The Brief

It’s rare when the fútbol powers that be regale the masses with serious competitions in the USA —which is why stateside lovers of the beautiful game should rejoice!

For just the second time in its 100+ year history, the Copa América will return to the U.S., with South America’s finest teams competing against each other across 12 American cities.

Messi and Argentina, Vinicius and Brazil, Darwin and Uruguay, etc. will also face the U.S. and Mexico, and other rivals from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Thankfully, Los Angeles is one of the host cities. Tens of thousands of lucky soccer fans will swarm SoFi Stadium for one or two of the games: Brazil vs Costa Rica on June 24 and Venezuela vs Mexico on June 26.

If you don’t have a ticket, you can still join in the festivity. There will be plenty of places for fans to watch, cry and celebrate all the drama a soccer tournament brings with it.

The following list include a few recommendations for each participating nation*. Wherever you go and whomever you root for, may the fútbol gods be in your favor.

*Unfortunately, we could not find any events or restaurants in L.A. that specialize solely in the cuisines of Canada, Costa Rica, Paraguay or Uruguay. We hope this state of affairs is fixed by 2026 when the FIFA World Cup comes to town!

ARGENTINA

Mercado Buenos Aires

The first thing one notices when entering either of the Mercado Buenos Aires locations are the jerseys framed on the walls and scarves from Argentinian teams hung aloft. The jerseys of many legends of Argentine balompie are lined up in a football version of the Catholic stations of the cross.

The second thing one notices is the large mural depicting both Diego Armando Maradona, the deceased legend sometimes referred to as D10s, and his sporting heir Lionel Messi, global superstar and current captain of La Albiceleste.

While fans won’t be able to watch Messi & Co. live in Los Angeles, they will able to do so beside his mural while imbibing on the best of Argentine cuisine. Dine in and hit up the small grocery store inside to take some pastries, wines and sauces home.

Malbec Argentina

Malbec is the spot if you want to get fancy with it. The skirt steaks are amazing, and there aren’t enough adjectives to convey the mouth-watering wonders of their seafood menu. The Eagle Rock location includes a small market where you can purchase wines and other goodies; the Pasadena location has the TVs to watch Argentina attempt to retain its title as champion. The latter also features live music and tango on occasion.

BOLIVIA

Pao’s Pastries & Cafe

Options for Bolivian food are limited in L.A. Simply put, it’s one of the South American diasporas and gastronomy least represented in these parts. Thankfully, Pao’s Pastries & Cafe has held it down as the only Bolivian food restaurant in the county since 2019. The family-run business serves up numerous staples of Bolivian cuisine. You want silpancho? You GOT silpancho! You want cuñapes? You GOT cuñapes! And so forth.

The place is small, but if you get there in time, you’ll be able to enjoy a meal and the games. We recommend ordering a big batch of salteñas (Bolivian empanadas) for your watch party.

BRAZIL

Café Brasil

Cruise down Washington Blvd. in Culver City and you’ll eventually come upon a pair of brightly colored, tropical vibing buildings. One of those buildings is Cafe Brasil, home to a variety of Brazilian cuisine, all day breakfast, tropical juices, and delicious coffee. It’s like a mini version of Rio de Janeiro!

The building next door is a Brazilian-themed motel. We’ll let you explore that one on your own.

H&H Brazilian Steakhouse 

Do you love meat, barbecue, Brazil and restaurants with hundred dollar steaks? Have we got the spot for you! Celebrate a win by Brazil by bringing your group of friends to H&H for the churrasco experience! It may not have the futbol samba vibe you’ll want during a game, but you’ll eat real good!

Locations and hours:

CHILE

Rincón Chileno

This unassuming spot on Melrose near LACC has been a hidden gem for decades. Once inside Rincón Chileno, you’ll be warped into a cafe in Santiago and treated to your choice of Chilean delicacies. A single widescreen TV in the main room won’t distract from the taste of your tilapia or milanesa. Don’t forget to grab some empanadas, baked with fresh dough in-house, and wine to go from the attached delicatessen next door.

COLOMBIA

El Paisa

El Paisa in Long Beach (not to be confused with the various eateries throughout L.A. county of the same/similar name that serve Mexican cuisine) feels like a nonstop party no matter the time of day. Don’t be surprised if you walk in during the middle of someone’s amazing karaoke number. If you’re truly lucky, the karaoke will also include a band playing the song live instead of the karaoke machine. Take that energy and multiply by infinity when Colombia plays during the tournament!

La Fonda Antioqueña

La Fonda may not have live music or karaoke serenades, but it still offers great food and a wonderful atmosphere. You may even find yourself rooting on Colombia next to a celebrity, Colombian or otherwise, as many have been known to stop by (as evidenced by all the photographs on one wall).

ECUADOR

La Casita de Cancún Olé

L.A. was once home to a few amazing Ecuadorian food restaurants. Unfortunately, many of them have closed down in recent years. Thankfully, one of the best still stands strong: Cancún Olé. The owners shut down their brick & mortar location (minus the occasional holiday event) and moved everything into their home, hence the new name of La Casita de Cancún Olé.

During the 2022 World Cup, the owners set up a few TVs inside the living room and others outside in the front patio along with a DJ, a sound system, a karaoke machine and LOTS of food that seemed to float endlessly out of the kitchen. We expect this same setup this summer and also expect to cheer, laugh, sing and dance together with Ecuador’s diaspora, just like we did two years ago.

JAMAICA

Wah Gwaan Jamaican Kitchen and Bar

The motto that the fine folks at Wah Gwaan live by is “Good food. Good vibes.” If they weren’t so humble, they would probably switch it up to “Great food. Great vibes” because that would be more accurate. The jerk chicken is well-known as some of the best you can get off the island, and someone out there has surely written an epic poem as an ode to their curry shrimp.

The staff at Wah Gwaan recently celebrated their two-year anniversary with an outdoor party in the parking lot complete with music, good food and good vibes. There’ll be plenty of food and positive vibes here each time Jamaica plays during the tournament. They also do catering if you want to host the food and vibes at your watch party.

MÉXICO

There are literally too many events and restaurants for the Mexican national team to list here. You can go out and cheer/jeer with total strangers at dozens of locations or keep it chill at home with the kids and grandparents. Our take? Read on!

El Pescador 

The Ortiz family opened its first El Pescador location in 1983 in Bell Gardens. 40 years later, they’ve expanded to 15 locations in four counties. The Carson location is one of the latest to open up and features a large lounge and bar area in the front (aka Cantina #11) that’s great for watching live games.

There are multiple screens on every wall, a firme sound system, a DJ area and, if time schedules coincide, a live mariachi for serenatas.

Don Chente Bar & Grill

This restaurant is nestled on one side of Plaza La Alameda where Huntington Park meets Walnut Park meets Florence-Graham. There’s a huge statue of Chente outside for all your influencer needs, and this particular location also sells pulque once in a blue agave moon.

There are other locations spread throughout L.A. if you’re not up for the drive…but you also won’t have bronze Chente by your side!

Estrella Jalisco will also host watch parties for specific games in the plaza with a stage, music and a massive screen. They have not announced which games yet as of this publication.

PANAMA

Caribbean Soul Kitchen LA

The pride of Panama is on Wilshire Blvd. between Detroit and Cloverdale: Caribbean Soul Kitchen LA. You can’t miss it: it’s the brightest spot on the block! Here you’ll find husband-and-wife duo Chef RJ and Mercedes serving up dishes from Panama plus some Jamaican delicacies tossed in for good measure (chef is Panamanian with a Jamaican grandfather).

They’re still working out the logistics for two of the three games scheduled so far, as they fall on days they are typically closed. Call ahead to see if they’ll open for the games or if they’ll be catering a watch party somewhere.

Si-Mon

Upscale, swanky and laidback! Head down to Venice for the post-game vibes (no TVs here) at this newly opened spot S¡!-Mon and celebrate/mourn with the amazing seafood options and a delicious cocktail. Definitely make a reservation though!

PERU

El Agachadito

El Agachadito is a classic and timeless success story. The family-owned and operated business began in the family garage where the owners, the in-laws and the kids all helped cook and serve Peruvian dishes. The family eventually opened a stand in Van Nuys until graduating to a physical location in Panorama City...which opened just last month! Celebrate with the family by catching a game with a fistful of anticuchos.

Casa Chaskis

Casa Chaskis is where you go if you want to relive your trip to Cusco...or just say that you did without anyone knowing that you didn’t! You’ll have the added benefit of not suffering from altitude sickness (IYKYK). The space boasts a large patio, lots of beautiful art related to Peru and the Andes and loads of Peruvian gastronomy staples from the appetizers to the main dishes (white meat, dark meat AND seafood) to desserts. And if you’re still on the fence about it, I have two words for you: maracuya cheesecake!

UNITED STATES

This is the host nation’s second time playing the Copa América tournament. The Stars & Bars reached the semifinal in 2016, falling to Messi and Argentina, and will no doubt be looking to take it all this time as the new generation of U.S. players continues to leave its imprint on its way to hosting the next World Cup.

Here are a few options:

33 Taps DTLA 

33 Taps in downtown L.A. is the official home of the American Outlaws, a fan group dedicated to supporting the US national team. Wear your favorite U.S. jersey (bonus points for the ‘94 kit!) and join in the chants if you “believe that we will win!” There are also locations in Silver Lake and Culver City if you want to chant “YOU-ESS-AYE” in a different zip code. Plus they have plenty of non-alcoholic options for the designated driver in your group.

Tom’s Watch Bar, LA Live (and other locations)

The home of “All The Sports. All The Time.” And they’re not kidding! Tom’s promises to host every single match during the Copa América, which they’ll do alongside every other sport in season thanks to eleventy billion screens providing wall-to-wall coverage. Get lost in Christian Pulisic’s eyes and Ricardo Pepi’s ears in surround 4k HD!

VENEZUELA

Chamo Venezuelan Cuisine

If heaven were nothing but arepas and empanadas, it would probably look like Chamo. This spot off Colorado has grown since its opening in 2017 and currently features more than a dozen arepas and a half-dozen empanadas. There are also rotating seasonal specials and Venezuelan chicha (different from its Peruvian and Colombian cousins).

Cariaco Venezuelan Food

It’s a shame that Cariaco is to-go because there’s lots of great food here that deserves to be savored on the spot. That doesn’t knock it down any pegs on our scale though. The arepas are large enough to feed your watch party with one order (slight exaggeration!). Order early and order ahead along with some goods from the market inside.

With a new grade called transitional kindergarten, there are younger kids in elementary school this year than ever before in California — and with that comes its own set of challenges for schools who are trying to implement it.

In 2021, California passed a law that gave districts four years to make TK universal for 4-year-olds. TK has been around since 2012, but only for a small subset of older 4-year-olds who just missed the kindergarten age cutoff by a few months.

“It was a big undertaking,” said Laura Hill, policy director and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. “There are plenty of folks who might say that was not enough time, not enough resources,  but it is the case that the state did try to be thoughtful about how to make it happen.”

The state doesn’t yet have data on total enrollment this school year — the first year that TK is universal — though district data, such as from Los Angeles Unified School District, shows enrollment has grown to the highest total yet.

Expanding access statewide has required new infrastructure — with money that some districts don’t have. It's required a new group of teachers with the right credentials. And while a year might not seem like much, 4-year-olds have different developmental needs than kindergartners.

“Many of them are still in need of naps,” said Hill, who co-authored a report on the rollout of TK last year.

And for some, it might be their first time in a big group setting.

In one school district, Hill and her colleagues interviewed educators who described the first week of school with younger 4-year-olds as “shark week” — because of the high number of biting incidents.

“Biting is just one of those things that a child who is frustrated and doesn't have the words and isn't feeling like they can cope right now might resort to,” Hill said. “What they were seeing was both the children not quite ready making this transition and the adults having less experience working with children this young and helping them kind of sort this all out.”

Mary Edge-Guerra, who oversees TK at Downey Unified School District, points out there are children who are only 3 years old at the start of the school year since they just have to be 4 by September.

“As TK evolved in bringing younger students, it’s looking more preschoolish than it once did than when it first started,” she said. “They need that developmental time to grow, and as their gross motor and just developmental milestones are being met, then the instruction needs to adjust.”

From lunch to naps, 4-year-olds need more care

During lunchtime at Smith Elementary in Lawndale, TK teacher Lauren Bush’s instruction goes beyond the classroom. As her students lined up in the cafeteria, she guided them through the menu options from the salad bar to the entree choice of a burrito or tamale.

Teachers help children eat their lunches at Marguerita Elementary School in Alhambra.

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“ Wow, Jasmine! That's healthy,” Bush said to one student after she asked for carrots and cucumbers.

When the kids sat down at their tables, she also helped them open up their food packages, or instructed them to blow on their burritos to cool them down.

To help accommodate younger kids at lunchtime, Principal Cristal Moore said the school shifted their lunch schedules this year so that TK students are only with kindergartners in the cafeteria.

“We knew they were gonna need more help with, ‘Can you put a straw in my milk?’ — just really trying to make sure that we were there to support them,” Moore said.

Teachers must also decide whether to set aside time for a nap during the school day — TK does not require one.

When Bush started teaching TK a few years ago, she didn’t include a nap in the six-hour schedule and realized her students were more likely to whine, fight and cry at the end of the day without a break.

Nap time at Marguerita Elementary.

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“The resting is good for them, even if they don't sleep,” Bush said. “It's just a total reset. It's a lot of stimulation for a lot of hours for their little bodies.”

Bathroom support

Four-year-olds may also still need help going to the bathroom, or have accidents at school. The state Department of Education requires districts to admit all eligible students, regardless if they’re potty-trained. And for many teachers, helping children with the bathroom or changing diapers isn’t part of their union-bargained duties.

Some districts have aides and health assistants who can help. Others call a students’ parents if they have an accident at school.

At Marguerita Elementary School in Alhambra, TK aide Veronica Gonzalez is trained to assist. She said while most students can go to the bathroom on their own, others still need help.

“Last year we dealt with one [student] and she was only afraid of going to the bathroom because she was afraid of flushing the toilet… and then for like two weeks, we’d flush the toilet together.”

Facility requirements 

Instruction for TK is supposed to be based around play, versus academic.

In Claudia Ralston’s TK classroom in Alhambra, the room is set up so students can learn how to interact with their peers. There are play stations, including a pretend role-play area with a grocery checkout counter.

“Obviously they're only 4 years old, they need to move around while they're learning. So that, that in itself –the environment is different,” Ralston said. “We are setting up an environment so that they are learning as well at the same time.”

The state has different requirements for new TK classrooms than for upper grades. They have to be larger, so kids have room to play. They need to have bathrooms inside the classroom or close by, and they have to be close to parent drop-off areas. But not all schools have built out these spaces.

“We need to make sure that families have access to [TK] and that it's as good as it can be,” Hill said.

Has Los Angeles reached peak pastry?

It feels like brand new sweets shops are opening every week across the city. At the end of last year, Filipino ice cream shop Eat Perlas began scooping flavors like calamansi creamsicle in Montrose, Altadena Cookie Co. debuted a storefront on the west side of the neighborhood, and French bakery The Little Cake started slinging croissants, eclairs and tarts in Commerce.

L.A.'s deep appreciation for bakeries and confectioneries isn’t novel. But with the widespread influence of TikTok and the continued rise in little treat culture, the number of places to satisfy one’s sweet tooth has reached a fever pitch.

The dense concentration of internet-famous bakeries across Pasadena and Highland Park even inspired Koreatown resident and TikToker Irene Chang to coordinate a 13.1-mile walking route that crisscrossed town to sample half a dozen spots.

With over 1,000 sign-ups and only 50 entrants due to limited capacity, many sweets lovers were left disappointed. “Someone said, ‘I'm more nervous about getting a spot than getting into college,'" Chang said. "I was doing the math, and that's true.”

Eight bakeries in eight miles

As an avid walker and runner, I'd put together something similar in 2009, a 5-mile dumpling race across the San Gabriel Valley. After reading about Chang's venture, I felt compelled to curate my own pedestrian-friendly, pastry-centric crawl for the LAist reader.

This 8-mile route visits eight Northeast Los Angeles bakeries that have gained viral popularity in recent years.

Starting in Pasadena and winding its way west toward Highland Park, the itinerary includes Los Angeles’s ultimate chocolate croissant, the plushest matcha cinnamon rolls around, and the internet’s most photogenic churros. These are the spots that everyone is talking about online and in real life.

So, lace up your sneakers, grab a water bottle and slather on sunscreen — you’re in for a treat.

Artisanal Goods by CAR

The luscious chocolate croissant by Artisanal Goods by CAR

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In a city blessed with world-class pastries, the chocolate croissants at Artisanal Goods by CAR stand out for owner Haris Car’s meticulous attention to detail. While it is standard for many bakeries to laminate dough on site, Car goes the extra mile by making chocolate batons from scratch using ethically sourced cacao beans. The result is supremely flaky croissants laced with Normandy butter and oozing with chocolaty satisfaction.

BadAshBakes

Bad Ash's cookie display

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Pastry chef Ashley Cunningham took her nearly 600,000 TikTok followers on the winding journey of opening a bakery in Pasadena months before the business officially launched. By the time doors opened in May 2025, crowds were queuing up and clamoring for a taste of the charismatic baker’s slate of cakes and cookies. While it’s hard to go wrong with any of Cunningham’s well-balanced sweets, the matcha cinnamon rolls are as fetching to behold as they are to taste, while the banana pudding comforts with layers of fruit, custard and vanilla wafer cookies.

Delight Pastry

Delight Pastry's take on spiral croissants, with a Persian bent

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Taking a cue from the viral success of The Suprême pastry from Lafayette Grand Cafe & Bakery in New York, Pasadena’s Delight Pastry introduced its take on spiral croissants in 2023. Inside the brightly lit cafe tucked into a quieter pocket of Old Pasadena, the tightly coiled laminated pastries — usually filled with cream, dipped in white or dark chocolate, and adorned with garnishes — take on a Persian bent as a nod to the shop’s owner and pastry chef Lily Azar’s heritage. The creation filled with pistachio cream is the one to get.

Sweet Red Peach's cinnamon bun

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Sweet Red Peach

Sweet Red Peach opened in Inglewood in 2011 and has expanded to Pasadena, Carson and even Atlanta in recent years. While Karolyn Plummer’s Southern bakery has always attracted a steady crowd for its expertly constructed layer cakes, especially the red velvet, her cinnamon rolls are bringing in additional foot traffic after being declared L.A.’s very best by a popular food-rating website. Served in individual-sized aluminum tins, the cinnamon rolls are incredibly supple, saturated with cinnamon, and finished with a tangy cream cheese icing.

Salted Butter Company

Salted Butter Company has been packed since it opened in August 2025

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Wife and husband team Haruna and Johnny Romo weren’t sure what to expect when they opened Salted Butter Company in August 2025. Seemingly from the start, crowds descended on the Nancy Meyers-coded bakery and bought out the whole lot of well-crafted sweet and savory pastries within its first hours of business. These days, dedicated folks are lining up before the shop’s posted 7 a.m. opening time for the choicest selection of classic croissants, laminated cinnamon rolls, and Earl Grey morning buns.

Modu Cafe

Modu Cafe owner and pastry chef Jiyoon Jang knows the power of social media for small businesses. Before opening her bakery in Highland Park in 2024, the self-taught baker sold her Korean-inflected cookies, doughnuts and milk breads on Instagram, selling out with every drop. Now that Jang has settled into a smartly appointed home base, sweets seekers can dependably swing by for picture-perfect milk cream buns, perilla lime tarts, and black sesame mochi cake bars.

Santa Canela

L.A. shaped churros are served fresh out of the fryer at Santa Canela

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At Highland Park’s warm and welcoming panaderia Santa Canela, pastry chef Ellen Ramos is serving new-school takes on classic Mexican pan dulces. Find the bakery’s daily selection casually arranged and neatly labeled on butcher paper at the front counter. The conchas are memorable, served simply or piped with seasonal cream, as are the frosted long johns. Still, it's the L.A.-shaped churros served fresh out of the fryer and dusted in cinnamon and sugar that have captured the hearts and stomachs of Angelenos online and off.

Fondry

The opening of Fondry — a bakery founded by the owners of Kumquat and Loquat coffee shops, as well as the all-new Quat campus in Glassell Park — attracted eager crowds from day one, and it continues to be a pastry destination for many. The daily selection of flaky and rich viennoiserie flexes with the seasons and is overwhelming in the best way possible, offering a dozen different sweet and savory croissants, kouign amanns, Danishes and “croiffins” (a mash-up of croissant and muffin).

Topline:

Why now: Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends author McCabe joined LAist’s AirTalk with Larry Mantle to share her friend-making advice with listeners, and we heard from listeners on how they make friends.

The local angle: With geography, jobs and traffic all making the act of “hanging out” a challenge, listeners shared their friend-catching tips.

Matt in Eagle Rock said, “It takes two people to make that friendship work; you have to put the effort into it. That is the harder part as you get older. I started in an adult dodgeball league, which I had never done in my life. Now I’ve been doing comedy, it's really about getting to know the people.”

Priyanka in Orange chimed in, "As I have grown older and moved from college in training for so-called adult life, it’s become harder to find friends that you find relatable and who are as invested in the friendship as you yourself are. The new thing I have discovered is Bumble for friends… and so far it's been a good experience.”

Sydney in Koreatown said, “Transitioning from a gay male to a transwoman, I have lost some friends from transitioning, but I have also gained some deeper friendships. It has been a profound and absolutely amazing experience finding common ground, and finding other gay males that support my transition, and finding other trans women that I have a deepening relationship with too.”

Raul in Long Beach also weighed in, saying, “You don't need social media. No matter what anyone says, it really is not necessary to meet new people. When you’re not on it, it motivates you to talk to people in person, it commits your attention to them face to face.”

Listen to the full segment to hear McCabe’s advice on finding and maintaining friends.