The three-story Barnes and Noble on the corner of Pico and Westwood Blvds. will be closing its doors around the end of the year reports Kevin Roderick  at LAObserved. Sad news for those of us who've enjoyed reading with our kids in the children's section, flipping through magazines in the cafe, and having the ability to grab books at a convenient location with evening and weekend…

The foodie folks over at Grub Street are enthusiastically reporting that Hokkaido Seafood Buffet will be opening in a matter of days. They say that crews are hard at work to begin serving up all-you-can-eat Japanese and Chinese fare in late October or early November. The Rancho Park location is the third location for the…

As reported here on Rancho Park Online in an earlier post, the post office in the Westside Pavillion is among those being studied for possible closure by the U.S. Postal Service.

Now a Facebook group has formed to try and save Rancho Park's mall post office…

Published in 2009, this book offers lots of pictures and details of the Palms area which 100 years ago was defined as a large area halfway between LA and the beach.  If you are a local, you will enjoy looking at the pictures and imagining what this area looked like years ago.  Wide open spaces, historic houses, two train lines, film studios, floods, factories making pasta and…

The end of the line will mark a symbolic new beginning for the Expo Line project when the official groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 2 takes place this morning at 9:30 a.m. in Santa Monica, at Colorado Blvd. and 4th Street.

Recent stories in the Los Angeles Times and on CurbedLA indicate that leaders,…

Anyone in Rancho Park, Westwood or even greater Los Angeles has always known that the Bigg Chill frozen yogurt shop is a special treat. But now it is national news.

This weekend the New York Times ran a story on the enduring and endearing corner store that always seems to have lines of…

If you've been thinking about planting a tree in front of your house, now is the time. Rancho Park area streets have been identified as potential sites for planting free street trees under a new grant-funded program to mitigate the impacts of pollution from cars.

The trees will be supplied and planted by the city of Los Angeles. Residents  provide the water and care needed for the tree to become established, which the city estimates is five years.

Anyone…

Get delicous fresh produce delivered to Rancho Park every week and strengthen ties to your community and local farms in the process.

That's is the idea behind Temple…

It is not every day you get a letter from your mailman, but that is exactly what arrived in many Rancho Park residents' mailboxes last week from Bob, our local mail carrier who for practically the last quarter century has dilengently delivered mail to the Rancho Park area south of Pico and west of Westwood Blvds.

"After 24 years of serving you, I will greatly miss you all," writes Bob. "It has been an honor and a pleasure to be your friend and…

The Pico Playhouse is currently staging the Mechanicals Theatre Group's latest production, Out of My Head, a new musical about breakdowns and breakthroughs by Ryan Scott Oliver. The show runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 7:00 pm through August 21. You can purchase tickets through the Mechanicals'…

Yesterday we bought ice cream from Will, our friendly ice cream man who has been driving up and down the streets of Rancho Park and the Westside for the past nine years. He's always got a smile for the kids and his ice cream truck music takes me back to my childhood every time I hear it. Thanks Will, for the memories and the treats!

 …

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a motion by Councilmember Koretz that should put an end to the puppy and kitten mills by banning the commercial breeding of dogs, cats, rabbits and chicken and the sale of those animals in pet stores, according to news reports and Councilman Paul Koretz's newsletter.

Instead the animal shelter will work with licensed pet stores to make shelter animals available for adoption at those stores.

Sounds like a good…

Pulitzer-Prize winning food critic Jonathan Gold visited Rancho Park recently and tried one of my favorite places, Steingarten LA. Owner Ebi Berois a member of Rancho Park Online.

The wise sage of local LA…

For those of you Rancho Park residents who actually drive to the Westside Pavilion, the parking garage will commence issuing parking tickets allowing free parking for three hours only, followed by different pay scales for different activities, with some of the parking costs going up quickly.  Also commencing will be the new parking guidance system, similar to what was installed recently at Santa Monica Place (or the older version at the Century City Mall).  More information can be found at…

I first discovered Norms when I was a food server at Islands Restaurant on Pico (another post, coming soon) back in the early 90's. We used to lock up the restaurant and then head over to Norms, which as they say on the sign...never closes.

Now that I live right here in the neigborhood,  Norms has become our go to…

My hyperlocal year continues with dinner with friends at La Serenata Gourmet, a Rancho Park institution serving up some of the city's best Mexican food. Who knew spinach sauce could taste so good! I am glad I can walk here from my house, but a meal here is worth the trip even if you have…