Torrance: LA’s Unsung Culinary and Culture Hotbed

Like many a lad from the East Coast, I fell smitten with that seductive California beauty, Los Angeles. Hollywood’s glamor and mystique. Venice Beach’s countercultural riot. Santa Monica’s choirs of swimwear-clad angels. LA had me at hello. 

My romance with LA blossomed further upon discovering the writings of the late, great Jonathan Gold, the Pulitzer Prize-winning LA Times food critic who championed the city’s unsung neighborhoods. Through his vivid storytelling, Gold, like Dante’s intrepid Virgil, guided me through the Paradise and Inferno of America’s second-largest city—to bulgogi mainstays in Koreatown, Oaxacan cantinas in East LA, and time-honored BBQ joints in South Central. But of all the corners of Los Angeles the great culinary troubadour inspired me to explore, none were so captivating as Torrance. 

At first brush, Torrance might seem just another SoCal bedroom city—rows of tidy lawns, leafy parks, and an oceanside promenade enlivened with dog walkers, young families, and surfers. But this South Bay neighborhood is far from a white-bread suburb. Like Jackson Heights in New York City, here is one of America’s most dynamic melting pots—an enclave where Mexico, Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan collide. As you would expect given Gold’s reverence, Torrance is a haven of gastronomic joys, but cultural gems like The Honda Museum, Torrance Art Museum, and Pine Wind Gardens are as compelling as the izakayas, ramen shops, and taco stands.

Below, find some recommendations for a memorable—and delicious—jaunt through Torrance, a fascinating tile on the great urban mosaic of LA.

Where to Eat

While LA’s ritzy boulevards are awash with sumptuous sushi counters, true Angelinos know that Torrance reigns supreme for regionalized Japanese cuisine like Osaka-style okonomiyaki, Fukuoka-style ramen, or delicate kaiseki tasting menus. And unlike many omakase dinners in Santa Monica or Manhattan Beach, you won’t have to liquidate your 401(k) for an unforgettable Japanese meal in Torrance. Of course, this being Los Angeles, excellent Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, and burgers are never hard to find in Torrance, either. 

Kickstart the morning with caffeinated ambrosia at Offset Coffee, a cozy cafe and favorite haunt among UCLA students. For later snacking, snag a bag of tropical pastries—toothsome cakes studded with kiwi, mango, and ube—from Kings Hawaiian Bakery. Their restaurant, next to the bakery, whips up the tastiest loco-moco—a scrumptious concoction of white rice, eggs, ground beef and gravy—this side of Honolulu. 

Hakata Ikkousha Ramen, a tiny ramen shop in an Asian strip mall, is a Los Angeles institution for masterfully crafted tonkatsu ramen. Early each morning, chef Kousuke Yoshimura slowly boils down pork bones into a silky broth—a porcine elixir garnished with thin Fukuoka-style noodles, wood ear mushrooms, and slices of chasu, tender roasted pork. While you watch Hakata’s team prepare the sweet, sweet ramen from an open kitchen, grab an ice-sold Sapporo from the fridge. You’d have to book a flight across the Pacific for a more satisfying bowl.

Chefs come from all over Southern California for Torrance’s Korean, Japanese, and Chinese grocers. Mitsuwa Market, a sprawling Japanese supermarket and food hall, keeps gourmets blissfully adrift for hours with glittering aisles of fish, dry goods, and food stalls hawking everything from yakitori to sashimi and matcha ice cream. Looking for hard-to-find sakes or an extensive selection of Japanese craft beer? Mitsuwa might be your best bet anywhere in the U.S. Down the street and equally impressive is 99 Ranch Market, a warehouse-sized supermarket specializing in the colorful galaxy of Chinese ingredients.

The state that gave the world In-N-Out has no shortage of great burgers, but The Depot’s cheeseburger, two smash patties coated with cheese and chef Michael Shafer’s secret sauce, ranks among California’s finest. Save room for the Chocolate Japanese Bento Box, ice cream and fresh fruit encased within quadrangles of dark chocolate—enough chocolatey caffeine and theobromine to raise the dead. 

In recent years, Torrance has burgeoned into a heavy-hitter on California’s craft beer landscape. The Brews Hall is a buzzy tap house within a building as capacious as an aircraft hanger. Especially on balmy summer nights, Beer Hall’s patio is glorious—for my money, the best place in town to post up with friends over a pint. If you need to soak up all the hoppy suds, the fried chicken sandwich—crispy bird laden with coleslaw and homemade pickles—hits the spot. Another destination-worthy Torrance taphouse is Monkish Brewery, specializing in Belgian abbey ales. In addition to the Trappist classics, Monkish pours superb West Coast-style IPAs—crystal-clear barley nectar bursting with lupulin bouquets. 

What to Do

Car and history buffs alike will delight in the Honda Museum, housed within the corporate headquarters of Honda USA. The museum’s showroom displays cars, motorcycles, and aircraft from each decade of Honda’s history. Videos explain how the innovations of Soichiro Honda, the auto giant’s founder, revolutionized engine technology, allowing for more efficient planes, cars, and even heavy industrial equipment. While Torrance’s Japanese heritage stretches back to 19th-century strawberry farmers and fishermen, the presence of Honda Motors is a major reason why Torrance is today home to the largest Japanese community in the continental U.S. 

Unwind with a meditative stroll through the Pine Wind Gardens, an exquisite Zen garden open to the public. Adorned with trees and shrubs native to both Japan and California, the gardens invite you to take a deep breath and relax with a book, a friend, or just your thoughts. 

Dive into the intricacies of sushi craft and Japanese culinary philosophy at the Sushi Chef Institue, an acclaimed cooking school helmed by a handful of America’s most acclaimed sushi masters. Each week, the Sushi Chef Institute offers classes open to the general public, in which students learn how to prepare gyoza, yakitori, and, of course, raw fish nestled in delicate rice.

With such a dense concentration of Koreans and Japanese, Torrance understandably takes to karaoke bars with gusto. If the urge hits to rip tequila shots, snatch a mic, and channel the energy of Eddie Van Halen or Journey, look no further than Astro Karaoke. I have it on good authority from several local chefs—reliable connoisseurs of late-night shenanigans—that a visit to 3355 Asian Grill is a reliable recipe for a wild night in Torrance. 

And after a booze-fueled karaoke bender, Vodaspa is the type of sanctuary you seek to lick your wounds. Stylized after a Russian banya, complete with saunas, steam baths, and cold plunges, Vodaspa is a favorite retreat among athletes, models, and Tinseltown glitterati. In between shvitzing in the sauna and plunging into the icy pools, sit down at Vodaspa’s cafe for bowls of borscht, plates of pierogies, or maybe a touch of the hair of the dog. 

Where to Stay

Conveniently located on Sepulveda Boulevard, one of Torrance’s main arteries, the Bluestem Hotel (~$150/night) is comfortable, friendly, and beautifully furnished. Rooms overlook a sunny central courtyard, where guests kick back with coffee in the mornings or nightcaps by the outdoor fireplace in the evenings. If you need to crush work while traveling, Bluestem has speedy wifi and plenty of comfy nooks to post up with your laptop. 

The elegant Miyako Hybrid Hotel (~$200/night) could have been teleported from Roppongi, Shinjuku, or another posh Tokyo neighborhood. Designed by a renowned Japanese architectural firm, most of the hotel’s artwork and furnishings come from artists and artisans from Kyoto and Tokyo. In a nod to the Japanese love of onsen, a hot bath before bed, each room comes with jacuzzi-style tubs and Japanese bath salts as a thoughtful lagniappe. If you want to pamper yourself or a special someone, you could do worse than Spa Relaken, Miyako’s gorgeous spa. In addition to a menu of massages, facials, and beauty treatments, the spa boasts a collection of first-in-class saunas and steam baths. 

Johnny Motley has written for The Daily Beast, Matador Network, Cool Material, and more. He’s on Twitter @johnnymotley and Instagram @motjohnny.