Little Armenia occupies part of East Hollywood, roughly around Santa Monica Boulevard between Hollywood and Vermont, and it was formally designated in 2000. Los Angeles County holds the largest Armenian population outside Armenia and Russia, and while Glendale is the demographic centre, this district is where the food is most concentrated within the city itself. The kitchens here are Armenian, Lebanese-Armenian and broadly eastern Mediterranean, and almost all of them look completely unremarkable from the pavement.
Nearly every room here looks the same from outside and the differences are entirely in what they specialise in. Tell Karpo what you feel like eating and it will point you at the right counter.
The rotisserie format
The most useful thing to understand about eating here is the chicken-and-garlic model: a rotisserie chicken, whole or half, served with toum — a fiercely garlicky whipped emulsion — plus pickled turnips, flatbread and sometimes fries. It costs very little, it feeds two or three people, and it is one of the best-value meals in Los Angeles. Toum is not a condiment to be polite about. Ask for extra.
These rooms are frequently more takeaway counter than restaurant. That is not a downgrade; it is the format working correctly. Take it home, or to a park, and eat it with your hands.
The sit-down version
The larger restaurants extend the range into kebabs — lula, shish, chicken — with rice or bulgur, mezze plates, muhammara, mante (small dumplings under yoghurt and tomato), and lahmajun, the thin flatbread with spiced minced meat that you squeeze lemon on and roll. Order lahmajun as a starter for the table regardless of what else you are having.
Bakeries are the third layer and the one visitors miss. The Armenian and Middle Eastern bakeries along the boulevard sell pastries, cheese-filled breads and nut sweets, and they are open at hours the restaurants are not.
The neighbourhood around it
Little Armenia overlaps Thai Town to the north, which means two entirely different eating districts share a few blocks — a genuine oddity of Los Angeles geography and one of the best arguments for walking rather than driving here. Barnsdall Art Park with Hollyhock House is at Hollywood and Vermont, a short walk north, with free views over the basin.
The district also holds the Armenian cultural institutions, churches and schools that make it a community rather than a restaurant row, and the annual commemorations in April are the neighbourhood's most visible public moment.
Getting there
Metro's B Line stops at Hollywood/Western and Vermont/Santa Monica, both within walking distance of the boulevard, and the 4 bus runs the length of Santa Monica Boulevard itself. Street parking is generally available on the side streets and considerably easier than in Hollywood proper. This is one of the few Los Angeles food districts where arriving by train and walking is genuinely practical.
Practical notes
Little Armenia was designated in 2000 and covers part of East Hollywood around Santa Monica Boulevard between Hollywood Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. The standard order at a rotisserie counter is chicken with toum, pickled turnips and flatbread; larger restaurants add kebabs, mezze, mante and lahmajun. Bakeries along the boulevard keep different hours from the restaurants. Thai Town overlaps to the north. Barnsdall Art Park and Hollyhock House are a short walk north at Hollywood and Vermont. Metro's B Line serves Hollywood/Western and Vermont/Santa Monica; the 4 runs the boulevard.
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Ask Karpo first
Every room on this boulevard looks the same from the street and none of them are the same inside. Ask Karpo which one does the chicken, which one does the kebabs, and whether the bakery is still open afterwards.
