Best Restaurants, Bars, and Things to Do in East Hollywood / Thai Town (June 2026)
East Hollywood and Thai Town are having a moment in mid-2026, a new food hall is opening this summer, Barnsdall's beloved wine nights are back, and the neighborhood's anchoring Thai restaurants remain some of the best in Los Angeles.
Where to Eat in East Hollywood Right Now
Start with Jitlada (5233 Sunset Blvd, at Van Ness). It has been the standard-bearer for Southern Thai cooking in LA for decades, and it still earns that title. The crab curry and fermented fish dishes go places most menus won't touch. Go hungry, go with a group, and let the staff guide you toward the specials board.
Ruen Pair (5257 Hollywood Blvd) is the late-night anchor of Thai Town, open until 2am, reliably excellent, and priced like it still wants your return visit. The boat noodles and pad see ew at midnight hit differently. There is almost always a table if you're patient.
Palms Thai (5900 Hollywood Blvd) is an institution in the most theatrical sense. The Thai Elvis show runs on weekend nights, the portions are generous, and the energy is unlike anywhere else in the city. It's a genuine experience, not a gimmick, the food keeps people coming back even without the performance.
For mornings, Courage Bagels (4120 Santa Monica Blvd, near Sunset Junction's edge) draws a line for good reason. The bagels are among the best in LA right now, chewy, properly dense, New York-adjacent without pretending to be. Get there before 10am or plan to wait.
What's New in East Hollywood, Summer 2026
The most anticipated opening of the season is Thai Town Marketplace, a new immigrant-driven food hall coming to East Hollywood's Thai Town corridor this summer. The concept brings together multiple small Thai and Southeast Asian vendors under one roof, the kind of destination that makes a neighborhood a food destination in the truest sense. An exact address hasn't been confirmed publicly yet, but it's expected along the Hollywood Boulevard stretch between Western and Normandie. Watch this space.
Also newly returned: Barnsdall Art Park's Friday Night Wine Tastings (4800 Hollywood Blvd, at Edgemont) are back after a five-year hiatus. The format is simple and perfect, local wines, a hilltop lawn, and views across the city as the sun goes down. It runs Friday evenings through the summer. Bring a blanket. This one had been genuinely missed.
Best Bars and Nightlife in East Hollywood
Thai Town's nightlife is quieter than its restaurant scene, but Ruen Pair's 2am kitchen is its own kind of nightlife institution, there's something about eating excellent noodles at 1:30am with a full dining room that feels like exactly where you should be.
Barnsdall's wine nights are now the area's best low-key evening event. The park sits just north of East Hollywood proper and the setting, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House in the background, Griffith Park visible to the north, makes even a modest pour feel special. Free to enter the park; wine is available for purchase on-site.
Things to Do in East Hollywood This Weekend
Hollywood Boulevard between Western and Normandie is the cultural spine of Thai Town, and it rewards slow walking. The stretch has grocers, Buddhist supply shops, dessert cafes, and bakeries worth ducking into without a plan. Hollywood Thai Plaza anchors the commercial core and is worth browsing for snacks, produce, and prepared foods you won't find at a chain.
Pair a Thai Town dinner with a post-meal visit to Barnsdall Art Park, the Friday wine nights run into the evening, and the park itself is open for walking at dusk. The views from the hill over East Hollywood and into Silver Lake are among the most underrated in the city.
For a full weekend loop: Courage Bagels in the morning, a walk through Thai Town in the afternoon, Jitlada or Ruen Pair for dinner, and Barnsdall on a Friday to close the night out. East Hollywood doesn't need to be discovered, it just needs to be visited.