Chocoholics are going to love the La Cienega Station once the Expo Line opens. Just imagine standing on the elevated platform, gazing out at the Hollywood sign in the distance, when the wind picks up…and suddenly the smell of chocolate, cream and warm sugar fill the air. Just as you’re starting to drool, you look towards the street and that’s when you see it: the classic black and white façade.
Lucy and Ethel on the candy assembly line at See's Candies. Photo credit: CBS Television.
Just south of the La Cienega Station is a See’s Candies store. See’s Candies, a historical Los Angeles institution of deliciousness, as a great selection of chocolate goodies. The location on La Cienega is also home to one of the nation’s two See’s Candies kitchens, which is where all those divine aromas are coming from. Fun fact about this kitchen: it’s the location where I Love Lucy filmed the famous “Job Switching” episode, in which Lucy attempts to hold down a job at a candy factory and predictably loses control of the situation. (Here’s the full video on the CBS website).
Although the kitchen is not open for tours, you can still visit the store and pick up a box of chocolates for your commute home, or just pop in for a free sample fresh from the kitchen. Go ahead and indulge every time you go Expo, and treat yourself to something sweet.
Home of See's Candies, just down the street from La Cienega Station
Food and beverages are allowed on Metrolink trains, but still, sorry to say, they are cleaner than the Metro trains.
I can’t IMAGINE wanting to eat on the Blue Line! That train is ALWAYS so filthy! Why can’t they do more than just sweep it? Try some bleach. I swear it’s the only Line that is so gross.
Absolutely the best Chocolate in the USA. The Lollipops are to die for! Still (30 odd years later) trying to figure out which I like best; the caramel or the chocolate :’)
Please don’t change the rules about eating and drinking. I can just imagine people eating their smelly food then leaving the wrappers and left overs on the seats and floors. Eat a snack before getting on the train…the trains are not that long.
Let’s get these trains running!
A few years back, I attended a Dept. of City Planning “charette”-this was when Gail Goldberg was still Director. The purpose of the meeting was to “revision” the area around La Cienega/Jefferson/Rodeo with the light rail Expo Line station as an anchor.
Our group came up with this idea to expand on See’s Candies’ presence. We razed the big-box target & all the low-slung, aging apartments in the area and came up with denser, more-compact retail/office/housing developments, while keeping the See’s property and the newer Industrial complexes along Jefferson. We envisioned a “See’s Station” mixed use development that would expand the See’s Candy gift shop and maybe even make more opportunities for factory tours. We also said that the KCBS/KLOS radio transmitters should be replaced with 20-30 story buildings (both commercial & residential) and put the transmitters on top of those new buildings. We also envisioned better connections to both the Ballona Creek bikepath and the Hayden Tract employment District. There are also future plans for a bikeway/greenway for the corridor under the nearby DWP power lines–we’d like to see that too!
I hope that wasn’t just a vanity project for DCP….perhaps Metro can see to it that DCP actually follows through with some of those suggestions.
I think an exception should be made for plastic bottled drinks. Aluminum cans and coffee cups I can understand that it may cause a mess, but a plastic bottled water with a twist on cap? C’mon.
I’m pretty sure that the famous I Love Lucy scene was NOT filmed at the Sees factory. Sure, the scene is reminiscent of the factory – but watch the clip – that is definitely a set.
Do not change the eating/drinking policy! I can’t imagine what a pig pen the trains would turn into. How about all of the brown bag drinkers swilling beer and spilling it everywhere. Ask the Metro cleaning staff if they think having food and drink on trains is a good idea.
Hi folks;
I’m in agreement that it’s probably best not to allow food on the trains. Inevitably, someone is going to spill something and, in particular on buses, that could attract insects — and just be a nuisance to others paying good money to ride a clean transit system. On a slightly different note, I’m surprised there isn’t more demand from the public for allowing coffee on trains and buses — I’m an addict — but I also fear that leads to the same problem. Spills, spills and more spills!
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
You know, cleaning people are cheaper per hour than armed guards with guns. Why not allow people to eat and drink on the train?
The rides are long and people will get hungry and thirsty. If they had “patrolling” cleaners hit the trains every hour or so rather than guys with guns, attitudes and a ticket book – I think we’d all have a better life and wouldn’t have to feel like we’re living in a police state.
Other cities like New York and Montreal allow eating and drinking on the trains, why can’t we?
Your comment “pick up a box of chocolates for your commute home” should rather be “pick up a box of chocolates for after your commute home”. Eating and drinking are not allowed inside the paid areas of the Metro Rail System. A delicious idea, none the less.