As Southern California gears up to experience record heat, we’ve rounded up a few spaces where the entire family can escape to stay cool this summer. From breweries to bookstore nooks, here are a few ways to keep from melting.
Breweries and a winery
Let’s start with some family-friendly breweries. Enjoy a cold one at Campsite Brewing in Covina. While you sip your brews, the kids can munch on camp-inspired food and lounge on camp-themed furniture.
For some Downtown L.A. suds and fun, check out Boomtown Brewery in the Arts District, which has beers on tap for the adults and lemonade and soda for the little ones. Boomtown also hosts some family-themed nights as well, as carnival-themed days with face painting and games.
Firestone Walker Brewing Company’s Venice Taproom will give you and the fam a taste of rustic in a gastropub with a menu “geared for beer.” Venice-only beers are made in the adjacent Propagator brewhouse.
If you’re even a little bit into wrestling, you likely know about the lucha libre wrestlers, or luchadores, an exciting form of professional wrestling in Mexico, where the masked wrestlers incorporate awe-inspiring acrobatic moves in the battle to win. Get a taste of the culture at the wrestling-themed decor and menu at Luchador Bar and Kitchen in Pomona.
In Orange County, 4 Sons Brewing and Flashpoint Brewing Company also provide spaces for the whole family to unwind.
Our L.A. River has gone through its trials and tribulations, but with ongoing revival efforts, it’s now a sight for sore eyes. Good thing Frogtown Brewery looks out over the river and proves such a family-welcoming space with a beer garden, tap room, food trucks and plenty of room for the kids to roam. Try the Painkiller, a tiki-inspired IPA made with toasted coconut and pineapple, for a tropical escape as you listen to the river.
For those of us who enjoy a good glass of wine and scenery to boot, a drive to Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula is the perfect answer. At just an hour’s drive south of Los Angeles, the picturesque landscape will melt all memories of traffic away. Feel free to wine taste or have a picnic complete with a play area for the little ones.
Bookstores are always cool
Our public libraries are always welcoming, but if you’re looking for a quaint bookstore to read and relax in, L.A. County has some must-try gems. In Pasadena, the hometown of the late science fiction novelist Octavia Butler, visit the bookstore named in her honor: Octavia’s Bookshelf. This cozy and beautifully designed literary space is sure to inspire hours of reading.
With three floors of books, games and gadgets, Barnes & Noble at the Grove is another favorite family hangout, and the bookstore has regular events for young readers.
The Salt Eaters Bookshop in Inglewood prioritizes books, zines and comics by and about Black women, girls, femmes and gender-expansive people. Inspired by Toni Cade Bambara’s novel “The Salt Eaters,” this stylish shop located on Queen Street is a peaceful and joyful place to read, relax and meet new friends. And when quiet reading time is over, it’s always popping with live events — from Beyoncé album listening parties to story time for kids in an enchanting children’s reading area.
Muse on our museums
To stir the kids’ imaginations and help geographical history come alive, take a trip to The Autry Museum in Griffith Park. The Autry is dedicated to telling the stories of the American West and how it was won, and it offers a family play space with free entry days once a month.
The Getty in West L.A. offers several family creative courses, such as creating your own scent, ceramics and pressed-flower cyanotypes (a photographic technique of using the sun to create floral images without a camera.)
Meanwhile, over in Exposition Park. The California Science Center will display 30 recreations of Leonardo da Vinci machines including The Great Organ and the Flying Bicycle. For “Goosebumps” fans, there is an exhibit with the books — one that will dive into the science of fear. Getting a little spooky beats the heat any day
Cherie Cofer is a writer, mom, educator and editorial fellow for L.A. Parent.
