Today, a kind friend asked if I wanted Japanese Ramen. I said yes and thought Little Tokyo, here I come. But instead we went to Sawtelle.
The drive there was nice since my friend likes local rather than highway. I did not realize that there were blocks of nice neighborhood through Jefferson blvd as we went west. Well, they were small isolated residential areas, where there were only houses. Then we saw real nice places and realized that we were near Beverly Hills (Ahhh…).
When we arrived at Sawtelle, it was already busy but luckily I came to Sawtelle enough that I knew what to do. I quickly told my friend to make a right turn and go two blocks and we found parking. My friend was amazed.
Then we quickly went to Tsujita and the line was already long. So I quickly told my friend that we should sign up and go eat because we were starving. We crossed the street and Beard Papa and then shopped at Daiso. In fifteen minutes, we accomplished everything and went back to Tsujita and enjoyed a very delicious Ramen.
We were already very pleased yet to make the day glorious, we went next door to Tomo and proclaimed victory. It was a good night.
So here are some tips to not be stressed and enjoy Sawtelle.
- Go early. Sawtelle is awesome and popular. Go early or else you will wait long time. Of course, you can enjoy talking to your friends and just standing but when you are hungry, this may be frustrating.
- Sign your name and go to Daiso or walk around. Unfortunately, most Sawtelle restaurants do not give you a beeper but if you have between 20-30 minutes, walk around and enjoy the nice neighborhood. Also, go to Daiso and get some useful stuff. You can buy a $1.50 broom that you always needed or that you always wanted to give to your roommate.
- Park in the neighborhood. Trying to park close to the restaurants is very difficult. Instead, go two or three blocks down and you will find parking. But make sure that you can park there. Some places are only for cars with permits and your beautiful car may be towed. Make left turns to find parking because people tend to make right turns usually.
- Uber! You can always just Uber and resolve the parking problem. But remember that Sawtelle is a popular destination and many people already take Uber to avoid parking.
- Check Google maps. Nothing ruins a good night more than heavy traffic. Make sure you check the traffic before you go back home or to your destination. If the highway looks crowded go local.
Pureum's Perspective 