The Brief

A lucky few got a glimpse of the interior of the revamped Vista Theater on Sunset Boulevard last week, one of the last remaining single-screen movie theaters in the Southland, when owner Quentin Tarantino held a special screening of the 1993 cult classic True Romance.

The Vista — with a new 70 mm projection system, sound system, and 21-seat screening room and café named “Coffy,” after the 1973 Pam Grier film — opens officially on Friday at 4473 Sunset Dr., with horror maestro Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving.

The rebirth is the latest chapter in the century-long saga of one of L.A.’s most famous historic theaters. “The history of the Vista is quite surprising, and full of ups and down, and I for one find its resilience to be the most exciting part,” says Celine Vacher, of the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council.

To tell its story, you need to go all the way back to the birth of Hollywood.

Sunset Boulevard

Filmmaking came to the East Hollywood/Los Feliz area in 1912, when producers L.L. Burns and Harry Revier leased a fig orchard on Sunset Boulevard. On this farmland they built a rustic studio, which was soon renamed Reliance Film Company. Reliance quickly hired pioneering director D. W. Griffith, who brought along his silent film stars Lillian and Dorothy Gish.

Griffith eventually gained control of the studio, which he renamed Fine Arts Studio. In 1914, Griffith built a sprawling replica of a southern antebellum town around the junction of Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. This set was used for his revolutionary, highly controversial 1915 racist epic The Birth of a Nation, which many historians point to as the first blockbuster full-length feature.

The next movie Griffith set at Sunset Junction would become part of Los Angeles lore. In this quiet rural neighborhood, still dotted with farmhouses and ranches, Griffith constructed a towering plaster set for his 1916 epic Intolerance. Meant to portray the ancient palace of Belshazzar, King of Babylon, the set covered an astounding three city blocks.

“Belshazzar’s Feast beneath Egyptian blue skies,” writer Kenneth Anger wrote in his infamous 1959 expose Hollywood Babylon, “spread out under the blazing California sun: more than four thousand extras recruited from L.A. paid an unheard-of two dollars a day plus box lunch, plus carfare.”

A large crowd congregates outside of Bard's Hollywood Theatre to celebrate its grand opening

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After filming, the set remained up in some form until 1922, becoming a playground for local children. By then, the area was becoming a hub for silent productions, crew bungalows, and stars’ mansions. “Los Feliz was home to Walt Disney’s very first studios, Cecil B. DeMille’s estate where Charlie Chaplin once resided, and even the Vitagraph studios where parts of The Jazz Singer (the first movie with sound) were filmed,” says Vacher.

Egyptian revival style

So it was fitting that the theatrical impresario Lou Bard chose to build the latest in his string of theaters at the fabled intersection of Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards, known as “the great crossroads of Los Angeles.” On Oct. 9, 1923, the 838-seat single screen theater, said to have been called Lou Bard Playhouse or Bard’s Hollywood, opened with a special vaudeville show and the short Tips, starring child star Baby Peggy — who also appeared on stage.

The theater design was as trendy as it could be. Designed by architect Lewis A. Smith, the exterior was constructed in the popular Spanish Mission Revival style. But it was the interior that was truly a feast for the imagination. Designed in the peculiarly western “Egyptian revival” style (popularized by the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922), the interior was a brightly colored riot of golden pharaohs, goddesses, and lamps shaped like pyramids.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the theater was the site for all important industry previews during the golden age of silent film. But Bard was not as successful as he would have liked, and he reportedly sold the theater in 1927. It was renamed the Vista.

Over the decades, the Vista went through many owners. But it was reliably a popular neighborhood theater, even as larger, showier movie palaces sprang up all over Los Angeles.

A crowd of movie-goers attend a showing of Mildred Pierce, starring Joan Crawford, at the Vista Theater.

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Controversies over the years

Yet the small but mighty theater would find itself the center of controversies which cemented its place in history. In 1948, the theater capitalized on its historic location by announcing a revival of the problematic The Birth of a Nation, only days after D.W. Griffith's death on July 23, 1948. The Hollywood Reporter noted the choice, in a short article headlined “Opportunism!” It read:

Disturbed Angelenos immediately took action. Allen M. Metcalf, a local candidate from the Progressive Party, went to the theater to confront the management. “The manager of the theater,” the Los Angeles Times reported, “pointed out that the movie showed the skeleton in the closet of the nation and denied that the cinema was incitement for a riot.”

Progressives were unconvinced. Around 20 Black and white civil rights activists formed a picket line in an attempt to block customers from seeing the film. However, the revival continued.

Charges of un-American values

Controversy came again in the 1950s, when the theater reopened as the Vista Continental. Capitalizing on the growing popularity of foreign films, the theater boasted that it was the only SoCal theater showing first-run films from the Soviet Union. This led locals to complain that the theater was promoting un-American, Communist values at the height of the Cold War. But the theater soldiered on.

The biggest test for the Vista came in the 1960s. During that era, the theater began showing pornographic films, including same-sex films. Irate, the city revoked its operating permit. The Vista fought back, and in 1968 the case was heard in the California Supreme Court.

The Vista won the case, in a decisive blow against anti-gay governance. “The court ruled, in a 5-2 decision, that the law is ‘overly broad’ and threatens to deny theater operators their rights of free speech and press,” the Los Angeles Times reported in June 1968.

“The Court ruled that Stewart Burton, manager of the Vista Theater, should be granted a writ of prohibition against the Los Angeles Board of police commissioners, which did not renew his license.”

Over the next three decades, the theater changed hands several times before it was purchased by Landmark Theatres in 1982. It became known for reviving classic films like Harold and Maude and Gone with the Wind, but business was slow, as VHS decimated art houses nationwide.

A neighborhood gathering place

In 1997, the Vista was purchased by Lance Alspaugh’s Vintage Theater Group. Alspaugh made community outreach a priority. It became known for its very own Walk of Fame, featuring handprints and footprints from stars like John Landis, Elvira, Tatum and Ryan O’Neal, and Baby Peggy herself.

“It’s been an integral part of Los Feliz because it’s intentionally embedded itself in the community,” Vacher says. “Take the longtime manager [Victor Martinez], for example, every big opening night he greets moviegoers in full costume. It’s become a tradition and locals all have their own sets of memories with him as he makes everyone feel like a welcomed friend.”

The Vista became an important gathering place in the area, known for its welcoming atmosphere, epitomized by Martinez (who is reportedly currently on the board of the theater). The theater was rented out for weddings, late night screenings, and was the home of Thomas Starr King Middle School’s annual animation and film festival. There was a Secret Movie Club, and local filmmakers were thrilled when they had premieres at their neighborhood theater.

“I had my first movie premiere at the Vista, which we sold out,” says filmmaker Kestrin Pantera, whose film Let’s Ruin it with Babies premiered in 2013. “It was an…amazing all-night karaoke party and a dream come true to be on the marquee.”

The pandemic shuttered the Vista, which closed in 2020. The marquee, which read “To Be Continued…” became a hopeful sight for weary travelers driving down Sunset Boulevard during the shutdown.

What Tarantino says is next for the theater

But the Vista had not taken its final bow. In 2021, it was announced that director Quentin Tarantino, who saved the historic New Beverly Cinema when he purchased it in 2007, had bought the movie house. “I would not have handed the keys to the Vista over to just anybody,” Alspaugh told the Los Angeles Times.

“It’s no secret that Tarantino often pays homage to Hollywood history in his films, so it feels all the more appropriate that someone with such reverence for the art of filmmaking would be the new custodian of this iconic theater in its iconic location,” Vacher says.

Tarantino vowed to show only movies on film at the new Vista, instead of digital projection. He also clearly valued the communal aspects Alspaugh had fostered over the years. “I do think boutique cinemas will actually thrive at this time,” Tarantino told the Los Angeles Times. “I got a living room. I want to go to a movie theater.”

Over the last two years the Vista has undergone a dramatic makeover. “Quentin basically retained the auditorium — it’s intact, it’s been rehabbed and it’s still new and beautiful, but the overall auditorium is in intact condition,” said Alspaugh, who has remained as chief operating officer.

“The intention is to run mostly first-run and occasional classics or repertory film,” Alspaugh told Variety’s Pat Saperstein. “There will be sections of time where you might see classic repertory titles on film for brief interludes. In the future, you’ll see some late shows of classic films and I think you’ll see morning shows of classic films.”

Whatever happens, cinephiles are just happy that their favorite historic theater is again part of the community where it has thrived for a century.

“The entire neighborhood has been anxiously awaiting the Vista’s comeback,” Vacher says. “It’s been on everyone’s lips. We’re all so eager to see that corner revived and active, no doubt we’ll all be flocking to it trying to make up for lost time.”

Data center builders don’t tell the public how much water they use, according to a new report — and the industry is encroaching into water-stressed and vulnerable communities.

The report, by the think tank Next10 and researchers at Santa Clara University, finds that planned data centers — the ganglia of artificial intelligence — are spreading to regions reliant on overtapped groundwater and strained surface water, with potentially major effects in the Central and Imperial Valleys.

But, reinforcing previous studies, the researchers found that a patchwork of state, federal and local policies allows data center operators to avoid publicly disclosing their actual water use.

California lawmakers tried to address this last year, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the measure. Now, the legislature is trying again, with bills mandating disclosures about water use and planning.

“We have this huge build out, and we have very little data,” said Irina Raicu, who directs the Internet Ethics program at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

Paired with California’s precarious water supplies, Raicu said, “It’s just not a good combination.”

Shaolei Ren, an expert on the environmental impacts of AI at UC Riverside who was not involved in the study, said the findings point to a much broader problem.

“Limited publicly available information about data center water use makes it difficult for communities, water providers and researchers to have meaningful public discussions and responsibly assess power-water trade-offs,” Ren said in an email.

Murky water use 

Few environmental impact reports for California’s data centers were publicly available online, the researchers found.

Raicu and co-author Iris Stewart-Frey, a professor of environmental science, went looking for the reports, meant to assess and disclose a project’s impacts for both nature and people under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act.

They found almost none. The ones they did find were largely for facilities in the city of Santa Clara.

Through interviews with planning officials, they discovered that projects can slip through with little environmental review if they fall under certain size or water use thresholds, or if they meet a city or county’s criteria for other approval pathways. These include something called ministerial approval, which requires planning agencies to approve a project that meets local zoning and other standards.

Even for data centers that undergo more stringent environmental scrutiny, the researchers found that documentation is rarely available to the public.

In the few cases the planning documents were posted publicly, the information — on the data center’s owner or operator, size, type of cooling system, the amount of water used, whether it’s recycled or potable — was often “missing, contradictory, or vague,” the report said.

The researchers said they contacted water providers in areas where data centers cluster, seeking usage data. None responded.

A shift to vulnerable regions

California’s data centers mostly cluster in the south San Francisco Bay Area and the city of Los Angeles, with smaller concentrations in Sacramento and San Diego.

But the report noted large, planned projects in rural and less affluent regions — like in Santa Clara County’s Gilroy, as well as in the heavily agricultural Imperial Valley.

“They need a bunch of cheap land,” Raicu. “If we’re not careful, they will end up being pitched, very convincingly, to communities that have real needs — without enough attention being paid to the water part.”

Khara Boender, director of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, which has opposed bills mandating more granular water-use reporting, said in an email the industry is “committed to being a good neighbor.”

Boender argues that data centers collectively “used significantly less water than other essential industries in 2025, including the agriculture, power, food and beverage, and semiconductor sectors,” but the coalition offers no data to back that up.

Collective use matters less than local impacts in a state where each community has its own mix of water supplies and strains, according to a previous study published by a team at UC Berkeley.

Whether data centers use a lot or a little water relative to agriculture or other industries, “what matters most is the scale of new local use compared to available local supply,” the Berkeley team concluded earlier this year. “Unfortunately, this picture is clouded by data deficiencies.”

In this week’s report, the Santa Clara University team drilled into those local supplies and community vulnerabilities to anticipated expansion.

“We’re at the brink of this happening in California,” Stewart-Frey, the environmental scientist, said. Her report, she added, isn’t advocating against data centers. But “communities should know what they’re getting themselves into.”

Debates over proposed data centers are erupting in a Kern County desert community with dwindling groundwater and in the hot Imperial Valley, which draws from the strained Colorado River. 

Monterey Park residents in the San Gabriel Valley successfully opposed one data center project over environmental concerns and inadequate information and secured an upcoming vote on a citywide ban.

In a letter to city officials, a representative for the developer dismissed opponents as “rage-baiting an uninformed mob to pressure your decisionmaking.”

Raicu pushed back. “If those communities are uninformed about the issue — whose fault is that? Who should be informing the people so that you don’t have this kind of pushback, if there is no need for it?”

New laws v. Big Tech

Last year, Assemblymember Diane Papan, a Democrat from San Mateo, authored a bill requiring data center operators to report estimated or actual water use to their water supplier when seeking or renewing a business license or permit.

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the measure amid industry pressure, saying he was “reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements about operational details on this sector without understanding the full impact on businesses and the consumers of their technology.”

Now, Papan is trying again with two bills. One largely reprises last year’s measure, with additional reporting required to the city and county. The other would bar local governments from approving new or expanded data centers unless the developer discloses information about their water use and plans.

It would also set other requirements — like prohibiting development in overdrafted groundwater basins in places like the San Joaquin Valley, unless state water managers OK it.

“You cannot manage what you have not and cannot measure,” Papan said. “The public likes transparency, and they should.”

Both bills cleared a key legislative chokepoint this week but face staunch opposition from the tech industry and business groups.

“If they run out of water, guess what happens? And they can’t cool their systems — are they going to succeed?” Papan said. “To which I say, help us help you.”

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

Founders Jenny Yang and Chris Capizzi spent seven years operating as a pop-up without a brick-and-mortar location. Opening their doors to local vendors pays homage to their own roots selling at Los Angeles markets, from the Melrose Trading Post to the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market.

“Mega giant online sellers have the scale and the resources and the patience and the reach to capture most people,” Capizzi said. “Whereas for us, I think we have to be really creative — we have to band together.”

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

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Nick Ducassi

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Yang and Capizzi’s long history of vending at markets taught them how isolating running a small business can be. At their market, they aim to build connections with each vendor and strategize the best timing and layout so everyone can succeed.

“[Amazon and Barnes & Noble] are Goliath, and we’re not even David — we’re just the ant underneath David’s foot,” Capizzi said. “I think we can do what we do and try to get as many people, at our level or even smaller, to get together.”

Weekly markets at A Good Used Book have captivated the neighborhood since its opening in October 2023, with charming names like “Sunday Funday,” “Saturday School” and “Hi-Fi Friday Night,” plus hand-drawn flyers by well-known artist Noah Harmon. Now, it’s become a weekly occurrence where LA pop-ups can display their own crafts, allowing local readers to indulge in a little more than a pocket paperback.

Each week holds a Pandora’s box of niche snacks, crafts or trinkets you didn’t know you needed, ranging from Southeast Asian-inspired trail mix to natural incense sticks to vintage Japanese audio equipment. One week you might be enticed to adopt a kitten from a rescue booth outside, another week you might impulsively get a stick-and-poke tattoo in the back of the store.

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

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Nick Ducassi

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The LA Local

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On one sunny Sunday afternoon, Brandon Stanciell hand-tossed fresh pizza dough on the sidewalk outside the bookstore. His 2-year-old pop-up, Pizza Ananda, which he named after his daughter, is an homage to her and to Italian cooking, a hobby he started during paternity leave. An hour before the market closed, Stanciell had already sold out and garnished his last pepperoni-and-hot-honey pie for one lucky customer.

“I love that places like this allow us all to meet at once to share what we have and give it to the community around us,” Stanciell said.

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

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Nick Ducassi

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The LA Local

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For the owners, building a community market is about deepening relationships with the people who walk through their doors. In an increasingly digital landscape, it is also a reciprocal partnership among local businesses.

“A lot of people talk about community building nowadays as a marketing strategy,” Capizzi said. “But I think the actual community building comes from talking to each vendor and each customer and being a consistent presence in the neighborhood.”

Nestled between Historic Filipinotown and Echo Park is a bookstore turned artisan craft space turned food market, all within 900 square feet. Every Sunday, A Good Used Book on Glendale Boulevard transforms from a retail bookstore into what they call “Sunday Funday Market.”

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Nick Ducassi

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The LA Local

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While customers browsed for unique titles, Gerin del Carmen worked her booth of ceramic dishware, oyster-shaped trinket holders and vases resembling miniature boxes. As a ceramicist, del Carmen draws from her Filipino heritage, including the Balikbayan boxes that represent immigrants sending gifts to family in the Philippines.

“Sharing the community and your space is such a big deal. This is not a huge, gigantic Barnes & Noble store,” del Carmen said. “It has so much foot traffic, and the fact that [the owners] are setting up and sharing the space once or twice a week with other vendors and other artists is huge.”

Yang and Capizzi may think of themselves as an “ant underneath David’s foot,” but A Good Used Book is building a colony of vendors, rooted in community.

Whether you and your friends are looking for a brunch spot to cater to everyone's palates, or taking a trip to the historic Grand Central Market, food halls make for an easy, affordable place to satisfy cravings — especially in SoCal, where diverse selections of dishes reign supreme.

But these spaces fill a void much deeper than our appetites. They bring new life to old storefronts, factories or even airfields (see list below), and can offer a way to keep dollars within the community by becoming a hub for local businesses.

With that said, here's a short list of food halls where you'll get more than just a killer meal.

For good vibes

BLVD MRKT food hall on the corner of 6th Street and Whittier Boulevard in downtown Montebello.

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BLVD MRKT is an open-air food hall in downtown Montebello that feels like a party. The 8,500-square-foot space currently has five eateries, or "concepts" as they're known in the restaurant industry, and hosts live DJs every Friday night and Sunday during brunch. They also host Open Vinyl Night on the second and forth Tuesday of every month, where patrons get $2 off beers and margaritas from Alchemy Craft if they bring a vinyl record to be played in the BLVD courtyard.

The space is pet-friendly and has growing concepts like Los Taquero Mucho, which offers classic al pastor, grilled chicken and slow-cooked carnitas tacos, as well as specialty flavors like vegan tacos with whiskil sautéed in coconut milk, and Pork Belly Cochinita Pibil Tacos, perfect for those who crave crispy, slow-roasted pork with a hint of sweetness.

Los Taquero Mucho participates in BLVD's incubator program, run by co-founders Barney and Evelyn Santos. The program offers mentorship to local entrepreneurs until they can set up shop permanently.

Pork Belly Cochinita Pibil Tacos with salsa from Los Taquero Mucho at BLVD MRKT in Montebello.

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BLVD MRKT is part of the couple's commercial real estate development firm, Gentefy. Its mission is to invest in retail and hospitality projects that ignite economic development and revitalization in Black and brown neighborhoods.

"Blvd Mrkt is our first project," Barney Santos wrote in a text message. "It was our social proof to prove to banks, investors and cities that a socially conscious business model could exist in a traditionally overlooked area."

VCHOS Pupuseria Moderna also has a spot in the BLVD courtyard, offering handmade pupusas with filling choices such as shrimp with spinach and cheese, and tender beef birria with a side of consommé, onions and cilantro. Coffee lovers can get an Oaxacan Mocha at Cafe Santo, or stop by Cold Pizza for a wood-fired slice.

For eclectic tastes

Rodeo 39 Public Market in Stanton.

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An O.C. favorite, Rodeo 39 Public Market lives on Highway 39, also known as Beach Boulevard, in Stanton. This 40,000-square-foot space is an eclectic mix of more than 20 food and drink concepts and retailers. There are three outdoor patios and five murals, plus an arcade, tattoo shop and photo booth. Food options cover everything from Lil' Breezy's adobo breakfast burritos to Cajun crab fries at The Crawfish Hut.

Mural by artist David Flores outside of Joystix arcade at Rodeo 39 Public Market.

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Rodeo's menu choices make it well-suited for a casual weekend brunch. At its entrance sits Here & There, where you can grab a coffee or matcha latte, or try one of their signature drinks like the Iced Vienna, a combination of milk with caramelly demerara sugar and your choice of matcha or espresso, topped with sweet cream and garnished with sea salt. The result is a drink that's smooth and not too sweet.

Eggyo bulgogi egg sandwich with spicy mayo at Rodeo 39 Public Market.

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Eggyo, a recent addition to Rodeo, offers Korean corn dogs and fluffy egg sandwiches on crispy, house-baked milk bread. Try the bulgogi option with spicy mayo for a savory kick. If you crave a cocktail, venture over to CAPO, which also serves craft beer. Or just sit on one of their sun-filled patios while you decide what to try.

For a page from history

The Hangar in Long Beach.

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The Hangar is a 17,000-square-foot food hall that pays homage to Long Beach's aviation history. It sits on former Boeing Co. land where military and commercial aircraft were built. Today, it serves as a dining destination at the Long Beach Exchange Shopping Center, or LBX, neighboring the city's international airport.

This space currently has a mix of 14 food concepts and two retail shops. Patrons can enjoy local favorites outside their flagship locations, like the Joe's Special bagel sandwich from Cassidy's Corner Cafe, with bacon, egg and the star of the show — tangy jalapeño cream cheese. Fans of spice can try Jay Bird's Nashville Hot Chicken, which offers chicken sandwiches and tenders, and Blazin' Fries, all with six levels of heat.

Historic aviation photos are displayed above food concepts at The Hangar food hall at LBX in Long Beach

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Inside, there are vintage pictures of aircraft that were built at the site, and a wall of clocks showing the time in cities named Long Beach across the country.

A Pan Am Hawaii travel poster (left) and a TWA Spain travel poster (right) at the patio of The Hangar food hall.

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Outside, you'll find patio seating with umbrellas where you can sit and watch the occasional plane fly overhead. Or sit and enjoy the adjacent display of towering Pan Am and TWA posters promoting travel to Hawaii, Spain and Paris.

For fun and work

Mercado La Paloma on Grand Avenue in South L.A.

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Open since 2001, the approximately 34,000-square-foot Mercado La Paloma sits in the Figueroa corridor of South L.A., and is known for its focus on community, art and culture. From rotating art exhibits to colorful tiled tabletops, this space feels like it was made to nurture creativity.

Interior of Mercado La Paloma.

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There are meeting rooms to rent starting at $25 an hour. It's a space where locals can bring their laptop to work or study, or have a long conversation with a friend, with bites from six acclaimed restaurants.

Holbox's Erizo dish at Mercado La Paloma.

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At the Mercado, visit Holbox for Michelin-starred seafood dishes like Erizo — velvety sea urchin laid atop a bed of tender scallop ceviche. The combination is fresh, flavorful and oceanic. Tip: If you can swing it, come on a weekday to avoid a long line, or order ahead.

For something sweet, walk over to Oaxacacalifornia Cafe & Juice Bar for a Spicy Pineapple Juice with a gingery kick, or go for the classic pairing of Hot Oaxacan Chocolate, made with your choice of water or milk, and light-as-air conchas crowned with a solid layer of vanilla or chocolate streusel.