Mark Peikert

Face it, Angeleno: It’s Chinatown. And the menus there are often worth the cross-city trek. If you’re still thinking of cash-only, lazy-Susan feasts, well, there are still plenty of those around. But these days, you’re just as likely to stumble on a great burger, a Filipino feast, a natural-wine bar or a cure-all cocktail lounge. That’s the fun of eating and drinking in this particular neighborhood: Despite its name, Chinatown refuses to stay in one culinary lane. The neighborhood’s three main plazas—Far East, Mandarin and Central—are packed with everything from decades-old institutions to newer spots that have made the area into a destination in its own right. Come hungry, bring cash and be willing to explore. We’ve rounded up the Chinatown restaurants and bars worth a visit, whether you want a bowl of beefy pho, a double-dipped French dip, Nashville hot chicken or a great glass of wine.  RECOMMENDED: See more in our full guide to things to do in Chinatown

Getting seats to the best Broadway shows usually requires quite a bit of advance planning. But what if you haven't planned, and you urgently need to see a show tomorrow or even tonight? Don't panic: There are plenty of options for last-minute tickets, especially if you’re willing to put in some legwork. It partly depends on what you're willing to pay and how much risk you're willing to take—and, of course, on plain old luck. If everything goes your way, you might even luck into cheap Broadway tickets, great seats or a chance to see hit shows that you would never have been able to get into earlier. Here is our insider guide to buying last-minute Broadway tickets. The day before the show: Enter the digital lottery Many Broadway shows—including Aladdin, The Book of Mormon and Hadestown—conduct digital lotteries for cheap tickets on the day before each performance. In most cases, you enter the lottery online, then wait until later the same day to find out by email if you've won; if you do, you'll need to reply to the ticket offer within an hour or you'll lose your chance. A few shows, such as Wicked, do their drawings on the morning of the show itself; others have drawings once a week, notably the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child $40 ticket lottery and the $10 Hamilton lottery, both of which happen on Fridays and cover the week ahead. For a full list of shows that offer lotteries, consult Broadway on a Budget or Playbill's Broadway and Off Broadway listings. The morning of the s

The Hollywood Bowl is getting a serious dose of South Central L.A. For emajendat, visual artist Lauren Halsey will turn the amphitheater into a technicolor fever dream, complete with a custom stage set and a lineup that’s basically a who’s who of adventurous music. Erykah Badu and the Alchemist headline, bringing their soulful R&B and dusty hip-hop production to the Bowl ahead of their forthcoming collaborative album, while Anderson .Paak spins as DJ Pee .Wee, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea joins in, and Charles Gaines Collective teams up with L.A. jazz outfit Black Nile and Devin Daniels. Catch the maximalist spectacle on September 29; talk about it for weeks afterward.

Attention proud nerds: Anime After Dark is about to tip nerd culture into a deliriously playful burlesque fantasia at The Slipper Room. Expect a high-gloss collision of cosplay and cabaret as performers bring JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Spy x Family, Pokémon, Cowboy Bebop, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Ghost in the Shell and Sailor Moon to life with wit, heat, and precision. Featuring Lychee Mynx, Happy Bun Bun, Storm Psycho 6, Mae B. Koi and more. 

Tap your toes and enjoy the music at the 15th Annual Blue Note Jazz Festival, with performances running from June 1 through July 1. The festival pops up at major venues across NYC, including Sony Hall, Blue Note Jazz Club and SummerStage in Central Park. This year's performances include Ledisi, Durand Bernarr, Big Freedia, UMI, Bestin Conrad, Shabaka Hutchins, Kokoroko, Cymande, Take 6, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Jose James, BLK ODYSSY Louie Vega: Elements of Life and more. Here's the full lineup with ticketing info. 

The Sierra Club has organized this inaugural Earth Day concert, dubbed Sierra Sessions. Hosted by KCRW DJ Novena Carmel, the night will feature performances by eco-conscious songwriters and storytellers, including Hurray for the Riff Raff, Irene Diaz, Dr. Lyla June, Rising Appalachia, Rozzi and more. Each artist will perform a few songs in the intimacy of Village Studios and share reflections on nature and life on Earth. If you can’t make it in person, the concert will be streamed on YouTube on Earth Day, when the various chapters of the Sierra Club will also host watch parties. If you can make it to the show, stick around afterward for an after-party.

Whether you’re excited about or terrified by artificial intelligence, it seems to be here to stay. Creatives can learn how to work with AI at RenderCon—which offers a deep dive into the future of media, art and technology as it relates to AI. Hosted by the Render Network, the conference hosts artists—including L.A.-based Refik Anadol, the mind behind soon-to-open Dataland—developers and industry leaders for two days of talks, panels and hands-on workshops focused on real-world AI production workflows. Expect practical insights, demos of cutting-edge new tools and networking opportunities.

Erstwhile podcast host and comic about town Marc Maron has been branching out into live music lately. He’ll bring both the laughs and the melodies with his Marc Maron Band for one night only this April 13 at Lodge Room. Joining him on the bill will be special guest comedians Blair Socci and Lara Beitz. 

Celebrate sustainability in action at the Earth Day 2026 Festival, a free gathering from noon to 6pm in Union Square. Expect a full afternoon of climate-focused, family-friendly programming, including interactive workshops, live performances, "climate art" and activities. Dozens of environmental nonprofits and green businesses will be on hand, alongside sustainable food vendors, to make it easy (and fun) to learn how to live a little greener. 

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of MoMA PS1 with a free Block Party on Saturday, April 18. Running from 10am until 6pm at the Queens location, the event will feature artists, musicians and local companies coming together to party across the plaza, courtyard, and galleries in honor of five decades of modern art. The event is free, but "A Mural Workshop with Lady Pink" and "Red Canary Song Presents Fly in Power" require additional RSVPs.

On April 18, 19, and 25 at the Broadway Comedy Club, veteran magicians Jim Vines and Carl Mercurio perform a comedic set of tricks and illusions that is especially tailored to delight young audiences—though the rest of the family is likely to enjoy it, too. And at just $25 a ticket, this is a surprisingly affordable Times Square outing for a larger group.

Folks flock to this annual floral-filled exhibition at Macy’s Herald Square, where jaw-dropping arrangements are on display for two weeks. The theme for this year's installment is "Homegrown," part of the nationwide celebration of America's 250th birthday, "expressed through flowers, fiber and timeless handicrafts," per Macy's. From Thursday, April 23 through Sunday, May 10, explore greenhouse-inspired installations, breathtaking bloom-filled planters, decorative stained-glass garden panels, sculptural fabric birds, yarn-wrapped trees and more in the immersive spring spectacle. 

It would be nearly impossible (or at the very least, incredibly time-consuming) to visit all of the restaurants in the Lower East Side. Luckily, Taste of the Lower East Side brings all of our favorites together in one place, and they are doing it all for charity. On Wednesday, April 29, dozens of the neighborhood's best restaurants, bars and small businesses are coming together to serve the best food and drinks in town. Pile up a plate with bites and drinks from Beauty & Essex, Freemans, Mia's Cocina and more. It is all going down at the Metropolitan Pavilion (125 West 18th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). Tickets range from $300 for general admission and up, with proceeds going to  Grand St. Settlement.

The inaugural Downtown NYC JazzFest brings five nights of live music to Lower Manhattan from April 22–26, taking over The Django, Roxy Bar and Club Room at Soho Grand. Expect a mix of rising talent and marquee acts, including Shayna Steele, Mark G. Meadows and Brian Newman, all celebrating downtown’s long-standing jazz legacy, where tradition meets experimentation in some of the city’s most atmospheric spaces. Tickets vary in price based on venue, from free Saturday and Sunday afternoon sets at Roxy Bar to $40 performances at The Django.

Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery is about to become the setting for one very unusual night at the opera. On September 25, Death of Classical, Green-Wood and the Metropolitan Opera team up for an immersive preview of Lincoln in the Bardo, a new opera based on George Saunders’s Booker Prize–winning novel. The evening begins at sunset with a journey through Green-Wood’s historic grounds, where musicians, dancers, actors and other performers will create a theatrical netherworld inspired by the novel’s restless spirits. After the procession through the cemetery, audiences will gather for an intimate performance featuring stars from the upcoming Metropolitan Opera production, followed by a conversation with composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek, moderated by music journalist Amanda Petrusich. Saunders' book is set during the Civil War, after the death of Abraham Lincoln’s 11-year-old son, Willie. The president visits his son’s grave, while Willie’s spirit remains trapped in the bardo (a realm between life and death) along with a chorus of other dead souls.  RECOMMENDED: SNL alum Bowen Yang is Broadway’s new Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! Photograph: Courtesy The Metropolitan OperaLincoln in the Bardo The opera marks another major collaboration between Mazzoli and Vavrek, who have previously worked together on acclaimed operatic projects. The Metropolitan Opera will give Lincoln in the Bardo its world premiere on October 19, making this Green-Wood performance a chance t

Miami has no shortage of great restaurants where you’re expected to dress up, valet your car and pretend you’re not checking whether anyone famous is sitting at the next table. Now The New York Times is reminding us that some of the city’s most exciting food is happening far beyond velvet ropes. Tin Tin, the Little Havana restaurant from co-chefs and co-owners Sachi Statz and Victor Santos, has been named one of the best restaurants in America for 2026 by The New York Times. The list praised Tin Tin's ambitious Latin-European cooking, such as snapper fillet buried under a cloud of aerated potato purée and yellowtail crudo sitting in coconut leche de tigre. This is not exactly the Cuban food your abuela was making—but Tin Tin isn’t pretending it is. RECOMMENDED: Miami Spice extends through Halloween for the first time in 25 years, giving diners a whole extra month of amazing deals Photograph: Courtesy Tin TinTin Tin Instead, Statz and Santos are taking the flavors they know and giving them a decidedly more cosmopolitan wardrobe. Ropa vieja gets stuffed into tortellini, jamón serrano meets pressed papaya and the rest of the menu pulls from Cuban, Spanish, Italian and French traditions without seeming like it was assembled by a committee. That makes sense considering where the restaurant comes from. Statz is part of the family behind Tinta y Café, the beloved Cuban sandwich and coffee shop that has been around for more than 20 years. Santos is her longtime colleague, and toge

Chicago restaurants landed not one but two spots on The New York Times’ 2026 Restaurant List, and the picks make a pretty strong case for getting out of the usual dining bubble.  The Times’ annual list of 50 favorite restaurants in the country is unranked, and this year’s 16-person scouting team fanned out across the country to find restaurants that felt distinctive rather than simply prestigious. And, excitingly, both Illinois picks are new to the list. RECOMMENDED: This Chicago neighborhood was just named one of the world's coolest, ranking higher than places in New York, Paris and Amsterdam First up is Creepies, the French-Midwestern neo-bistro from David and Anna Posey and chef de cuisine Tayler Ploshehanski. The restaurant opened in August 2025 next door to the Poseys’ Michelin-starred Elske and has quickly become one of the West Loop’s buzziest tables. The Times singled out its roast chicken, frites, leeks vinaigrette, giardiniera-topped mussels and tavern-style tarte flambée, praising the restaurant for reinterpreting rather than recreating French bistro classics. View this post on Instagram Then there’s Kouklas Greek Eatery in Niles. The Times praised its family-style approach and argued that the restaurant makes a compelling case for eating better Greek food—and eating more of it. The menu leans into sharing, with dishes including flaming saganaki, taramosalata (a salted roe spread), tirokafteri (a creamy, spicy feta dip), fried calamari, wood-fired o

At Dalia, the “noodles” are calamari, the pork is sobrasada and Chef Nicholas Dixon’s dan dan is a sly collision of Sichuan and Spanish cooking. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the acclaimed Boston restaurant's menu. If you need more convincing that it's worth trying, however, consider that Dalia has been named one of the best restaurants in America for 2026 by the New York Times, earning recognition for a Spanish-inspired menu that treats Spain less as a culinary destination than a point of departure. Instead of simply working its way through the greatest hits of the tapas era, Dixon is taking familiar Spanish ingredients and techniques somewhere considerably stranger and more fun. RECOMMENDED: This elevated Italian spot was just named the second-best hotel restaurant in the country Photograph: Courtesy DaliaDalia That dan dan dish is the clearest example. Inspired by the Sichuan classic, it swaps noodles for calamari, with smoky sobrasada replacing pork and almonds subbed in for peanuts. The result is an intentional mash-up that manages to make both traditions feel newly interesting. Likewise, Dalia’s patatas bravas get a similar upgrade: The potatoes are sliced thin and shingled together before being fried into cubes, creating an ultra-crisp version of the Spanish staple.  Then there’s the dining room, which offers a choice between sun-drenched whimsy and brooding, red-velvet drama. Or choose to watch the team work at the wood-fired grills f

Miami Spice 2026 is getting extra heated this year: The city's annual prix-fixe extravaganza has been extended through October 31 to give Miamians another month to score discounted meals at some of the city’s best restaurants. The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau announced the extension on September 14, adding October to the 25th edition of Miami Spice Restaurant Months. The 2026 program has drawn a record 400-plus participating restaurants across Greater Miami and Miami Beach during its traditional August and September run, and now diners get four extra weeks to eat their way through the deals. RECOMMENDED: A snazzy new underground bar arrives in South Beach from the teams behind Schmuck and Medium Cool—and it has a custom martini cart And what deals they are: Participating restaurants are offering three-course prix-fixe menus at a minimum of 30-percent savings; brunch and lunch menus are priced at $40, while dinner comes in at either $50 or $65. And if that's not enough, Miami Spice Reserve offers premium prix-fixe and tasting menus starting at $95. Select Miami Spice restaurants will also offer optional wine pairings from the program’s official wine partners, including Louis Pommery California sparkling wine and Château La Gordonne rosé. And because sometimes the best restaurant experience is the one that happens on your couch, Miami Spice’s exclusive third-party delivery and takeout partner, Uber Eats, will continue offering special in-app deals from participati

Amy Poehler is coming to hang in Chicago, which means we're all canceling plans with our real friends to spend time with her, right? The comedian, actor, writer and Saturday Night Live MVP is bringing Good Hang with Amy Poehler live to the Vic Theatre on Sunday, October 18, at 2pm. Presented by Jam Presents, the all-ages show brings Poehler’s popular podcast to the stage for an afternoon of comedy, conversation and whatever wonderfully unhinged detours happen when Poehler has a microphone and a willing audience in her former comedy stomping grounds. RECOMMENDED: This century-old Chicago theater could reopen next year after being closed for a decade—but it needs your help In case your algorithm hates you and you've never seen a clip on TikTok, the Good Hang podcast features Poehler talking with comedians, actors and other creative types about their lives, careers, friendships, anxieties and the general business of being a person. It’s funny, candid and occasionally more heartfelt than you might expect from a show whose title sounds like something you’d put on a neon bar sign. Even if sometimes the host confuses Gwyneth Paltrow for Nicole Kidman, The live version promises to bring that same loose, conversational energy to the stage (presumably with more research), giving Chicago fans the chance to see Poehler up close for the first time in years. Depending on the guest lineup and the mood, that could mean stories from Hollywood, behind-the-scenes tales from her career or the so

Look closely at the car in front of you on the 405. If its California license plate looks a little wrong, you’re not imagining things. California is rolling out a new standard license plate sequence for the first time in 46 years, and the new format has already started appearing on cars around Los Angeles. But for once in California, the change isn't just for aesthetic purposes. The truth is much more pragmatic: We ran out of numbers. RECOMMENDED: The best road trips from L.A., from weekend jaunts to extended vacations Since 1980, the state’s standard license plates have followed the same basic formula, with one number, three letters and three numbers. “The long-existing California license plate 9-series configuration, which began with 1AAA000 in 1980, ended with the production of the 9ZZZ999 plate this year,” Ronald Ongtoaboc, spokesperson for the state Department of Motor Vehicles, told the Los Angeles Times. But don't expect to see the new plates right away. "There are more than 110,000 plates with the '0AAA000' format that remain to be issued and are stored throughout DMV and auto club offices across California,” Ongtoaboc added. The replacement is essentially the old format turned inside out. New plates will feature three numbers, three letters and one number, producing combinations that look like 000AAA0. (Although of course vanity plates will still proliferate.) The California Department of Motor Vehicles began producing the new-format plates earlier this year, and th

Los Angeles has no shortage of places where you can drink cocktails while wondering if you’ve wandered into another dimension. Now there’s an Alice in Wonderland-themed cabaret hiding behind a bookcase at one of Hollywood’s most iconic hotels. Down the Rabbit Hole, an immersive, 90-minute cabaret at the Hollywood Roosevelt, transforms Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland into something considerably more adult. The experience takes place at the Cinegrill Theater inside the historic hotel at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, with performances built around burlesque, dance, cinematic visuals and characters inspired by the familiar Wonderland characters. The event is directed by Tracy Phillips, with choreography by Phillips as well as Liana Blackburn, Denna Thomsen, Robert Green, Amy Ryerson, Kyra Cole and Iyana Monet. RECOMMENDED: This new L.A. fashion exhibition will spotlight one of Hollywood's most iconic Golden Age designers, and it's totally free View this post on Instagram A post shared by NATALYA Z (@natalyaz.co) The first trick happens before the show even begins, as guests step through a doorway hidden behind a bookcase inside the hotel. From there, the experience descends into what producers call "glamour and danger." And yes, this is very much an adults-only Wonderland, so attendees must be 18-plus, and cocktails and light bites are available during the experience. That's not the only event happening behind the bookcase, either. The Cinegrill Theatre is lea

Los Angeles loves to make everything into a production. Why should reading get left out?  Luceros y Penumbras: The World’s Largest Pop-up Book is now on view at the Los Angeles Central Library in Downtown L.A., where the monumental installation transforms the building’s historic interior into something halfway between a storybook and a piece of public art. The free exhibition is on view through November. RECOMMENDED: 9 free things you didn’t know you could get with an L.A. library card And when they say “large,” they really mean it. Like, new Guinness World Record holder large. When fully opened, the book measures approximately 31-by-20 feet, with its paper structures rising more than 11 feet into the air. The whole thing weighs over 1,800 pounds, but it's made using traditional bookmaking materials, including paper, adhesive and fabric. Created by L.A. artist and printmaker Daniel González, Luceros y Penumbras was commissioned as the centerpiece of Central Library’s centennial celebration. González drew on his history, the history of Los Angeles and the library’s role as a place where generations of Angelenos come to discover, learn and imagine. The massive book unfolds across two enormous pop-up spreads, filled with intricate scenes and imagery exploring memory, culture and discovery. Paper engineering is courtesy of Matthew Reinhart, the artist behind numerous elaborate pop-up books, while Goodnight & Co. handled the full-scale engineering and fabrication required

What happens when famous women from Western pop culture are dropped into the middle of everyday Chinese life? Apparently, they make tea, practice calligraphy and cook with a wok—and they look really, really strange doing it. RECOMMENDED: All of the must-see art exhibitions coming to MoMA this fall Guest House: Welcome Home, a new exhibition at Chinatown’s The Wang Contemporary that opens today, September 11, features 10 life-size wax sculptures, each placing a recognizable female icon—though unnamed, the figures are clearly modeled after the likes of Taylor Swift, Madonna, Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, Paris Hilton and more—in an unexpected setting rooted in Chinese daily rituals. Photograph: Courtesy The Wang ContemporaryGuest House Welcome Home The women, dressed in silk qipaos, are depicted performing ordinary activities including drinking tea, cooking and playing the erhu. The effect is deliberately uncanny; these aren't simply celebrity likenesses transported across the globe, but elaborate reimaginings that turn wax sculpture into something resembling a frozen movie scene. "I am honored to be making my American institutional debut with The Wang Contemporary, given their commitment to championing Asian artists," said Zhou Xuerong in a statement. “When someone encounters these familiar faces in an unexpected cultural setting, I hope they begin to question not only what they're looking at, but what it means to be a guest in someone else’s culture.” Photograph: Courtesy Wa

Apparently, New York audiences are not done watching two very hot hockey players fall in love while singing about it (and big butts). Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody has officially recouped its investment Off-Broadway and extended its run yet again, proving that the horny little hockey musical nobody necessarily asked for is a bona fide New York theatre hit. Inspired by the hit Crave/HBO Max series about professional hockey players Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Williams in the TV show) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), Dylan MarcAurele’s parody opened Off-Broadway at the Culture Club this past May for what was initially just an eight-week run. It has now been extended through January 17, 2027. That's an impressive trajectory for a show in the grand tradition of unauthorized musical spoofs, alongside gloriously unhinged stage sensations like Titanique and Silence! The Musical. In his Time Out review, Adam Feldman gave the show four stars, calling it an “unexpected delight” and praising its double entendres and “knowingly silly” approach to the source material. RECOMMENDED: Bowen Yang is Broadway’s new ‘Oh, Mary!’ lead, will make show debut this month The basic setup will be familiar to anyone who has been anywhere near the Heated Rivalry fandom: Shane and Ilya are hockey rivals whose relationship evolves into something considerably more intimate. The musical takes that premise and throws it into the machinery of traditional musical theater, complete with

Beyoncé celebrated her 45th birthday by giving herself a present she presumably won’t be taking home: a $2 million gift to the Studio Museum in Harlem. The superstar, entrepreneur and art collector announced the donation on September 4, backing the institution as it settles into its new 82,000-square-foot home on West 125th Street. “I have always been impressed with the Studio Museum in Harlem because of its intention to make the museum an integral part of the community,” Beyoncé said in a statement. She also credited the museum with introducing her to several of her favorite young and emerging Black artists. RECOMMENDED: The Studio Museum in Harlem was just named one of the best places in the world The museum reopened its new home in November 2025 after a seven-year closure. And they're not losing momentum as they move into the fall. First up is Dreams of This Future: The Collection of Peggy Cooper Cafritz, on view through February 28, 2027. The exhibition draws from the collection Cafritz, the late arts patron, educator and civil rights activist, gave to the museum in 2018. Artists include Nina Chanel Abney, Nick Cave, Kerry James Marshall, Simone Leigh, Deana Lawson and Toyin Ojih Odutola. Photograph: Courtesy the Studio Museum in HarlemAl Loving, Variations on a Six Sided Object, 1967 Then there’s Geometries, opening September 10 and running through January 31, 2027. The group exhibition explores geometry as an artistic language, with works by Julie Mehretu, Alma Thomas