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Any club with the chutzpah to kick out John Lennon for heckling deserves its place in history. The Troubadour could have become L.A.'s version of CBGB's and rested on the laurels from its history as the proving ground for James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Elton John. But instead, it's become the only reason for indie kids to drive west of La Brea. Top-shelf rock, folk and experimental acts play nearly every night, and bigger names often test-drive new material here. It's also one of the cleaner places to see underground music in L.A., which is refreshing if you've spent too many nights wretching in the alley behind The Smell.

When you’ve got someone with an expense account on the tap, make sure your trip to the Troub also includes a stop at fantastic old-New York steakhouse Dan Tana’s right next door, or another great meat palace, the Palm. Hard to top either one of those as a kickoff to a night of rock. But your choices are hardly limited to those two, as just across Doheny Dr. is the wonderful Trattoria Amici, annexed to the Beverly Terrace Hotel, and just a bit further down Santa Monica to the east is an old standby, Flavor of India. Trendy hotspot Murano is a couple hundred yards away on Melrose and, if the show is over and you just gotta have one of the most reliable burgers in town, Hamburger Habit is an easy walk to Robertson.

Tips: Valet parking is the way to go! But if you can't stand to wait for your car after the show with all the smokers, parking is almost always available in the structure across the street, or at the meters along Melrose and the sidestreets. Parking on Santa Monica Blvd? Good luck with that. The VIP bar upstairs may be behind glass, but it's a very civilized place to watch a show.