Cinco de Mayo celebrations in Echo Park and beyond
in Announcements, Art & Music, Eat & Shop | 1 comment
Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, time to celebrate Mexican culture and heritage with some beers and margaritas! There are a ton of great spots you can walk to in Echo Park, here’s the low-down:
Echo Park Merchant Association’s Cinco de Mayo Event
There will be beverages, tasty snacks, music, and a raffle to benefit The Wall Las Memorias Project. The raffle prizes will include a gift certificate from The Warehouse LA and a terrarium from The Classroom LA.
Saturday, May 5 from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
The Warehouse is located at 1197 West Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park
Mayberry Elementary School Fiesta
This family-friendly event celebrates with a Fiesta. Mayberry Magicians, Live Mariachi, folklore dancers, Mayberry student dance performances, Glee Club, and more. Booths, prizes, obstacle course jumper, Sumo Suits, Fac epainting, and other great activities will keep the kids going! All day game wristbands are $15 (proceeds benefit programs at the school). And of course, Cinco de Mayo appropriate refreshments.
Saturday, May 5 from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Located at 2414 Mayberry Street in Echo Park
Barragan’s
This is definitely a go-to spot for a lot of locals and non-locals – cheap margaritas are the name of the game and they’ve also got something special for the Cinco de Mayo holiday. Just make sure to arrive early, snag your spot on the patio (usually open after 7:00 pm), and order a bucket of Coronas for a discounted price.
Barragan’s is located at 1538 West Sunset Boulevard
El Compadre
They don’t usually have any specials going on for Cinco de Mayo, but the Echo Park location has the BEST margaritas and a fabulous mariachi band to keep you in the mood. Valet parking is available in the back, and sports on the television.
El Compadre is located at 1449 West Sunset Boulevard
Beyond Echo Park:
The Pub at Golden Road Brewery in Atwater Village: Cinco de Moustache
Cinco de Moustache is a “poquito” celebration of the holiday with food specials and two taps (one at 11 am, one at 5 pm) of the limited release “El Hefe Añjeo” - a hefeweizen aged in añejo tequila barrels (say what?!). Food specials include $2 tacos (carne asada, pollo, and vegetarian), vegan & non-vegan tostadas, and ceviche.
Saturday, May 5 at 11:00 am
Golden Road Brewery is located at 5410 San Fernando Rd West in Atwater Village
La Cuevita grand opening in Highland Park
The Little Cave is now reformed into a tequila/mescal bar called La Cuevita, opening up this weekend. $2 tecate, free tacos starting at 9:00 pm, and of course their selection of agave spirits and specialty cocktails. Enjoy your libations on one of the two patios at the new bar.
Friday May 4 and Saturday May 6 at 7:00 pm
La Cuevita is located at 5922 N Figueroa Street in Highland Park
The Biggest Margarita at Big Bar in Los Feliz
The mother of all margaritas are on Los Feliz this weekend: A 957.44 ounce margarita will certainly match your Cinco de Mayo expectations; that’s bigger than my head! Served all day on Saturday for $10 a piece (that can’t be premium tequila in there) and enter your chance to win tickets to a Dodgers vs. Giants game.
Big Bar is located at 1929 Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz
Just make sure if you do go out and drink some adult beverages, have a designated driver, or take the BUS! The LAPD does have plans for some DUI checkpoints around Los Angeles this weekend.
Donate your art for show benefitting the Echo Park Film Center
Calling all artists – Stachka (a grassroots fundraising organization) is accepting donations for an art show benefiting the Echo Park Film Center. Donations can submitted by Saturday, May 5, 2012.
1650 Gallery in Echo Park is hosting the “Reel Art” fundraiser on May 19, featuring a silent art auction and film screening. DJ Salinger and Slam Dunk are DJing, and O.N.E. Coconut Water refreshments provided. All proceeds benefit the Echo Park Film Center.
Click here for more information, or email Jacqueline Davis or Nicole Paulus at picketlinekids@gmail.com to donate.
Get your tickets now for Taste of the Eastside
in Announcements, Art & Music, Eat & Shop | 0 comments
It’s time for the second annual Taste of the Eastside – an event that includes taste-testing awesome treats from local restaurants in the area, including Silver Lake, Atwater Village, Eagle Rock, Los Feliz, Downtown, and Highland Park, and more importantly, Echo Park!
Last year we attended the first Taste of the Eastside and had a blast – beautiful weather plus tons of great Echo Park restaurants made it worth the ticket price. We enjoyed some incredible bread pudding from Delilah’s, vegan ceviche by Elf Cafe, Farro salad from Cookbook, Pho Beef Tacos from Xoia, and savory rhubarb galette from The Park. A memorable cup of coffee from Silver Lake’s Intelligentsia made us realize why the coffee shop is so packed all the time. Click here for our photos from last year.
This year we can expect some of the same restaurants from last year plus a couple of new additions from Echo Park, including The Park, Cookbook, Mohawk Bend, Xoia, and Pazzo Gelato. We know Xoia is serving up some homemade ice cream, which will be perfect for the wonderful 74 degree, sunny weather we can expect!
Tickets are a little more expensive this year, but includes unlimited tastings from the 30+ restaurants from the area. With each $35 ticket you get a unlimited food tastes, a $45 bar ticket adds a wine/beer flight, and a $65 VIP ticket a bunch of other goodies like seminars . Kids 2-12 are only $5, two and under are free!
Taste of the Eastside
Barnsdall Art Park, located at 4800 Hollywood Blvd
Sunday, May 6 from 1-5:00 pm.
Click here for the website
Cuban Music Festival postponed second year in a row
Flickr photo by Max Santa Cruz, May 2010
Around this time of year, our email inbox gets flooded with questions about if there’s going to be a Cuban Music Festival at Echo Park Lake. We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’ve confirmed with official organizers that there will not be a Cuban Music Festival this year.
The Cuban Music Festival is usually held annually at Echo Park Lake – this year would have been its 18th year. It celebrates Cuba’s Independence from Spain on May 20, and Cuban poet José Martí (you may have notice his statue at the corner of the park).
Last year’s festival was canceled due to funding issues. A representative from Duval Productions says they hope to come back next year when the lake rehab has completed.
Tonight: Updates on the Echo Park Lake rehabilitation project
in Announcements, Community News | 0 comments
Tonight, the city is holding an Oversight and Odor Monitoring Committee meeting for those interested in getting updates on and ask questions about the Echo Park Lake rehabilitation project. Only 11 months left of the project – we’ll find out if things are moving along as planned. The meeting is today, Monday, April 30, 2012, [...]
Echo Park’s Week in Music
For the week of Monday, April 30 through Sunday, May 6 Monday Tanlines, Rewards, Gothic Tropic @ Echo Jon Benjamin Has a Tour @ Echoplex Melpo Mene @ Origami Vinyl Open Mic Night hosted by David & Jayson @ Tribal Café The Fold NIght Market, The Downtown Train, Cuckoo Chaos, Gangi, Reighnbeau, Corridor @ Bootleg [...]
12th annual Festival of Childhood tomorrow
The 12th Annual Festival of Childhood held by the local Echo Parenting & Education takes place tomorrow, April 28, 2012 from 1-5:00 pm. In conjunction with The Day of the Child, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and International Spank Out Day, the festival promotes parental self care as well as an understanding of child development: [...]
Found dog: Male Lab mix on Echo Park Avenue
Echo Park Now reader Javier was having lunch at Red Hill today (lucky you!) when he took found a male Lab mix running around. The dog has no tags or a chip, but looks like such a happy one that there’s got be someone looking for him. Contact us if you know anything about this [...]
