I have to go for 10 days at the end of the month for work. The only thing I can find about Sylmar is that it was the site of the largest recorded cocaine bust.
Am I gonna get killed and if so is there anywhere decent o eat before I die?
It’s kinda boring. At the north side of the valley. I haven’t had too much reason to go up there myself. But it is certainly striking distance to all the Burbank studios and Hollywood touristy stuff, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Well, there was also a little tremor in 1971.
There is a MAJOR classic car museum in Sylmar.
Also includes a collection of antique mechanical music machines and antique furniture.
Otherwise, this, as far as I know. You can find some touristy-type stuff or other points of interest here and there around the San Fernando Valley. You might take a look at Griffith Park, a hilly area with hiking trails, a major equestrian center nearby, the Los Angeles Zoo, and an Observatory that has some public exhibits.
You could go to Van Nuys Airport and have a scenic flight from Group 3 Aviation. (Not to plug them, but the only reason I went to The Valley was to rent helicopters.)
Very little to do in Sylmar, but plenty to do in surrounding areas, Burbank being the easiest target from there. If you’ll have your evenings free, you’ll have plenty of options. Even if you don’t stray too far, Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena all have plenty of dining and entertainment options.
And you’re no more likely to be killed in Sylmar than you are in most parts of LA. Take that however you wish. 
Being at the confluence of the 5 and the 405 will give you plenty of reasons to kill, however.
The music machines are amazing and the cars are awesome. Go if you can.
I haven’t been in LA area for six years so all the restaurants I would have recommended have probably vanished. Used to be lots of good seafood places down by the beach (Santa Monica, Malibu). According to yelp there are several Japanese restaurants in Sylmar. Who knew? Here I am in the middle of Texas with no Japanese restaurants, and this makes me want to go back to California, Right Now. Here in Texas we have “asian fusion” restaurants, which means sushi with chow mein and egg roll. Oh well.
We like to go to the 94th Aero Squadron on the northeast side of Van Nuys Airport. Good prime rib and French onion soup. And we like the bombed-out French farmhouse theme. It fun to watch the airplanes and the animals while we eat. Alas, no escargots.
Are you working at the Path 65 converter? I’m having a hard time envisioning what other kind of work takes 10 days in Sylmar… Anyway, I assume you’ll have a rental car, so you can get to just about anywhere in the surrounding area, as long as it isn’t rush hour.
Rush hour here meaning 7-10am, 11am-1pm, 3:30-8pm. Though the lunch rush isn’t as bad. Hotter days are worse. Rain days are the worst. Holiday weekends are extra bad on thurs/friday and monday. But Sat and Sun can be a ghost town, depending on the holiday.
Upgrading IT systems and hardware at 34 sites in the area. Well, I’m not doing it, I’m the project manager. Well, one of three project managers. 
Thanks all! The Nethercutt and 94th Aero Squadron both look awesome!
Better that than the confluence of 405 and 101 (which isn’t saying much).
My eye is twitching now.
If you like classic cars, or cars at all, the Nethercutt is a must see. Truly a world class museum.
That’s wild. I drive by Sylmar a few times a year and never knew it was there. I’ll have to check it out.
My suggestion requires some interest in California (and Los Angeles) water history. Visit “The Cascades.” This is the southern terminus of the L.A. Aquaduct and was a huge deal back in 1914 or so. The Cascades is only a few miles from Sylmar. This link The Cascades is what it looks like when water is running. Warning: this is not a touristy thing nor even exciting. But it is close by, free and gets you outside.
Is that what that’s called? There’s no telling how many times I’ve driven (or been driven) by that. I always liked looking at it as I/we passed it.
As you can see on a map, Sylmar is kinda wedged up into the foothills. You can only really find more to do traveling south/southwest or southeast. Due south is San Fernando / Arleta / Panorama City - trust me, not much to see there. Close by in the southwest direction is Granada Hills, it’s a little more charming. They have a ton of food trucks on Chatsworth near Zelzah on Friday nights.
I second the 94th Aero Squadron, it’s one of our regular spots. Also, for a real time warp feel you could check out The Safari Room on Devonshire. It’s like something straight out of the sixties - nothing has been updated since then, including the staff (and the prices haven’t caught up either).