What to Eat at the Hollywood Bowl for the 2024 Season
The Hollywood Bowl is celebrating over 100 years of concerts this year, and you’ve got a backstage pass to the Endless Summer party. Here’s what to eat at the Hollywood Bowl and some insider secrets about special events where you could be drinking wine for FREE!
*This piece contains affiliate links with discounted tickets to the Hollywood Bowl that benefit EatDrinkLA. Thank you for considering the click.
The Culinary Program
James Beard Award-Winning chef Suzanne Goin and restauranteur Caroline Styne (A.O.C.) are curating the entire food show for the ninth year in a row. So that means delicious California-inspired dining and fresh, local produce. Dining options include three restaurants, three marketplaces, and street-food-style kiosks.
Supper in your Box Seats
Available to order for box-seat ticket holders, you can place the order as late as 6 p.m. the day before and have the food delivered right to you. You can order a la carte or enjoy a full three-course meal. The best part about this is that you have a coursed meal delivered right to a table at your seat. The table is then put away so you can enjoy the show in your comfy canvas seats (most of the Bowl is backless). Two glasses of water are also included.
New for the 2024 Season is The Mulholland Drive three-course dinner. You’ll begin with a Bowl Chopped Salad with buttermilk dressing. Next, it’s a choice of Grilled Seabass with green sauce soubise or a Grilled Filet with rosemary potatoes. Lastly, your dessert is a Milk Chocolate Torta with rum caramel and coffee cream cinnamon malt crumble ($82).
Other 3-course dinners include The Hollywood Vegan with Grilled Romanesco and sweet chilis as a main ($46) and The Maple Drive featuring Wagyu Steak and a Ricotta Cheesecake Tart to finish ($58).
You can also order a meal for two, like the Moroccan Feast with a Mezze Platter and Chicken Tagine, or a 30-piece Combination Sushi Box with items like Bluefin Tuna and a Spicy Lobster Roll ($120/$110).
For the 2024 season, a la carte options have been updated, like Chicken Under a Brick, now served with spiced cauliflower couscous ($38), and Slow-Roasted Salmon alongside grilled peaches and saffron couscous ($43).
Pre-Order Picnic Boxes
Choose from four complete picnic boxes like The Hollywood Vegan and The All American, which features Fried Chicken Tenders with buttermilk dressing, Apple Coleslaw, Cornbread with honey; and a Cornmeal Shortcake with strawberries and mascarpone whip ($48).
Items can be pre-ordered by 6 p.m. the night before and picked up at the plaza or delivered to your box seats. Honestly, there is so much food that you could split one and add something from the category below if you get hungry.
Street Food
Mobile Ordering is a super cool feature returning this season. You can scan a QR code or text “HBFW” to 474747. You can also use Postmates to get food for your seats! This minimizes time spent in line and unnecessary crowding. See which Street Food Option you prefer below and make that your pick-up point.
Kitchen 22
Kitchen 22 specializes in made-to-order Burgers, Suzanne’s Spanish Fried Chicken, and Savory Sandwiches from the Larder Bakery ($18).
Street Tacos
As the name implies, you can get trios of tacos here, like Cauliflower and Carne Asada ($16).
Pizza
The artisanal Pizzas come in flavors like Margherita and Pepperoni and round off at 8.5 inches ($18). There’s also a Pulled Pork Sandwich ($16.50).
Suzanne’s Fried Chicken
This is back from 2023 and features Suzanne Goin’s famous Chicken but in a bucket. It comes complete with sides of cornbread, coleslaw, and sauces like house-made ranch and honey ($39 for 6 Pieces/$18 for 3 pieces). It also can be made vegan.
Snacks
If you just feel like a light nosh, there are Snack Kiosks around, like Chao’s Popcorn Stand. Hot Dogs are also available throughout the bowl. Visit The Sweet Shop for desserts like Magpies Softserve, available in dairy and vegan.
Marketplaces
There are three Marketplace spaces on the Plaza to choose from: The Plaza, Marketplace East, and Buzz McCoy’s Marketplace (West). The South LA Cafe also operates daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and during performances.
The Plaza Marketplace
This is meant to be your one-stop shop for DIY picnicking. Think Sandwiches, Salads, Wine, and Desserts. You can also pre-order a Picnic Box here if you feel inspired.
Marketplace East
This is your spot for all of the above as well as Sushi by Seaweed in Glendale, Magpies Softserve, and Food + Wine’s Larder Board of charcuterie.
Buzz McCoy’s Marketplace (West)
Here, you’ll find Grab and Go Items like Chips, along with Sushi, a variety of Sweets, and Drinks.
Restaurants
There are three restaurants to choose from: The Backyard, Ann’s Wine Bar, and Lucques at the Circle.
The Backyard
This al fresco dining area offers wood-grilled and seasonal market-driven items. New items for this season include Tinned Fish with grilled toast and a house-pickled Country Style Pork Chop with white bean puree and blistered tomatoes ($45).
Reservations are encouraged.
Ann’s Wine Bar by A.O.C.
One of the restaurant choices is a wine bar carefully curated by Caroline Styne. It’s paired with your favorite bites from A.O.C. restaurant. Space is limited, though, so be sure to make a reservation. Must-haves include the Grilled Flatbread with Spanish Chorizo ($24) and the Venus Clams with fregola sarda ($26).
Lucques at the Circle
The Hollywood Bowl prides itself on still having $1 tickets available for many performances in the upper deck, but for an average of $625 dollars a ticket, you can sit right in front in an area known as The Pool Circle. Subscribers to this section also have access to elite dining called Lucques at the Circle. This is a three-course menu featuring items like Dandelion and Radicchio with plums, Grilled Halibut with saffron couscous, and Passionfruit Pavlova with Yuzu for $85.
Drinks
The Wine Program by Caroline Styne has expanded to include more Canned Wine offerings, as well as Vegan and Organic wines. Look for producers of Natural Wines like Broc Cellars and Wavy Wines. You’ll find wine throughout by the glass or bottle.
Your Own Food
Can’t decide what to eat at the Hollywood Bowl? How about your own food? There are 14 different picnic areas open hours before the concert starts, and you can even eat in your seats! Grab a $1 ticket way in the back, and you might even be able to take advantage of eating on top of other people’s unoccupied seats (they do have close to 18,000).
Whatever you choose, just be sure to go out and enjoy the feeling that comes from sharing a concert and a great meal with strangers in this beautiful city of Los Angeles.
Secrets of the Bowl
Did you know you could be drinking wine for free? Just visit on a Wednesday three hours before showtime and participate in Winemaker Wednesdays, where you get to sample new sips and meet the people behind the bottles. Sundays feature a similar offering with the Sunday Market Tasting Series three hours before the Concert begins. Tickets to that evening’s performance are required for entry. This is a 14-week series that began on June 19th, 2024. Below are a few vintners you could enjoy as the season “wines” down, plus discounted tickets to enjoy the Bowl!
- Sunday, August 25, 2024: Tasting at 4 p.m. and Concert at 7 p.m. Wine tasting with winemaker Jude Zasadski, Wavy Wines with Wavy, Natural Wines before Mt. Joy and Local Natives. Get your discounted tickets here for $27.
- Sunday, September 1, 2024: Tasting at 4:30 p.m. and Concert at 7:30 p.m. Wine tasting with wine professional Ann Miller, Chambers Wines with Centorri Moscato + Block 9 Pinot Noir before Toto and Christopher Cross. Get your discounted tickets here for $42.
- Wednesday, September 4, 2024: Tasting at 5 p.m. and Concert at 8 p.m. Wine tasting with wine distributor Tom Hunter, Revel Wines with Una Lou Rose + Ultraviolet Cabernet Sauvignon before Trombone Shorty and Big Boi. Get your tickets here for just $17.
- Sunday, September 8, 2024: Tasting at 4 p.m. and Concert at 7 p.m.Wine tasting with wine professional Christina Hammond, Martines Wines with Nat Cool by Neipoort Wines before Vance Joy and GROUPLOVE. Get your tickets for just $27 here.
- Wednesday, September 11, 2024: Tasting at 5 p.m. and Concert at 8 p.m. Wine tasting with wine professional Jojo Wu, Winebow, with House of Brown Chardonnay + Brown Family Chaos Theory Cabernet Sauvignon before Jazz on Tap at the Bowl. Get your tickets here for just $17.
- Sunday, September 15, 2024: Tasting at 4:30 p.m. and Concert at 7:30 p.m. Tasting with craft brew professional William Dinwiddie, Stone Distributing before the Boyz II Men – Fireworks Finale concert.
- Wednesday, September 18, 2024: Tasting at 5 p.m. and Concert at 8 p.m. Wine tasting with wine professional Piper Overbaugh, Elevage Wines with PSI Ribera Del Duero + Bodegas Olivares Rosado before Rodrigo y Gabriela. Tickets begin at $17 with this link.
- Sunday, September 22, 2024: Tasting at 4 p.m. and Concert at 7 p.m. Tasting with craft beer professional Mike George, Calidad Beer before Noche de Cumbia. Get your discounted tickets here for just $27.
Other notable artists coming to The Hollywood Bowl this season include Joni Mitchell & The Joni Jam on October 19th and 20th and The National on October 9th.
Also, did you know that if you take advantage of the Hollywood Bowl Park & Ride or Shuttle Bus, your ticket will get you 20% off purchases at the Hollywood Bowl Plaza Marketplace? This includes Wine.
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If you like knowing the Best Food at Event Spaces, check out What to Eat at the Crypto.com Arena.
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