven't been the same since my first visit. If you are making a trip to downtown LA but not really sure what to check out, a great way to get around for cheap is to park at Union Station and buy a day pass for $5. This allows you unlimited use any of the public transit(Goldline, Redline). You can go to Chinatown, Universal Studios and Citywalk, and Hollywood. You can also visit Sunset Strip if you're willing to hop on a bus for a few minutes. Do not attempt to walk it from the subway stop!!My wife and I have roamed downtown LA a couple of times this way, and always had a unique and memorable experience.
I was looking for some last minute gifts for the holidays and Chinatown is perfect for some quirky and fun gifts, not to mention inexpensive. The main part of Chinatown is filled with gifts for tourists. But there are also some great stocking stuffers like good luck charms, bamboo calendars, and asian paper mache gifts. There are sake and hot tea sets in almost every store. You can even haggle on the higher priced items, just don't waste your time trying to negotiate on the set of those 2 dollar chop sticks.
The one store that stands out (and also the highest priced) among the other tourist filled knick knacks is a place called Realm. It's filled with custom designer glass gifts. Like plates, glasses, serving sets and more. They have all kind of books, unique candle holders and tea pots. You could spend an hr just browsing the aisles and flipping through the coffee table books.
Further down the road on Broadway is a place called Saigon Plaza. It's sort of like an indoor swap meet with all kinds of random import items ranging from DVDs, to bubbling fountains, to t-shirts for $5. You can easily get lost amongst the aisle and aisles of cheap wares.
An alternative to Chinatown for xmas gifts is Olvera St right down Broadway at Main and Alameda. It's chock full of leather wallets and purses, traditional clothing, sombreros and wrestling masks from south of the border. Fun gifts for the hard to find brother in law.
man oh man i love this place!
pros:
- cheap EVERYTHING
- sells bad stuff to minors haha (not that i got anything bad =P)
- great place to work on your husslin skills
- hello kitty everywhere! so of course i loved it.
- boyfriend loved that they had knives, swords, and guns
- yummy pearl drinks $2! i know right?! 2 bucks! here its like $3.50
- very nice people
- great place if you like little nick-nacks
cons:
- crowded
- kinda smelly in one area because of the fish
The only thing I liked about chinatown was getting out of it, oh but the golden dragons lit up at night was cool though.......
The guy and I went here on a lazy, overcast Saturday afternoon to explore since I'd never been there before. We managed to find rock star parking at a meter where I didn't have to attempt to parallel park my new Benz, which is always a plus. We walked around to the different shops, laughing at the bad fake bags, the not-so-stylin' "Uranus" brand shoes, J. Lo's sweatsuits circa '03...Just bad clothing in general. While this Chinatown isn't as impressive as other cities, it is something to check out at least once if you're bored and wanting to explore.
It's as if the leaders who run Chinatown read my last review and decided to repaint and plant trees. I took some friends down to Chinatown on the subway and we actually had a good time, unlike the last time when there was tons of garbage everywhere, a hot miserable sun beating down on everyone with no shade to be had anywhere and smells of death throughout.
It's quaint now, and although everything is still spread out unlike other Chinatowns that are primarily located on one long street, our Chinatown is contained in a 6 block by 4 block radius. Just put on your good walking shoes and go explore starting with Chinatowns CENTRAL PLAZA. This quirky and photo-Op worthy part of Chinatown contains some fun little stores ranging from upscale art galleries, quirky collectible animation art (Munky King) and figurines to awesome little bakeries (WOnder Bakery!) that constantly put out a variety of tasty pastries and fun sugary stuff. While we walked by the Wonder Bakery the baker was taking out a fresh tray of piping hot eggy spongy-cake things and people ran from all over to get in line for one. They were so good and fun, spur of the moment stuff like that is what you'll find while walking around the neighborhood. Just go check the place out, slow down and really look. I have a routine everytime I go there, which is to go into the same Chinese market, walk to the refrigerator and pick out a bottled/canned drink that I have never seen or had before. This can be a good thing (Lychee, sweet Aloe Vera or Mangosteen Juices) to a memorably bad thing, but it's always fun and I love making myself try new stuff.
I can't really do the place justice in words, the Chinese Benevolant Society has done a good job of picking up this old Los Angeles tradition and dusting if off, adding some new paint and bringing in a myriad of new, exciting business's for you to check out.
Just go, either by yourself or with friends, and see what happens. I highly recommend Ocean Seafood Dim Sum located on the second floor in a tacky strip mall. The place is very large and there is a huge assortment of food trolleys weaving in and out of tables. Pick out what you want and have a blast!
Go check this site out hosted by the Benevolent Society, they did a great job with the website, and Chinatown is calling you, now get off your spazzy butt and go visit.
http://www.chinatownla.../
This is the only place that I can purchase authentic chinese groceries (in Los Angeles) at an appropriate price. I tried buying hoison sauce at Ralphs once and they were charging4.99 for a bottle of something I've never heard of. The worst part was it was terrible! I can purchase a bottle of hoison sauce here and get quality flavor for around $2 and $3 max.
The deeper you go the better it gets. Tons of little stores to explore and places to satisfy your taste for the orient.
However lately there's been a ton of art galleries and fusion restaurants appearing. I think the artists are trying to take over. That doesn't make me happy. Soon it just won't be what it was. I so depressed that they even got rid of the wishing fountain with the turtles.
-1 for the bad change.
Chinatown is worth the trip on a boring Saturday afternoon... there are a lot of little shops to see which should help kill the time. A great lunch (Red Dragon Restaurant) with some good stiff and cheap drinks should be part of the experience - it will make the haggling a lot more fun. If you like plants, you can also find some really cool bamboo and money trees at rock bottom prices.
It comes to my attention that what people see and expect of Chinatown are completely different from what Chinatown actually is. Chinatown didn't start out to please people and their palettes. It is the product of a group of people congregating to feel more at home in an alien place and culture. The Chinatown you see now is a skeleton of what it was and what it could have been, and it is to be considered "Old Chinatown." If you're looking for good Chinese food, go to San Gabriel Valley and other places to the east. Yeah, we're migrating back to the east the hard way or some such. If you're looking for a little dirty shopping and dirty food by the wayside, welcome to Chinatown.
Los Angeles is a sprawl so when you're looking for Chinatown, the real Chinatown has become a product of diaspora and mostly upwards fluxes of median income. In S. California, this leads to moving to where the greener grass is and in your wake leave the better foods to follow. Don't expect all things "Chinese" to be a one stop shop in a concentrated place, they have things for people that live Chinese, not like Chinese. I love my Chinatown because I know exactly where I want to go when I want to get something. Knock off purses? 2 stores come to mind. Cheap imported shoes I can run into the ground without feeling too much regret? 3 shops ring in my mind. Clothes? I know exactly where I want to go. Chinatown isn't truly a place to linger if you're in the heart of it. It's a place you go to before you get a real meal. It's the bargaining place of filling up your basic home life needs. Talk about SF and NYC all you like, those are places where Chinatowns can't just pop up in a suburb 20 miles away, you can have them if you like. I'm at home in my Chinatown in my cheap shoes and cheongsams. At least I've found clothing meant for my Asian body.
there are basically five types of shops you'll find in LA's chinatown.
the quintessential bakeries, souvenir shops, jewelry, ginseng/tea shops, and swapmeet type stores that have a little of everything.
come here knowing that and you'll expect a little less than without.
after awhile the stores begin to repeat themselves over and over.
the bakeries are cool to pick up a couple things or stop for a quick snack, but i wouldn't recommend eating around that area.. most of the restaurants looked really dirty, even though they had A's or B's from the health department.
other than that, it's still a fun place to spend an hour or two while being in LA.
+ everything is pretty cheap here
+ easily accessible by the gold line
- about five kinds of stores
- somewhat dirty
Cheap prices on random stuff, authentic Chinese food, and loads of short people. It's the way LA does Chinatown, and it's definitely authentic.
Well, it ain't San Francisco's Chinatown, but you can still get some great food here if you can look past the B ratings.
chinese new year anyone? unparalleled. Great place to get bamboo plants, and mini turtles. also got some cool hidden venues tucked away to catch some shows.
chinatown rocks my world.
i remember Chinatown as a kid not being so tourist-like. now, you see tourist everywhere! yikes. the la Chinatown cant compare to the sf Chinatown. sf has the best Chinatown, sorry to say.
This Chinatown is so run down, now. Well, they all are, but it doesn't have to be this bad. It's sad to even see Cathay Bank not doing anything about their exterior and just going along with the ghosttown status quo. Only East West Federal Bank has a whole new exterior if not the whole building. No wonder many often just go to Little Taipei. The parking and traffic here is bad and the area seems deserted and the Vietnamese and Thai's are setting up plazas. My low rating is not so much about the exteriors of this Chinatown but in comparison to other Chinatowns. It's still better than Chicago's Chinatown.
