The Brief

Los Angeles may not have an official Little Saigon, but if you travel to the San Gabriel Valley you'll find a thriving community of Vietnamese businesses along Garvey Avenue, straddling the cities of El Monte, South El Monte and Rosemead.

This bustling commercial hub doesn’t have a dedicated highway exit or government-sponsored placard, but I like to call it “GarViet” as a nod to the area’s main drag.

Drawn to the area in part by more affordable rents than nearby Alhambra and San Gabriel, the family-owned Vietnamese restaurants here serve regional specialties that can be harder to find elsewhere.

Familiar favorites like phở and bánh mì are available alongside rarer offerings from Central and Northern Vietnam in the many plazas dotting this highly trafficked thoroughfare.

With April 30 marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War — which triggered the first wave of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants settling in the U.S. — it's a good time to celebrate the culinary contributions of the Vietnamese diaspora in L.A. Through restaurant ownership, many Vietnamese families gained a foothold in the American economy while nourishing their communities with a taste of home.

Here are some great places to check out.

Kim Hoa Hue 

The restaurant Kim Hoa Hue in El Monte has served Central Vietnamese delights for nearly two decades, while a second outlet opened in Temple City in 2024. During peak lunchtime hours, the main dining room fills up fast with locals and nearby workers, while folks ordering bounteous catering trays trickle in throughout the day. The most pleasant seats in the house are on the back patio, away from crowds and shaded by mature fruit trees.

Kim Hoa Hue Restaurant serves food from Hue, in central Vietnam.

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Cathy Chaplin

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LAist

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Kim Hoa Húê Restaurant in El Monte

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Cathy Chaplin

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LAist

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The restaurant is named after Hue, the former capital of Vietnam, famous for its imperial cuisine. The Hue Combo ($11.50) offers a variety of these delicacies served on a single plate, including bánh bèo (steamed rice cakes topped with shrimp and cracklins), bánh nậm (rice cakes embedded with shrimp and steamed in banana leaves), bánh bột lọc (shrimp and pork tapioca dumplings), chả (steamed pork forcemeat), and bánh uớt tôm chấy (rice sheets with minced shrimp).

Brighten these light bites with the accompanying fish sauce; whether it’s a restrained drizzle or a serious dunking is up to your tastes. A bowl of bún bò Huế ($13.25), complete with pork trotters and slippery rice noodles, is just the thing to round out the meal.

Bánh Cuốn Hương Bắc  

Bánh Cuốn Hương Bắc in South El Monte has a Northern Vietnamese menu.

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While some Vietnamese restaurants boast winding menus spanning many regional specialties, others opt to keep their offerings tight and focused.

Bánh Cuốn Hương Bắc sits in the latter camp, serving a succinct Northern Vietnamese menu with just a trio of appetizers, a few noodle soups (canh bún, bún riêu, and bún mọc), and the house-specialty bánh cuốn. Relative newcomers on Garvey Avenue, the owners of Bánh Cuốn Hương Bắc are betting that dependably executing a few dishes well will attract a steady crowd. So far, their gamble is paying off.

The restaurant prepares five varieties of bánh cuốn ($12), gently steamed rice flour “crepes” served plain or wrapped around eggs and ground shrimp, or pork and wood ear mushrooms.

It’s hard to go wrong with the signature (dặc biệt) platter, which includes bánh cuốn plumped with both a pork and wood ear mushroom filling and minced shrimp. Everything is topped with fried shallots, two types of steamed pork sausage, and a deep-fried sweet potato raft studded with skin-on shrimp. Blanched herbs and bean sprouts and a fish sauce-based dressing arrive on the side for garnishing to taste.

Thien Tam Vegetarian Restaurant

Thien Tam serves a plant-based menu, including the Hainan chicken rice made of soy beans.

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Whether you've adopted a plant-based diet or just dine meatless on occasion, Thien Tam is a terrific spot for Vietnamese vegetarian fare. The restaurant serves a brisk crowd on most days of the week and is especially popular on the first and fifteenth days of each month on the Lunar calendar, when Vietnamese Buddhists refrain from eating meat. So plan accordingly.

Opened by Bonnie Quach in 2009, the restaurant serves a robust menu featuring the cuisine’s greatest hits — all made without any animal protein. Start with the tautly-wrapped spring rolls ($6.95) chock-full of herbs, vegetables, and fried tofu. The fishless fish sauce served alongside for dipping is impressive in its mimicry. Equally superb is the Hainan chicken rice ($13.95) made of soy beans, boasting crispy and divoted skin, just like the real thing. A mound of ginger-laced rice, pickles, soup, and a ginger “fish” sauce comes with each order.

Hue Thai Bakery & Deli

Despite its discreet signage, Hue Thai Bakery & Deli in Rosemead offers bountiful sandwiches.

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In this economic climate with soaring prices and stretched dollars, Vietnamese sandwiches promise the ultimate meal on the go.

While Vietnamese delis can be found across L.A., none can compete with the expertly made sandwiches at Hue Thai in Rosemead. Located in a freshly paved strip mall anchored by outposts of Orange County imports Hot Stone Pho and Bake and Che, Hue Thai may very well be the shabbiest business on the block. Look beyond the peeling paint and make a beeline for the front counter, which is loaded with Vietnamese provisions, including cured pork sausages with fresh chilies and garlic ($8) that make for a spicy, sour snack.

The deli’s menu is posted in both English and Vietnamese, with photographs of each dish. Every sandwich is made on one of two kinds of house-baked baguettes: round and squat or long and lean. Sandwiches constructed on the latter loaves are about a dollar more and contain additional protein and less bready fluff. Hue Thai’s variety of fillings include cold cuts ($7), grilled pork ($7.50), canned sardines ($7), fried eggs ($7) and more, each one with requisite flourishes of pickled carrots and daikon, shaved jalapeno, cilantro and scratch-made mayonnaise.

What separates these sandwiches from the pack is their masterful proportions. From pickles to spreads and proteins, the ratio of each ingredient is thoughtfully considered so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Order the dặc biệt ($7) sandwich brimming with head cheese and plenty of pâté to experience the dynamic interplay of textures and flavors.

Che Hien Khanh

Che Hien Khanh makes a variety of Vietnamese desserts.

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The Los Angeles location of this longtime Orange County sweets shop is the ultimate IYKYK. Hidden inside a food court within the GW Supermarket complex in Rosemead, Che Hien Khanh prepares Vietnamese desserts — a genre heavy on legumes, seaweed, fruits, tapioca flour, and coconut milk — with a deft hand.

Hien Khanh’s colorful array of chè (puddings, beverages, soups) is hard to resist. The chè đậu trắng ($3.75) combines glutinous rice with black-eyed peas and a rich dollop of sweetened coconut cream.

Ripe baby bananas, teeny tapioca pearls, taro, and coconut milk come together in chè chuối ($3.75). Best of all is chè trôi nước ($3.75). Served warm, the chewy tapioca balls stuffed with mung bean paste come soaked in ginger syrup and finished with coconut cream and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.

Beyond its wide range of chè, Hien Khanh also makes several varieties of xôi (sticky rice) and sticky-sweet bánh da lợn, a fetching dessert featuring layers of pandan-infused tapioca and mung beans. Bring your sweet tooth.

This weekend's Long Beach Pride Festival was canceled by the city on Friday — hours before kickoff. The city said festival organizers failed to provide the required safety documentation.

The Pride Parade, managed and funded by the city, will continue as scheduled on Sunday at 10 a.m.

The parade will start at Ocean Boulevard and Lindero Avenue and travel along the Ocean Boulevard coastline to Alamitos Avenue in Downtown Long Beach.

Roads will close and parking will be restricted starting hours before the parade. Streets are expected to reopen by 2 p.m.

No parking on these streets

Between 4 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday parking won’t be allowed on:

• Ocean Boulevard from Redondo to Atlantic Avenues
• The immediate side streets on the north and south sides of Ocean Boulevard from Redondo to Atlantic Avenues

And these streets will be closed

The following streets will be closed to traffic during their designated times:

• 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. — Ocean Boulevard between Redondo and Lindero, including side streets on the north and south side of Ocean Boulevard
• 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. — Shoreline Drive between Ocean Boulevard and Shoreline Village Drive
• 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. — Ocean Boulevard between Lindero and Atlantic, including all side streets on the north and south side of Ocean Boulevard
• 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. — Alamitos Avenue between Ocean Boulevard and Broadway

Where you can park

Long Beach Pride says that parking will be available at the Long Beach Convention Center at 400 E. Seaside Way. Accessible parking and viewing will be available at Junipero and First Street, near Bixby Park.

Ride the Metro

Take the LA Metro A Line and exit 1st Street Station in Downtown Long Beach. After you exit, it's roughly a 10-minute walk down Ocean Boulevard to the parade festivities at Marina Green Park.

Editor's note: This story includes descriptions of allegations of sexual assault and rape.

Harvey Weinstein's latest sex crimes trial ended with a hung jury Friday, on the third day of deliberations.

It was the second time in a year a jury was unable to reach a verdict on the same charge.

Accusations against the former Hollywood mogul came to define the #MeToo movement, and he was first convicted of assaulting Jessica Mann in 2020. The former aspiring actress testified Weinstein raped her at a DoubleTree hotel in Manhattan in 2013. But that verdict, along with another charge, was later overturned.

In a second New York trial last summer, Weinstein was found guilty on one count of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and not guilty on another. But a third charge, of raping Mann, ended in a mistrial after the jury foreperson declined to return to deliberations, citing concerns for his safety.

Weinstein had returned to court for a third New York trial in April, this one focusing on Mann's allegations. But on Friday morning, Judge Curtis Farber received a note from jurors stating they were unable to reach a unanimous decision. Farber then read jurors a modified deadlock charge, known as an Allen charge, urging them to resume deliberations.

Jurors soon responded with another note restating their position. "We feel that no one is going to change where they stand," it said. Nine jurors fell on the side of not guilty; three supported a guilty verdict, Weinstein's lawyers told press outside of the courtroom.

The prosecution has until late June to decide whether they'll try the case again.

Outside of court, 55-year-old juror Rick Treese said that the group diverged on "where we actually had facts." He told reporters, "We didn't have enough facts to grasp onto, so it was emotion." People in the group "had varying emotions about it based on [their] experience in life."

"Everybody respected each other. Everybody respected their backgrounds. It was very civil. I feel certain that we dug into it enough."

Another juror, Josh Hadar, said his vote was for "not guilty," in part because he felt there might be parts of Mann's testimony that were "fabricated."

"I think the prevailing thought was that the witness had a lot of inconsistencies in her story," he said.

The mistrial concludes a month-long trial that was quieter than Weinstein's previous court appearances, with a diminished media presence and less public attention. Earlier this year, Weinstein hired a new legal team, including high-profile criminal defense attorneys such as Marc Agnifilo, known for representing Luigi Mangione and Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Defense attorneys argued that Mann and the then-married Weinstein had a consensual, on-again, off-again relationship over many years. But Mann testified that on that 2013 morning at the DoubleTree hotel, Weinstein "command[ed]" her to undress and penetrated her despite Mann repeatedly saying "no." Weinstein has denied all allegations of sexual assault.

Now 74, Weinstein has been incarcerated since 2020. In 2022, he was convicted of rape and sexual assault in a separate case in California and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He is appealing that verdict.

Agnifilo said outside court on Friday, "It's our job not just to win this case. There is an entire legal knot that needs to be untangled. And we're going to start untangling that knot strand by strand with the New York case and then the California case. So this really is just a first step." He said that this latest mistrial might not be "the win [Weinstein] wanted, but it's a win."

A statement from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said prosecutors were "disappointed that the proceedings ended in a mistrial" and would consider next steps in consultation with Mann.

"For nearly a decade, Jessica Mann has fought for justice. Over the course of many weeks during three separate trials, she relived unthinkably painful experiences in front of complete strangers," the statement said. "Her perseverance and bravery are inspiring to the members of my office, and more importantly, to survivors everywhere."

Weinstein's lawyers have said that he is in poor health. He used a wheelchair in court and did not testify on the stand in this trial, nor during any of his previous criminal cases. At one point during jury deliberations, Judge Farber announced Weinstein could not appear in court due to complaints of "chest pains."

Weinstein has given a limited number of interviews from prison, including with far-right podcaster Candace Owens and the Daily Mail. Most recently, he spoke with The Hollywood Reporter from Rikers Island.

When asked whether he had apologized to any of the women who brought charges against him, Weinstein told The Hollywood Reporter, "I apologized to them generally. You can't call them when you're in a trial with them. But I'll say it here today: I apologize to those women. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been with them in the first place. I misled them."

Citing his health issues, including bone marrow cancer, Weinstein said, "I'm dying here. And the DA's idea is probably to have me dying in prison. But I am dying."

More than 30 teams will take their handmade cars through a custom downhill course of twisty turns and obstacles Saturday as the Red Bull Soapbox Race returns to Los Angeles for the first time in nearly a decade.

Teams from across the country were selected from hundreds of applicants to compete on creativity, design, showmanship, course navigation and time.

There are no engines allowed in this race — all soapboxes must be gravity-powered.

Fully-functioning brakes and steering are required, but almost every other aspect of the engineering and design is left up to the competitors’ imaginations. According to Red Bull, the soapbox should be an extension of its team, the wilder and more outrageous the better.

From real racers to a car made out of bicycle parts

Contestants take on the course at the Red Bull Soapbox Race in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2025.

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Long Nguyen

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The race includes competitors from across Southern California and beyond.

UCLA Bruin Racing, made up of the school’s Formula SAE Squad (which also design and race specialized cars), entered with its “Mk. 9 racer” soapbox that was originally an out of commission EV car.

Metro LA repurposed parts from some of the unclaimed bikes left behind on the transit system for its “carrot-colored” bus design (and yes, that is the agency’s nod to Tyler, the Creator’s song "Rah Tah Tah." IYKYK).

The Seagrave 13 team from Las Vegas is dedicating their soapbox to Pasadena first responders who battled last year’s Eaton Fire. They’re planning to donate the car to the L.A. County Fire Museum after the race.

Built on a patio

One of the homegrown teams trying their luck this year is made up of a group of renters and friends in Santa Monica and Victorville who built their “Runaway Hotdog Stand” soapbox on an apartment patio.

“The fact that we're able to do this shows that I mean anybody could do this, and honestly could do anything else,” Carlos Monson, captain of the Speedy Wiener team, told LAist.

The Speedy Wiener team drew their design inspiration from L.A.’s iconic hot dog carts, typically a small grill that serves bacon and veggie toppings outside concerts, sporting events and tourist attractions.

The Speedy Wiener team modeled their soapbox after L.A.'s iconic hotdog carts.

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Courtesy Carlos Monson

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“For us, luckily, a majority of them are Latino and we're like, you know what, this is actually a perfect opportunity because the whole team is Latino,” said Monson, who will also be driving the soapbox.

The group of friends, between 18 and 21 years of age, built most of their cherry-red car on Monson’s apartment patio under Victorville’s glaring sun.

The Speedy Wiener repurposed the base of an old, rickety go-kart frame for their "Runaway Hotdog Stand" soapbox.

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Courtesy Carlos Monson

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They repurposed the base using an old, rickety go-kart frame that Monson said took about an hour just to carry up the stairs and get through the front door.

They worked on the soapbox in between classes and shifts at work. The final touches include stamping their Speedy Wiener logo and adding a mock-menu to the frame. There’s also ketchup and mustard bottles with yellow and red streamers hanging from the nozzles and a rainbow umbrella over the wheel.

The team, made up of renters between 18 and 21 years old, built most of the soapbox on their captain's apartment patio in Victorville.

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Courtesy Carlos Monson

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For the car’s structure, Monson turned to a collection of cardboard boxes he had lying around after a recent move and attached the various pieces with zip ties.

“We'll be able to hopefully last when they make it down the race track,” he said.

Engineering students’ big break

Another entrant on Saturday is the Los Ingenieros, a group of mechanical engineering students from Cerritos College in Norwalk, who has taken inspiration from the team’s Hispanic heritage and Los Angeles culture.

Their car is lucha libre-themed with rails modeled after a wrestling ring and the driver donning a muscle suit and mask.

The red, white and green colors represent the Mexican flag and features Chicano-style pinstriping from L.A.’s lowriders, as well as some Aztec patterns.

The Los Ingenieros team is made up of a group of mechanical engineering students from Cerritos College.

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Courtesy Ruben Orozco

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“It's definitely going to be a powerful testimony to our culture,” said Ruben Orozco, a Los Ingenieros member from La Mirada.

The team never expected to be picked for the race, and Orozco said the invitation has been “mind-blowing” and “surreal.”

Arelie Marquez, another member from Long Beach, told LAist she sketched the design for the modified go-kart frame before the team chopped the wheels, boosted the back axle and added suspension. While some of the students drew up blueprints on engineering computer software, Marquez used her welding experience to help mount the brackets — all in Orozco’s backyard.

As a community college student, Orozco said he’s felt like he’s missed out on opportunities to showcase their knowledge and innovations compared to students in the Cal State or UC system, but the Red Bull Soapbox Race has helped shed that notion.

“Not only has it been reassuring to myself, but also we've used it as a platform to kind of show others in STEM, in community colleges, that you could do crazy things as a student,” he said.

And yes, the team is already highlighting the unique engineering experience on their resumes, according to Gabriel Ramirez, a Compton resident and another member along with his twin brother, Hector.

Their next challenge? Cramming for finals next week.

The Surfrider Foundation is hosting a protest in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday to oppose what it sees as mounting threats to our California coastline.

In 2015, a pipeline operated by Plains All American spilled more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County. Hundreds of marine mammals were killed or injured and beaches across the region were contaminated.

Bill Hickman, a senior regional manager with the Surfrider Foundation, remembers it well.

“I live in Ventura. We had a bottlenose dolphin wash up here that was covered in oil,” Hickman told LAist. “That was really sad to see. And there was oil on the beach all the way down to L.A.”

The spill also “shut down fisheries, closed multiple beaches, and impacted recreational uses such as camping, non-commercial fishing, and beach visits,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In March, the Trump administration invoked the Defense Production Act to bring that same pipeline, now run by Texas-based Sable Offshore, back online. The company says that the system will produce tens of thousands of barrels of oil a day, as well as “provide a secure, consistent source of domestic crude oil, replacing approximately 1 million barrels per month of imports.”

But Hickman and other environmental advocates say restarting the pipeline raises serious concerns. California sued the Trump administration in March to keep it shut.

The restart, along with the Trump administration’s push to open the California coast up to new oil and gas drilling for the first time in decades, has Hickman sounding the alarm.

“Right now it seems like if you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention,” Hickman said. “And luckily a lot of people are really fired up about all of the threats to the environment and particularly the Santa Barbara channel.”

Oil spills like the one in 2015 could also deeply affect tourism, the fishing industry and lead to billions in cleanup costs, according to Gov, Gavin Newsom’s office. In a January 2026 statement opposing the Trump administration’s new offshore drilling plans, the governor’s office said the state's coastal economy “supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and generates over $44 billion annually.”

On Sunday morning, Hickman will be part of a spiritual ritual in surf culture: a paddle-out into the ocean at Refugio State Beach.

He said anyone with a human-powered craft is welcome to join the circle to oppose drilling on our coasts.

“People are standing up. There’s a lot of opposition,” Hickman said. “Californians really treasure our coast, our beaches, our waves and really want to protect them.”