Vicki Arkoff tours Los Angeles with actor Zachary Levi who has some inspired suggestions for nerd girls visiting L.A.

Zachary Levi knows all about geeks. Not only does the actor portray “Nerd Herd”-techno-geek-turned-unlikely-government-agent Chuck Bartowski in the hilarious hit TV series Chuck, the fact is that the adorable Hollywood area resident has become the new sex symbol for female nerds. 

“Really?  OK, I’ll take it,” he laughs then claims to be a true blue dweeb in real life. Not that we believe him, of course. “I have no suave seduction techniques,” he unconvincingly says while giving this Holiday Goddess a tour of the incredibly realistic Buy More set at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank (except that the cell phone and video game boxes are empty props).
 
“No, really. I haven’t been to Saint-Tropez on a yacht recently and probably won’t for the next, oh…never,” Zach laughs. “Honestly, the stuff that Chuck would normally do, I would do. And that includes staying home alone to read graphic novels and create video games.”

So where should a nerd girl go in L.A. to meet a funny, refreshingly self-effacing techno-nerd god like Zach? Or better yet, to actually meet Zach? “Well, probably at a Best Buy,” the avid skateboarder and snowboarder suggests, flashing that boy-next-door smile again. “I go nowhere. I hang out at my house playing Rock Band or Gears of War.”

Truth be told, he loves meeting people at neighborhood joints. “You’re likely to find me kicking around Los Feliz at the Echo for live music, or somewhere on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood like Birds for dinner and a drink, or the Bourgeois Pig for coffee and laptop surfing. Or at a good arcade. Or an internet café. Or on Facebook! I’ve met so many Chuck fans there.”

And once your eyes meet Zach’s across a crowded room (or, er, chat room) and chemistry ignites, he has big ideas for the perfect L.A. date.“I always thought it would be great to take a girl to Catalina, but to surprise her by taking her in a helicopter,” Zach confesses, accidentally revealing that he has at least one debonair move. “Well, I haven’t actually done it yet. But it sounds great because the boat ride makes you seasick, plus it takes you 45 minutes or more. In a helicopter it takes 15 minutes. I’d drive you down there to Long Beach and you think you’re getting on the boat – but not so much! You’re getting on a helicopter and 15 minutes later we land and dinner will be waiting for us. Also, everyone drives around the island in golf carts because they don’t allow cars, so when we’d get there we’d go for a little drive around Avalon in a golf cart. It’d be cool – well, nerd cool — but it’s also a litmus test. If you’re willing to get into a helicopter, then you’re down with me. If not, I’m sorry, we have no future.”

Beware, potential girlfriends. “Date two and three would be bungee jumping and skydiving,” he deadpans in a deeply serious tone…then cracks himself up. “No, I’m kidding. As if. Puh-lease!” 

ZACH LEVI’S TOUR OF GEEK CHIC L.A.

• Best Buy: 1015 N. La Brea Ave., West Hollywood, CA. (323) 883-0219. This electronics superstore chain sells TV, video, cameras, computers, phones, home appliances, games, software, CDs, DVDs and just about everything that plugs in. It’s also the home of the helpful, trouble-shooting, VW-driving computer service technicians called the Geek Squad – the inspiration behind Chuck’s Nerd Herd from Buy More. Other locations include Westwood, West L.A., Sherman Oaks, Burbank, and Glendale.   
   
• Birds: 5925 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles. (323) 465-0175. This very popular Beechwood Canyon neighborhood bar/eatery is named for its rotisserie chicken, but detractors unhappy with its drunk and rowdy crowd say “it’s for the birds.” And they’re kinda right. At midnight, the back corner booth is converted into a go-go dancer birdcage – complete with a swing – in which customers can volunteer to shake their tail feathers. And, mind you, some of the regulars include chicks like Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson. Despite being a fave, sensibly-priced spot for more than a decade, Birds remains a semi-secret star draw (a sign on a backroom door reads “For Employees and George Clooney Only”) yet the vibe is friendly, unstuffy, and sociable. It’s an equally good time for the attractive locals (many seem to be here every night), for out-of-towners looking for an unpretentious, high-energy party scene, and yes, once in awhile, even for Clooney. Frugal tip: Drinks are half price Wednesday and Thursday from 11 p.m. to midnight – just in time for the go-go show. Free street parking if you can find it. Valet parking if you can’t. 
   
• Bourgeois Pig: 5931 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles. (323) 464-6008. A locals’ favorite coffee lounge for loafing, meeting friends, internet surfing, and especially for writing screenplays. Kick back with a book in the large front room with its revolving local art exhibits, or kick off your shoes and plop down on the silk floor pillows in the dark, Moroccan-themed back room. And do bring your lap top: this hiply bohemian and surprisingly un-Hollywood hangout is regularly voted the Hollywood area’s best free wi-fi spot. So plug in, boot up and feel free to nurse a cappuccino for hours as you watch “Chuck” episodes on-line; meet all the Buy More “Nerd Herders”; and geek out your computer with free widgets and wallpapers from Buy More.  At NBC Universal store, you can even on-line shop for your own Buy More polo shirt or ID badge holder to impress your fellow nerds. The Pig is open daily 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Street parking if you’re lucky.
   
• The Echo: 1822 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 413-8200. This Echo Park concert venue is actually a pair of venues: The Echo and The Echoplex, two grungy, adjacent rock clubs featuring eclectic bills of local and international bands and DJs playing indie rock, metal, electro, punk, reggae, dub, psychobilly, you name it. Local favorites take up Monday night residencies each month. Enter The Echo from Sunset. Enter The Echoplex (underneath and behind The Echo) through the alley at 1154 Glendale Blvd. Street parking or valet parking across Sunset at Taix French restaurant.
   
• Santa Catalina Island: Like the song says, Southern California’s quaint-but-dated resort island of romance is just “26 miles across the sea” from L.A.  Hour-long passenger ferries to the island’s only town, Avalon, depart from Long Beach, San Pedro, Marina Del Rey and Dana Point, but to go in style, why not ‘copter it in for a spectacular 15-minute express expedition?  Roundtrip flights on Island Express; 1(800) 2-AVALON start at $164 per person and depart from heliports at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, or Berth 95 in San Pedro. Higher priced tours are also available, including a Glass Bottom Boat ride in Avalon harbor, and a narrated walking tour through the now-defunct Casino, an art deco landmark.