LAGuide
Where To Eat & Drink Near Dodger Stadium
11 great spots for before or after a baseball game at Chavez Ravine.
Once you get past the gridlock, the maze of hilly roads with “LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY” signs, and the high probability of spending four hours next to a drunk man yelling about how the Dodgers need bullpen help (whatever that means), a game at Dodger Stadium is a classic LA experience.
But what to eat? Hot dogs in the ballpark cost four times what you’ll pay at a cart down the street, and beer costs more than your ticket. So instead of spending too much on a meal you’ll probably end up dropping on the ground while trying to balance it on your lap, just go somewhere close to the stadium pre- or post-game. These are our favorite dive bars, beer spots, and restaurants near Dodger Stadium.
THE SPOTS
Whether you are leaving a Dodgers game or just need a drink after deciding which oatmeal to buy at Lassens, Bar Flores is one of the best Eastside spots to people watch and drink elaborate mezcal cocktails. Located above Lowboy in Echo Park, the candlelit space looks like a moody Mexican cantina where you can blend into the background and observe the usual Echo Park crowd of NPR shirts and upsold vintage overalls, but it's also a truly excellent bar. The back patio is gorgeous, the drinks are strong and taste great (the mezcal cocktail with corn licor is a sweet, spicy, and smoky elixir), and we have no clue what's in the air, but it smells better than an Aesop showroom in here.
There's no official Dodgers bar in LA, but The Short Stop is as close as you're going to get. This dark spot on Sunset is loosely baseball-themed and slowly transitions into a club after 10pm. Nightly DJ sets spin everything from Latin to R&B and Motown on the dancefloor, so come here to celebrate a W with a dance or maybe just forget the final score with a rowdy night out. The crowd, similar to the music lineup, will be eclectic, but expect to find Dodger fans in full force on game days before the first pitch, specifically to take advantage of the Happy Hour specials and pool table.
Sign up for our newsletter.
Be the first to get expert restaurant recommendations for every situation right in your inbox.
The Eastside Market feels like a secret, kind of like the time capsule supposedly hidden in Dodger Stadium (it's rumored to have been buried a few years after their World Series win in 1959). Located on a side street off the 110, this deli is where to get huge, saucy, meatball-stuffed sandwiches before the game. It’ll likely be filled with neighborhood locals and off-duty cops grabbing a bite, so pre-order your sub for a quick pick-up or sit down to consume all the carbs you'll need to scream your heart out in the nosebleeds. Cold and hot subs are on the menu, but the warm Italian sausage with grilled peppers, melted cheese, and ladles of sauce is hard to pass up.
Although we love dining at The Park's Finest's Echo Park location, our favorite pre-game tradition is grabbing Park's Worker Wednesday box (only available on Wednesdays) and enjoying it in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. The Filipino/Southern BBQ box is filled with rice, pulled pork, barbecue chicken, hot links, veggies, cornbread, and their heavenly coconut beef (all for only $16), meaning that even if the Dodgers lose, you still win.
LA Guide
The Best Restaurants & Bars In Echo Park
Luckily, Pearl River Deli is the exact combination of casual and incredibly delicious we're looking for in a pre-game meal. This Cantonese Chinatown spot is one of our highest-rated restaurants in town, serving deep-fried pork cutlet sandwiches with pineapple buns and a char siu plate with glazed, crackling skin on every slice of pork. And not only is the food excellent, but Pearl River Deli is also very informal and non-pretentious, so bring whomever you'd like, including that one friend in head-to-toe Dodger swag.
A pan-style pizza slice, with its inch-high edges and sturdy cheese layer, is the perfect on-the-go option (especially if you're running late to the game.) Quarter Sheets in Echo Park is one pizzeria that is doing this style justice, with its crackly focaccia-like crust and soft, pillowy interior that soaks up all the sweet red sauce. The barebones dining space has a few tables in case you need alone time with your corner slice, but it's really just a kitchen shooting out to-go boxes for those in need of a portable pie.
Resting in the shadows of Dodger Stadium, The Douglas is the perfect place to pre-game, post-game, or just hang out whenever the weather's nice. This dive bar doesn't have much space—mostly just a few tables inside and on the sidewalk—but the energy is always relaxed, draft beers are just $4, and there's a surprisingly varied food menu for when gameday drinks turn into a craving for fried things. There are vegan falafels, buttermilk fried chicken sandwiches as big as your head, baskets of chicharrones, and a weekly rotating sweet treat. Get the weekly rotating sweet treat.
LA Guide
The LA Sports Bar Directory
Lowboy is a dark, wide-open space on Sunset that also happens to be one of the coolest bars in Echo Park (that serves food). Part of Lowboy's cool factor is that there's always something going on here, whether it's a cool DJ set, a live jazz band, or rotating drink specials with fun themes, like this one that's served in a boot. Pre-game Dodger Stadium with good music, a cocktail list that includes the particularly lethal tequila and mezcal-infused Watermelon Felon, and one banging smashburger smothered in garlic mayo.
After consuming more coconut beef at the Park's Finest than we probably should, we like to stop by at Thunderbolt next door for some pre-game drinks. But be warned: the cocktails here exist in the dangerous, highly coveted Venn diagram of very strong yet genuinely tasty, so maybe save this spot for a post-game if you're hoping to make it to the first pitch. Our favorites are the La Frutera, with tequila, mango, and tamarind (order it spicy), and the Tropipop, which is sweet and tropical like a piña colada, but filled with so much rum you'll forget how upset you were about the score at the bottom of the ninth. This Echo Park spot also just feels like a warm, lived-in neighborhood bar with its comfy leather couches, dark green walls, and plenty of old-school hip hop to dance to with your exhausted, semi-delusional gameday posse.
If sports talk isn't already full of enough hot takes, here's another bold statement: Amboy's fries are the best in the city. But the exceptional fries are not the sole reason why you should visit this Chinatown butcher counter. For a delicious, portable, and incredibly satisfying pre-game bite, stop by for a quick burger. The Classic Double is the undisputed star here—a simple, old-school burger featuring double-decker smash patties (made of ground short rib, brisket, and rib-eye trim), American cheese, and caramelized onions. Scarf it down on the car ride to Chavez Ravine, or maybe pop a squat at a table in Far East Plaza to fully appreciate the patties' crispy edges. Anyway, baseball can wait because these fries are best enjoyed hot.
LA Guide
The Best New Burgers In LA
Finding a great sandwich on game day should require minimal effort, which is why we love Angry Egret. This torta spot cranks out elaborate tortas from its easy grab-and-go window in Chinatown. The possibilities here are really limitless, including the option to take your torta to go or stick around the nice outdoor courtyard for some sandwich R&R before screaming for men hitting a ball with a stick. We tend to lean towards the delicious shrimp po boy that includes pico de gallo, salsa negra, and the optional fatty duck egg or shaved black truffle add-on. There are also pork shoulders rolled in a deboned pig's foot, then slathered with habañero mustard, making for a sandwich filled with salty and tender ground pork patty, hit with just a bit of gaminess.
