Bar Bandini ★ 4.8
Bar Bandini in Echo Park, Los Angeles is a 30-seat natural wine room with a tight list of California and European growers, snacks and a small patio.
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Bestia ★ 4.7
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.
Old Lightning ★ 4.7
Old Lightning in Venice, Los Angeles is a hidden whiskey bar behind Scopa with rare bourbons and pre-Prohibition spirits. Order the vintage bourbon flights.
Tabula Rasa Bar ★ 4.7
Tabula Rasa Bar in East Hollywood, Los Angeles is one of the city's earliest natural wine bars, pouring French and German growers from a back-room counter.
Republique ★ 4.6
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.
Felix Trattoria ★ 4.6
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.
Park's BBQ ★ 4.6
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.
Thunderbolt ★ 4.6
Thunderbolt in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles is a Mathew Biancaniello cocktail room with frozen rotations and one of the city's best martinis.
Vinovore ★ 4.6
Coly Den Haan's Vinovore in Silver Lake, Los Angeles is a retail wine shop and bar focused on wines from women winemakers, with rotating tastings on weekends.
Mother Wolf ★ 4.5
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.
Anajak Thai ★ 4.5
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.
Chi Spacca ★ 4.5
Chi Spacca on Melrose, Los Angeles is Nancy Silverton's Mozza-family Italian steakhouse, plating a bistecca for two and a focaccia di Recco worth a detour.
OrderBistecca alla Fiorentina for two; the focaccia di Recco to start.
TipWalk-in counter seats serve the full menu; Nancy Silverton's bakery shares the building.
Quarters Korean BBQ ★ 4.5
Quarters Korean BBQ in Chapman Plaza, Koreatown, serves marinated and unmarinated cuts in quarter-pound portions, encouraging diners to sample widely.
OrderA platter of marinated short rib, brisket and pork belly, plus a soju cocktail.
TipQuarter-pound portions let two people taste eight cuts; the staff manages the grill so you do not over-char the galbi.
Chosun Galbee ★ 4.5
Chosun Galbee on Olympic Boulevard has grilled charcoal galbi in Koreatown since 1989, in a large patio-and-hall room that seats up to 300 guests.
OrderMarinated kalbi short rib over hardwood charcoal and a portion of dwenjang jjigae.
TipPatio tables are the local order; ask for charcoal not gas, and book at least a week ahead on a weekend.
Soowon Galbi ★ 4.5
Soowon Galbi on Vermont Avenue, Koreatown, grills charcoal short rib galbi as the house specialty in a 2000s-era room beloved by Korean families.
OrderThe charcoal galbi set with banchan and a pot of doenjang jjigae for the table.
TipSoowon uses real charcoal, not gas; arrive before 19:00 on weekends or expect a 60 minute wait.
Bar Flores ★ 4.5
Bar Flores in Echo Park, Los Angeles is Othon Nolasco's mezcal and tequila room serving Latin-leaning cocktails and a small dinner plate menu.
Tiki-Ti ★ 4.5
Tiki-Ti on Sunset, Los Angeles has been a 12-seat tiki bar since 1961, run by three generations of the Buhen family. Cash only, opens at 16:00.
Everson Royce Bar ★ 4.5
Everson Royce Bar in the Arts District, Los Angeles serves a martini-and-smashburger combo that locals book the patio for. Walk-in friendly weeknights.
Petit Trois ★ 4.4
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.
The Roger Room ★ 4.4
The Roger Room on La Cienega, Los Angeles is an unmarked cocktail bar behind a palm-reader sign, pouring craft drinks at a 25-seat room since 2008.
Saffy's ★ 4.3
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.
Frolic Room ★ 4.3
Frolic Room on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles is a 1934 dive bar with a Hirschfeld mural along the back wall and a $7 well drink. Cash only, no food.
Tiki No ★ 4.3
Tiki No in North Hollywood, Los Angeles is a 1933 Group tiki bar with hand-carved booths and a long rum list. The strongest Mai Tai in the valley.
No Vacancy ★ 4.3
No Vacancy in Hollywood, Los Angeles is a 1902 Victorian house turned 1933 Group cocktail bar with a large patio, a piano room and a strict ID at the door.
The Prince ★ 4.3
The Prince in Koreatown, Los Angeles is a 1949 hotel bar with red velvet booths, used as a Mad Men location, now serving Korean fried chicken with soju.
La Cuevita ★ 4.3
La Cuevita in Highland Park, Los Angeles is a mezcal and tequila bar with a deep agave list, a Mexican kitchen and one of the better DJ booths on York.
Lou Wine Shop ★ 4.3
Lou Amdur's Lou Wine Shop in East Hollywood, Los Angeles has anchored the local natural wine community since the 2000s, with panini and a tight glass list.
Gjelina ★ 4.2
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.
Good Times at Davey Wayne's ★ 4.2
Good Times at Davey Wayne's in Hollywood, Los Angeles is a 1970s-themed bar from the 1933 Group; enter through a refrigerator door, large patio out back.
Augustine Wine Bar ★ 4.2
Augustine Wine Bar in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles holds one of the deepest Burgundy lists in California and offers verticals by the glass. Open since 2014.
Majordomo ★ 4.1
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.
Bar Covell ★ 4.1
Bar Covell in Los Feliz, Los Angeles pours an old-world list and a deep sherry programme until 02:00. The neighbourhood's reliable late wine seat.
Musso and Frank Grill ★ 4.0
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.
Sugarfish ★ 4.0
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.
Cha Cha Lounge ★ 4.0
Cha Cha Lounge in Silver Lake, Los Angeles is a kitsch-y dive bar with a back patio, a photo booth and a $5 well. Open since the late 1990s.
Psychic Wines ★ 4.0
Psychic Wines in Silver Lake, Los Angeles pours California and Australian natural wines from a small bar on Bellevue Avenue near the Echo Park line.
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