Nightlife Areas in Los Angeles

LA Live

Concert Venue / Plaza / Theater

Party Earth Review Hip Angelenos who used to venture east of Western only for jury duty now go for LA Live, the jewel of the city’s gentrified downtown scene. An entertainment complex with the Staples Center arena as its centerpiece, the venue offers a vast range of options including a sports bar and restaurant, upscale dining establishments ... more

800 West Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Liked By:

Melrose Avenue

Culture / Nightlife Area

Party Earth Review Once the center of LA’s underground and counterculture scene, Melrose Avenue may have lost a bit of its edge in recent years, but it’s still a vibrant destination for an oddly mixed, hyper-eclectic crowd. Although the brightly-painted head shops, thrift shops, sex shops, comic book stores, and tattoo parlors still thrive ... more

Melrose Avenue between Fairfax Avenue and La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Liked By:

Abbot Kinney

Nightlife Area

Party Earth Review Abbot Kinney Boulevard is a cozy corner of Los Angeles where the notion of the “mom and pop” retailer is alive and thriving. Named for the 1900s-era father of Venice who worked to create an American version of the eponymous Italian city, the area is lined with specialty boutiques, casual bars, and top-rated restaurants ... more

Abbot Kinney Boulevard roughly from
Main Street on the north to
Washington Boulevard on the south
Venice, CA 90291

Liked By:

Hollywood Boulevard

Culture / Landmark

Party Earth Review Arguably LA’s most popular tourist attraction, Hollywood Boulevard’s one-mile main stretch is packed with souvenir shops, museums, a mall, restaurants, and bars. Tourists from all over the world crowd the Walk of Fame to click photos of the brass celebrity stars embedded in the sidewalk that celebrate everyone from Charlie ... more

Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea Avenue and Vine Street
Hollywood, CA 90028

Liked By:

Sunset Strip

Nightlife Area

Party Earth Review Although Sunset Boulevard runs all the way from Downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean, the most famous stretch of this road is the roughly mile-and-a-half span through West Hollywood known as The Sunset Strip. A nightlife hotspot as far back as the 1920s, The Strip today packs in a massive collection of high-end boutiques ... more

Sunset Boulevard roughly from
Sierra Drive on the west and
North Crescent Heights Boulevard on the East
West Hollywood, CA 90046

Liked By:

Third Street Promenade

Landmark / Nightlife Area

Party Earth Review The vibrant seaside community of Santa Monica is also home to the Third Street Promenade, a lively three-block stretch of boulevard that is one of LA’s most popular outdoor malls. Dedicated to pedestrian traffic only, the Promenade sees a diverse mix of people during the day, from camera-toting tourists to suited professionals ... more

Third Street between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90403

Liked By:

Third Street

Nightlife Area

Party Earth Review Bookended by the Beverly Center to the west and The Grove to the east – two of LA’s most popular malls – Third Street offers one-of-a-kind boutiques, restaurants, and bars that are a welcome respite from the typical corporate chain stores. Although this mile-long stretch is less snooty than Rodeo ... more

West Third Street (between La Cienega Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue)
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Liked By:

LA Live - Concert Venue | Nightlife Area | Plaza | Theater in LA

The vast expanse of LA is obviously home to a lot more nightlife action than can be encapsulated in a few sentences, but there are certainly a few signature Los Angeles nightlife areas worth talking about up front.

The famous Sunset Strip has been a Los Angeles nightlife hotspot as far back as the 1920s, and today packs in a massive collection of glitzy eateries, swanky hotels, hopping bars, pulsing live music venues, velvet-rope clubs, and plenty of chances to spy a celebrity at practically any hour.

Nearby Hollywood Boulevard is lined with tourists checking out the kitschy shops by day, but by night the street comes alive with a different energy as dressed-up diners descend on trendy restaurants and fashionable, high-spirited night owls hit one of the many hot clubs, lounges, or bars that this preeminent nightlife area in Los Angeles is known for.

To the south, Melrose Avenue is overtaken by laid-back hipsters and young professionals who flock to the many gastropubs and dive bars, while Third Street a few minutes south of Melrose sees trendy young things flocking to nightlife options like the lucha libre-themed Mexican bar El Carmen, which offers one of the city’s largest collections of fine tequilas, as well as down-and-dirty Irish dives like St. Nick's Pub, and Goal, an upscale sports bar.

No description of LA nightlife areas would be complete without mentioning entertainment complex LA Live in Downtown, LA, where a diverse city crowd packs in for concerts at the Nokia Theatre, upscale bowling at Lucky Strike, or salsa dancing to the throbbing beats of the Conga Room.

LA nightlife areas aren’t done yet! Near the Pacific Ocean, Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade is home to a plethora of lounges and dive bars, which run the gamut from the swanky to the down and dirty, and the same can be said of the always unpretentious but never dull stretch of Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. All over town, nightlife areas in LA offer an unlimited bounty to choose from.