The Coolest Shopping Collective at Platform in Culver City

Imagine you’re at a mall, but instead of a bland interior filled with chain brands and food courts, you’re in an outdoor oasis filled with independent boutiques, trendy pop-up shops, and local street art. When you’re hungry, you grab a delicious, authentic taco, pair it with an artisanal iced coffee, and treat yourself to a vegan ice cream sundae for dessert. It may sound like a dream, but this is life at Platform.

Platform is a super rad collective of local restaurants, shops, and yes, even a SoulCycle, located in Culver City, LA. We visited Culver City for the first time and quickly became obsessed with it; the ‘hood has a very distinct vibe that’s totally different than other areas like Venice and DTLA. Some of the stores at Platform are permanent, but a lot of them are pop-up shops from popular online retailers, like the cult Instagram favorite Pop and Suki. This concept means you’ll always want to be coming back to see what’s new! Here are some of our favorite places to visit at Platform:

Salt Surf is a modern surf/skate shop that has stylish essentials to take you from the sidewalk to the beachfront, along with stylish totes, beanies, and of course - surfboards. 

The Cannibal is one of the restaurants at Platform, and it was sooo delicious for brunch! It’s a haven for both meat-eaters and beer enthusiasts thanks to their huge beer list and tasty menu. We also had our first cicerone experience, which is like a sommelier but for beer. Highly recommend asking them for beer recommendations, you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

We love the store Stay by Spring Street Social Society, founded by @aguynamedpatrick. It’s a fun place to work, listen to tunes, shop, or just hang out! Plus, it was so cool seeing our friends’ Coco Carpets hanging in store too.

A good acai bowl is a southern California staple, and the one’s at Sao Acai are so delicious! When you’re done devouring your fruits and veggies, you can wander over to the other side of the store to shop for on-trend streetwear at Kilter.

We always love to visit Poketo while we’re in LA, and while this shop is a bit smaller than their Arts District location, we love it just as much! It’s pretty much impossible to visit without buying something, from their candles to their greeting cards and cute coasters, there’s so many little knick knacks that are begging for you to take them home.

If you’re craving a damn good taco, then you have to head to Loqui! These are some seriously good tacos, and we recommend you order the flour tortilla! So yum.

Shades of Grey by Micah Cohen was one of our favorite discoveries at Platform! We loved the high quality, but loved the affordable price point even more. It’s so nice to find quality goods that aren’t hundreds and hundreds of dollars! #realistic. Definitely check them out if you’re visiting Platform, but you can browse online too.

While you're in Culver City, we definitely recommend walking over to Bar Nine Coffee Roasters! Grab a pour-over, snack on some breakfast goodies, and enjoy the local Culver vibes. 

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