Skee-ball, Beer and Vegan Sushi - A Fun Walk Through Los Angeles' Art District

Today my mom flew in from Florida to help out after my big knee surgery two weeks ago. I’ve been mostly bound to the condo so was ready to get out. She’s always up for an adventure — even if the Bunny Museum in Pasadena slightly scarred her a few years back (let’s just say freeze-dried bunnies leave an impression!).

For her first big day in LA, I thought we’d have some fun with the hipsters in the blooming Arts District in downtown LA. I was shocked by how much has changed in just the 6 years that my partner and I moved to LA. Back in 2010, there was one main coffee shop…. and that was about it!

Graffiti artists not only to decorate the buildings but the official neighborhood sign!

Well, the times have changed and today the Arts District is practically unrecognizable from just a few years back. There are the buzzy restaurants like Bestia (good luck with that reservation!) and dozens of galleries and boutiques. Just a few weeks back, The New York Times wrote that within the past 2 years more than 24 galleries have moved into the warehouses and decommissioned factories in downtown Los Angeles

Beer and Skee-ball

Arts District Brewing Company was our first stop, naturally (since this was my secret reason for having us come down here!). I may not be able to walk but I can have a beer and play Skee-ball. We arrived around 6 PM on a Saturday night and the place was packed! I couldn’t even imagine what the place is like during peak hours.

Besides Skee-ball, Arts District Brewing Co. has darts and bean bag toss.

They offer a variety of micro-brews on tap by the pint or my choice, the flight!

The best deal for first timers – the flight of beer to sample the microbrews.

The machines take credit cards, which depending on how you look at it could be a good thing or bad! No quarters needed, but I’m pretty sure I spent $15 bucks in less than 30 minutes.

Time to get competitive on the Skee-ball game.

Poking Around in Poketo

I love shopping, so was excited to see a fun looking shop just around the corner from the brewery called Poketo. It’s one of those shops that every hipster dreams about. Very cool, unique gifts and decor and full of things you’d probably never buy normally! The company is from a husband and wife team and prides itself as a purveyor of design-driven wares meant to instill art into everyday living.

So many gifts and decor items at the cool shop flagship store Poketo.

Like our neighbors to the North in San Francisco, the tech boom is heating up in LA. Poketo started off as an upstart, then an online destination and now has two stores in LA (the flagship store in the Arts District and another at the Koreatown LINE Hotel). So shop away — and don’t let all those Skee-ball games you charged at the brewery hold you back (too much!).

Vegan Sushi

All the shopping and the beer got us hungry! So we headed over to my favorite downtown restaurant Shojin. I’ve written about this place (as the best place to go on Valentine’s Day). It’s located on the top of a non-descript mall full of Asian home good stores, Karaoke bars and bar-be-que restaurants.

Inside one of the fun Asian stores in the shopping plaza with Shojin.

But Shojin is such a mystery — draped with a brown curtain out front and once you go inside is a high-end, sit-down eatery.

The top recommendation is the baked scallop sushi ($15). Lightly smoky flavor with mushrooms, onions and spicy tofu and avocado on top. It’s then topped with their special “dynamite sauce” that they torch table side with a blow torch! Okay, the real reason I love it…. Dinner with a free show!

My mom is close to the flame — broiling the vegan sushi table side.

Afterward, we had some vegan, gluten-free desserts…if only it had no sugar!

So we had dessert at the restaurant, but as we were leaving the mall we saw this trailer. They sold these hot sweet pancakes and Taiyaki (a sweet desert filled with various fillings). We got custard and it was ammmmazing! I’m guessing these aren’t vegan!