West Hollywood is an enclave all its own.

The colorful neighborhood is nestled comfortably between the ultra-affluent Beverly Hills and Tinseltown itself, Hollywood. In many ways, WeHo – as it’s affectionately called – is a mix of its surroundings. The Beverly Hills glamour manifests in the trendy boutiques and eateries lining Melrose Avenue, blending seamlessly into the wild nightlife of the Sunset Strip and the sex shops along Santa Monica Boulevard.

And while much of what makes WeHo fun and exciting is priced well outside of a student budget – a night’s worth of dinner and drinks at Chateau Marmont is practically the same price as a quarter’s worth of books – the city hosts a wide range of cheap eats, fun shops and inexpensive activities.

Moreover as Los Angeles’ primary lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender enclave and the heart of the rock music scene from the 1960s onward, WeHo’s broader cultural significance cannot be understated. Where else could you find some of the most storied music venues in history – like the Troubadour – mere doors away from some of the most important LGBT cultural landmarks and educational centers?

But finding the more accessible parts of WeHo takes research, skill and a little bit of luck. Fortunately, prime has you covered – we’ve got the best spots, shops and eats for your buck. Spend a weekend immersing yourself in the different elements that make WeHo weird, charming and exciting.

See


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Museum of Contemporary Art at the Pacific Design Center

For more daytime fun, the Museum of Contemporary Art at the Pacific Design Center is a good place to start. Not only are the rotating exhibits always amazing, but entrance is free. The fashion exhibit currently on display is as weird as it is enthralling. Not to mention, this lesser-known outpost of MOCA is often quieter, and the architecture of the Pacific Design Center alone is enough to warrant a visit.

Do


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Kitson

While most of the shopping in WeHo tends to be of the expensive, designer variety, there are plenty of cool places to go where you can afford to do more than just window shop. Take Kitson, for example. The celebrity-favorite boutique hosts more than its fair share of overpriced tracksuits and the like, but its knickknacks actually run fairly cheap, usually falling in the $20 or less range. Cool jewelry, home decor, books and more can be found at Kitson's flagship location in the heart of WeHo. The store’s bright, open-floor plan makes it easy to wander for ages, picking through the piles and piles of random, cool goods. It’s a great place to stop by for a last-minute birthday gift too (their “nice Jewish guys” calendar is always a crowd-pleaser).

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Book Soup

Up on the Sunset Strip, you’ll find Book Soup. This giant bookstore crams in everything from coffee-table books on French decor to mystery novels to leather-bound copies of Marcel Proust. Take a half hour and get lost among the aisles. But what makes Book Soup unique among the few remaining independent L.A. bookstores is its author events. Several nights a week, Book Soup features a different up-and-coming author for a reading and signing. Drop in to support the burgeoning local writing scene and discover someone new.

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Melrose Trading Post

There’s just so much stuff.

That’s the theme of the Melrose Trading Post, held every Sunday in the parking lot of Fairfax High School. This local swap meet has a wide variety of vendors, from couples peddling organic hand scrubs to octogenarians showing off jewelry from the ‘30s.

“Eclectic” doesn’t even begin to describe the Melrose Trading Post, affectionately called the “Fairfax swap meet” by locals. While the lineup of vendors changes each week, there are those stalwart stands who arrive at the crack of dawn Sunday after Sunday.

The swap meet is an ideal place to find vintage clothes, cheap jewelry and old vinyl. Repurposed furniture and crop tops clutter the aisles.

Tickets are $3, with admission funds going toward the school. It’s a bit of a hipster haven, but the authentic vintage vendors shine despite that. The Melrose Trading Post is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the earlier you get there, the better your pickings will be. Not to mention, the lines are shorter at the food trucks that are scattered across the premises.

Choice vendors include a $5 jewelry stand, tucked in the back-right corner, with gold necklaces displayed on white tables. Every necklace has a different charm, some shaped like hamburgers or scissors, others scrawled with obscenities. There’s a tapestry vendor on the left side of the parking lot, near the southern edge of the meet, that sells a wide variety of colored wall hangings in various sizes and shapes.

Vintage items are scattered in every corner. There was even a City of Los Angeles “no parking” sign from the 1940s, which read just as confusingly as current ones. There seems to be a New Age item vendor in every other stall – you will never see so many crystals (with purported healing powers) in one location.

The eclectic finds are not only great for filling your jewelry box or closet to the brim, but there’s also enough trinkets to fill your apartment too. It’s easy to spot cheap decorating finds that will add life and a little bit of uniqueness to even the blandest of homes.

Besides, who doesn’t need a vintage pencil dispenser?

Eat


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Alfred Coffee & Kitchen

Start off your day at Alfred Coffee and Kitchen, located on the tiny offshoot of Melrose Place. Inside the immaculately decorated hipster haven, you’ll find an otherworldly selection of coffee, tea, pastries and even pressed juice. It’s an ideal spot for an Instagram photo or a morning of celebrity watching. Alfred exclusively brews connoisseur-favorite Stumptown Coffee Roasters coffee, and each drink is handcrafted to your specifications. Though perhaps best known for the “Alfred Cone” – a shot of espresso inside of a miniature ice cream cone with a chocolate rim – Alfred also has top-class pastries, with a lemon poppy-seed muffin coming in as the understated fan favorite.

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ink.sack

Down the street from Alfred, you’ll find the cheapest and most elite lunch spot in the city: ink.sack. A sandwich shop with a school lunch theme (it’s named after sack lunches), the menu takes the best of high cuisine and slaps it on some bread. Don’t let the weird name deceive you. Owned by Michael Voltaggio, the "Top Chef" winner who was heralded as one of Food and Wine’s best new chefs of 2013 (a prestigious industry honor), ink.sack is a cheaper way to enjoy some of the finest flavors that his flagship restaurant, ink., located next door, has to offer. Crowd-pleasers include Voltaggio’s take on the classic Vietnamese banh mi (pork shoulder, bacon, chicharrónes, pickled vegetables, onion spread, $6), the "cuban" (barbecue pork, ham, swiss, pickles, mustard, mayo, $6) and the "cold fried chicken" (house-made ranch cheese, Gindo's Spice of Life $5). Add a side of house-made salt and pepper chips ($3), and get ready to enjoy highbrow taste in a lowbrow format.

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Sweet Lady Jane

If you’re looking to get your dessert fix, the neighboring storefront of ink.sack houses an L.A. legend: Sweet Lady Jane. Named the best patisserie in the world by National Geographic, this cake-making powerhouse is beloved by celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to Ellen DeGeneres (whose wedding cake Sweet Lady Jane made). The shop's slices of cake are gigantic, so they’re worth the price. Split a slice of the famous triple berry shortcake with a friend, or try out the seven-layer mocha cake.

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kitchen24

kitchen24, named for the fact it’s open 24 hours a day, is a brunch classic, serving up the best breakfast potatoes, slathered in garlic and onions, in the entire city. While the line on weekends can often seem insurmountable (it can take upward of an hour, so come before you’re hungry), drop by during the week to take advantage of kitchen24's happy hour. It runs from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday.

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Hamburger Mary’s Bar and Grille

Down the block from kitchen24, you’ll find a cultural landmark that’s good for a bite – Hamburger Mary’s Bar and Grille. Sure, the hamburgers are good (with a name like that, they have to be), but Hamburger Mary’s is more than just a place to eat. An LGBT community icon, Hamburger Mary has playful decor and stellar service that set the stage for a weekly event unlike any other: drag queen bingo. Drop by to play bingo on a Wednesday night, grab a burger and chat with the restaurant’s infamous drag queen hostesses, who run the bingo show.