LA Times Food Bowl Giveaway Offers $626 Prize Package

The Los Angeles Times is giving away two free weekend general admission passes to its annual Food Bowl, a two-day event featuring Los Angeles restaurants and bars. The prize is worth roughly $626. Entries are open now and close Oct. 20.

The event runs Friday, Oct. 23, and Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. Local restaurants and bars will serve unlimited food and drinks. The program also includes the 101 Best Restaurants Reveal Party, presented by OpenTable and Square.

What the Winner Gets

The single grand prize includes more than admission. The winner gets two general admission weekend tickets to the 2026 Los Angeles Times Food Bowl, general admission parking each night and two L.A. Times Food Classic canvas totes. Big Bud Press makes the totes locally in collaboration with the event. The approximate retail value is $626, and prize restrictions apply.

That price gives a sense of what a night out in Southern California’s restaurant scene can cost. For independent restaurateurs and bartenders who rely on events like this to reach customers, the main draw is exposure. Unlimited tastings put their work before a crowd that might become regulars.

The Rules

Entrants must be at least 21 and legal residents of Los Angeles, Orange or San Diego County. No purchase is necessary, and the contest is void where prohibited. Entry opened Oct. 15, 2026, at 2:00:01 p.m. PT and closes Oct. 20, 2026, at 11:59:59 p.m. PT. That leaves four calendar days from today to enter.

The entry process is simple. Participants submit a form at latimes.com/giveaway. Each person and email address can submit one entry. The number of eligible entries will determine the odds, so nobody is guaranteed to win.

The sponsor is Los Angeles Times Communications LLC, 2300 E. Imperial Hwy., El Segundo, CA 90245.

A Private Enterprise at Work

The Food Bowl is a privately organized and privately sponsored event. OpenTable and Square, both commercial platforms, lend their names to the centerpiece reveal party. Local vendors provide the food and drinks, while Big Bud Press supplies the totes. Nobody’s asking for a government subsidy here.

The event also shows how much of the region’s food culture depends on voluntary commerce: restaurants compete for diners, media outlets rank them, and sponsors fund the festivities in hopes of reaching customers. Taste, not decree, sorts the winners and losers.

Weekend tickets otherwise come with a real price tag. Readers deciding whether to pay for a pair of passes now have a free shot at the full package. It’s a modest promotion, but a concrete one.

Why This Matters:

The giveaway is small, but the event behind it points to something larger. A privately run festival, supported by commercial sponsors and independent restaurants, brings crowds and spending to Santa Monica without public money attached. For small food businesses still building loyal customers, that exposure can be worth a great deal. It also shows how media brands, payment platforms and reservation services connect their names with local dining to reach consumers. The sponsor sets the contest rules, from the age limit to the one-entry cap, rather than a regulator. If you want a shot at the passes, enter by Oct. 20.