8 LA Spots That Are Actually Worth the Instagram Story

Victoria Pfeifer
14 minutes ago
3 min read

We started BUZZMUSIC in Los Angeles, literally sweating through shows on Sunset, ducking into late-night donut runs in Highland Park, writing about indie bands from coffee shops we absolutely could not afford to be sitting in.

So if we’re going to tell you where to go in this city, it’s not because Google Maps told us to. These are places we lived through, found ourselves in, got our hearts broken at, and occasionally healed from. These aren’t just outings; these are L.A. experiences that make you feel like the main character in your own life, not someone else’s B-roll.

If you're done doing the same tourist loop as everyone who’s ever watched a TikTok travel guide, consider this your actual guide: from goth shopping and mariachi dinners to Malibu ocean energy and the donut that might convert you into a believer.

1. A Concert at the Hollywood Palladium

This isn’t just a venue, it’s a rite of passage. The Palladium has hosted everyone from punk legends to alt-heartbreakers that could soundtrack your quarter-life crisis in real time. The floor shakes, the lights feel too close, and suddenly you’re having a life epiphany next to someone in a band tee older than you. If you see a sold-out show here, congratulations, you’ve unlocked an L.A. core memory.

2. Donut Friend (The PB&J Donut Will Change You)

Highland Park’s holy ground. Donut Friend is a plant-based donut shop that treats pastries like mixtapes, layered, nostalgic, and stupidly addictive. The Peanut Butter & Jelly donut? It’s a childhood sleepover and a first kiss and a sugar high collapsing into one perfect bite. If you leave with only one photo in your camera roll, let it be this donut. Yes, we said what we said.

3. Shopping @ Posers on Melrose

Welcome to your goth era. Posers is where fishnets, leather, platform boots, and eyeliner that says don’t talk to me unless you're in a band all find their true north. This is the kind of shop that awakens something in your soul you thought you had outgrown. Spoiler: you didn’t. Dip in. Become the 14-year-old you desperately wanted to be.

4. Griffith Observatory (The Classic, Obviously)

Griffith is more than a skyline view; it’s where people go to remember that L.A., for all its chaos and choking ambition, is genuinely beautiful. Come at sunset if you want your Instagram story to do numbers without trying. Come at night if you want to feel small in a way that doesn’t hurt.

5. The Hollywood Sign (Not What You Think)

Let's be for real: the Hollywood Sign is kind of like watching the ball drop in Times Square, iconic, sure, but smaller and less life-changing than every movie told you it would be. Still worth seeing, but manage your expectations. Cute moment. Not a spiritual awakening.

6. DREAMS Los Angeles (Gone, But Still Holy)

DREAMS LA was a metaphysical supply shop that somehow felt like walking into another lifetime. If an angel ever tapped you on the shoulder and whispered a secret, it probably smelled like this place. They closed their physical location after the pandemic and a brutal rent spike (very L.A. of L.A.), but the memory lives feral in our hearts. And yes, we will speak of it forever.

7. Santa Monica Pier

Yes, it’s touristy. No, we’re not too cool for it. The lights, the ocean air, the Ferris wheel that somehow always feels safe even though it absolutely should not, it’s a vibe. Order something fried, walk the shore, let the Pacific slap you back into emotional alignment.

8. Paradise Cove Beach Café

Paradise Cove Beach Cafe is where you go when you want to eat something incredible with your feet basically in the ocean. Malibu hits different. The energy is cinematic, warm, and just unhinged enough to make you believe your life is about to change. The food? Ridiculously good. The vibes? Better.

Do these eight things and you’ll get why the rest of the world misunderstands L.A.: they think it’s a backdrop when it’s actually a character. A messy, brilliant, exhausting, addictive character you never totally get over. And honestly? We wouldn’t want it any other way.