San Francisco
Ingenious: with a built-in rotisserie, this truck turns out perfectly roasted free-range chicken and organic potatoes with lavender and sea salt.
Must-see restaurants in California
Napa Valley
Bouchon makes as-good-as-in-Paris French pastries and strong coffee. There's always a line and rarely a seat: get it to go.
North Coast & Redwoods
Tops for vegetarians, this tiny storefront serves fab frittatas, pancakes and curries, and big crunchy salads.
San Francisco
Top-notch dim sum on the run: baked buns and clamshell bao (steamed buns) with gourmet fillings.
Santa Monica
In Japan, omusubi (rice balls, aka onigiri) are an everyday staple, and this counter-service shop aims to make them popular Stateside. Before your eyes,…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Chef Gavin Mills' perfectionism shows in Miro’s pan-Mediterranean, North African–influenced menu, a regularly changing selection of house-made charcuterie…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
'Snow cream' is the thing here: neither ice cream nor shaved ice, but something in between. Imagine a block of ice milk (some in Asian-inspired flavors…
Northern Mountains
It's not often you can eat in an architecturally unique venue, but the Wigwam Room is just such a place. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as part of the…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
If your idea of Japanese cooking is sushi, tempura and teriyaki, this cheerful, minimalist, good-for-you storefront will be a pleasant surprise. The…
San Fernando Valley
In a world where restaurants seem to be heading toward hipster heaven, Casa Vega, in business since 1956, is a welcome throwback. Amid wrought-iron…
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
For flavors that hug your tongue, then deliver a swift kick, it must be Burma Love. Salad gets upgraded to the main event here, and is frequently mixed…
Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe
North Beach & Chinatown
A boho North Beach landmark on Washington Sq, Mario's gave up smoking in the 1970s and turned to piping-hot panini. Generations of artistic movements have…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
Dessert fans flock to this hip, adorable storefront in Sawtelle Japantown for its weekly-changing selection of bread pudding from over 40 flavors: maple…
Oakland
Mac 'n' cheese, the ultimate in American comfort food, gets a long-overdue ovation at this quirky restaurant with a primary-school theme. A menu of…
The Haight & Hayes Valley
Haight skateboarders swerve here for legit Mexico City fare on handmade organic tortillas. Flavors come on strong with fresh house-made salsa, but that…
Oakland
Wood Tavern's side venture steals the show with its gobstopping meatball and pork-belly sandwiches. This busy storefront eatery has only a few tightly…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
Upscale Southern cooking comes to one of SoCal's highest profile corners, in the massive Beverly Center. Come hungry for devilish deviled eggs and mama's…
Westlake & Koreatown
Inside the Koreatown Galleria, this massive, modern market is a food adventure and offers great bang for your buck. Start with the colorful arrays of…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Chego is a casual, counter-service, brick-and-mortar outlet by chef Roy Choi, king of LA's food truck movement. While his Kogi truck brought the world…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
Some restaurants have an executive chef; Farmhouse has an 'executive farmer,' Nathan Peitso, who sources sustainable ingredients 'seed-to-plate' style…
Pasadena & the San Gabriel Valley
Upstairs in this megamall is a spiffy new East Asian food hall. Among the selections are Side Chick (Hainan chicken and rice with habit-forming ginger…
Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
There's always fresh brew on tap at this postmodern barn of a beer hall, owned by Firestone Walker Brewery, and the comforting pub grub is way better than…
Los Angeles
Clean lines, loud hip-hop and a gourmet pedigree animate this fast-food concept from Roy Choi, the chef credited with starting LA's food-truck revolution…
Pasadena & the San Gabriel Valley
If Pasadena is the San Gabriel Valley's East-meets-West melting pot, then this outpost of a Taiwanese bakery chain may be the oven that heats it. It…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
The folks behind the popular Sugarfish mini-chain bring you this sushi hand-roll specialty shop in Westwood Village. Behind the minimalist, square, wooden…
San Fernando Valley
Bob, that cheeky, pompadoured kid in red-checkered pants, hasn’t aged a lick since serving his first double-decker more than half a century ago. This…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
Marix is barely more than a glassed-in patio with a retractable roof, but it's been a party place for a generation of LGBT Angelenos and those who love…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
Down-home Southeast Asian cooking stars at this two-generation, family-run stall inside the Original Farmers Market. Try laksa, Singapore's national dish,…
South Bay Beaches
Expect a busy buzz and a casually classy 'by locals, for locals' vibe. Chef Tyler Gugliotta, an alumnus of Venice's standard-setting Tasting Kitchen,…
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
Men and women in rolled-up sleeves stir steaming cauldrons of Dungeness crab at several side-by-side takeout crab stands at the foot of Taylor St, the…
San Fernando Valley
At the base of the hill across from Universal City, Spitz does Mediterranean street food with a classic-rock vibe. The popular 'street cart döner' …
Los Feliz & Griffith Park
A Hillhurst breakfast favorite, this sunny cafe spills onto a multilevel, streetside brick patio. It’s housed in a restored 1897 Spanish-style duplex,…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
A big, funky, reimagined taco joint with raw-light-bulb chandeliers, a pounded-metal bar, bright-pink-paper menu and handmade, fresh-grilled tortillas…
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
Dinner at Lazy Bear actually requires quite a bit of (worthwhile) effort. Tickets for the supper club must be purchased in advance and tend to sell out…
Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
They make the tortillas before your eyes at this rangy, atmospheric warren of a cantina in business since the early '60s. A small troop of black-jacketed,…
South Bay Beaches
South Bay heads who know descend on this tiny Korean-American fusion takeout grill, built into the back of a liquor store with a few outdoor tables. It…
Westlake & Koreatown
Under the sky-lit atrium on the top floor of the Koreatown Galleria mall, about a dozen stalls are in friendly competition selling casual, generous serves…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
What do you get when you cross a croissant with a muffin? Hint: it's not a muffant. It's a cruffin, people! In late 2014, this tiny Tenderloin bakery…
Coastal Highway 1
Located just north of Salt Point State Park, this may be the oldest continuously family-run business west of the Mississippi (it opened in 1868). New…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
An atmospheric old basement tavern with vintage vinyl booths, original glass lighting and historic photos, Cole's is one of two restaurants in LA claiming…
