Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
This sprawling Venice institution (established 1979) was recently given a major, very welcome makeover. If the new version is less funky (though you'll…
Must-see restaurants in Southern California
Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
The folks behind the standard-setting Gjelina have opened this very casual, very gourmet, very Venice bakery, cafe and deli behind a nondescript…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
An LA-scene extraordinaire. You may well find sidewalk paparazzi stalking celebrity guests and a doorman to check your reservation, but all that's…
Santa Monica
You haven’t really experienced Santa Monica until you’ve explored one of its outdoor farmers markets stocked with organic fruits, vegetables, flowers,…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
Opened in 2017, LA's branch of this multistory Italian megamarket and restaurant hall is so big that it offers maps at the entrance. Stall after stall…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Meaning 'sky' in Japanese, Sora is a rather fitting name for this conveyor-belt sushi spot 69 stories up. It's hard to decide what's more eye-catching:…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
It doesn't get much more LA than this. Upscale and buzzy, Hamasaku combines two local obsessions, sushi and the entertainment industry (one-time super…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
In a modernist pavilion beside the Broad is this fun, of-the-moment hot spot helmed by chef Timothy Hollingsworth. Prime ingredients conspire in…
Los Angeles
If you're near Expo Park or USC, it's totally worth the five-minute walk under the freeway to this fabulous food hall. About a dozen restaurant stalls…
Westlake & Koreatown
Looks can deceive: this informal, youth-filled spot serves some of LA's best Korean barbecue, proven by constant lines out the door. Grill-yourself meats…
Santa Barbara
Headline: kaiseki (traditional Japanese multicourse dining) comes to Santa Barbara and wows locals. It might have limited hours, take a chunk out of your…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
Gracias Madre shows just how tasty – and chichi – organic, plant-based Mexican cooking can be. Sit on the gracious patio or in the cozy interior and feel…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
At this modernized version of a New England seafood shack by acclaimed chef Michael Cimarusti, there are always up to a dozen oyster varieties at the raw…
South Bay Beaches
New brick-and-mortar incarnation of the gourmet fave, Korean-fusion burger stand that started in Redondo Beach. It's a hipster-cool spot for the Cash…
Hollywood
Good things come in small packages…like tiny, no-reservations Petit Trois! Owned by acclaimed TV chef Ludovic Lefebvre, its two long counters (the place…
San Fernando Valley
Tucked away in an unassuming mini-mall, and stuffed with knickknacks, pasted with posters and staffed by a sunny, sweet owner-operator, this offbeat, home…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
This it-kid inside the Hauser & Wirth arts complex boasts a woody warm, loftlike space and an oft-tweaked menu that beautifully fuses California meats,…
Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
If one restaurant defines the new Venice, it's this. Carve out a spot on the communal table between the hipsters and yuppies, or get your own slab of wood…
Pasadena & the San Gabriel Valley
It's a testament to the SGV's ethnic Chinese community that Taiwan's most esteemed dumpling house opened its first US outpost here. The menu of dumplings,…
San Fernando Valley
Although it's in a strip mall (welcome to the Valley), Asanebo is a Sushi Row standout thanks to dishes such as halibut sashimi with fresh truffle, and…
Coastal Orange County
The best spot for breakfast or lunch in Los Rios Historic District, this Old West–flavored, wood-built house from 1881 (with brick patio) does organically…
Pasadena & the San Gabriel Valley
A cheerful, sophisticated energy animates James Beard–nominated chef Bruce Kalman's restaurant, offering California interpretations of northern Italian…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
A design gem with the gourmet ambition to match. The old interior of LA's dearly departed Campanile is still an atrium restaurant with stone arches, a…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
Hidden down a seemingly barren street is this stylish northern Italian restaurant, an expansive industrial space with rustic wooden accents. Stacked logs…
Silver Lake & Echo Park
Young Korean-American chef Jason Kim has created a buzz with his latest venture, a snug, discreet restaurant with a 'deconstructed farmhouse' design,…
Downtown Los Angeles & Boyle Heights
In a once-abandoned Arts District corner, this loud, buzzing, industrial dining space is one of the most sought-after reservations in town; book at least…
San Diego
The culinary heart of a 1920’s-era naval training center turned artistic urban playground, this hip food hall presents around 30 local artisan vendors who…
Anaheim
Chef Jimmy, who has worked in some of LA's top kitchens, returned to his Mexican roots to make some of the most gourmet tacos we've ever seen: pineapple…
Santa Barbara
A top spot to savor SoCal's bountiful farm and fishing goodness, chef-run Lark was named after an antique Pullman railway car and is based at a former…
Santa Barbara
Phenomenally popular Arigato Sushi always has people milling around waiting for a table (no reservations taken) but it's worth the wait. Traditional and…
Hollywood
Hollywood history hangs in the thick air at Musso & Frank Grill, Tinseltown’s oldest eatery (since 1919). Charlie Chaplin used to knock back vodka gimlets…
Silver Lake & Echo Park
Kettle Black belongs to the new Silver Lake guard, a dark, stylish cocktail bar-restaurant with fashionable diners, communal bar tables and a dizzying…
Hollywood
Wood-paneled, concrete-floored Salt's Cure is an out, proud locavore. From the in-season vegetables to the house-butchered and cured meats, the menu…
Los Angeles
Market-fresh ingredients drive elevated comfort dishes at this slinky Highland Park hot spot, complete with prerequisite marble-topped bar, designer…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
Seldom does a restaurant blessed with as golden a location as this one – on the plaza of LACMA – live up to the address. Ray's does. Menus change…
Coastal Orange County
Everybody’s favorite for fresh fish (some drive in from LA), Walt’s packs them in on weekends. You can’t make reservations for dinner (though they’re…
Los Feliz & Griffith Park
Texan expat Briana Valdez is behind this rustic ode to the Lone Star State. Locals queue patiently for authentic breakfast tacos such as the Trinity, a…
West Hollywood & Mid-City
Set behind Talésai, a long-running Thai joint, this related kitchen pumps out outstanding Thai street food and Thai-inspired hybrids such as catfish…
Santa Monica
Ever since it opened in 2015, open, airy Cassia has made about every local and national 'best' list of LA restaurants. Chef Bryant Ng draws on his Chinese…
San Diego
Spearheading the new crop of Little Italy's fine-dining restaurants, J&I is the creation of star chef Richard Blais, who performs culinary sorcery with…
