Nice thread. I moved back to LA in February and absolutely love it. I live on the westside so I'm really only familiar with that area, but here are some of my fav's.
Food
Matsuhisa on La Cienega-Hands down THE best sushi in town (best I've ever had and I eat sushi A LOT)
Sushi Roku on 3rd-Only been to the BH one a couple of times and prefer the Vegas one in Caesars, but still quality fish.
Katusya in Brentwood-Really nice, trendy place. Good food too. (A little far for me)
Izakaya on 3rd-Very affordable, unlike the others, and you don't have to sacrafice quality very much. Highly recommend the Yellowtail collar and the Plum tempura ice cream.
Osteria Mozza on Highland-My favorite restaurant in LA. AMAZING FOOD. Grilled octopus is a must have, as well as some of the Burrata dishes. Oh yeah, the olive oil gelato too.
Pizzeria Mozza on Highland-Next door to Osteria. Mario Battali and Nancy Silverton do an amazing job on these two places. Fantastic food. Best Pizza in town. Must make reservations.
Il Sole on Beverly-Great Itallian food, highly recommended.
Inn of the Seventh Ray in Topanga-Really beautiful, great date place. Food is meh, but the atmosphere compensates for it well.
Healthy Options
Real Food Daily (RFD) on La Cienega-Really good, affordable vegan food.
M Cafe on Melrose-Really fantastic quick, trendy, affordable healthy option.
Urth Caffe one on Beverly and one on Melrose-Another really great tredy quick healthy spot.
Newsroom on Robertson-Delicious healthy food. Also walk to a lot of great shopping nearby after your meal.
Late Night
I am still trying to discover new places, but, when I need a quick late night fix Dammiano's on Fairfax delivers really tasty pizza until 4am.
Also, Canters on Fairfax is open 24 hours.
The Elixir Tea Garden on Melrose has an amazing atmosphere and great tea's.
As far as movie theatres go, there are many cool independant theatres that show movies that aren't shown in places live Vegas that I enjoy. The nicest theatre is definitely Arclight on Sunset.
The Hollywood Bowl has some cool concerts that you can bring food to and kind of have a picnic while you watch. If you sit in the pool circle you can order food/wine as well.
There are tons of cool exhibits and shows etc here as well. Check out
www.experiencela.com for some.
I'll add some later as I think of more, I am sure there's a lot I am leaving out.
Gavin Smith once asked me "Besides the ocean, what does LA have that Vegas doesn't have?" LOL