Not surprisingly, my favorite places to people-watch in LA are a little more low-key than the usual. And all involve food. Natch.

To get to LA’s real roots — not the bleached ones, I like Olvera Street. Yeah, it’s a tourist trap. But I like what it represents. A lively downtown plaza marking the city’s birthplace, dating back to 1781.(So there, East Coast! Who says LA sprang up overnight?)

A fun way to grab a meal and pass some time if you happen to be downtown (it’s steps away from the train station.) And you’d like to hearken back to an LA long before Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Aniston and Perez Hilton.

But if you’d like to possibly run into some stars without being too obvious about it, head to Abbot’s Habit coffee place in Venice.

Truth About Cats & Dogs/20th Century Fox

The neighborhood has gone from emerging to the place to be. It’s where The Truth About Cats & Dogs with Uma Thurman and Janeane Garofalo  was filmed.

Even the regular people look like stars and just might be, for all I know. Venice has been home at one time or another to Julia Roberts, Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis and South Park co-creator Matt Stone.

Abbot’s makes a mean PB&J on sourdough, no less. Haven’t had one of those since I was, like, 4. Long before sourdough was a menu option.

Down the street is The Rose Cafe. Great place for outrageous desserts …

… and one-of-a-kind souvenirs.

Much of the clientele comes from Digital Domain, the special-effects house across the street that made movie magic with Titanic and Transformers, and dozens of other films, ads and games.

Pink’s, a hot spot for decades

Ginger, the hot dog of a dachshund who’s once again by my side, won’t let me get away without mentioning Pink’s Hot Dogs in Hollywood.  I didn’t get there this trip, but I’ve been before. I much prefer Hebrew National at a ballpark or cookout, but you still can’t beat Pink’s for people-watching. Alec Baldwin, Jimmy Kimmel, Bobby Flay, Jennifer Garner, have all stopped by for a fix.