I wonder if my wife would kill me if I told her, "Hey, I know it's our honeymoon, but I just need to go slap this engine in and will be right back. Keep the beer cold."

LOL! Welcome to the club. If you do that you'll go down in the "Eternal Tome of Manly Men with Balls the size of Coconuts"

Or in the Guinness Book of World Records for the shortest marriage. :)

Keep us posted - I work right down the street from that hotel and would be glad to meet up if I'm around that day. Gilberts on Pico is one of the many local Mexican places we hit up quite often. La Cabana and El Cholo are other ones close by. For really good Chinese I suspect you will need to go downtown (Chinatown) or down towards the South Bay or even OC. I don't know of anything stellar on the westside but there is definitely Thai and Japanese/sushi nearby.

I like Hotel Angelino. The bar on the top floor rocks.

http://www.jdvhotels.com/angeleno/

For good Chinese food on the westside, there's Fu's Palace. I think it's on Pico, a block east of the corner of Robertson and Pico. Otherwise, it's Empress Pavilion in Chinatown for dim sum, or over in Alhambra/Monterey Park for the authentic stuff.

You can also try the hotels along the Sunset Strip. It's touristy enough to keep your interest, with restaurants/clubs/bars close by. And, for a car guy, Sunset Blvd is like an exotic car parade on any given day.

Ahh...the old Holiday Inn. Looks like they did a TON of work on that place! Will have to check it out someday.

Right across the street (from the Bayside) is http://www.theoriginalchachacha.com/ --you'll look at the place and say "really?" ..but, yummmm. (very casual place -cuban)

Also, walk south along ocean, then east a block to Main and south again to http://www.gerrigilliland.com/lula/index.html (oaxacan mexican -- lobster taquitos for dinner. ..or stop there for brunch)

We had some think tanks there, that's how I got introduced to the place (other than driving past it for years). It has been totally transformed. Great "date" restaurant/bar (not that I know anything about that :p ), but not exactly cheap. Only $5 to park though...a hell of a lot cheaper than Sky Bar (at the Mondrian Hotel, the other "quintessential LA place).

And if you want to spend even more money, have sushi at The Hump at Santa Monica Airport. Absolutely sublime.

Great suggestions guys. Hey, is the Rainbow Bar & Grill ones of those places where you stand in a rope line and pay a huge cover? Or can anyone just walk in and have a drink?