Services >>

• BEST VALUE VETERINARIAN
  Value Vet
  When a puppy dog looks up at you from inside its cage with, well, those puppy dog eyes, it's saying "Take me home with you." What it's not saying, but should be, is "Between my painful and chronic skin allergy, my family history of renal failure, and that infected front paw that will eventually... More >>
• BEST MAIN SQUEEZE
  Dave's Accordion School & Caballero Dance
  Need to learn the difference between a Titano and a Weltmeister? Looking for the best place to get your polka on? Dave's Accordion School & Caballero Dance is the unofficial epicenter for all things accordion. Owner Dave Caballero has sold, repaired and taught the instrument since 1971, the same... More >>
• BEST NEW RECORD LABEL FOR ABSTRACT AND BLUNTED BEATS
  Alpha Pup Records
  The locus of the Low End Theory scene, Alpha Pup Records is the closest Angeleno analogue to the Fabric label that sprang from the north London nightclub of the same name. But unlike their British counterparts, label owners Daddy Kev and his wife, Danyell Jariel, started their increasingly... More >>
• BEST HAND CAR WASH (UNLESS YOU HAVE AN SUV) (1 Comment)
  Soto Car Wash
  Just $8 for a real, hand car wash? Yes, indeed. Okay, an SUV is $15. There's no big, high-tech, water-wasting machine. Just energetic guys at a family-run place. No fancy AC'ed waiting room, no copies of The New York Times, no Muzak. Skip the respadura (perfume spray). It's still a deal, and you... More >>
• BEST CASSETTE RELEASES
  Not Not Fun
  Eagle Rock's Not Not Fun label has a history of cassette releases whose physical descriptions are enough to rival the DIY-spirited music contained therein. For instance, from an early Wigwam/Tent City split: "Housed in stenciled sandpaper covers with runic colored-sand emblazoned cases, and... More >>
• BEST NEEDLE WIELDERS (1 Comment)
  Emperor's College Clinic
  My hour-and-a-half acupuncture session at Emperor's College Clinic, began with an intern who sized me up, and collected data on my aches, pains and gripes. Then, a supervisor checked my pulse and the underside of my tongue and declared that my Qi was off, pulse was thready, and liver was... More >>
• BEST DISCOUNT DODGER TICKETS
  Travelzoo.com
  Thanks to the Internet, journalists and travel agents may soon be joined at the racetrack by ticket scalpers – or at least the kind that'd sell you last-minute tickets to important Dodger games outside the stadium gates. While Major League Baseball has contracted with Stub Hub (a division... More >>
• BEST SHARK FOR YOUR FIN (3 Comments)
  If you've never had the chance to sample the herbal medicine shops along Ko Shing Street in Hong Kong, two stores within a few blocks of one another in Monterey Park can show you what you're missing. Mini-chain PCT Ginseng & Herbs and family-run KCC Chinese Herbs offer traditional medicines... More >>
• BEST COMPUTER HELP AGAINST AL ODDS
  Compunet
  You can't just walk into Compunet in South Central, you have to ring the bell. Behind a barred security door typical of the homes and small businesses in the area, and equipped with a warning system that lets employees know if the door's ajar, this Compunet franchise store — a small,... More >>
• BEST CURLY-HAIR STYLIST
  Jon Buhek at Onyx Salon
  You're not Julia Roberts. Or Farrah Fawcett (may she rest in peace). So if you're still looking like a holdover from Mystic Pizza or an angel sans Charlie, get that mall hair into the hands of Jon Buhek at Onyx Salon. Fie on those $200 jobs at so-called "curly-hair specialty salons," and go with... More >>
• BEST DJ GEAR RENTAL
  Cosmos
  One of the worst aspects of DJing is gear — buying it, storing it and lugging it. A minimal setup for a backyard party, including two self-powered speakers, turntables and a mixer, will run you more than $2,000 new. And that's not counting a laptop and a pickup to haul the stuff. We... More >>
• BEST DJs FOR HIRE
  Copeland Entertainment
  A party boat cruises out of Long Beach Harbor as skinny model types robotically gyrate to a stale beat of Madonna tunes. Their mood is subdued, and some partygoers socialize while others watch the skyscrapers and urban skyline fade in the distance. The crowd turns ecstatic when Mix Master Mike... More >>
• BEST REAPPROPRIATION OF A FAST-FOOD RESTAURANT
  Kind for Cures
  For some, genius strikes in the form of, say, inventing the telephone. For others, it can come in the ability to play freeform jazz on a saxophone. Then there's the type of person who stares at a long-abandoned Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet that had been slumping sadly in Palms for close to a... More >>
• BEST LIFE-CHANGING SALON
  Beauty Box
  Sisters Lydia and Vanessa Arce of Beauty Box give their customers gorgeous hair and fresh makeup. But for the gals of Homeboy Industries, a downtown gang intervention program, the Arces makeup and haircutting services are free. Vanessa was a teen mom but managed to graduate from beauty school... More >>
• BEST LOCAL SURFBOARD MAKER
  Guy Okazaki
  Getting a sleek, high-performance surfboard off the rack from brand-name shapers like Al Merrick and Rusty Preisendorfer can make you look cool on the sand but not necessarily on a wave. Those boards require the light-footed skills found on the pro tour. Guys and girls who don't have yoga bodies... More >>
• BEST BUILD-IT-YOURSELF WORKSHOP
  Machine Project
  Echo Park nonprofit Machine Project is a do-it-yourselfer's dream. The humble storefront, on Alvarado just north of Sunset, offers affordable instruction in everything from quilting to computer programming, not to mention plenty of classes for the acoustically inclined. A recent two-parter... More >>
• BEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN BARBER SHOP
  King of Cuts
  A two-block span along Crenshaw Boulevard is almost exclusively home to barbershops, and if you're a young or an old man, or a woman who wears her hair cropped close, there's at least one establishment on Barber's Row that will scrape and/or shape the stuff growing on your cranium. The best and... More >>
• BEST MAGIC FINGERS
  Massage Therapy Center
  With the proliferation of massage parlors and day spas in this city, it's easy to overlook the unassuming Massage Therapy Center on the upper floor of a Sawtelle Boulevard mini mart. That would be a mistake. If your concern is quality massages over fancy environs, you've come home. The highly... More >>
• BEST MECHANIC FOR A CHANGE
  Norm's 76
  When you are a gal in your late 40s, you'll do anything to keep your car air-conditioning up and running. You'd be just as happy driving a beat-up Yugo with bicycle tires as long as the interior windows showed a hint of frost. "Freezing" to most people means "barely comfortable" to you. We like... More >>
• BEST MERCEDES REPAIRS DRY OF TEARS
  Mr. MB Motors
  A used Mercedes can negotiate a pothole like a tank takes a molehill. That's why you'll see Benzes serving as taxis on the toughest streets of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Maybe that explains their popularity here. The last-generation Es go for a little more than $20,000. This is for a... More >>
• BEST PRIMARY-CARE MECHANIC
  Far East Auto
  If you haven't recently had the pleasant experience of having a mechanic talk you out of spending more money on car repairs, you are advised to head to Donny Vuong of Far East Auto. A longtime fixture near Dodger Stadium, Donny and his small, bare-bones shop are an antidote to spiraling auto... More >>
• BEST MOBILE DJ (4 Comments)
  DJ THC Electra
  In our quest to find a mobile DJ who could go above and beyond the standard wedding-reception tunes, we found DJ THC Electra. The local party starter, who you can catch spinning most Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at downtown restaurant Wurstküche, comes equipped with Serato Scratch Live... More >>
• BEST BULLDOG BEAUTY
  Muttropolitan
  Muttropolitan is an owner-operated pet groomer, and while not the fanciest place around, its prices for the complete makeover really can't be beat: pad- and ear-trimming, wash, clipping, blow dry, basically the works, at the following rates: small dogs $45 and up; medium dogs $50;... More >>
• BEST WAY TO BURY FIDO WITH DIGNITY
  L.A. Pet Memorial Park
  Depending on where you reside, burying your capuchin monkey in your backyard may get you a pricey citation; calling Animal Control to cart Spot away costs $60 to $250, depending on his size. Instead, put your money to better use by honoring your furry friend at the L.A. Pet Memorial Park, where... More >>
• BEST PURVEYOR OF PSYCHEDELIC FREAKINESS
  Manimal Vinyl
  This has been a banner year for trippy beat-laden psychedelic folk breakdowns in L.A., and you can thank Manimal Vinyl for a lot of it. There are a dozen odd labels that could arguably lay claim to being this city's best imprint, including In the Red, Nacional, PPM, Stones Throw, Dangerbird,... More >>
• BEST RECORDING STUDIO IN A HOTEL
  Studio at the Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas
  At the Studio at the Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas, in West Hollywood, catering to an artist's needs is easy: You just order room service. The recording studio, run by Jed Lieber, is housed in an isolated corner of the lavish hotel's parking garage. With a smoking lounge–meets-bordello... More >>
• BEST DECADE’S WORTH OF THERAPY IN ONE EXCRUCIATING (THOUGH EFFECTIVE) STINT (5 Comments)
  Russell Feingold
  You can't throw an I Ching these days without bouncing a coin off the back of a coach of some kind — life coach, business coach, wellness coach. Enter Russell Feingold: transformational coach extraordinaire. What separates Feingold from other therapists, counselors and coaches is his... More >>
• BEST MECHANIC WHO APPRECIATES THE BEAUTY OF A SIMPLE DIY FIX
  Walter Wong at Right Solution Inc.
  A call to superstar mechanic Walter Wong (of Right Solution Inc.) often ends, not with you driving over to his shop but with a variation of the prognosis “Go to Pep Boys…” or “Go to the hardware store…” or maybe “Go into your kitchen…” Advice like administering low doses of Pepto-pink... More >>
• BEST CAB DRIVER (3 Comments)
  Lonnie "Wisefool the Cab Driver" McCreery
  Perhaps it's late afternoon and you're stuck in traffic on the 110 North after arriving at LAX, or perhaps it's 2 a.m. and you and some friends have wadded together enough beer-soaked bills to get a safe ride home from the bar. Whichever the case, you're stuck in a taxi with a driver that has... More >>
• BEST THAI MASSAGE
  Thai Herb and Spa
  It's probably no exaggeration to say that there are hundreds of Thai massage parlors in L.A., and it's tough to know which are legitimate and which are, well, hand-job specialists. The storefront entry that leads into Thai Herb and Spa, which is located in a Hollywood mini-mall, looks like a... More >>
• BEST DEAL FOR AN HOURLONG RUBDOWN
  Serene Thai
  Standard price for inexpensive Thai and Korean massages around town is $40. That gets you full-body muscle work, generally from the surprisingly strong hands of very small women. But one of the better-kept secrets is that some parlors also offer an hourlong foot massage for just $20 — and... More >>
• BEST BUS YOU'LL NEVER USE
  DASH
  The MTA sure has gone a long way in the past couple of years toward promoting its transit system as an effective cost-cutting measure against soaring gas prices and traffic-choked commutes. The marketing scheme has been effective, yet not foolproof in the face of costs. They did, eventually,... More >>
• BEST FOREIGN TONGUE-TWISTING
  Beverly Hills Lingual Institute
  On a typical weekday evening, students of all ages stream into the Beverly Hills Lingual Institute, pick up some cookies or pretzels and a cup of tea or coffee, and head off to one of several classrooms to learn one of the 27 languages offered, from Arabic to Vietnamese. Classes are small,... More >>