Monterey Park: Best Things to Do
SIGHTSEEING
Vincent Price Art Museum is an art museum with modern architecture. It's located at t East Los Angeles College. The name of this museum is from an American actor Vincent Prince who gives 2000 art pieces of his personal collection to the college in 1975. Inside, the building, you will see over 9000 artworks of impressionist paintings, Japanese prints, and Ancient American objects. Lastly, this museum is free and open to the public.
Vincent Price Art Museum
DOWNTOWN
Monterey Park Historical Museum is a museum to discover the history of this multicultural Monterey Park. This place is located in Garvey Rench park. Close to the museum, you can find Observatory. It's also an important landmark of the city. Both places are good to explore and take pictures. The museum is open every day and the best time to visit is after 7.30 AM.
Monterey Park Historical Museum
SHOPPING
Monterey Park Farmers' Market is a popular market selling fruits and veggies, cheap Latin American foods, and Asian foods. You can get many delicious street foods here. Also, this is the best place to watch local people's activities. But, the market opens on Thursdays only.
If you're looking for souvenirs to bring home with unique designs, we recommend you to visit The Japan House Monterey Park. It's a unique gift shop selling Japanese-themed items, souvenirs, and crafts where you can find in the US.. You can get something sweet to take home from this shop, including cute greeting cards, ceramic based goods, and many more.
The Japan House
FOOD & DRINK
If you come to Monterey Park, don't miss its popular foods like ground lamb, pineapple buns, and carne asada torta. Most of the popular foods in Monterey Park are Asian foods. So, you can get the food at Asian restaurants except for carne asada torta. It's Mexican food, a delicious sandwich with Monterey Parl flavor. For drinks, don't miss the signature yummy boba.
CULTURE
Monterey Park is populated 66% by Asian people, 26% Hispanics or Latinos, and 3.92% White people. So, you will meet many Asian-American people in the city. English is widely spoken here because it's the national language. The city also has various cultural events you might want to visit like the Cherry Blossom Festival, Cinco de Mayo, or Farmer's Market.
BEST TIME TO VISIT
The best time to visit Monterey Park is between April-May. It's spring when the weather is warmer, not so crowded, and there are many food festivals
HOTEL
Stay at Baymont when you visit Monterey Park. It's a nice and comfortable hotel located 5.2 miles from Mission San Gabriel Arcángel and 8 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Also, stay at the Comfort Inn. It's a reddish hotel with excellent facilities, located 8.3 miles from downtown Los Angeles and 8 miles from the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Baymont
Comfort Inn
RESTAURANT
Come to Beijing Pie House to have lunch or dinner. It serves delicious Asian foods like dumplings, porridges, lamb menus. Also, this restaurant is famous for its super tasty ground lamb. You can also go to Cook's Tortas. It's a Mexican restaurant offering various sandwiches to try. It has the best carne asada torta you must try.
Beijing Pie House
Cook's Tortas
CAFE
Come to Boba Ave to chill out and enjoy delicious boba drinks. It's a cool cafe with a wooden interior and a nice vibe. The cafe also serves good smoothies and green tea too. You can also go to Coffee Zone. This cafe has delicious coffee to order. Also, It's famous for its creative and wonderful latte art.
Boba Ave
Coffee Zone
BAR AND NIGHTLIFE
Pacifico Cantina is a bar you can go for enjoying the night. It's a shady bar & grill with tasty foods and alcoholic drinks to offer. This place is a nice place to go with friends too. Another place for a great nightlife is Spirit House. It's a lounge for drinking in the city. Providing nice seatings with outdoor seats, fire pits, Happy Hours, and delicious cocktails and craft beers.
Pacifico Cantina
Spirit House
INTERESTING PLACE
Whittier Narrows Recreation Area is an interesting place to visit in Monterey Park. It has sports areas, 3 beautiful lakes to relax, a cool military museum to explore, and also a horse center. You can also visit The Exit Game. A cool activity at an exit game place providing creative and high-tech escape rooms. This attraction is a good place to go with friends or family.
Whittier Narrows Recreation Area
The Exit Game
INSTAGRAMMABLE SPOT
Barnes Park is a nice spot for taking pictures. It's a clean and big park with an amphitheater. There're many good angles you can get in this big area. Also, you can go to Cascades Park. This is a city park with a natural area and a beautiful splendid waterfall, good for photographs even at night.
Barnes Park
Cascades Park
