Sep 09, 2014 Spot Check: Downtown L.A.’s Piñata District
Visitors often complain about how Los Angeles is sprawled out and there’s no transportation system that takes everyone everywhere easily. They’re right. But I love that I still discover neighborhoods and areas that are new to me decades after moving up from behind the Orange Curtain. That happened this weekend when my wife and I checked out the unofficial Piñata District in Downtown L.A.
Not far from the Fashion District and Flower District, it takes up a few blocks on Olympic, mostly on the west side of So. Central. You can’t miss the festive signage and papier-mâché figures decorating the streets. Or the cranked-up sound systems and plentiful street food. You go to buy party supplies there but, really, the entire street is like a party.
The district’s namesake craft is all over the place. The colorful hollow sculptures stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the sidewalks, hang in formation from wires under canopies and in shops, and pile up in the corners of warehouses. It would have been an interesting place for Borat or the guys from Jackass to visit with a baseball bat. Most of the supply meets demand by resembling Disney characters and superheroes. I really liked the Spider-Man and Hulk with Sharpied webs and abs, respectively. Although there is something creepy about beating up one of the sisters from Frozen, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or any other character that kids adore, smashing the shapes of hard liquor bottles makes a little more sense to me.
We surveyed six or eight shops and most of them charge 14 bucks for a large piñata. A few went for 12. One place was rather uptight with signs everywhere reading “no photography” and “don’t touch” but most were a lot more casual and friendly. After all the pieces started to look the same, we settled on a short-armed-but-happy monkey that was hanging by a doorway. A clerk found two in back that were less likely to be sun damaged, and we chose the one whose tail wasn’t falling off. It was explained to us that there are no secret slots or trapdoors, and we’d have to slice openings into the thin areas on the back of the head or shoulder to insert goodies. The piñata itself is a bargain; filling it up is what is what costs a lot of dough.
All of the shops also offer excellent selections of my favorite Mexican candies–chili-covered watermelon, mango, and corn pops. There are rows and rows of everything from cotton candy to gummi candy to Japones peanuts, not to mention unending shelves of cheap toys and trinkets. And even more rows of disposable plates, tablecloths, goodie bags, and other party supplies decorated with any theme you could imagine. The only thing we couldn’t locate were strings of papel pecado. They only had vinyl versions, which don’t look as cool as paper but surely last longer. I guess we’ll have to go to Olvera Street for that traditional stuff.
Everything costs way less than it would at The Party Store or Target, and we paid cash and weren’t charged tax. But on top of that we had a great time working our way through the hot, crowded sidewalks while being tempted by handmade tortillas, grilled elotes, and vats filled with aguas frescas on a Sunday morning. I’m totally going back next time there’s a party to plan, or just to have lunch and walk around.
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