...WHAT ARE
GOOD VIBES?

Pawn Shop turns a nearly century-old former pawn shop on Melrose into a sleek two-level sports bar and restaurant, backed by a roster that includes James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Messina and a who's who of LA sports figures. The 7,808-square-foot space carries a 50-seat bar, 53 screens, seven bookable mezzanine suites, and preserved brick walls and bow truss roof under a design from Omgivning. Messina, formerly of Boston's Uni, runs a menu that pushes bar food into new territory, from a New England pu pu platter and beef tallow fries to hanger steak frites, a bucket of pickle-brined fried chicken, and tavern-style pizza. Cocktails come from New York barman Jason Kilgore, with beer and cider from co-founder Diego Torres-Palma's Lincoln Heights outfit Benny Boy Brewing.

Christian Navarro, the operator who helped turn Wally's into an LA wine institution, is back on the Sunset Strip with Christian's, a wine bar and restaurant inside the former HBO building at 9000 Sunset. The room calls itself a celebration of the good life, and the menu backs it up with Kaviari caviar service, gold-leaf margaritas, dry-aged tomahawk steaks, and a cellar stocked with rare burgundies and grower champagnes. Chef Alan Martinez, a longtime Navarro collaborator, leads a kitchen built around live-fire cooking, French-leaning California dishes, house-made pastas, gruyere fondue, and large-format steaks. After years shaping other banners, this is the first room to carry Navarro's own name, and it reads like a statement.

Westwood runs deep on kebab spots, but Pera LA plants its flag as fully Turkish, a casual sit-down room on Westwood Boulevard serving traditional doner wraps and char-grilled kofte. The headliner is a $50 Turkish breakfast for two, a spread of sliced cheeses, fruit jams, a sujuk scramble, tea, and warm simit. Add an order of menemen, the Turkish take on shakshuka gently simmered with tomatoes, sweet peppers, and melted cheese, and you have a morning meal built to last until dinner. It is comfort food with real range and a fresh reason to point Westside brunch plans toward Westwood.

The Light We Leave Behind opens at East End Studios in the Arts District from September 17th through October 11th, an immersive, phone-free live music experience that trades the traditional stage for environments built around sound, light, water, and weather. Across roughly two hours, guests move through a Snow Lounge with a 30-foot tree and complimentary tea, a Water Room where indoor rain and about 70 lights pulse with the music, and a closing Gallery documenting how it came together. LA-based artist and composer Emmit Fenn created the experience, with much of the music composed specifically for these rooms.

LA28 opened applications for its L.ocal A.uthentic Program, bringing small and local food businesses into the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games food program. Eligible businesses include food trucks, mobile vendors, carts, pop-ups, caterers, and restaurants with catering capability. Expressions of interest are due November 16th at 5pm Pacific through RAMP LA. Across the Games as a whole, LA28 expects the broader food-and-beverage operation to deliver more than 17 million meals.

A former Bank of America property at 8025 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood is being redeveloped as a seven-story mixed-use building from Massachi, with OfficeUntitled as architect. The roughly 82,510-square-foot project brings 110 apartments above ground-floor commercial space, with 15 residences permanently income-restricted for very-low-income and moderate-income households. Plans include micro studios, one-bedrooms, larger units, a central courtyard, upper-level decks, amenity rooms, and a rooftop pool. Renderings show projecting balconies, recessed terraces, perforated screening, and landscaped rooftop spaces.

Santa Monica-based Snap rolled out Snapchat Plans, a suite that lets friends create, share, and manage real-world meet-ups inside the chats they are already having. Snapchatters can send invitations to up to 200 mutual friends, track the date, time and attendees, and RSVP with Going, Maybe or Can't Go without leaving the conversation. A My Plans section keeps current, upcoming and past plans together, while dynamic Bitmoji cover art updates as a plan takes shape. Hosts can add guests or change details, and guests receive a reminder one hour before the event starts.

Santa Monica-based Team Liquid is proving LA esports can be built to last, running a revenue-first business backed by owners including Peter Guber. The company operates 26 teams, a Santa Monica command center that broadcasts across YouTube, Twitch, Roku and Huya, and training hubs from Brazil to the Netherlands. Fellow Santa Monica company M80 is following a similarly disciplined path as the industry rebuilds around sustainable revenue. The steadier footing follows a sharp correction from the 2022 funding peak near $4.8 billion, and the survivors are the ones now setting the pace.

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards return to downtown Los Angeles this Monday, with Mariska Hargitay hosting from the Peacock Theater. The Hollywood Reporter's critics have Apple TV newcomer Widow's Bay in the comedy conversation and HBO Max's The Pitt leading the field with 25 nominations. One major storyline is Jean Smart, who could become the first actress to win for every season of a show with another Hacks victory. Zendaya, David Harbour and Florence Pugh are among the announced presenters.

NPR's fall TV preview gathers 16 returning favorites and new series arriving through November. The list includes Gary Oldman returning as Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses, Florence Pugh leading a seven-episode East of Eden miniseries, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson playing possibly related friends in Brothers, Amy Poehler and Hugh Laurie in Mike Schur's Dig, and a third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

The Rams open the 2026 season against the San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground tonight, the first regular-season NFL game played in Australia. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:35pm Pacific on Netflix. The NFC West rivals arrive with new-look lineups and immediate health questions on both sides, making the historic opener a sharp first test for Los Angeles.

The Chargers open their 2026 season against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium on Sunday at 1:25pm Pacific. Los Angeles enters Year 3 of the Jim Harbaugh era after back-to-back 11-win seasons, with Justin Herbert leading an offense now coordinated by former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. Arizona arrives with fresh energy under new head coach Mike LaFleur, setting up a lively season-opening test at SoFi.

The Dodgers are calling up top prospect Josue De Paula from Double-A Tulsa, with his major league debut expected Friday against Miami. De Paula reaches the majors after batting .303 with a .401 on-base percentage and .547 slugging percentage, 27 home runs and 152 hits across 123 minor league games this season. The call comes as Shohei Ohtani heads to the 15-day injured list with right arm discomfort.