Ah, Los Angeles: the land of promise and $24 Kale Smoothies. It goes without saying that it’s the center of the entertainment industry, that massive machine that has bequeathed us thoughtful cultural products like the Kardashians, Five Nights at Freddys and The Masked Singer. (Maybe thoughtful isn’t the right word.) True to form, L.A. is the center of the music industry, too: home to the biggest labels in the world, iconic live music venues, and the artists, producers and songwriters who make it all happen. It’s also where they all hang out. Here’s your guide to exactly where the haves and have-nots of the industry go. From swank hotels to exclusive members-clubs, as well as the luxury gyms where they detox and the bougie bars where they retox. A-one, a-two, a-three …
Smash-Hit Restaurants
CRAIG’S
8826 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Craig’s is still the epitome of Los Angeles celebrity culture. Regularly staked out by hordes of paparazzi since it opened in 2011, music stars and starwatchers hit up Craig’s for its unique menu, which combines SoCal sensibilities with a heavy helping of glitz in the form of a stacked vegan menu as well as honey truffle chicken and lobster diavolo. Run by eponymous owner Craig Sussner, the restaurant is so ubiquitous among industry heavyweights that a reservation here by a music industry starlet means they are practically begging to be seen.
GIORGIO BALDI
114 W Channel Road, Santa Monica, CA 90402
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, eat like Taylor. Or Rihanna. Or a bunch of other stars. One of the choicest Italian restaurants in LA, the lux Giorgio Baldi has been a staple for an array of molte bene, sauce-splattered dishes for the past 30 years. It also happens to be the favorite stomping ground for a bevy of music industry bigwigs, including the aforementioned pop queens who makes routine visits to Baldi’s. Rihanna’s reportley a fan of the restaurant since she was a fresh-faced 18 year-old in the early days of stardom, it’s been said that Rihanna has been known to order ravioli and gnocchi. Other disciples of the restaurant include Justin Bieber, Beyonce and Jay Z.
Brunch at Trendy Deal-Making Cafes
EREWHON
10 locations including 339 N Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
It’s the viral market and cafe that embodies Los Angeles’s crazed attention to up-to-the-minute fads and nutrition, and its penchant for steep prices. Specializing in organic goods, Erewhon has become much more than a simple marketplace for healthy food, but a chic sort-of dayclub where trendsetters head out to slurp down souped-up smoothies and people watch. That also includes starry partnerships, including a recent campaign with Olivia Rodrigo who cooked up a Good 4 Ur Guts smoothie (named after her recent album) made with a variety of fancy ingredients like Sea Buckthorn Puree and an Ion gut support supplement.
SQIRL
720 Virgil Ave #4, Los Angeles, CA 90029
Along the lines of Erewhon, Squirl is another trendy organic cafe known for its healthy and unique dishes, cult following and a see-and-be-seen atmosphere. It frequently hosts music’s behind the scenes players (think: the songwriters and producers who make today’s hits sing). The seemingly quaint cafe’s offerings are tailor-made for a pre-concert detox, from a rich green sorrel pesto rice and a crispy rice salad with tofu (on their breakfast menu), to buckwheat pancakes and fan-favorite ricotta toast.
Member-Only Hideaways
SOHO HOUSE WEST HOLLYWOOD
9200 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Sure, it’s faux-scarcity packaged with sleek design for (mostly) middle management, but Soho House still has pull. The longtime members-only chain of multipurpose clubs still lures show-business types, including bustling music industry decision makers and wannabes. Aside from its multiple in-house dining concepts (including Cecconi’s), its array of low-lit properties are also known for a regular run of events: performances booked in-house, artist confabs thrown by the major labels and the like. Hang out on the roof in their cabanas which have expansive views of the Hollywood Hills, while downstairs the sights are just as impressive — including a marble staircase to greet you in the lobby.
SOHO WAREHOUSE
1000 S Santa Fe Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90021
For a chiller vibe, Soho Warehouse is an out-of-the-way oasis. Located in a former sleepy district of warehouses and factories (Model T’s used to be constructed right down the street), the complex encompasses a club space, an airy, multi-level gym complete with saunas, steam rooms and punching bags, a hotel, and a sprawling array of couches and tables for today’s movers and shakers to get work done. And work is encouraged, especially with the cafe’s Infinity Coffee which can be filled and refilled to your heart’s content for seven bucks. The tricked-out cozy bedrooms, meanwhile, have special amenities like souped-up speakers (when you walk in, they’re already playing classical music) and a bathroom where everything from razors to eye cream are there for the picking. Best of all, a rolling bar cart roams from room to room handing out complimentary cocktails each early evening.
HEIMAT
960 N La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038
A cross between the swank Equinox fitness clubs and the aforementioned Soho Houses, Heimat is a members-only multi-level workspace, gym, spa, restaurant and cafe: all for a cool $350 a month. Open since summer 2022, it’s quickly become a meeting place for those head honchos of music who relish in wellness, culinary and fitness concepts. Throw in a bunch of Instagram-worthy spaces and one can conceivably stay from morning to late night working, working out and partying all under one roof. Perhaps that’s why music’s most Type A personalities, from executives to publicists and beyond, flock to the space.
Kick Back in Silver Lake
4100 BAR
1087 Manzanita Street, Los Angeles, CA 90029
For music’s up-and-comers, alternative acts and tender singer-songwriters, hanging out in the gentrified enclaves of Silver Lake and Echo Park are essential parts of the creative and social scene. That includes Billie Eilish who famously launched her career from the family home in the area. True to form, the hip communities have the watering holes to boot, like the laidback 4100 Bar, a welcoming dive equipped with the concrete floors, leather booths, pool tables and holiday lights that foretell a good hang. If the bar ever starts to feel too wild, you can escape to its massive patio which has plenty of seating. The drinks here are basic (read: inexpensive) but this is Los Angeles, and any beer tastes good when sipped under a temperate sun.
THE THIRSTY CROW
2939 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
Remember the old Coach & Horses in Hollywood? Same vibe. The Thirsty Crow is small and pretty chill Silverlake saloon, but the list of whiskeys is long. Even better: a regular array of drink specials. Two for one Moscow Mules are music to our ears. If you dare, walk in on a happening Sunday and fight your way to the bartender. As Father John Misty once sang: “Nothing Good Ever Happens at The Goddamn Thirsty Crow.”
TENANTS OF THE TREES
2810 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Lest we forget Tenants of the Trees. Located a few short blocks from the northern tip of the eponymous Silver Lake, pulling up to this hotspot may not seem like much. Its wooden facade looks barren and a simple sign reads “cocktails.” Once inside, the hype comes to life on top of its distinctive black and white checkered floor. Look around: you’ll never know who you’ll see here, and don’t forget to hit up the space’s best part: a chill outdoor space dotted with those trees you’ve heard so much about, all adorned with twinkle lights.
And Have a Legendary Night
THE BEVERLY HILTON
9876 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Over the decades, the iconic Beverly Hilton has been home to some of the most legendary, and infamous, moments in the annals of music history. Perhaps most famously, it’s been ground zero for legendary producer Clive Davis’s annual Pre-Grammy Gala, which fetes the hottest names in music who all link up in the hotel’s ballroom the night before the Grammy Awards. Last year guests included everyone from Joni Mitchell to Cardi B. Hobnob in its swank lobby lounge on shiny marble floors, or kick back at its on-site restaurant Sant’olina which is perched on the rooftop of the seven-story hotel.
CHATEAU MARMONT
8221 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Anyone who has even a cursory knowledge of Los Angeles music history is fully aware of the Chateau Marmont, the hidden hotel high above winding Sunset Boulevard and the preferred haven for generations of music industry VIPs. Its reputation is still going strong as of late, with a bevy of industry confabs regularly happening here. Of course, it’s famed Bar Marmont has been named-dropped in famous songs like Miley Cyrus’s “Plastic Hearts” and Lana Del Rey’s “Off to the Races.”
