Around Dodger Stadium
Going to a game?
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Dodger Stadium has no bars or restaurants at its gates, only its own parking lots, so the pre-game happens downhill. Echo Park is the closest neighborhood with bars and food of its own, Chinatown and Sunset Boulevard each hold a stop worth the detour, and Downtown pairs dinner with the free Dodger Stadium Express from Union Station.
Game-day price specials come and go, and bars and restaurants open, close, and change hands, so check that a place is still open and that any deal still holds before you go.
Neighborhoods below the stadium
The stadium is at 1000 Vin Scully Avenue, up a climb into Elysian Park, and the lots surround it on every side.
Echo Park is just west and southwest of the stadium. Chinatown is just south. Sunset Boulevard runs through the area, and Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and Downtown are each a short rideshare.
No tailgating in the lots
The Dodgers prohibit tailgating anywhere on stadium property, and that includes eating, drinking, or gathering in the parking lots before, during, or after a game. That rules out grilling in the lots, and coolers of any kind, hard or soft, are not allowed through the gates.
Plan on eating and drinking before you get to the stadium, or once you are inside.
Echo Park (the closest scene)
Echo Park is where you go for a drink or a dinner near the park without committing to a Downtown trip. Three spots to try:
- Lowboy (on Sunset, down from the stadium). A casual bar-restaurant with cocktails, beer, wine, and reasonably priced food, and an easy first stop.
- Thunderbolt. One of the better cocktail bars in Los Angeles, and it has run $5 draft beers during Dodgers games, which makes it a cheaper pre-game stop than the cocktail menu would suggest.
- Tsubaki. Japanese skewers and small plates, the sit-down option if you want a full dinner before the game rather than a quick beer.
For a full Echo Park night, have dinner at Tsubaki or Lowboy, get one round at Thunderbolt, and then make the short hop up the hill.
Chinatown and Sunset Boulevard
Just south of the stadium, Chinatown has Homage Brewing, a taproom that has run $5 game-day pints alongside stadium-style snacks, plus the full run of Chinatown food around it. On Sunset Boulevard, El Compadre is a long-running Mexican restaurant close to the park, and a good choice if you want a sit-down dinner before the game.
Downtown, Silver Lake, and Los Feliz
If you are staying Downtown, have dinner near the hotel and then take the Dodger Stadium Express from Union Station and skip the parking altogether. It is free with your game ticket. Downtown has plenty of bars and restaurants of its own. If the Express is your ride home, leave soon after the final out. You can find more about the Express schedule, including when the last bus back leaves, in our Getting There section.
Silver Lake and Los Feliz are the fuller dinner-and-drinks scene, a short rideshare farther out. They are a car ride in both directions, so they work best on a night when someone else is driving or you don’t mind paying for two rides.
Family-friendly pre-game
Echo Park Lake works before a game without turning it into a bar night. It is a short hop from the stadium, with pedal boats to rent, walking paths, and the lotus beds. It is a good place for kids to burn off some energy before a nine-inning game.
Once you are through the gates, the Centerfield Plaza (added in the 2020 renovation) has food and kid-friendly space.
More to do in Los Angeles
A Dodgers trip opens up all of LA.
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A Dodgers night game leaves the day wide open, and the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank is the real working-studio tour in LA, soundstages and backlots and all. It runs two to three hours and sits in the mid-price range.
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