The restaurants worth a reservation in Los Angeles, from neighbourhood bistros to the new classics.
The restaurants worth the trip in Los Angeles. bistros, neo-classics, neighbourhood favourites, and the rooms locals book first.
Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis's Arts District room set the tone for downtown LA's modern Italian cooking in 2012 and still pulls bookings six weeks out.
OrderCavatelli alla Norcina with house pork sausage and black truffle.
TipBook six weeks out for prime time; bar seats walk-in only from 17:30, and the menu is the same as the dining room.
Walter and Margarita Manzke's Republique in Los Angeles serves pastries, lunch and a French-Californian dinner from a 1928 commissary on La Brea Avenue.
OrderThe kouign-amann at breakfast, then the half roast chicken at dinner.
TipPastry counter opens at 08:00 weekends; queue forms by 09:30. The dinner side reopens at 17:30 with a separate menu and easier walk-ins.
Evan Funke's Venice pasta room rolls every shape by hand in a glass-walled laboratorio. Felix Trattoria is the busiest dinner reservation on Abbot Kinney.
OrderCacio e pepe finished tableside in a wheel of pecorino.
TipReservations open 30 days out and disappear in the first hour; counter seats overlooking the pasta room are walk-in from 17:00.
2.5 hours
Learn to make authentic Spaghetti alla chitarra in an apartment complex in Los Angeles. Enjoy a full Italian meal with crostini, tiramisu, and Italian espresso.
2 hours
Mix, stir and plate your way through four bold Thai favorites with Chef Marc. From crunchy papaya salad to silky coconut soup, savory noodles and mango sticky rice, ev...
2 hours
Join Chef Jackie for a hands-on plant-based cooking class. Create global dishes with a vegan twist, including a fig and avocado salsa, a Caribbean curry, and a dark ch...
Evan Funke's Roman follow-up to Felix runs out of a 1930s Citizen News building in Hollywood. Mother Wolf serves Roman pasta in a marble-and-gold room.
OrderSuppli al telefono, then the tonnarelli cacio e pepe.
TipThe bar room serves the full menu without a reservation, but you need to be in line by 17:15 on a Friday.
Niki Nakayama's modern kaiseki house in Palms, Los Angeles, runs a 13-course tasting menu that changes by season and books months in advance.
OrderThe 13-course modern kaiseki, including chef Niki Nakayama's spaghetti course.
TipBookings open at midnight Pacific on the first of the month for three months out. Refresh the page; tables go in 30 seconds.
Michael Cimarusti's Providence on Melrose has been LA's two-Michelin-star seafood room since 2005. The tasting menu builds around West Coast producers.
OrderThe full tasting menu; the spot prawn course in season is the one to remember.
TipBar seats serve a shorter four-course at half the price; book those a week ahead instead of a month.
Travis Lett's Gjelina in Venice has been the Westside's wood-fire vegetable room since 2008. The pizzas and roasted vegetables built the template.
OrderLamb sausage and pumpkin pizza from the wood oven, then the roasted Brussels sprouts.
TipWalk-in queue for the patio is fine before 19:00; after that, book or eat at the takeaway counter next door at Gjelina Take Away.
Ludo Lefebvre's 20-stool bistro on Highland Avenue runs walk-in only and pours strong Bordeaux. Petit Trois is the most-imitated counter in Los Angeles.
OrderThe Big-Mec burger at lunch or the bouillabaisse at dinner.
Tip20 stools, no bookings at the original; the larger Sherman Oaks sibling takes reservations and pours the same wines.
David Chang's Majordomo in Chinatown, Los Angeles, runs Korean-leaning family-style sharing plates and a whole duck that requires a 48-hour pre-order.
OrderBing bread with chickpea hozon to start, then the family-style whole duck.
TipReserve duck 48 hours ahead by phone; otherwise sold out by 18:00. Bar seats walk-in serve the full menu.
Jonathan Yao's Kato in Row DTLA serves a Taiwanese-American tasting menu and earned a Michelin star in 2022. The 12 courses change every six weeks.
OrderWhatever beef noodle course is on the tasting menu that month.
TipThe bar at Kato pours a tight Loire-and-Riesling list; sit there even if dining in the main room.
Jenee Kim's Park's BBQ in Los Angeles Koreatown grills USDA Prime short rib over real charcoal in a buttoned-up dining room with reliable banchan.
OrderMarinated boneless short rib (yangnyum galbi) and the seafood pancake to share.
TipBanchan refills are free and generous; ask for the live abalone if it's on the spec sheet by the door.
Jitlada in East Hollywood, Los Angeles has been LA's southern Thai room since the 1980s. Owner Jazz Singsanong runs the dining room front of house.
OrderCrispy morning glory salad and the kua kling fried curry, ordered Thai-hot.
TipAsk for the green Southern Thai menu, not the laminated one.
The Lopez family's Guelaguetza in Koreatown, Los Angeles has cooked Oaxacan moles, tlayudas and clayudas for the city since 1994. A James Beard winner.
OrderMole negro over chicken, and a tlayuda to share.
TipThe Lopez family runs a moles-by-the-jar takeaway out the side door; carry one home on the plane.
Musso and Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard has poured martinis since 1919, and still pours them stiffer than anywhere else in Los Angeles.
OrderMartini at the bar and the Thursday chicken pot pie.
TipThe original 1919 bar is the seat to ask for; reservations are for the dining room, not the bar.
Nobu Matsuhisa's original Beverly Hills, Los Angeles room from 1987 invented black cod miso and yellowtail jalapeno. Matsuhisa is the source.
OrderBlack cod miso and a round of yellowtail jalapeno.
TipSit at the omakase counter for the strongest meal; the dining room serves the same a la carte but with no chef interaction.
Justin Pichetrungsi's Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, runs his family's 1981 strip-mall Thai room as a James Beard 2023 Best Chef West winner.
OrderOn Tuesday, the Thai-taco menu. On other nights, the kao soi.
TipJustin Pichetrungsi's Thai Taco Tuesday menu sells out by 19:00; arrive at 17:00 sharp to get on the list.
Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis's Saffy's in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, is a wood-fire shawarma room from the Bestia team. Open since 2023.
OrderLamb shawarma off the rotating spit, with hot pita and hummus.
TipThe bar serves the full menu walk-in; reservations are for the dining patio out back and book three weeks ahead.
Avish Naran's Pijja Palace in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, fuses Italian-American pizza and pasta with Indian sauces in a sports-bar room. Walk-in only.
OrderTikka masala rigatoni and a chicken tikka pizza for the table.
TipWalk-in only, three TVs always on sports; the wait at 19:30 is 90 minutes, at 17:00 it is zero.
Sugarfish on 7th Street, downtown Los Angeles, applies the late Kazunori Nozawa Trust-Me set menu format to a casual sit-down room since 2012.
OrderThe Trust Me set: tuna sashimi, salmon and yellowtail nigiri, toro hand roll.
TipThe Trust Me Lite is the better-value set for one; rice is warm, vinegar pronounced, fish room temperature.
KazuNori on Main Street in downtown Los Angeles is the original temaki handroll bar, with the five-roll set delivered within 30 seconds of rolling.
OrderThe five-roll set: blue crab, scallop, lobster, yellowtail and toro in sequence.
TipWalk-in only, the line moves once a seat opens; eat each handroll within 30 seconds, the nori loses snap fast.
Sushi Note on Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, pairs traditional edomae sushi with a 90-deep natural-wine list, a Valley counter that books two weeks ahead.
OrderChef-selection omakase with a pour of grower Champagne from the deep wine list.
TipThe 90-bottle natural-wine list is the real reason to choose Sushi Note over its peers; ask the server for guidance.
Sushi Tama on Robertson Boulevard, Beverly Grove, is Chef Hideyuki Yoshimoto's Tsukiji-trained omakase room serving fish flown in from Japan three times.
OrderThe omakase with hirame, kinmedai, uni and toro flown in from Toyosu market three times a week.
TipChef Yoshimoto trained at Tsukiji; the omakase is shorter than the chef-counter rivals but the fish is unmatched.