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…
Must-see restaurants in Los Angeles
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…
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…
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
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,…
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…
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 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…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
A delightful Turkish cafe where tables spill from a whitewashed interior (with colorful handprints on the walls) onto the sidewalk. Gyros are wrapped in…
Hollywood
For a break from strolling the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame or before a show at the Pantages, this unpretentious brew pub is a good choice over the…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
This tiny taco shack in the heart of DTLA has heaps of hipster cred: retro neon sign, Astroturf, picnic tables and Airstream trailer in the parking lot…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
Based at the Palihotel, this spare, Southern-inspired kitchen offers a rotating menu mixing share plates (avocado toast with smoked olive tapenade) and…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Hip-hop meets Taiwan in this counter-service shop in Chinatown. Chef Eddie Huang, who became famous for his memoir Fresh off the Boat (basis of the TV…
Long Beach & San Pedro
First-timers and old Cambodia hands love this friendly, neat-as-a-pin breakfast and lunch place on the corner. Choose your noodle type (rice, egg, etc)…
Pasadena & the San Gabriel Valley
An anchor of Old Town, with plenty of windows to watch street life on busy Colorado Blvd, this artsy trattoria gets packed with a business crowd on…
South Bay Beaches
King's Hawaiian Bakery is beloved in these parts for its sweet bread rolls and day-glo cakes, and its sister, counter-service restaurant sells sandwiches…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
This sunny counter-service vegan chain serves dishes that herbivores will love and carnivores will more than merely endure. That's thanks to proteins that…
Silver Lake & Echo Park
Located in a renovated auto-repair garage, this hip spot in Frogtown (where Silver Lake meets Atwater Village) feels like a trip to the desert. Look for…
Silver Lake & Echo Park
In 1966, two years before New York's Stonewall Riots, LGBT protesters bravely stood up to police harassment at this very site. These days, the Black Cat…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
Terrific nuevo Mexican food served in whitewashed brick environs, with dangling bird-cage chandeliers and a terrific marble tequila bar. The slow-cooked…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
San Gabriel Valley–born-and-bred chef Tin Vuong has broken the mold with this modern Singaporean-style, pan-Asian bistro. The ever-changing share-plate…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
Okonomiyaki (thick, savory Japanese pancakes filled with veggies, meat and noodles) may sound odd to the uninitiated, but not to fans of the Sawtelle…
Santa Monica
The best Italian deli in LA, period. The signature sandwich is the sloppy, spicy Godmother (piled with salami, mortadella, coppacola, ham, prosciutto,…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Divided into a patisserie, bar and dining room, this sprawling, loft-like space recalls the grand cafes of northern Italy: dapper barkeeps pour Aperol…
Pasadena & the San Gabriel Valley
Pasadena's original train station (c 1911) has been handsomely renovated into this cheery, popular dining room beneath lovingly aged wooden beams. The…
Los Angeles
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,…
Malibu & Pacific Palisades
At Malibu’s favorite lunch counter you can order fresh daily soups such as curry tomato lentil and Louisiana gumbo, salads that echo Greece, Italy, Cape…
Long Beach & San Pedro
James Republic does farm-to-table New American cooking, though some dishes have an Asian twist. It serves cheese and charcuterie boards, grill cauliflower…
San Fernando Valley
This dinner-only, small-plates restaurant is a foodie favorite and a local restaurant that draws people from all over. Chefs get inventive with dishes…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
Why should ramen lovers have all the fun? If the lines out the door here are any indication, udon (thick wheat noodles) are next. At the Sawtelle…
San Fernando Valley
There always seems to be a (manageable) line of hungry Filipino families waiting to get into this friendly, Manila-style temple to fried chicken – it deep…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
It's a classic LA success story: cousins Jim and Sabin moved to LA with a dream of a business drawing on their New England heritage. They started with a…
Westlake & Koreatown
Wherever you chow in Koreatown, leave a little room for shaved ice from youthful Snowla. Simply choose your cup size and shaved-ice flavor (we love the…
Los Angeles
A micro-chain with a social conscience: fresh, healthy grab-and-go meals in a bowl, priced lower in under-served communities and higher in more affluent…
Hollywood
Old Hollywood glamor is back in vogue at this sultry newcomer, where the wallpaper is deco, the bar hand-carved and the waitstaff bow-tied. Part of the…
