Through Labor Day, find new ways to explore the  Sunset Strip through restaurant specials, hotel offerings, and more. Summer on Sunset festivities range from happy hours to specialty celeb-led dinners and hotel deals to keep you booked and busy all summer long. Highlights include: 

Song-Word Art House x Andaz: Sound of Sunset: a music-focused art exhibit inspired by The Sunset Strip which opens on Thursday, August 22 with plenty of art, cocktails, and live DJ.

Night + Market opens its back patio for outdoor dining at the  beloved natural wine and  Thai food stop along The Strip  at the West Hollywood location. 

Pendry West Hollywood  will open a tiki bar pop-up on Thursday, August 29 through Saturday, August 31, and Thursday, Sept. 5 through Saturday, Sept.7.   No reservations are required for the Rooftop Tiki Bar 

The Mid Autumn Festival returns on Friday, Sept.  20 and will feature food from restaurants across Los Angeles including Chinois, Cut, Merois, Pizzeria Mozza, Spago and more. Each restaurant will come to the rooftop of Pendry West Hollywood to showcase culinary delights as they join forces to celebrate the bloom of mid-autumn, plus live DJs and dragon dancers. Reservations: HERE

Sunset Strip

Black Restaurant Week.  will begin on Friday, August 23 and ends on Sunday, September 1.   Celebrating its seventh year of service in Los Angeles, the event is focused on restimulating local economies within the Black community by promoting Black-owned culinary businesses and professionals who cannot afford costly marketing campaigns. In nine years, the organization has supported more than 3000 restaurateurs, bartenders, chefs, caterers, and food trucks.  Participants include Dulan’s Soul Food, Sky’s Gourmet Tacos, Pips on LaBrea, and Blaqhaus Noho. Founded by Atlanta-based Warren Luckett and Houston-based managing partners Falayn Ferrell and Derek Robinson,  Black Restaurant Week celebrates the flavors of African American, African, and Caribbean cuisine with a series of regional cultural events. 

From Thursday, August 22  through Thursday, August 29, Great White will offer two limited menu items across all three locations in Venice, Larchmont Village, and West Hollywood in collaboration with model, musician and recipe developer,  Gabbriette. The Gabbriette Burger will include smashed patties, white American cheese, charred leeks and chilis fermented hot black garlic aioli, and heirloom tomato, all with a signature Gabbriette-black bun and served with a side of fries. The GW Spritz, renamed Spritz Noir by Gabbriette offers a twist in the addition of activated charcoal for a deep purple and black hue, topped with a blackberry garnish. 

The Watts Culture Fest takes place on Saturday, August 17 at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee.  The event is free and will feature food vendors like Ankh Juice, Big B the Chef, Jayy’s Lemonade, Magnolia St. Kitchen, Not So Instant Coffee, Tommy’s Good Food, Tortacos Cansado Del Camino and Watts Waffles. There will also be Retail and Workshop Vendors like  Ceramics with handbuilt and wheel throwing options, Bilingual Coloring Books,  Joe Jam Comic Books, a Sneaker/shoe design workshop with Zapatos and Watts on Wheels, a skate/wheeled sports activation at the WLCAC skate park in partnership with and giveaways from Converse.

What’s Popping Up is a weekly column in the L.A. Weekly that explores all that’s new in food and drink.