We are staying at the Hyatt on Figueroa and going to Sting concert at Forum. Any suggestion for a casual bistro type dinner near the 2 places?

you realize that the Forum is nowhere near downtown, right? Are you asking for 2 dinner spots, one near the hotel and one near the Forum?

Since it's a Saturday, traffic should be low, so you probably have time to eat an early dinner near your hotel, and then head to the Forum. However, there's a freeway slowdown expected that weekend so all bets are off.

Near your hotel, check reviews for the Border Grill just a block away, and also the Angry Chef Grill in the Bonaventure Hotel.
www.bordergrill.com
www.angrychefgrill.com

I'm not too familiar with the neighborhood near the Forum, looks like there may be a decent Caribbean restaurant and some small, well-reviewed soul food joints within a mile or so of the venue.

You mean the Paul Simon/Sting concert Saturday night. I had tickets but had to turn my credit card over to my sister for credit card ticket entry since I'll be up in Monterey. She gets to take Mom.

Anyhoo, how are you getting to the Forum? As clark notes, they are far from one another. The Forum is in a not particularly great area of Inglewood.

Your hotel is located on Fig in one of those weird areas of L.A. where there's not a lot of restaurants except in the hotels. I am very familiar with the area. If you are driving (and I assume you are), any place you drive to downtown to eat means you'll be paying a small fortune to park.

Best to eat at Border Grill as Clark says (if it's like the one in Santa Monica, VERY decent food!), then get in the car, take the 110 south to Manchester, and head west (right) to the Forum, which will be on your left. Allow yourself plenty of time to get there and park.

Also, whatever you do, make sure you write down/remember where you parked. Also remember the door in which you ENTER the Forum. The Forum's parking goes all around the Forum in a circle. So you go in, and circle the inside to your seat, and are likely to come out at a different door. Then, you spend the next 4 hours circling the Forum parking lot looking for your car! Trust me, even when I was 21 at a Stones concert there, it screwed up my generally great sense of direction!

(Of course, back then, most of the cars were VW bugs, making finding your VW more difficult!).

The distance between them is 10 miles, which for LA is respectable and not that terribly far. Thanks for the tip on Border Grill

Word, I don't think that is what Clark meant. The way you phrased the question is why Clark raised the issue. If you had asked the question, but were planning on seeing Sting at Staples Center or the Music Center, the phrasing "near the 2 places" would have made some sense.

Since they are over 10 miles apart, there'd be nothing "near" the 2 places. Between the two places . . . the halfway mark . . . would be the SC area or South Los Angeles -- neither the most ideal place to make a pit stop for a quick dinner before the show.

Since we are staying downtown think we will eat there, then drive. See what you mean

Ten miles on the road in "LA" can and usually does cross multiple cities, and those ten miles may take upwards of an hour to traverse depending on traffic conditions. Getting a hotel in downtown LA would not have been my first choice (or second, or third, or 14th), but I think you'll be OK. Just give yourself plenty of time to get down to the Forum.

Border Grill should be fun (and, if it's like the Santa Monica outpost, LOUD). Mary Sue Milliken (co-owner) spends a lot of her time in the downtown branch (at least that's what Susan Feniger-- the other co-owner-- told me the last time I saw her in SM), which should keep the dining experience on point. It's the Hot Tamales' interpretation of Mexican food, not so much cocina como la de Abuelita as cocina de alta categoría en homenaje a Abuelita. BTW, Susan's side project re-badged as the Mud Hen Tavern and recently re-opened; it's not too far from Downtown, in Hollywood, and might be worth checking out (Susan's very excited about it, and I need to get an excuse to go up to Hollywood to dine there).