Results tagged “goodgrove”

A year ago today, a barely beta-tested LAist was born. The cast of three who primarily kept it running—two of which are still on staff—had spent a month planning and writing, trying to keep abreast of topics and issues that would interest Angelenos. We wanted to focus on the things that make LA a viable, vibrant place to live; the odds and ends that are often glossed over on the way to covering the bright star of Hollywood.

Christmas in LA has always been kind of a muted affair. Too many of the hallmarks of the season are in short supply in SoCal. There's no snow, no sleigh rides, and palm trees just don't make a suitable substitute for Christmas trees. There's a reason they film all those Christmas movies in New York. There are no "Miracles on Wilshire Boulevard." So every year around this time, while New York transforms into a magical winter wonderland full of Christmas spirit, LA has always just kind of thrown up its hands, put up a few lights here and there and waited for spring to roll around.

Whoever told you it's all happening at the Zoo was way off. If you live in Los Angeles, it's all happening at The Grove. In its short time on our city's cultural landscape, the Grove has become LA's focal point for events big and small, mainstream and offbeat, for hipsters and dweebs alike. There's almost always something going on. Of course, that means if you just want to pick up a t-shirt at the Gap, you're running the risk of getting delayed by some massive, unexpected event. Luckily, there are exactly 45,691 other Gaps in the LA area. But if you're interested in what the Grove has to offer besides shopping, here's a look at some of the events worth checking out — or avoiding — in the days ahead:

We can't be too hard on this latest Grove news, though. At the very least, we're hoping this new Factory outpost will siphon off just enough business from the other Cheesecake Factories in the area to make them easier to get into. And that alone tips the balance just slightly towards making the impending Cheesecake Factory a part of the Good Grove.

After a couple months of tackling our conflicted feelings about LA's most beloved new disposable income dump the Grove, we're ready for something a little different. So now, on a rotating basis with our Good Grove/Bad Grove column, we present a look at LA's other new dump, Hollywood & Highland. It's a dump of bad ideas, bad design, bad traffic and just plain bad vibes. When it comes to Hollywood & Highland, there's nothing to be conflicted about. As far as we can see, it's just all bad.

We've all been stuck in this predicament: you have relatives or friends visiting from out of town, and they want to do some sightseeing. You beg and plead with them, "Trust me! Hollywood is skuz central!" and "You've seen the handprints at Mann's Chinese on TV. Isn't that good enough?" and "No, I will not spend five hours with you searching out Don Knotts' star." But they drag you up to Hollywood Boulevard, and you do your best to keep your spirits up. "Yeah, R2-D2's footprints. Hilarious." And they're still not satisfied. Seeing Sean Connery's appendages immortalized in cement only whets their appetite for the real thing. "This is Hollywood," they say. "I want to see some !"

If we had our way, every garage in this city would have 100,000 spaces, all with easy elevator access, and they'd have 100 exit lanes, each staffed by a friendly cashier with a lenient approach to the validation policy, and oh yeah, all the walls would be made of rich milk chocolate with a creamy nougat center. But if we can't build our garages in Fantasyland, we'll take the one at the Grove instead.

This city was built on a combination of creativity and stupidity, and few landmarks capture that spirit better than the Grove's terminally tongue-lashed, two-tiered transport vehicle. It's bizarre, it's asinine, and in many, possibly unintentional ways, it's a perfect metaphor for L.A., fusing the inventive and the pointless in one single, silly cultural icon. Every mall needs its hook, some bit of design that sets it apart from the other approximately five gajillion malls in Southern California, and no matter what you think of the trolley, you have to admit it's better than those puzzling anonymous quotes from "Screenwriter" and "Line Producer" tiled into the pavement at Hollywood and Highland. (Soon to be featured in our upcoming column "Bad Hollywood and Highland/Bad Hollywood and Highland".)

It probably won't come as much of a surprise that the best thing about the Grove isn't even technically a part of it. When construction on the Grove was approved, preservationists feared what would become of L.A.'s historic Farmer's Market. As it turns out, they didn't need to worry. Since the Grove opened in 2002, the Farmer's Market has for the most part managed to retain its individuality, while at the same time teeming with the overflow from its newer, flashier neighbor. It's even maintained its own parking lot so that Market patrons wouldn't have to worry about the hassle of the Grove's mega-garage.

Okay, so the Grove may not have booked J-Lo, who's kind of like the Tiffany of today, but they do have K-Lo and L-Lo. That's "American Idol" Kimberly Locke and soundtrack songstress Lisa Loeb to you. They'll be performing live this Wednesday at 7:00 PM.

This week's installment of Good Grove/Bad Grove was going to focus on the impact the Grove shopping complex at Fairfax and Third has had on other local businesses, and as it turns out, our timing couldn't be more apt. As anyone who attempted to see the exclusive L.A. engagement of She Hate Me this week (anyone?) discovered this past Sunday, the struggling AMC Beverly Connection cinemas breathed their last breath and, without any warning, closed their doors.

Today's entry: Pacific's The Grove 14 Theatres. There's no question this is a beautifully designed theater with big, comfortable seats, awesome sound and everything LA's many, many film geeks demand. We love the cavernous lobby and the retro marquee out front. We even like the little bellhop uniforms the employees wear (though we suspect the employees themselves might disagree).