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Layover guideLos Angeles · LAX

Eating near the crew hotels in Los Angeles

A letter grade on the door tells you the inspection score, and the menu price is never the price you pay.

Sakibnb / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
All of Los Angeles

Los Angeles County restaurants must have a grade card or score card posted, and an inspector verifies it at every inspection. A is a score of 90 to 100, B is 80 to 89, C is 70 to 79. Below 70 the placard carries the numeric score rather than a letter, and a score under 70 at a routine inspection triggers suspension of the permit and closure of the facility.

Sales tax is added at the till, not built into the menu price: government taxes on the transaction are one of the two things the state pricing law lets a business add on top. It is 9.75 per cent in the City of Los Angeles and 10.75 per cent in Santa Monica, so the same dish costs more one side of a city line than the other.

A mandatory service charge is lawful, but restaurants, bars and food concessions must display it clearly and conspicuously, with an explanation of its purpose, on any advertisement, menu or other display carrying the price. That disclosure is the condition of their exemption from the state pricing law.

Outside food service, an advertised price must already include every mandatory fee. Government taxes and fees on the transaction, and postage or carriage actually incurred to ship a physical good, are the only things a business may add on top.

  1. LA County Public Health: retail food inspection guide · checked 2026-09-03
  2. California Legislature: SB 1524 (2024) · checked 2026-09-03
  3. California Legislature: SB 478, Honest Pricing Law · checked 2026-09-03
  4. California Department of Tax and Fee Administration: city and county sales tax rates · checked 2026-09-03

The rest of Los Angeles

The whole guide
Getting out of the airportThere is no train from the gate: the rail station sits away from the terminals and you reach it on a free shuttle bus.Ride-hailingUber, Lyft and Opoli are LAX's authorised ride apps, and they pick up at the LAX-it lot next to Terminal 1.Local laws that catch crew outCannabis is legal in the state and still barred from federal land, and your phone is inspectable at the border.Staying connectedFree Wi-Fi covers the public areas of every LAX terminal, in unlimited 45-minute sessions after a short ad.WeatherDry and mild at the coast for most of the year, and the sea is more dangerous than a calm afternoon suggests.What to buyTax is added at the till, the rate changes with the city boundary, and there is no refund counter on the way out.TippingA tip is the employee's property by statute, and it is on top of a full minimum wage, not instead of one.