Casual Conversation

I'm not from the area so can't give any actual spot suggestions. Like others have said, you owe it to yourself to try some authentic Mexican / Hispanic in general food. Same with Asian food, large diaspora there so you can get real authentic and delicious Chinese for scams.

Ask the people you're staying with or the staff where you stay what is good near them.

You asked what snacks to try - nothing you find in America snack wise will be good or better than wherever you're travelling from. Quintessential USA snacks though would be anything from lil Debbie or Hostess (twinkees and so forth), you might also find some novel candy if you look around.

Most of our snack stuff is highly processed garbage. It blows my mind how much higher quality the snacks are from overseas. My wife got my this snack box subscription that sends you treats from a different region around the world each month and it low-key makes me sad how much better the snack food is compared to our American trash.

That said, we have plenty of excellent and authentic ethnic food spots, especially in LA. Hope you enjoy yourself. I also would urge caution coming to the USA right now because of everything going on. If you can change your plans I'd say visit somewhere else for the next four years.

At the very least, I'd say pack a burner phone and if you bring any other electronics make sure they're clean installs and nothing on them except games or whatever work stuff. Don't come with a digital footprint, border agents can be dicks and they have way more authority than that should be granted and can just tell you to fuck off and deny entry. So don't fuck around.