Los Angeles

Koreatown Essentials

Food, spa, and late-night bites

LA Koreatown is a city within the city, and it barely sleeps. The essentials go well past barbecue: a jjimjilbang where you can sweat, soak, and eat all night; a supermarket whose banchan case outclasses most restaurants; K-beauty counters stocked ahead of the rest of the country; and dessert spots serving taiyaki and soft serve until late. This list is deliberately not restaurants-only, because Koreatown is not a dinner reservation, it is a full day. Park once, walk the blocks around Wilshire and Western, and let the neighborhood set the schedule.