LA’s original gay enclave is the Silver Lake neighborhood, northwest of Downtown LA. Trendsetters have long mixed with a substantial Latino population, and today its rolling hills are lined with pillbox-sized homes, hip clubs and eateries, Salvadoran pupuserias and trendy, friendly bars.
Get started at Sunset Junction, where Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards meet Fountain Avenue. Enjoy lunch or dinner at Café Stella or brunch at Dusty’s. For snacks, try a Cuban guava-cream cheese pastry at Café Tropical. Walk off that food coma in Griffith Park, the nation’s largest urban park. You can stand on top of the world and take in spectacular views of the LA Basin and the stars above. If the shopping bug hits, browse Uncle Jer’s or Wacko for fun and funky gifts or Rough Trade for leather accessories.
At night, Akbar is a friendly lounge of low-key cool. Predominantly gay but straight-friendly, it features Moroccan-inspired décor, a jukebox filled with oldies-but-coolies and a separate dance floor. Up Hyperion Avenue, busy MJ’s has frequent specials and club nights, and the Other Side is the city’s leading piano bar with talented — and sometimes campy — singers.
Speaking of camp, the monthly club Dragstrip 66 has a different theme each time and an inventive DJ; you don’t have to wear drag but get a discount if you do. Some of Dragstrip’s performers also appear at the Cavern Club Theater inside Casita del Campo Mexican restaurant.
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