The Lighthouse Cafe from La La Land in Hermosa Beach is a bar with live music just steps from the beach. In the movie, we see Sebastian and Mia on the backside of the building. Then on the inside, Sebastian plays the piano with the lighthouse decor on the wall behind him. This is also the same place that they run into John Legend’s character. Fans of the movie, myself included, have flocked to the Lighthouse Cafe to check the place out for themselves.
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What to Know Before You Go to The Lighthouse Cafe from La La Land
♥ You can find cheap parking close by with metered parking on side streets. If you cannot find street parking you can pay an hourly fee to park in the lot behind the cafe.
♥ There is no cover charge to go inside but you will need to show a valid id.
♥ It attracts an odd crowd. My friends and I decided to stay for a short period of time due to how uncomfortable we felt with some of the patrons here. We came on a Sunday afternoon and got drinks and an appetizer. There was live music which was nice but it was so loud that we could not hear each other speak. We walked down the street to the Standing Room for dinner.
This is the backside of the Lighthouse Cafe where Mia and Sebastian are for an exterior scene for the movie.
The stage behind the drink in the above picture is the same stage where we see Sebastian play piano in La La Land. The drink menu is quite limited as is the food menu. Were it not for La La Land I would not have come here and honestly, I have no plans to ever return. The cafe is dingy and dark. There is nothing special about it and nothing to make it stand out from other places in the area.
It is not worth a trip to Hermosa Beach just for the cafe. If you’re going to be in the area for another reason then I would suggest stopping by if you are a fan of the movie. Plus, it is only steps away from the beach so you can go to the pier afterward.
If you have time to spare I recommend taking a beautiful drive to the nearby Wayfarers Chapel.
Other La La Land filming locations you can visit are Warner Bros Studio, Griffith Observatory, and the Smokehouse restaurant just to name a few.
