Culver City’s Everything Spaces: The Platform
Across the street from Ivy Station is the next Culver City Everything Space: The Platform. It is a higher-end shopping area with a curated collection of restaurants, clothing, and design stores. If you have been following the blog for a while, you may remember this as the meeting place for my Culver City Arts District food tour.
There is a good mix of restaurants, shopping, and entertainment. Truly a Culver City Everything Space.
I tend to gloss over the chains in my blog, preferring to highlight small businesses on This Ugly Beautiful City. Most of the occupants of this mini-mall are smaller chains and businesses from around the world.
Table of Contents
Where to Eat In the Platform
This isn’t just a Culver City Everything Space; it is also a Culver City Everywhere space. In this boutique center, you can find Taiwanese boba tea, tacos from Mexico by way of the Bay area, Italian pastries, Neopolitan pizza from Brooklyn, and more.
Coffee & Tea
Boba Guys
If you are a boba fan, this is the place to go in Culver City. This is my favorite place for milk tea. It is brewed strong–with actual tea leaves, not powders. Their m.o. is to use natural ingredients–like real sweeteners and kinds of milk. Their specialty drinks use real ube and pumpkin, not syrups and chemicals. Basically, if it is fake, they aren’t using it. I also love that Boba Guys gives back to the community with their mentorship program Boba Bloom, which helps small businesses.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://www.bobaguys.com/los-angeles-express
- Address: 8820 Washington Blvd. #107
- What to order: I am a classic rose black tea drinker, but their strawberry matcha latte is their most popular.
- Cost: (All prices for smaller size) Classic black tea $4.95, Espresso milk tea $6.25
- Other: Menu esta disponible en Español
Blue Bottle
Located inside the Platform and across the street from the Culver City/Ivy Station, this is a great place to relax or work from elsewhere. Unlike other Blue Bottles, this place has plenty of places to sit, with a loft and back patio. The back patio is shared with Loqui–a great taco place if you hang out long enough to be hungry.
I know Blue Bottle is a chain, and in cities like San Francisco, they are as numerous as Starbucks. I am recommending it because it is a great cafe to work from; I love its tea lattes and this location.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://bluebottlecoffee.com
- Address: 8830 Washington Blvd Suite #103,
- Cost: Cappuccino $5.25, pour over $4.50, and small hojicha latte $5.50
- Note: FYI–it is not Hayden Tract; it is the Platform.
The website & menu for Loqui is here. Tacos are $6 or $6.50 depending on corn or flour tortillas, and taco bowls are $13.50.
Breakfast
Bianca
If you want more of a European cafe culture experience in Culver City, I recommend visiting the pastry counter at Bianca. Get an espresso, a Nutella croissant, and people-watch on the patio.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://www.biancalosangeles.com/bakery
- Address: 8850 Washington Blvd
- Cost: Pastries are $4-$6, espresso $3.90, brewed coffee $4.50, Spanish latte $6.50
Linner (That Lunch and Dinner combo we didn’t know we needed.)
Roberta’s
Roberta’s landed in Los Angeles ahead of its pizza revolution and before the Farmer’s Market was featured so heavily on pizza. Roberta’s uses a wood oven and isn’t afraid to leave a little char on the crust. I usually go for a specialty pie with a funny name like Porchettaboutit or Lieutenant Dan because they use ingredients that are in season.
The classics–also great options–will always be there. Their bee sting is the best bee sting in town. (IMO)
Don’t sleep on Roberta’s larger format dishes; they are the best and most consistent dinner options in this Downtown Culver City area. Roberta’s is surprisingly cheffy for a pizza joint.
THIS IS THE PLACE you should go to for dinner.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://www.robertaspizza.com/culver-city
- Address: 8810 Washington Blvd
- Cost: Pizza is around $25 (feeds two to three people or 1 with leftovers), Green lettuce salad is $16, pastas cost around $21.
- Other: Roberta’s has a big patio, which is great in the warmer months, but the lack of indoor seating in the colder months may give you pause.
Pop-ups (Food edition)
In the warmer months, The Platform hosts pop-ups on the patio shared by Blue Bottle and Loqui. These are usually the more popular pop-ups and food trucks in the city. They have hosted Yellow Paper Burger,Saucy Chick, Bungkus Bagus, and more. These take place on Saturdays and Sundays. Follow The Platform on Instagram–their website is behind on events.
Margot, on the roof of the Platform, hosts wine-makers’ nights where food and wine focus on a specific region. I heard that the Barbera night was incredible. If only I had been in town.
Where to shop at The Platform
The shops here cater to the crowd who have money to treat themselves. You are going to find high-quality items in the stores curated by the Platform, so maybe the splurge is worth it to have a piece for a few years. Clothing stores constantly change due to the nature of the setup for this location.
This outdoor mall surprisingly has a lot of men’s clothing options. If you, or someone you know, wants to level up their style, this is a great place to visit.
Reformation
I am the type of person who has to try things on. I can’t order online and hope for the best. It will mean I have a lot of clothing in my closet that I can’t wear with tags on.
When I saw that the sustainable brand Reformation was at The Platform, I was happy because it meant less debating over what size to order. I could go, try on the item, and then have it ordered for me.
The surprising thing about this store is that it looks empty. There are very few racks of clothing. It is just a collection of their styles in every size that are meant to try on.
They also work with Tradsey to ensure less clothing ends up in landfills, which is a good thing.
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://www.thereformation.com/stores/platform.html
- Address: 8810 Washington Blvd.
Pop-ups–Shopping Edition
Pop-ups aren’t just for food at the Platform. Stay tuned for clothing pop-ups like past residents Sezane, and Boy Smells.
Entertainment & More pop-ups
Like Ivy Station across the street, the park at the Platform hosts events like pumpkin patches and tree farms for the holidays, Krug releases, movies, crafters and makers fairs, and really more than I can mention.
There are outdoor movies when the weather is warmer. There is also a run club that meets every Saturday.
The Platform
Hours, cost, and other information
- Website: https://platformlosangeles.com/
- Address: 8810 Washington Blvd
So here are all of my recommendations for Culver City’s Everything Space: The Platform. I didn’t name all of the places there are to explore here–although it may seem like I have. There is more clothing and food. The Platform is generally a nice place to hang out and people-watch.
My last Everything Space comes up next.
I am working on revamping the blog over the next month; pardon the mess.