DaileyB

I really have no budget per se. I am probably saving $7 or $8,000 by not being able to go to China. If actually worth it, $$$ restaurants every night. Of course, if less expensive is equally good, I can do that.

DaileyB

In terms of the Airbnb in Vernon, I looked more closely and am mildly relieved. Apparently in an apartment bldg with a gym that works well for me. Also, secure parking. Apparently within walking distance of traditional chinatown. Apparently in same bldg as a CVS and small food market, which are pluses for me.

Turns out my nephew who is a trucker out of Ventura delivers there at least 3 days a week. Will ask him more closely about safety issues.

chrisl137

I haven't really been eating out much in quite a while, but used to eat around there a lot. A lot of my favorites have closed, but some are still there. In general, Sichuan food in the area will be pretty good - it's not like the americanized Sichuan that you get in most of the country. There will be lots of hot pots, and there's a steady flow of sichuan peppercorns into the area. If you want to pick up ingredients to take home, Hawaii Supermarket is good. They're my source for peppercorns.

101 Noodle Express still has two restaurants - the original on Valley and an expansion on Baldwin across the street from where Din Tai Fung was before they moved to the mall. A typical night was "lets go to Din Tai Fung", then we'd get there and see the wait and walk across the street to 101. The signature dish is the Shandong Beef Roll, but they also have good dumplings and other things.

Across the street from the 101 on Baldwin is Phoenix Food Boutique, a local chain (I think they still have multiple restaurants) that has various light-ish food, and JJ Bakery for dessert.

The corner of Valley and San Gabriel is pretty good if you're undecided. Shaanxi Garden is there (haven't been there yet) and gets good reviews, and Hunan Chili King has been there forever and is a decent standby. It looks like there's another Phoenix around the corner, and a hot pot place.

The area around Garfield and Garvey is probably the best other spot to check out, and along Garvey all the way to Atlantic, and up Atlantic. We used to go to a seafood place (NYC Seafood) at Atlantic & Garvey, but it's closed now. There's an "NBC Seafood" near there - not sure if it's a reincarnation or just a copycat name - from the pics it looks more like a copycat name. I just looked up another place that had spicy fish head soup that was really good, and it's gone now, too. Too much turnover, and no more Jonathan Gold to go preview them all. Chengdu Taste is at Valley and Atlantic, and I don't think I've been there but it gets good reviews.

ETA: I'd aim more for the San Gabriel Valley for Chinese food than the old LA Chinatown - it's more dynamic and caters to locals. My old west side food buddy is Chinese and would always come east to eat in the SGV, not Chinatown, and my old officemate (also from China) comes to the SGV to shop and eat - he lives at the far east end of the SGV that's more suburban.

Probably the DTLA garment district then.

corky

I agree about letting her research since she has her heart set on staying in Vernon ( ).
It sounds like she might like shopping around The Alley. All of the streets in the garment district have stores and jobbers
https://fashiondistrict.org/santee-alley

Need

We used to go to those cities for Chinese food, but now we normally go to Irvine or Rowland Heights. I really don't think there is any great Chinese food area within 5 miles of Vernon. Even 10 miles would be questionable. I think OP will either have to just Yelp @ Vernon and go with the best one came up. Or just drive to one of the Chinese restaurants cities.

626 Night Market would have been a fun place for 16 years old. We just took our 16 years old with his friends there a month ago. But I don't think there is one this week or next. Next one is 8/26-8/28. There is a "Mini" 626 at Santa Monica today and tomorrow. Not sure how "Mini" it would be, but Santa Monica is a nice place to visit so may not be a bad to go.

As for good Chinese restaurants, there is always the world famous Din Tai Fung. You kind of have to go at least once as a Chinese just so if someone asked, you can say that you have been there. Personally I don't think it is anything special, but my mom loves it. And you also probably want to go to a Hot Pot place (even though it is Summer and so hot here). Cheaper place (but good) would be Boiling Point. They are everywhere. More expansive place would be like Haidilao. You probably also want to take her to a Dim Sum place, but I don't have any recommendation. The ones we liked have not opened back up since Covid. Now they only do "go to" dim sum which is not the same experience. Again, if all else failed, just Yelp it.

Need

And if OP's daughter wants to try other food (not just Chinese), Grand Central Market and Smorgasburg are both less than 5 miles from Vernon I think.

bzcat

I'm still perplexed by Vernon. That's probably the last place I recommend someone visiting LA the first time to stay. It is far from everything you may want to visit and not easy to get to/from. And it is pretty gritty part of town to boot.

Great Chinese food will be easy to find. Yelp is generally spot on but the trick is the search for the specific food item (e.g. dumpling or beef noodle) or a type of regional Chinese cuisine or style (e.g. Sichuan or dim sum). If you just search for Chinese food, you end up with a page full of Panda Express and PF Chang's.

Also sounds like shopping in the garment district will be of interest to the daughter. The wholesale area around Santee Alley will be kind of an interesting walk about for her.

DaileyB

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Turns out AIRBNB was not in Vernon but near Chinatown and downtown LA. Much better than advertised, but I don't understand how owner gets away with giving out inaccurate information about location.

We went to a number of good restaurants. Nobu (Near Melrose I believe) had the best shrimp I have ever tasted. (popcorn shrimp). Also went to Din tai dung in a mall in Beverly Hills. My kids thought it had extremely good dim sum. (I personally am not a huge fan of dim sum)

My daughter's friend wanted to go to Hollywood. Sadly it had retrogressed from a dump to a slum. About 2 out of 3 storefronts were shut down.

I had never spent this much time in LA and the traffic was awful. Will never complain about Cincinnati traffic again.

All and all there was plenty to do and it was a good trip.

chrisl137

It's one of the required tourist experiences - it's usually ranked high in the guidebooks.

OskiBear

What's even odder is why the owner thinks Vernon is a better AirBnB location than Downtown/Chinatown!

Glad the trip worked out!

DaileyB

He probably is not allowed to have AirBnb at his current location.

DaileyB

One oddity. Just had a very good Chinese dinner in Cincinnati for 3 people and it cost $76. My kids are very food savvy and think the restaurant is in top 3 of any Chinese restaurants they have been to. Spent in $300 to $400 range in LA several times and meals were no better.

downinit

None of the great Chinese restaurants in the SGV are going to cost $100 pp, or anything even remotely close to that (more like $15-20 PP max). Not sure where you were eating, but LA is all about random strip mall restaurants, taco stands, and food trucks, not fine dining. Avoiding traffic is an art form for those of us who deal with it every day.

corky

They ate at Nobu and Din Tai Dung.....neither of those are anywhere in the the neighborhood of SGV prices.

azepine00

you can easily spend >100pp either at some upscale chinese places serving non-asian communities or at asian-targeting places offering some (perceived or real) exclusivity - could be with certain ingredients could be private room dining ect..
there absolutely no reason to go for that in LA if the goal is great and authentic food - as noted above countless strip malls (for simplicity around major stores like 99 ranch) will offer excellent and reasonable prices choices.. covid and inflation definitely drove prices up - i can no longer have dim sum for $10-15 pp total like in the past but 20-30 is survivable