Los Angeles itinerary for parents: Friday

With so much to do in Los Angeles and holidays around the corner, you may be wondering, what should I do with my parents in Los Angeles? If this is you, I hope this series of posts, Los Angeles Itinerary for Parents, will help you out. Continuing on, here is what we did the first full day in Los Angeles. (See previous posts for arrival day and itinerary building.)

NOTE: As of the update of this post, 11/24/2021, Los Angeles County is under COVID mandates. If you need help navigating travel for your guests or what to do while there are here, read this cheat sheet.

Divide, conquer, and make everyone happy

Not everyone enjoys the same things. Vacations can, unfortunately, mean compromise, but what if it doesn’t have to?

Maybe you have a similar problem when you have visitors come to town. Trying to make everyone happy at the same time doesn’t really work. Maybe your sister could care less about hiking, but that is all your dad wants to do. Instead of dear sis sitting in the car social media-ing her time away while you hike stressed out because you are taking too long, maybe part of your group goes to a pop-up like the Museum of Ice Cream.

If you have the ability to divide your group, I strongly recommend it. If you look at the table of likes from this post, you see different themes for both my mom and dad. Today’s situation was my mom hates sushi and my dad could really care less about shopping.

Dividing your group might be a little extra work, but that is where I hope to come in.

Friday, our first full day

This post is a good resource for finding something to do on Fridays. If you have family in town on Fridays save this post. Or if you are an Angeleno looking for something to do on a Friday, this Los Angeles itinerary for parents is for you.

Our first full day in Los Angeles was pretty food-focused. There is a restaurant my father needs to check off his list whenever he is in town, but my mom wouldn’t find anything there she would consider eating. So, we decided to divide and conquer the west side. This was day one of two where my mom and I did one thing and my husband and father did something else. 

Keywords from the table of likes checked off: Relaxing vacations, celebrity, shopping, Japanese food, great food

My Mom & I

Westfield Century City

My mom and I love shopping. Not always buying things, but the act of it; the people-watching, the aimless wandering, the deals that can be had. Outdoor malls aren’t very commonplace in northern climates— so again, being outside in late September without a coat is a treat. We headed out early to shop at Westfield Century City. It was lucky for us because as we were waiting in line at a store with our purchases, we happened to see Rod Stewart. He was exchanging some things in advance of his sold-out show that night at the Hollywood Bowl with Jeff Beck.

More often than not, I have seen celebrities at this mall. It is very close to Beverly Hills, Fox Studios, and the famous agency, and talent agencies. If your guests want a chance of seeing “someone” I recommend a trip to Westfield Century City.

Terra at Eataly

High off of our celeb siting, we headed up to lunch at Terra at Eataly so we could have more patio time. We enjoyed cocktails and shared a bunch of things like burrata and tomatoes, fried potatoes, skewers of various meats, and carrots. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs so we had to skip the gelato cart, sadly. I do recommend you save room for that.

The patio at Terra is one of my favorites, it is super loungy, with a view of the hills, and the fresh herbs planted throughout the space adds relaxing aromatherapy. The food is great and crowd-pleasing. If you decide not to divide and conquer, this would be a great option for everyone.

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://www.eataly.com/us_en/stores/los-angeles/la-terra/
• Location: See above link for address and parking information.
• Eat: Anything listed above. Any of the skewers, the mushroom being a favorite of mine. The Bloody Mary cart during weekend brunch and gelato cart shouldn’t be missed.
• Cost: Our meal was about $40 per person with drinks. We ordered way too much food, so you could probably get away with a cheaper lunch than we did,
• Good for: Most everyone. Vegetarians will find some good options, but it may be harder for vegans. Those on a Keto diet will have a field day. The patio is great for groups.

Husband & Father

West LA

A logical and close place for group two to go was West Los Angeles. It was close from a carpool standpoint. Neither of us having to trek to the other side of the city to check places off our list. There is a place that my father must go when he visits Los Angeles and it wasn’t too far from Century City Mall.

Shunji

Shunji holds a special place in my heart, not only have we had some of the best sushi in the city here but it is where my husband asked my father if he could marry me. Shunji is in a pretty unassuming stucco circular building along Pico Boulevard. Don’t blink, you might miss it entirely. I may be incorrect, but I think before it was Shunji is may have been a tiny Mexican restaurant in its previous life, the building is almost sombreroesque. Los Angeles was into some serious kitsch in the 50s. (Correction: It was a Chili Bowl, a long-closed franchise in Los Angeles.)

During lunch, Shunji is sushi-focused. I recommend the sushi lunch set that offers you a wide range of high-quality fish for an economical price. In this set, you get miso soup, a dozen nigiri, and a crab handroll. Due to the variety of fish on hand on any given day, it is easy to avoid shellfish or fish high in mercury, for example. I would, however, keep substitutions to dietary constraints. The atmosphere during lunch is pretty quiet and could be a great power lunch spot.

Dinner is more centered around the chef’s omakase, which I had the pleasure of having a few years ago. You won’t see a lot of sushi during this meal but as a finish. They will keep giving you sushi until you say when, so think about your wallet if you decide to keep going.

Next time it is my turn to hit up Shunji.

NOTE: AS OF THIS POST UPDATE, 11/24/21, Shunji is only offering its omakase service at dinner.

Hours, cost, other information

• Website: http://shunji-ns.com/
• Location: 3003 Ocean Park Blvd.
• Cost: $40 plus tax and tip for the sushi set
• Good for: I think everyone, but if you don’t like fish, like my mom, you would be hardpressed to find something you would eat.
  

Other lunch sushi options: The only other option that I think matches the quality and price of a sushi lunch set is Sushi Gen in DTLA’s Little Tokyo. There is a lot of high-end sushi in Los Angeles and you can also drop a bunch of money to have a great meal, but you don’t have to.

Together

This is the part of the Friday Los Angeles itinerary for parents that we enjoyed together. My father met us back at the mall and we did a little picnic shopping at Eataly for our upcoming excursion to the Hollywood Bowl-not the sold-out show mentioned above.

Eataly

Eataly is a wonderland of food. We are often there during their sales to get American Wagyu steaks, stock up on good olive oil, fresh pastas, and wine. For the Bowl we picked up salami and a boar sausage as well as fresh mozzarella that I used in a peach salad.

This is also a great place to add to your Los Angeles itinerary for parents because there are so many options here. It feels set up like a European city. You stop at one place to get coffee, head upstairs to grab a loaf of bread for your dinner, and choose your proteins at a fishmonger, butcher, or homemade pasta.

The food court area has Roman pizza, beautiful pastries, and other prepared foods making it another crowd-pleasing option for your group. Also, they are always sampling their products on the floor and there are wine tastings.

There are s few Eatalys in the United States, but none close enough for my parents to have been in one before. This is probably true for your parents as well, unless they live in Chicago, New York, or Boston.

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://www.eataly.com/us_en/stores/los-angeles/
• Location: See above website
• Cost: Groceries aren’t the most economical. You are definitely paying for the experience of shopping in a gourmet grocery store. That being said, they do a lot of sales and you can get quality wine for $20 or under.
  

Westfield Century City continued

Even if you have people in your group that aren’t big shoppers this is a great mall to visit. While people in your group are finding those perfect outfits and deals, there are plenty of lounge areas with free wifi, you can check out a movie or one of the VR experiences at Dreamscape. This mall also has a pretty large kid play area with tons of games and things to climb on.

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://www.westfield.com/centurycity
• Location: 12050 Santa Monica Blvd.

[Getting there: Westfield Century City is on Santa Monica Blvd which is accessible by LA Metro bus 28 and 728, the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus 5, and Culver City bus 3. There is an Uber lounge which makes it easy to get dropped off and picked up.]

Other options for outdoor malls in Los Angeles: The Grove, Americana at Brand, and Santa Monica Place.

Santa Monica

My advice is that once you are on the westside for the day you should stay on the westside. I caution you from crossing large portions of the city on the same day. You will hate your time here if you are always in the car.

A great place to go after Century City is the Bergamont area of Santa Monica. It is closer to West LA and not all the way west to the downtown core.

Birdie G’s

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After an extended shopping and hang at the apartment, we jumped back on the Expo Line for an early dinner at Birdie G’s in Santa Monica. This place is pretty hot right now and deserves it. I was curious to know what two midwesterners thought this place that is so full of food we grew up with. This was my third time eating dinner at Birdie G’s and both previous times wondered what my parents would think.

The restaurant was completely booked due to all of the accolades this place has been getting from the local foodie publications. I strongly suggest making reservations. I had booked a patio table again for us. Not only to enjoy the extended summer but when the restaurant is completely packed, the interior dining room is just a wall of sound. 

Dinner at Birdie G’s is large-format which is perfect for sharing and tasting as much of the menu as possible.

That evening we ate:

• The relish tray–You can’t really get more mid-western than this. When it comes to FriendsGiving, this is my jam. I love bringing the relish tray, but when I volunteer this dish no one knows what I am talking about. What is a relish tray? A relish tray is usually a dip with fresh and pickled vegetables. The one at Birdie G’s is pretty nostalgic with a California twist. The dip is five onion, my weakness, and local vegetables that were both familiar and surprising. It varies from the traditional carrots and tomatoes to ice plant and pickled sunchokes.
• Cornbread–The pickled chili butter raises this up another level without being overly spicy.
• Italian sausage ravioli–This was a table favorite. It is spicy and very meaty. 
• Crab and prawn cake–This was another table favorite. It is so packed with crab and shrimp, you aren’t quite sure how it holds itself together.
• Gnocchi Sardo with pesto–This is a dish that my mother and I shared because she won’t touch seafood with a ten-foot pole. The gnocchi tastes pretty fresh and light for it being basically potatoes and cheese. 
• Blue plate special— Beef tongue pot roast- the pot roast was very similar in taste to corned beef. This mixes well with the tiny butter-drenched potatoes were my favorite
• Chocolate cake–I don’t typically like cake, but I really like this one
  

Hours, cost, and other information

• Website: https://www.birdiegsla.com/
• Eat: All of the above. If you happen to be there when the Blue Plate Special is the Beef Stroganoff, you need to get it. The kasha cakes are pretty great as well.
• Cost: This is a choose your own adventure type menu. Is it possible to get out for under $40 per person? Yes. It wouldn’t be as fun though because you are missing out on a lot of the menu.
• Good for: Groups. It would be a little hard to do solo or even couple dining here.

After Birdie G’s it was only a couple stops on the Expo Line until we were home, happy and full. This post does seem long and jam-packed for one day, but if you break it down, it was a couple hours of shopping and eating, then a rest, and then dinner.

Coming up, more days in the Los Angeles itinerary for parents. What we did on the weekend.