101 Night Market — Van Nuys

The craving hits around seven on a Thursday — not for a restaurant, not for delivery, just for somewhere alive? A parking lot in Van Nuys transforms into the thing your neighborhood was missing: a hundred vendors deep, smoke rising from grills you've never tried, the kind of energy that makes strangers share tables. LA's fastest-growing night market launched in 2025 and never stopped. Every Thursday through Sunday, 5 PM to 11 PM, the corner of Sherman Way fills with skewers, tacos al pastor carved to order, mochi donuts still warm, Thai iced tea poured from steel pitchers, and a crowd that looks exactly like the San Fernando Valley — which is to say, like everybody. The first-timers come for the food. The regulars come because it replaced the couch. You don't need a reservation. You don't need a group text. You just show up, eat something you've never heard of, and leave wondering why every neighborhood doesn't have this. Free parking, free entry. 16955 Sherman Way, Van Nuys. Thursday through Sunday, 5 to 11 PM.