L.A.'s Korea Town

[DLfan4]

My kids want is to take a visit to Korea town. Would you recommend visiting? how far is it from the hollywood and highland area. is it safe area to visit during the day?

 

[theluckyrabbit]

It is generally safe to visit during the day (just as safe as any urban area), but I would suggest that your kids pick some specific things that they want to do. It is a business/retail area in a major city, so it's not a "pretty" touristy destination. Many signs are in Korean and people speak Korean in most establishments. There is great food there and fun shopping, but it is helpful to have a list of places picked out ahead of time. From H&H, you might be able to take public transport. Look at the Red Line (there is a station right next to H&H on Hollywood Blvd.) -- I think there is a station that stops in Korea Town (east & west: Olympic/Wilshire? and north & south: Vermont/Western?).

 

[Purrkins]

I love Korea Town but unless I'm missing it, it's mostly a bunch of Korean businesses and places to eat and where a large population of Koreans live. Lots of strip malls. I like how it brushes up with some of the older Jewish neighborhoods as well. You get some really fun blocks with lots of mixes of cultures. Good place to wander with an empty belly and open mind.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Yeah, I'm not really sure if there's much to see in terms of "tourist sites". We would go there to eat and karaoke, go to clubs, stuff like that when I lived in Southern California. The Korean food there is amazing though, probably the best in the country. If you like Korean food (or if you've never had it and want to try something new), then maybe worth a visit.

As others mentioned, it's an urban area, so it doesn't look all that nice, but I never felt particularly unsafe there (no more than any other urban area), though different people have different tolerances.

Edit: as a side note, if you just want to have some decent Korean food, the other option is Garden Grove, which has a Korean community there (though nothing like Korea Town in LA) and extremely close to Disneyland, though I hear many popular Korean restaurants have moved to Irvine.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

As the pp mentioned, there is good Korean food in Garden Grove, which is not far from DLR. Also some in Buena Park, which is near DLR, too. Much of the fun in Korea Town happens after dark (club hopping, pub hopping, bar food crawls, etc.) -- not exactly kid or teen appropriate. For the OP: have your kids said what exactly they want to visit in Korea Town?

 

[DLfan4]

. For the OP: have your kids said what exactly they want to visit in Korea Town?

My teens are into K-pop bands, and have taken an interest in learning about the Korean culture. Basically they want to try some Korean food and visit some shops.

 

[wingednike]

Are you coming this year? You just missed KCon-it's held at the LA Convention/Staple Center and is a big deal for K-Pop fans.

I haven't explored the area much but there is a mall that has interesting stores. http://www.koreatownplaza.com/plaza/index.php?paget=home

From Hollywood and Highland, you can take the Red Line towards Union Station, then switch to the Purple line (I think at the Vermont Station) to get to Koreatown.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... I haven't explored the area much but there is a mall that has interesting stores. http://www.koreatownplaza.com/plaza/index.php?paget=home

From Hollywood and Highland, you can take the Red Line towards Union Station, then switch to the Purple line (I think at the Vermont Station) to get to Koreatown.

This sounds like it might be a good idea -- a mall can provide lots of things to try in one easy location.