As a historian, I beg you, don't subject more people to the fake Olvera Street that was Christine Sterling's 1930s impression of a Mexican market that never existed in the heart of Los Angeles... It's freaking auto club kitch in the oldest part of town, and bears no relation to traditional California culture. Hell, the real history of the place is so hidden by fake Mexican that one could hardly tell it existed. For example, the building at the far east, is the Italian-American hall...and that of the far west, a traditional Chinese store. All the Hispanic merchants in bad Mexican folk costumes wouldn't know the history of the town if it bit them in the backside.

Taking a San Diegan to Olvera Street is sort of like taking a Frenchman to the Paris themed casino in Vegas. It's erzatz....and not even a very good replica or fantasy. There's nothing there that your guest can not get better in her home town, cheaper in TJ, or more historically authentic in Old Town San Diego.

Better to take her to eat down the street from Union Station at Phillipe's, a real Los Angeles institution. Or explore Chinatown or Little Tokyo with your guest. Or park at the station and take the red line subway out to Grand Central Market on Broadway where there are all sorts of great places to get a good lunch from Mexican to seafood....and then walk 4 blocks to the LA Public Library. Or park near Hollywood & Highland, ride the Red Line in, and return to explore on Hollywood Blvd. Or go down to the Fashion district. Take some ideas from HERE

Why not celebrate the real Los Angeles treasures...
Rather than a historical abomination?