What it was like
Smorgasburg Los Angeles runs every Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM at ROW DTLA, an open-air market and arts complex in the warehouse district south of the Arts District. The event is a West Coast outpost of the Brooklyn original — the largest weekly open-air food market in the country.
On any given Sunday there are 50 to 80 food vendors, almost all of them small independent operations selling a single signature item. The variety is genuinely broad: Japanese milk bread, birria tacos, Nashville hot chicken, Hawaiian poke, Filipino ube desserts, Korean corn dogs, birria ramen, artisanal ice cream. Many vendors are pre-restaurant — this is where they test concepts before opening a brick-and-mortar.
The complex also hosts design, vintage, and craft vendors alongside the food. Seating is spread across the open plaza. It operates rain or shine year-round.
ROW DTLA is at 777 S Alameda St, Los Angeles. Parking is free on the property. Metro Gold Line Little Tokyo/Arts District station is a 10-minute walk. Admission is free. Budget $20–40 for food.