If you live in LA, first of all, we’re sorry, but second of all we get it. The weather is nice, weed is legal, and it’s practically mandatory to be chill AF. Unfortunately you can’t throw a diamond and not hit one of the worst people on the earth: a struggling actor. It is, after all, a city that gave itself a nickname of La La Land and insists that everyone else use it. Basically LA is the girl from your high school that went to college and told everyone “My name is Michelle but everyone calls me Mickey” even though nobody ever called her that. Anyway, this fake it till you make it attitude makes it hard to date in LA, because everyone is a Lyft driver or screenwriter aka unemployed. If you want to meet a guy with a real job, because yes you do, then here’s what we suggest.
1. DTLA
Actors notoriously hate going downtown, but you know who hangs out downtown? People who work downtown. There’s a ton of chill bars, restaurants, and trendy events to attend downtown. If you want to make sure to avoid the unemployed, go to happy hour for a drink with your friends or co-workers at The Rooftop or Perch or any of the dozens of overpriced cocktail bars. There’s no way an actor is going to make it to drinks at 6pm on a weeknight when all their auditions are in the Valley or the west side. Plus you can take a Lyft or the train from downtown easily and not worry about getting trashed.
2. Brunch In Santa Monica
Santa Monica is to be avoided during the week but on the weekends there’s a decent brunch scene and you can walk to the beach after getting blackout buzzed on mimosas. Sure, you might have to join a Zog sports team to fit in but the good thing about Zog sports is… um… sorry we forgot what we were saying.
3. Dirty Laundry In Hollywood
Yes we know it’s in Hollywood but this bar is great for people watching. You get typical musician types hanging out here on weeknights because of the live music aspect, but these are all Grammy award winning musicians that are just hanging out between flying off for Kanye’s next tour. The crowd on the weekends is definitely more 9-5 and you can start your night here before hitting up one of the many Hollywood clubs if you’re feeling particularly bored.
4. The Culver Hotel In Culver City
This is another spot to hear live music and get drunk on drinks that require a man in a bowtie to make them for you. The good thing about this place is that it’s on the west side, which is where the employed and ready for family types tend to nest. You’re not going to meet a guy who still Ubers around instead of buying a car even though he moved here 8 months ago.
5. The Line Hotel In K-Town
To be fair you’ll probably be more interested in dating someone you meet here if you’re actually Korean, but K-town has its own secret Yelp in Korean which makes the whole neighborhood a speakeasy basically. You can go to a spa, get cheap Korean food, and go to karaoke at all times of the night. The Line Hotel is celebrity chef Roy Choi’s creation, and it’s a party in the hotel lobby on the weekends where you don’t even mind when a stranger comes to talk to you because they’re usually hot and make six figs.
6. Ventura Blvd In Studio City
Studio City is the DTLA of the Valley. You’ll probably meet people who work in the industry, but they’ll be more agents, producers, development types. You can weed out the assistants by how many minutes it takes them to ask “what do you do?” or name drop their boss’s client. But go to the bars along Ventura like Laurel Tavern, Firefly, or The Six, and you can meet other chill young professionals. If you find a guy who’s well dressed and ordering whiskeys by name AND he never mentions where he works, then you should hang on to him—he def has a +1 for award show after parties and if you’re lucky he doesn’t actually live in the Valley.
