The vibe
Silver Lake and Echo Park are the Eastside's front porch. Hills, staircases, bungalows stacked up the slopes, a reservoir, a lake with swan boats, and more cafés per block than anyone needs. If you're after things to do in Silver Lake or a decent Echo Park munchies run, you're in the right part of town. This is where the Westside/Eastside rivalry gets loudest, mostly because Eastsiders won't stop talking about it.
Sunset Boulevard ties the two together, curving east from Hollywood through the Sunset Junction stretch of Silver Lake and down into Echo Park before it dumps you into Downtown. Glendale Blvd and Alvarado cut through too. It's hilly, it's tight, and it rewards people who walk. Sesh at home, lace up, and take the long way.
Hot take: Echo Park Lake at golden hour beats any beach sunset in the city. Fight me on the 101.
Silver Lake and Echo Park munchies
Silver Lake food leans hip, but the classics are the ones that hit after a sesh.
Silver Lake
- Cafe Tropical is the old Cuban bakery on Sunset. Guava and cheese pastries, strong coffee, mismatched seating, zero pretense. It's been here longer than most of the people judging it.
- Pine & Crane does Taiwanese comfort food that tastes great at any level of toasted. Order more than you think you need.
- Night + Market Song is the Silver Lake outpost of the Thai spot, loud and spicy and a little chaotic in the good way. Not for the faint of tongue.
Echo Park
- The Brite Spot is the Echo Park diner, a neighborhood coffee shop with booths, pie and breakfast whenever you want it. Exactly what your brain asks for.
- Guisados has a location here for stewed-meat tacos on fresh tortillas. The sampler is the move when you can't decide, which, let's be honest, you can't.
Everything else
Beyond the named spots, the area is lousy with taco trucks parked along the main drags at night, little panaderías, and strip-mall spots doing serious food under faded signs. Follow the lines of locals. Hours shift around, so check before you go. For a full spread, see the LA munchies guide and the late-night LA guide.
Things to do baked in Silver Lake and Echo Park
Echo Park Lake is the centerpiece. Rent a swan pedal boat and paddle slowly through the lotus beds while the Downtown towers peek over the palms. It is impossibly goofy and impossibly beautiful at the same time, which is the whole Echo Park thing.
The Silver Lake Reservoir has a loop that's flat, easy and full of dogs, plus the meadow on the east side where people lay out blankets and watch the light shift on the water. It's the neighborhood's living room.
The Music Box Steps are the long public staircase where Laurel and Hardy hauled a piano in the old short film. Climb them, sit at the top, and laugh about how hard it would be with a piano. Silver Lake and Echo Park are full of these hidden public stairways, and wandering between them is a perfect lifted afternoon.
Elysian Park sits right on the east side of Echo Park with trails, picnic grass and Angels Point looking down on Dodger Stadium and Downtown. More ideas across the city in things to do high in LA.
Movie and music spots
The Echo and the Echoplex are the music room (upstairs) and the bigger room (downstairs) on Sunset in Echo Park, home to loads of local bands and dance nights. Walk over after dinner and you've got a whole evening without moving your car.
For movies, the Vista Theatre in Los Feliz is right next door, a restored single-screen palace on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood. The Los Feliz 3 on Vermont is the little American Cinematheque three-screen. Both are a short ride or a decent walk from Silver Lake. The movie theaters for stoners guide has the full list.
Dodger Stadium is technically next door in Elysian Park, and a night game in summer is about as LA as it gets. Walk up or get a ride; the stadium lots are an endurance test.
Sunset and chill spots
Echo Park Lake at golden hour, with the fountain going and the skyline turning pink. Easy.
The Silver Lake Reservoir meadow at dusk, when the hills light up and the dogs start getting tired.
Angels Point in Elysian Park, for the view over the stadium and Downtown as the lights come on.
And the top of almost any of the neighborhood staircases, honestly. Climb, sit, breathe. Keep the sesh at home and the vibes in the park; the where to sesh guide explains why. For bigger trail days, check chill outdoor spots in LA.
The good and the annoying
The good: Walkable in a way most of LA isn't. The lake, the reservoir and the staircases give you real places to wander without a plan. The food is a mix of new and very old, and the old stuff holds up. Music is everywhere. On a clear winter afternoon after the Santa Anas blow through, you can see snow on the mountains from the hills here, which is absurd and perfect.
The annoying: Parking on these hills is a full-contact sport. The streets are narrow, steep and permit-zoned, and you will end up parallel parking uphill on a curve. Weekend brunch lines are long and full of people taking photos of their coffee. Sunset Blvd traffic moves at the speed of a sleepy dog. The 101 and the 2 are right there and somehow never help. And everyone has an opinion about which side of the reservoir is better (it's the meadow side, done).
Next door
- Hollywood: west on Sunset, for the Boulevard, Thai Town and big old theaters.
- Downtown and the Arts District: down Sunset, for Grand Central Market, the Broad and the viaduct.
- Koreatown: just southwest, for Korean BBQ, karaoke and late eats.
- Highland Park and Eagle Rock: up the 2 or the 5, for bowling, sodas and pizza.
See all LA neighborhood guides or the LA by season guide.
