I'm going to SoCal in two weeks

[Lazymeatball]

So I'm going down to San Diego and Los Angeles with Daryn for the first week of June to visit my brother, see the Commerce, and then just hang around. I've got a motel for 3 nights in SD so now I need to look for a place in LA for 5 nights.

So far the schedule is wide open to suggestions, so I want to know where in LA I should hang around. I know we both like finding good places to eat, where good may or may not equate to expensive. The Commerce is a definite, but I'm not sure if there are any other cardrooms worth checking out. I'm not really interested in all that touristy Tours of the Stars homes crap, but I'd like to know if there's anything that is a must see while I'm in town. Are there any cool areas where I can eat out and go barhopping all within walking distance of a hotel, or is all of LA a sprawling freeway nightmare?