Carrie Meathrell

At the Viper Room | Photo by brian boulos via Flickr Harry Morton, son of famed Hard Rock hotelier Peter Morton, is no longer content with opening crudely-named margarita bars. No, the Li-Lo-lovin' entrepreneur has decided to purchase the infamous Sunset Strip club The Viper Room: with plans to franchise, of course. While the Viper Room has only been a part of the Strip since 1993, it immediately rocketed to infamy when River Phoenix...

I'm one of those paranoid, overly dramatic people who convince themselves that the entire world is out to get them. A lot of my paranoid delusions revolve around driving, of course: that dude slowed down just to piss me off! Every time I change lanes traffic gets worse! (Also known as the "Office Space" rule.) These lights are timed badly just to slow me down! Turns out, that last one might not just be all...

Score one for the passengers: budget airline carrier JetBlue is announcing that they will begin service between LAX and airports in New York and Boston this May. They also have plans to increase service from their Burbank and Long Beach locations, meaning more flights for consumers to choose from, which will increase competition with other carriers (like Southwest) and thereby lower airfares. They'll now be flying to JFK Int'l three times a day, and...

Many of LAist's contributors have been checking out L.A.'s dineLA Restaurant Week -- and we've discovered that some experiences definitely offered more value than others. I decided to close out my own Restaurant Week experience with a casual lunch and a more upscale dinner: for the former, I took LAist editor Zach out to lunch at eat. on sunset, while I saved the fancy hotel dinner at Circa 55 for my special guy. Both...

Photo by Tom Andrews via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The LA Times has the latest and more details on the deadly stand-off in the Valley that left one SWAT team member, Randal Simmons, and four others dead. Okay, this is just terribly, terribly, terribly wrong: why is the city cracking down so hard on street vendors who sell bacon wrapped hot dogs? Police continue to search for three kidnappers who abducted...

Jeffrey Chodorow is at it again in Los Angeles: along with renowned chef Michel Richard, he is bringing a new upscale dining experience to Hollywood, in the form of Citrus at Social -- yes, Social, the nightclub-cum-lounge located in the old Hollywood Athletic Club building on Sunset. The restaurant (with its own separated bar) will be opening tonight, and as of 11:00 am this morning, you can still get reservations through OpenTable. The menu...

LAist contributer Osmany Rodriguez found a few fresh new Banksy paintings near the New Beverly Cinema. As you may already know, Banksy is the elusive guerrilla street artist responsible for some of the most interesting art in the city (not to mention the entire world). He's a trickster figure who never shows his face, but joined Steve Jones in the Indie 103.1 studios earlier this week (that's how we know he's been in L.A....

So the big V-Day is only a week away -- and if you're anything like me, you're making reservations for a fabulous spot and forcing your boyfriend to take you out to dinner. He's gonna take me out, he's gonna express his undying love for me through the purchase of an expensive meal of my choosing, and he's gonna like it.* Thankfully, there are a lot of great Valentine's dinner options in L.A. --...

Devoted LAist reader Ashley requested a Westside version of Deacon Booze -- and as a former long-time resident of the Westsiiiiiiiiide, I'm more than happy to oblige. Here are some of my top spots for drinks in West LA -- (and trust me when I say I have TESTED these places more than a few times). Why not email me your picks for when you find yourself west of the 405? carrie@laist.com. Did I...

Have you had enough of $5 coffee? $99 burgers? $125 martinis? I know I am -- doesn't anybody in this city want to find the cheapest drinks, meals, and booze? Los Angeles Magazine comes through this month with a feature on great deals and bargain finds on everything from martinis to furniture to underpants. We went straight for the food section, of course -- and here are our top food bargain picks from the...