If you want to explore different cultures, there are a wide variety of local places that can help broaden your horizons.
Baja Ranch Market
This is a great Latin American market that sells a variety of products. When you walk in, there is a produce department on the right with many different fruits and vegetables. On the left, there is a meat section, a small restaurant and a bakery. It sells unique items such as marinated carne asada, guava cheese rolls, tres leches cake, bollilos, carnitas and the traditional tacos and tamales. They even have a tortilleria, which is where they make a variety of tortilla products like tostadas and chips.
Tropicana Market
This market specializes in Mediterranean style sandwiches. It is good for random grocery shopping because it has foods that you would see at a Ralphs, but it also has marinated meats and American, French, Spanish, Greek and Italian cheeses. They also have an assorted selection of berries and nuts, as well as hummus, pita chips and yogurt cucumber salad.
India Sweets and Spices
As you would guess, this is an Indian market that specializes in sweets and spices. In addition however, they have many Hindu statues and artwork. There is a restaurant within that offers food sold in the market, so customers can try foods before buying them for home. The store also shows Bollywood, Hindi cinema, films for customers to enjoy as they eat, so they can enjoy all aspects of Indian culture.
Cost Plus World Market
Cost Plus is a great store which provides a wide supply of hard to find international foods. Something unique about this national chain is that it is not solely centered on edibles. In the back where the groceries are kept, Cost Plus has a small stand for upcoming cultural holidays. Right now, it’s for the Lunar New Year, so it has items that you would normally see during the actual celebration, such as Chinese candies.
They have assorted candies and chocolates from all over the world as well, including my favorite bacon-flavored chocolate. The market also has small gifts such as earrings, necklaces, bracelets, scarves, earphones, earplugs and phone cases, all made internationally. The store even sells furniture and home accessories from all over the world.
The Norton Simon Art Museum
Norton Simon is a diverse local art museum. It features famous paintings from all over Western Europe on the first floor, including many famous ones from the Baroque and Renaissance era by Rembrandt van Rijn, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet and Georges-Pierre Seurat. On the same floor is a modern and contemporary art exhibit that contains works by artists like Andy Warhol.
On the lower level of the museum is an Asian art exhibit. It contains many sculptures of Indian gods, such as Shiva, the Supreme God of Hinduism, and other artifacts from South and Southeast Asia, such as Buddhist manuscripts and cover art. Admission is free for senior citizens and those with a valid student ID and $10 for adults.
The galleries are open 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday – Monday. On Friday nights however, the museum is open until 9 p.m.
Baja Ranch Market — 328 W. Huntington Dr.
Tropicana Market — 1406 Huntington Dr.
India Sweets and Spices — 3126 Los Feliz Blvd.
Cost Plus World Market — 3655 E. Colorado Blvd.
Norton Simon Musuem — 411. W Colorado Blvd.