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Of our five senses, smell might be the most ignored. And yet the role it plays in our lives is inescapable. Smell activates many parts of our brain, including our limbic system, which plays a key role in memory recall. That’s why the aroma of baking bread might bring you back to your grandma’s kitchen or a whiff of freshly cleaned clothes might bring you back to long nights at the laundromat when you were younger.
The Times asked readers to share the scents they consider synonymous with Los Angeles, and their responses painted a vivid olfactory portrait of the city. We’re sharing several of them here. Some memories were so powerful, we could nearly smell them ourselves.
Magnificent magnolias and wistful wisteria
I walk a lot — all over the city. Smells are a very important component of that experience. My street has magnolias on it; when they bloom, it takes me back to the magnolias on the street in North Hollywood I lived on when I was a kid. One of my favorite flowers is wisteria. When it is blooming in the spring, I will walk routes that take me past houses with garlands of it. The liniment smell of eucalyptus trees also reminds me of my backyard when I was a kid. Citrus trees are also lovely, and also mock oranges.
In the winter, when people burn wood in their fireplaces, there is something about that smell and feel of the air that makes me think of the season and of a line from a Buffalo Springfield song: “A smoke ring day when the wind blows.” I also love locust blooms, but I know of only one house near me that has locust trees. I visit there a lot. Even the steer manure that people put on their lawns in December: I have a gag with my wife where I say every year, “It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas.”
— Jack Mearns, Wilshire Vista West
From the Venice Boardwalk to Rodeo Drive and Boyle Heights’ Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard, these walks allow you to experience L.A.’s streets and sidewalks by foot.
Eau de jet fuel
Airplane jet fuel and exhaust. This may sound unpleasant at first but I identify it with so many wonderful things that this city has to offer. I love living by LAX, hearing the roaring engines, seeing the control tower from my kitchen window and getting that whiff of jet fuel, especially on hot summer days. So few cities have airports within city limits like we do here, and LAX and its fuel smell, mixed with the ocean air, remind me of places traveled, renewed friendships, family reconnections, bittersweet goodbyes and loves come and gone.
— Jennifer Kao, Westchester
Being bombarded with street food after an event
The bacon-wrapped hot dogs with grilled onions and peppers outside major events. I don’t eat red meat and I hate onions and green peppers but this is the smell I look forward to when leaving the Hollywood Bowl, the Pantages, downtown sporting events, etc. The Rose Garden at Expo Park also has the hot dog vendors, so it’s roses and grilled hot dogs. Probably the most L.A. thing ever, but if they have that in other parts of the country, I’m glad they can experience it.
— Angel Zobel-Rodriguez, San Fernando
I can’t believe this still needs to be said, but please, for the love of whatever you consider holy, leave street vendors alone.
Street dogs with grilled onions on the sidewalk when the doors open after a concert or sporting event. Elote on the sidewalk. That is very L.A.
— Jen Johnson, Silver Lake
I’ve lived here my whole life, and nothing says L.A. like the smell of mystery meats being grilled by street vendors on Highland as you’re fighting the crowds leaving the Hollywood Bowl.
— Craig Woolson, Mid-City
The meat fog that comes from a really good taco stand is magical.
— Andrea Lucan, Eagle Rock
Wafting chocolate from the See’s Candies factory
The See’s Candies factory on La Cienega. I don’t care how bad the traffic is: Driving down La Cienega when they’re cooking — oh, my God.
— Carole Smith, South Bay
Whenever I smell chocolate, it reminds me of the times I would drive to work at the Inglewood Sears when I first moved to L.A. Every Thursday, the smell of chocolate would emanate from the See’s Candies factory on La Cienega Boulevard as the workers were making candy.
— William Barnes, Sunnyvale
The aroma of In-N-Out
I am 28 and I have lived in Los Angeles my entire life. Funny enough, the first things I thought of while reading this article were food places — In-N-Out being one of them. There are In-N-Outs all over L.A., and you can smell the food from miles away while driving near one. The lovely smell of hamburgers and fries will never get old. Aside from In-N-Out, we are known for our street food, including taco stands. You can find multiple taco stands in just about every corner of L.A., and the smells are amazing.
— Michelle Garcia, North Hollywood
Dine at the Dodgers’ favorite restaurants in Los Angeles, including a legendary sushi spot, an iconic burger chain, Nashville-style hot chicken and more.
Inhaling the smells of the beach
The beach. Smelling salty sea water and dried out seaweed makes me feel like I’m living a life worth living. Sunscreen, hot dogs, fried foods, weed smoke, burning sage and nag champa incense. (OK, I guess I’m imagining the Venice Beach boardwalk specifically.)
— Monica Cereseto, Los Feliz
Any sort of coconut scent takes me back to ’70s summers on the beach, crashing waves, bikinis and whatever SPF zero tanning oil we were slathering on ourselves in order to get as bronzed as possible.
— Mary Alice McLoughlin, Lakewood
The cool, humid, misty, foggy early morning marine layer in Santa Monica. The bold damp smells experienced while walking under the Santa Monica Pier. The Santa Monica farmers markets: fresh foods, fresh fruits and baked goods.
— Andrew Liberman, Santa Monica
Fresh, salty ocean breeze with sunscreen.
— Brianna Sun, Boston
On the scent of native plants in the SoCal mountains
I love the sagey, citrusy, cedary rich scent of native plants and wildflowers. Any trip up into the foothills or canyons and I am immediately brought back to my childhood spent traipsing around the San Gabriel Mountains. Now, as an adult, I try to re-create those environments in my front yard, and I love the aroma meeting me as I leave the house in the morning in spring through mid-summer.
— Hillary Larsen, North Hollywood
The natural sage on our hiking trails is my favorite smell. When I come back from traveling, it’s always the first thing I notice.
— Kate Peeler, San Fernando Valley
The arroyo in Pasadena. It’s both wild and city so there is a combination of rich chaparral, dirt, oak and sage combined with the concrete and freshwater raging in the winter after rain.
— Pamela Strugar, Pasadena
Although the preserve where the Eaton Fire is believed to have started suffered significant damage, many of its oaks and sycamore trees appear to have survived.
I love the smell of the chaparral. Lovely on a hot summer day. Even better just after the first rain. My favorite place is any trail up in the San Gabriel Mountains. Above the canyons, but still below the high forests, on the southern slopes. These places are where you are immersed in the chaparral scents.
— Mary Anne Steinberger, Tujunga
The Rose Parade and other floral redolence
Growing up in Pasadena, home of the Rose Parade, I associate the first of January with one of my all time favorite scents: roses. I fondly recall walking down to Colorado Boulevard to watch the Rose Parade and being enthralled with the smell of the roses and various flowers and plants used on the floats. A top scent-memory for sure.
— Olga Espinoza, Pasadena
Night-blooming jasmine. Reminds me of when I first moved back to my native L.A. in my early 20s to take a job with the L.A. Times’ Glendale section. No matter where in the world I am when I smell that wonderful scent, it takes me straight back to Los Angeles and a great time in my life.
— Stephanie O’Neill, West Sonoma County
Jasmine perfuming the spring air at night. Farmers market flowers. My neighborhood, in the hills of Laurel Canyon — there are a large variety of trees and they all bloom at different times so there is always something that smells great.
— Ashley Davis, Studio City
The scent of jasmine blooms on a warm evening, the smell of fresh baked pandesal at the local Filipino bakery and the rich idris of halvah and spices at the Armenian corner store.
— Michelle Bednash, Santa Barbara
Angel trumpets, night-blooming jasmine, forbidden passion fruit from a neighbor’s yard, ocean air mixed with cedar chips and mulch.
— Aram Atamian, Mid-City
From Franklin to North Hollywood is one of the great flower smell centers of Los Angeles, and since we are blessed with an early spring, and my birthday is in February, the feeling of rebirth coming out of winter is much more expedient thanks to both blossoms and their corresponding scents. Makes me feel for whatever reason like I’m in a noir. But a happier one.
— Robert Biegler, Hollywood
One would have to be freshly cut grass on the golf course at the Rose Bowl. Going to Bruin games in my youth — that smell signified the start of the fall season. Another would be freshly cut Christmas trees coming in from Oregon at the old railroad tracks near the wholesale fruit market. They are gone now but the smell of the freshly cut trees mixed with street tacos, powdered chocolate milk and street dogs is something that can never be replicated.
— Michael Adame, Tucson
Eucalyptus in the air
That little whiff of eucalyptus on the air, early in the morning in Pasadena, with the bright sun, cool air, chirping birds and mountains in the background made the whole day fresh and exciting. To this day when I land at LAX and get a whiff of eucalyptus riding above the jet fuel and car exhaust, I just think, “Man, it’s good to be home.”
— Stefan McDonough, Boston
Stark aerial photos of the Eaton and Palisades fires show blocks of ash where houses used to be, and a surprising number of green trees. Why? Plus February plant events.
Eucalyptus, while walking to class at UCLA in the ’70s.
— Phil Hermanson, Lincoln, Calif.
Eucalyptus trees at Occidental College.
— Betsy Reifsnider, Sacramento
Perfumes and weed
Walking past perfumed women on Rodeo Drive.
— Kenneth Lahn, New York City
Everyone in L.A. wears the same fragrance and shares the same vice, making the unofficial scent of L.A. Le Labo’s Santal 33 and cannabis smoke.
— Kelly Gerner, Altadena
Tacos (any street vendors really), night blooming jasmine/citrus tree blooms, weed — when I exit BUR [Hollywood Burbank] Airport it is often the first thing I can smell and know I am “home” — and the ocean.
— Delaine Ureno, Alhambra
Cracking open a book at the olfactory library
The tsunami of agreeable aroma that I enjoy surfing the most is the Los Angeles Central Library downtown. The bouquet of bookbinding and pulpy paper makes for a most intoxicating inhale. In addition to the swoon-worthy smell of old books, you can also detect a hint of burning filament from the 3D printers perennially whirring away at the Octavia Butler Lab that provides access to a wealth of state-of-the-art design, fabrication and storytelling technologies. It’s STEM in a sniff. Snuffle and let that sense of curiosity and discovery waft pleasingly over your proboscis.
— Tommy Bui, Pacoima
Prehistoric perfume at the tar pits
I lived in Santa Monica until I was 8, and I loved the smell of the La Brea Tar Pits. The sharp tang of the tar and the musty, earthy smell of the observation pits meant a day of play and exploration. I have great memories of rolling down the green hills surrounding the museum and watching the scientists brush off newly discovered fossils.
— Alexis Weaver, Santa Barbara
A bouquet of yeasty delights
Walking into Phoenix Bakery and smelling its sweet pastries is always a treat.
— Monica Delgadillo, Whittier
The Budweiser brewery off the 5 freeway smells great. And I don’t even like beer.
— Laurel Thurston, San Fernando Valley
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