How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to vintage scouts the Linda Lindas
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Since the Linda Lindas wooed music lovers with a commanding performance of their song "Racist, Sexist Boy” at the Los Angeles Public Library nearly two years ago — the video now has more than 1.5 million views on YouTube — their life has been anything but chill.
The all-girl punk band — a mix of sisters, cousins and chosen family ranging from ages 12 to 18 — opened for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ tour along with Japanese Breakfast last year, performed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and starred in Amy Poehler’s 2021 film, “Moxie.” They also were featured on NPR's revered Tiny Desk series and, in December, played their largest hometown show yet at the Fonda Theatre to promote their debut album, “Growing Up.”
Read more: 'Whoa, this is crazy': L.A. teen punks the Linda Lindas on going viral (just before finals)
The band did a "lot of shows" last year, "so it [felt] like a big celebration with friends,” says 16-year-old Lucia de la Garza, reflecting on their hometown show.
“We got to have an after-party on the roof,” Eloise Wong, 14, adds enthusiastically.
“All our friends were there and it was really fun,” says 12-year-old Mila de la Garza.
This spring, the L.A.-born quartet will be hitting the road with Paramore for their U.S. tour and performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio for the first time.
Between balancing their skyrocketing music careers with their social lives and schoolwork — 18-year-old Bela Salazar graduated from high school in June — the Linda Lindas have gotten used to managing their loaded calendars.
Read more: From L.A. library to late night: Linda Lindas take viral 'Racist, Sexist Boy' to TV
Over the last couple of years, Sundays have typically been reserved for practice, but the Linda Lindas cherish spending time together both on and offstage.
The band’s perfect Sunday in L.A. looks a lot like the spooky music video for their song “Talking to Myself,” which shows them visiting several of their favorite places (minus the vengeful dolls coming to life). The Linda Lindas' rundown of their ideal Sunday, which is brimming with recommendations, has been edited for length and clarity.
8:30 a.m.: Have a sleepover, then race to Cindy's diner for breakfast in our PJs
Bela Salazar (guitar, vocals): We’d have a sleepover at Lucia and Mila’s house, then wake up to go to breakfast at Cindy’s in Eagle Rock.
Lucia de la Garza (guitar, vocals): We'd go out and we'd be wearing our pajamas.
Bela: This isn’t breakfast, but I’d eat it for breakfast: I like the falafel there. Also, a slice of apple pie.
Mila de la Garza (drums, percussion and vocals): They don’t serve this there for breakfast, but I would get the spaghetti with no meatballs.
Eloise Wong (bass, vocals): Maybe Bela wouldn’t finish her food so I’d just kind of eat off of her plate.
Lucia: I’m getting French toast and also a side of potatoes.
Bela: Cindy’s is very chill, comfy and bright.
Lucia: And the Key lime pie is excellent there.
Mila: I’d order a glass of orange juice. I’m an orange juice person.
Lucia: She has orange juice on our [tour] rider, so we always have orange juice in the green room.
Eloise: There’s so much orange juice! Like two jugs of it and then every show we play when we’re on tour, we just accumulate so much orange juice.
Read more: The 25 best classic diners in Los Angeles
10:15 a.m.: Vintage shopping in Northeast L.A.
Lucia: We’re going to a vintage shop to get some new outfits.
Eloise: Bela is driving!
Bela: I know how to drive — just not well [laughs]. We like Leader of the Pack on York Boulevard in Highland Park.
Lucia: Leader of the Pack has a lot of really cool displays of stuff.
Mila: And accessories.
Lucia: We also like Kiki Stash …
Eloise: ... If we’re looking for something special.
Bela: It takes us forever to shop.
Lucia: I find like two things and then I pick one, and wait for them to finish.
Bela: We’d spend an hour and a half in each store.
Read more: 34 L.A. thrift stores where you can find the best vintage, zero-waste holiday gifts
2 p.m.: Coffee and boba break
Bela: I would need a coffee. If we’re in Highland Park, then there’s one place that I will break my pockets for: Civil Coffee on Figueroa Street. I’m trying to cut out coffee, but that’s the one place that gets an exception. I get the Figueroa drink. There’s Mexican cookies called Marias and they put it on top, and it has cinnamon. Or they have good matcha there.
Lucia: The rest of us don’t really drink coffee.
Eloise: I think we should get boba at Minon Cake [in Chinatown].
Lucia: Recently, I got a coconut strawberry drink, but I’m feeling a bit more chill on Sundays. So I feel like a regular taro, half sweet, less ice, with pudding and no boba.
Mila: I have recently been getting a lychee green tea with lychee coconut jelly and boba, half sweet.
Lucia: Minon Cakes’ crepe cakes are also good. We like the mango [flavor].
Eloise: I just get jasmine tea with boba.
2:30 p.m.: Lunch at Jade Wok
Lucia: After getting boba, we’re going to go to Jade Wok, which is a restaurant in Chinatown.
Eloise: We would definitely get their tofu because they make it there. We’d get the one with the meat sauce on it.
Bela: They have Thai tea there, right?
Eloise: But we just got boba!
Bela: But I would need my second one [laughs].
Eloise: Whatever drink you get is buy one, get one free, so we’d get two Thai teas for the price of one.
Bela: So I’d get a Thai tea. We’ll have to stop at least four times for my caffeine. That’s a day-to-day thing for me.
Lucia: I’m saving mine for later. And Mila likes the tomato egg from Jade Wok.
Eloise: We also like their spare ribs.
Bela: I’ll eat the ribs. Mila is fully vegetarian. Eloise and Lucia eat meat sometimes.
Lucia: I don’t eat red meat.
Bela: I eat everything.
3:30 p.m.: Sing throwback songs at Max Karaoke Studio
Eloise: We’re going to do karaoke at Max Karaoke Studio.
Mila: [Some of our go-to songs are] “Dancing Queen” by ABBA.
Eloise: “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” by AC/DC.
Lucia: “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cindy Lauper.
Mila: We also do a few songs all together.
Read more: 29 essential L.A. karaoke spots for every kind of singer
4:30 p.m.: A quick dessert break in the Japanese Village Plaza Mall
Lucia: We’d go to Cafe Dulce. They have doughnut-type things. Bela is not a doughnut person.
Eloise: I feel like I would be full.
Mila: I would get a water [laughs]. I’m not a huge doughnut person either, so I might instead walk to the matcha place for matcha soft-serve ice cream. It’s so good.
Lucia: At Cafe Dulce, the dinosaur eggs are good. They’re not very sweet and they’re kind of chewy. They have kind of a mochi dough texture. All of their stuff is good.
4:45 p.m.: Drive to Pasadena to visit Vroman’s Bookstore
Lucia: Let’s go to Pasadena. I want to go to Vroman’s Bookstore.
Bela: Vroman’s has a coffee shop [laughs].
Mila: And good books.
Lucia: I think Vroman’s keeps very updated on new books that are coming out. There’s like a green color palette going on, which is always nice.
Mila: Green is my favorite color. And our first show as the Linda Lindas was there. I’d get a young-adult fantasy book.
Lucia: I usually stick to fiction, but sometimes I stray from that. I read a lot. Right now, I’m reading a short-story collection that I got in Chicago called “Medusa’s Ankles” and also “A Study in Charlotte,” which is a more current-day retelling of the Sherlock Holmes book.
Read more: Place History: How Vroman's made Pasadena a literary capital
5:45 p.m.: Roller-skating at Moonlight Rollerway
Mila: We’d go to Moonlight Rollerway.
Bela: It’s a classic.
Lucia: It’s not a good place to go when it’s really hot.
Bela: But everybody has their birthday parties there.
Mila: I had a birthday party there when I was like 5.
Read more: California is in a 'new era of roller-skating.' Here's where to roll into the party
7:45 p.m.: Dinner at Rosty Peruvian Food before a show
Lucia: We’re going to Rosty Peruvian Food on Figueroa Street. The rice and beans are good. They get the plantains.
Bela: Also, their lomo saltado and the chicha morada drink.
Lucia: We’d eat at Rosty because it’s like down the street from the Lodge Room.
Eloise: And somehow Sleater-Kinney would be playing there. The opening band would start probably around 9 p.m. or something and then it would be done around midnight.
12 a.m.: Watch “Home Alone” and eat Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream
Lucia: Then we’d each grab a pint of ice cream from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream.
Mila: We better not have school the next day.
Bela: I like Brambleberry Crisp.
Mila: I like the Savannah Buttermint one. That one is seasonal, but on our ideal Sunday, they would have it.
Lucia: Eloise likes the Brown Butter Almond Brittle one. My go-to is the Wildberry Lavender.
Mila: I would fall asleep during the movie and in the car. I’d eat my ice cream later.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Solve the daily Crossword
