The Brief

Happy (upcoming) Valentine's Day, Los Angeles! Feb. 14 is just around the corner. And whether you're tethered to another human on this Hallmark holiday, overpaying on a day to celebrate the purity of love is just plain heartless. (Call me unromantic, but I stand my ground).

Why not say I love you for less this year and save some money for the rest of your relationship?

Everything you'll find here is $100 per person or less, (with some being $100 total!)

The Exchange at The Freehand Hotel (Downtown Los Angeles)

If you're looking for a meal that really has heart, consider one where 15% of your romantic night out will go to benefit those affected by the L.A. wildfires. The Exchange at Freehand L.A. is doing an I Heart LA Coast-to-Coast menu in downtown Los Angeles along with their partner restaurant in New York by "marrying" the menus of their head chefs Narita Santos (L.A.) and Felipe Donnelly (NYC).

The Exchange Dining Room

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Courtesy The Exchange

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The three-course prix fixe includes items like oysters with hibiscus leche de tigre, kampachi aquachile with pan-seared black Coho salmon, and chocolate tres leches for dessert.

Written Hand (The Kimpton Everly Hollywood)

Complimentary oysters, shucked table side at The Written Hand in Hollywood.

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Pixabay

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It's Bivalve-ntine’s Day at Written Hand, where they're toasting the day of love with a prix fixe that's all about the aphrodisiac.

The meal begins with complimentary oysters, shucked tableside for your enjoyment that can be paired with briny freezer martinis. There's also bread from Bub & Grandmas, Ama Ebi Kauai prawns, squash blossoms, and a shared entree with either a ribeye cap blue-fin tuna collar or ike jime rockfish.

Barra Santos (Cypress Park)

An intimate dinning corner dining area at Barra Santos in Cypress Park.

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Allison Zaucha

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Courtesy Barra Santos

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Barra Santos hosts "a party every night," and Valentine's Day should be no exception. This neighborhood gem from co-owner Mike Santos and chef Melissa López offers Portuguese snacks to pair with pours of Madeira wine alongside larger dishes like piri piri chicken ($22). The specials for V-Day are still forthcoming, but you can pair a bottle of Barra Santos vinho ($40) with the Lisbon special ($31) trio of snack plates and have yourself an enjoyable and wallet-friendly kind of nite.

Bar Lis (Hollywood-Thompson Hotel)

Bar Lis at Thompson Hollywood

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Michael Mundy

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Courtesy Thompson Hollywood

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Hollywood's rooftop French Riviera, Bar Lis, has two options that will take your breath away.

The Sunset Hour Prix Fixe Dinner includes cauliflower panna cotta with caviar and oyster leaves, beet gnocchi, and a choice of New York steak or duck breast for $78 a person. The Bar Lis Canapé Package features a bottle of GH Mumm brut champagne and a canapé platter with tuna and radish tartare and duck yuzu kosho tacos. The price is $150 per couple, and that includes hypnotic music and views for days.

Pasta Sisters (Culver City)

Tortellini from L.A.'s Pasta Sisters

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Courtesy Pasta Sisters

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Keep it a bit more casual at Pasta Sisters, where you can enjoy glasses of wine ($12) while nibbling heart-shaped ravioli either in the restaurant or in your own home.

The ravioli are filled with porcini mushroom and ricotta cheese and are available for dine-in ($21) or as a ravioli pasta kit to go, which feeds two and includes edible flowers ($40). The restaurant will also be offering 10% off select bottles of Italian Pinot Noir if you're purchasing the kit.

Redbird (Little Tokyo)

Lobster Chawanmushi at Redbird

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Courtesy Redbird

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Enjoy Valentine's Day in the church of love at a fraction of the cost when you dine in the Garden Bar area of Redbird by chef Neal Frasier. Redbird is located in the former Cathedral of St. Vibiana, specifically the Cardinal's house (hence the red bird), and for Valentine's Day, they are serving a special three-course prix fixe menu for $150 a person in the main dining room. While that might sound enticing, you can keep the costs down and still enjoy a selection from the prix fixe menu when you choose à la carte pricing in the Redbird Garden Bar.

A perfect night out for two might include Humboldt Fog on griddled sourdough ($16), profiteroles with chicken liver parfait ($16), chawanmushi with kaluga caviar and uni ($38), and two glasses of Domaine des Ronces Bubbles ($17 each).

SOCALO (Santa Monica Gateway Hotel)

Amor de Los Angeles Cocktail at SOCALO

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Courtesy SOCALO

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SOCALO, from chef duo Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, is putting some SOCAL into your LOve life with fresh, modern Mexican cuisine in a uniquely Los Angeles environment steps away from the Santa Monica Pier.

The Valentine's Day prix fixe kicks off with a sparkling wine toast for two. Next, you'll enjoy a ceviche trio with such delicacies as tuna with peanut matcha salsa and ono with passion fruit habanero. The main course features a 16oz bone-in rib eye and yuzu glazed seared shrimp with broccolini and romesco. Dessert is a red velvet cake with strawberry crema and spumoni ice cream.

The specialty cocktail for the night is an Amor de Los Angeles, made with tequila, pama liqueur, and topped off with pomegranate seeds and a black salt rim ($16).

The Velvet Martini Lounge (Studio City)

The Velvet Martini Lounge

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Courtesy Eat Drink LA

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If you love crooners and cozy corners, The Velvet Martini Lounge is about to become your new favorite secret speakeasy. It's located above the Italian restaurant Vitellos and features live music, dim lighting, and no windows — kinda like Las Vegas.

The food menu is minimal, with throwback items like a TV Dinner Tray, but I recommend focusing on cocktails and conversation instead. Try a Jazzerac made with Hennessey, Luxardo Amaretto, bitters, and finished with an absinthe mist.

Vincenzo's Pizza of NoHo (North Hollywood)

Heart-shaped pizza at Vincenzo's of Noho

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Courtesy EatDrinkLA

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Eat your heart out when you order this special heart-shaped pizza from Vincenzo's Pizza of Noho. The small size measures 14" and is made for two people to share. Complete the meal with a chocolate vin-yay, which are beignets with powdered sugar and a Nutella drizzle ($6).

Malibu Wines + Beer Garden (West Hills)

Malibu Wines and Beer Garden

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Pixabay

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Love shouldn't be limited to just one day, and Malibu Wines & Beer Garden wants you to celebrate all week. Visit anytime from Feb. 10 to 17 for a two-flight wine tasting of Saddlerock wines and a curated cheese board.

Catch more of Caroline's suggestions at EatDrinkLA

For the last three years, the record store and music venue Healing Force of the Universe has been operating on a sleepy street corner not far from Pasadena City College. Nearby businesses include a shoe repair store, a nail salon and several auto shops.

“We're kind of in a dead corner,” owner Austin Manuel said. “No offense if anybody lives here, but not a very foot-trafficked area, kind of a hard place to have a store.”

In spite of the location, Manuel said Healing Force has become a home away from home for musicians and music fans. One of them is Bobby Bradford, a jazz trumpet legend who lost his house and personal archive in the Eaton Fire. He performs regularly at the venue. (Healing Force has also partnered with LAist on fire recovery events.)

Its current location is set to close this month, but Manuel and his team are already raising funds to cover a move to another space: G-Son Studios in Atwater Village. The repurposed ballroom was the Beastie Boys' home base when they recorded their classic albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Run-DMC and Biz Markie stopped by at one point, and Beck also laid down tracks for his album Odelay there.

Inside Healing Force's space in Pasadena.

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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The vibe

Healing Force sells records, of course, but these days it’s more of a nighttime performance space. Manuel said he wants people to feel comfortable striking up conversations after a show.

“I grew up in the church in the South, and I was like, ‘How do I design this so that it feels like a Southern church lady could come in here and feel welcome?’" Manuel said. “ I didn't want it to be too cool.  I wanted it to feel kind of suburban in a way.”

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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Though the name might call to mind a cult slogan — and Manuel said they lean into that aesthetic on purpose — it’s actually a reference to the 1970 album Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe by saxophonist Albert Ayler.

At the venue, “people can kind of get … into a meditative zone,” Manuel said. “After the [January 2025] fires, it felt so good to come back together in this room and feel the healing of community.”

Healing Force's stage setup.

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Kevin Tidmarsh/LAist

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The performances

The shows Healing Force puts on share a common thread: They’re meant to promote peace and relaxation, as well as deep, careful listening on the hi-fi sound system. But they’re an eclectic mix of genres. On one night, you might see L.A. spiritual jazz band Phi-Psonics, who turned a residency at the venue into a live album, Expanding to One.

On another night, you might catch a spaced-out electronic set, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter or a group of session musicians who’ve played with the likes of Paul Simon, Elton John and Lucinda Williams.

About the fundraiser

With the new space on Glendale Boulevard, Manuel said, Healing Force would triple its capacity for concerts, get a bar space and be closer to other venues in Northeast L.A.

“If 1,000 people gave $25, we would get there,” Manuel said – though he also said most people have been giving more.

You can read more about the fundraiser and donate at Healing Force’s GoFundMe.

See the Pasadena space before it closes

The venue is still open at 1200 E. Walnut Street and is holding events through this Halloween weekend. You can see their events calendar on their website.

The racist DNA of Jim Crow discrimination may be embedded in your housing documents.

The language in housing documents that restricts sale or use of a property only to a person of the white race is called a “restrictive covenant,” and in California the practice goes back to the 19th century and continued into the mid-20th century. While housing discrimination persists, the practice was found unconstitutional in 1948.

California counties are reporting mixed progress in meeting the demands of a 2021 law to excise the language from property records.

According to Sylvia Manzo, deputy recorder in the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s office, the county finished the job in March of this year, removing racist language from more than 27,000 property documents with the help of computer software.

This 1924 property document from Bakersfield includes racist language limiting use of the property in question to people of "the white or Caucasian race."

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Screenshot from CSU Bakersfield

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L.A. County is far from done. It says that with the help of an outside company hired in 2024, 50 million pages will be examined yearly, which would take about 10 years to finish the job.

Public agencies could use the public’s help.

Language examples

Here’s a 1924 example from a property in Bakersfield. The text reads, “That the lands herein conveyed shall never, at any time, be sold to or rented to or occupied by any person not of the white or Caucasian race.”

Or this language from a 1936 document relating to a Costa Mesa property: “That said premises shall not be sold, conveyed, rented, or leased to, or occupied by any person of African, Mexican, or Asiatic descent.”

How to get it taken out

The Restrictive Covenant Modification Form is at the heart of the effort to remove the racist language from housing documents. Each county has its own process. Some charge a fee; others don’t. Some require a notary certification for the signature; others don’t.

L.A. County:

Registrar-Recorder officials recommend these steps:

• Highlight or underline the unlawful provision on the recorded document
• Complete the Restrictive Covenant Modification Form
• Submit the form and the recorded document by email: RCM@rrcc.lacounty.gov or in person at the Norwalk headquarters at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk
• Mail instructions are here.

Orange County:

The Orange County spokesperson says there may be some properties not caught by its software and urges the public to report them. Here’s the form

Riverside County:

Here’s the Riverside County form

San Bernardino County:

Here’s the San Bernardino County form

San Diego County:

Here’s the San Diego County form

Santa Barbara County:

Here’s the Santa Barbara County form

Ignoring the racist language in property documents, some say, reinforces the legacy of segregation, while taking steps to remove restrictive covenant language is a way individuals and organizations can repudiate policies that sought to discriminate.