Free Champagne, Pi Day Pizzas, and St. Patrick's Day Brunch This Weekend in LA

And there are comedy shows, a wine walk, and more to check out this weekend in LA.

pizzas and wine for pi day at north italia in LA
Photo courtesy of North Italia
Photo courtesy of North Italia

Spring is the best season in LA, or it’s at least tied for first. Yeah, it’s probably tied for best season with fall, summer, winter, Dodger, and mariscos; basically all of them except fire season. Days are warm and getting longer, nights are crisp and cool, and it’s the perfect time to get outdoors. There’s tons of snow up in the best mountain towns in Southern California right now, it’s prime time out in the desert, and if you’re staying in LA the whole city feels alive, whether you want to pick up a new sport or join a totally wild vintage board game group. And if you’re looking for something a little more timely, we’ve put together this handy guide to the best things to do in LA this weekend:

Food and Drinks Events in Los Angeles

March 14–April 10
Various locations, Prices vary
Not that you ever really need an excuse to eat pizza, but if you’re looking for one this weekend, why not take advantage of Pi Day—that’s 3.14 for the blissfully unaware—to check out the new specials from rapidly expanding Italian restaurant chain North Italia. They’ll have two specials at SoCal locations, an Abruzzo-style pizza with guanciale and potato called The Cure and a prosciutto and smoked mozzarella pizza with hot honey called Hot Honey & Smoked.

March 16
Santa Monica, Free with purchase
The extremely stylish and lively bar and restaurant Coucou in Santa Monica is turning one this week, and they’re celebrating in extremely stylish and lively fashion—popping bottles of champagne and delivering trays of oysters all over the restaurant. That is to say, when your table purchases a dozen oysters this Saturday, the lovely folks at Coucou will bring a round of champagne for everyone in the group. And this is no Andre giveaway either: they’re pouring Perrier Jouet Grande Brut, which typically runs $48 per glass.

March 16
Glendora, $20–$55
The foothills in the Northeast San Gabriel Valley are, in general, both sleepy and slept-on, but this weekend the lovely town of Glendora is getting its groove on. The Glendora Wine Walk & Beer Fest returns for the 14th edition, with more than 20 wine stations and multiple breweries set up around cute Glendora Village. Your ticket includes 15 tastings, hors d'oeuvres, live music, and great community bonding.

March 17
Santa Monica, $19
Everyone knows that going out at night on St. Patrick’s Day is asking for trouble—beer the color of poison, crowded bars packed with people looking for a reason to overindulge and get rowdy, general messiness. But some of us sophisticated types still want to hit the town and have one or two beverages more than we otherwise might. To that end, try out the unexpected drinking window on St. Patrick’s Day: brunch. This Sunday, stylish New American restaurant 1212 Santa Monica will be hosting just that, a special St. Patrick’s Day brunch with bottomless mimosas and spritzes, a special Shamrock Sour cocktail, and a DJ spinning from 11 am to 3:45 pm, so you can be safe at home and passed out on the couch by the time the real chaos starts.

Festivals in Los Angeles

March 14
Virgil Village, $40
When you break it down into component parts, it’s hard to imagine a better night than good food, good wine, and good jokes. When you put the components together, you get Amuse Bouche, a recurring comedy show/bacchanal at adorable bungalow natural wine bar Melody. The comedians and the food vendors change every edition, and this time they’ve got a stellar lineup including Joel Kim Booster, Christ Estrada, and Amy Silverberg, with food from Chef Teresa Montaño of Otoño and the Syrian street food stars at Nawal.

March 16
Downtown, Free entry
It stays light out until like 7pm now, which means it’s time to celebrate spring. This weekend, Creature Comforts Brewing and Wallflower Market are teaming up to do just that, putting together a Spring Market with live music, beer, and vendors selling things like ceramics, prints, spices, and candles. There will also be adoptable dogs, and $1 of every beer sold will go to benefit Maeday Rescue dog shelter.

More Fun Things to Do in Los Angeles

March 16–17
Los Feliz, Free
If you want to get some cool modern art in this weekend, head to the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz for this multidisciplinary screening and event that will include film, live performance, and panel discussions. The event is meant to explore the artists’ creative processes with a specific focus on memory. This event was curated by Carrie Chen, a 2024 Emerging Curator at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions as part of an ongoing series.

March 17
Echo Park, Free
There’s a lot going on this Sunday—some people will be running in the LA Marathon, other people will be losing their minds for St. Patrick’s Day, and a select few lunatics will be doing both. If you’re looking for a positive-impact and deeply chill counterpoint, head to Vermont and Clinton at 10 am for another meeting of the Echo Park Trash Club. It’s a thoughtful, community-minded volunteer organization dedicated to respectfully removing trash, litter, and debris from the streets of Echo Park.

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Ben Mesirow is Thrillist's LA Staff Writer, and an Echo Park native who writes TV, fiction, food, and sports. At one time or another, his writing has appeared in The LA Times, Litro, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Los Angeles Magazine, and scratched into dozens of desks at Walter Reed Middle School.