Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, CA

Toluca Lake is built around a lake most people never see. The six-acre water in this Los Angeles enclave is private, ringed by homes and the Lakeside Golf Club, and hidden from the street, so the public face of the place is Riverside Drive, a short village strip between Burbank and Studio City. Homes range from Spanish Colonial houses to large 1930s Colonial Revival homes, with the biggest lots near the lake and the golf course. Blocks farther from the water hold smaller period houses and some apartment buildings toward Lankershim and the 134. across the line in Burbank and Universal a short drive south. Riverside Drive is where daily life happens. Patys has served diner breakfasts on the corner for decades, with an outdoor patio that fills on weekends. Bodega Malbec grills Argentine steaks, Prosecco Trattoria is the sit-down Italian spot, and SweetSalt Food Shop is an order-at-the-counter cafe known for its duck confit sandwich. Errands in Toluca Lake can be done on foot. Trader Joe's is on Riverside, and a compact Gelson's opened at Riverside and Mariota in 2026 with a butcher, prepared food and a coffee bar. A certified farmers market also sets up on Mariota. Green space is mostly private. Lakeside Golf Club takes up much of the southern edge, and residents walk the neighborhood streets or head to the LA River path and Griffith Park across the river. Ca' Del Sole, on Cahuenga near the Universal end, has a patio that looks out over the river. The lake and the golf course, the two things the name points to, are open only to members and lakefront owners. Riverside Drive is the part everyone shares, and it still works as a main street for the people who live a few blocks from it.