The 18 best Los Angeles restaurants you need to try
Despite everything that has happened throughout the pandemic, the best Los Angeles restaurants continue to be home to one of the nation’s most inventive, interesting, and diverse food scenes. In a city whose reputation is founded as much on off-the-beaten-path tacos and pop-ups as it is on fine dining-trained chefs making rapid work of farmers’ market produce and mainline access to the top-notch Pacific seafood, you can find delicious food no matter the form.
At its heart, Los Angeles’ restaurant culture thrives on diversity, giving rise to genre-defying formats and cuisines that have given rise to some of the top omakase restaurants, fine dining establishments, and hidden treasures in strip malls in the nation. Our specialists search the city for delicious food and useful insider knowledge. Fun, flavor, freshness, and value at every price point are things we appreciate. We routinely update our list to reflect changes to menu selections, service methods, new venues, and the ever-shifting state of the city’s culinary scene. In our opinion, if it’s on the list, it must be fantastic and worth the wait, the money, and the anticipation. We bet you will agree.
September 2022:
We just reranked our Best Restaurant picks after many visits and careful consideration, including a few familiar but new names: Damian, Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen, Sushi Gen, Luv2Eat Thai Bistro, Maude, and Nozawa Bar. We’ve added prices to our tasting menu listings in order to increase transparency in the face of rising inflation and enable you to make the best possible eating choices (and your pocketbook).
To better reflect the overall influence of these chefs on the current dining scene, we’ve also highlighted the sister establishments of République (Bicyclette and Manzke), the relatively new Mother Wolf (instead of Felix, our previous choice), Pizzeria Mozza (Osteria Mozza and Chi Spacca), and Bestia/Bavel (Saffy’s on Fountain) in their listings.
Even though indoor vaccination and mask requirements were eliminated by both L.A. County and the City of L.A., we preserved our list of outside dining establishments and takeout-friendly callouts.
L.A.’s 34 best restaurants, ranked
1. Bestia
Outdoor dining is available.
What is it? A sophisticated, multi-regional journey through Italy via the eyes of one of Los Angeles’ top chefs. Bestia still needs reservations ten years after its glitzy inauguration in 2012, and for good reason—it’s always in style and always packed with trendy and fashionable patrons.
Why we love it: Even after numerous orders, chef and co-owner Ori Menashe’s menu highlights never fail to impress. For instance, the spaghetti rustichella is astonishingly straightforward yet shockingly delicious. It consists of a little pyramid of noodles topped with Dungeness crab, lemon, Calabrian pepper, Thai basil, and onion seed.
2. République
Currently closed for repairs, République is scheduled to reopen at the end of September. There are outdoor eating and takeout options.
What is it? Where old meets new in the history of Los Angeles dining. It is nearly hard to leave unsatisfied at this all-day café and more upmarket dinner venue. Where the excitement of delighted diners is palpable from morning till night.
Why we love it: The fresh pastries in the case from Margarita Manzke are some of the best in Los Angeles, and Walter Manzke’s international French cuisine
3. Hayato
What is it? A two-Michelin-star, beautiful kaiseki supper that costs $310 per person feels more like a meditative experience than a meal.
Why we love it: The setting is intimate, and the ceramics are handcrafted and imported from Japan. The staff is kind and diligent. And chef and restaurant owner Brandon Go has years of training in Japan under his belt, which contributes to his precision and expertise. There is something almost criminally modest about this dish. Because of Hayato’s delicate flavors, Angelenos can overlook some of the city’s most exquisite dining. We really hope not. They wouldn’t be able to enjoy steamed abalone with a decadent liver sauce;
4. Orsa & Winston
What is it? The Japanese-Italian restaurant with a Michelin star headed by Chef Josef Centeno is known for its tasting menu ($125). But it’s also well-known for its casual à la carte katsu sandwiches and grain bowls in the Before Times (which we hope will return someday).
Why we love it: In one of Centeno’s hyper-creative, genre-defying dishes. You might find scallops and uni in a rice porridge decorated with flowers or some abalone topped with tempura-like fried shiso leaves. These meals make every meal pleasurable. Because they are infused with L.A. love, a global perspective, and a keen sense of balance. Even with the mandated service fee and tip, it’s still one of the less attractive options.
5. Damian
Available for dining outside.
What is it? Enrique Olvera, a well-known chef best known for his work at Cosme in New York City and Pujol in Mexico City, has a fine-dining Mexican restaurant in the Arts District. Detroit is a more laid-back daytime taqueria.
Why we love it: Damian’s menu prices may put the restaurant firmly in the fine dining category. But the painstakingly sourced, well-prepared seafood, meat, and vegetable dishes. The house-made drinks, including non-alcoholic versions, have elevated it to one of the city’s top Mexican eateries. It is modest but fashionable.
6. n/naka
What is it? Niki Nakayama is the chef-owner of a two-Michelin-star kaiseki restaurant in Palms and a student of the great Morihiro Onodera. Who also appeared in the Netflix documentary Chef’s Table, is a protégé of Onodera (2011).
Why we love it: Nakayama honed her skills in the traditional Japanese cooking method known as kaiseki. Which specifies a particular development of textures, temperatures, tastes, and seasonal ingredients. When every dish is this wonderful, we can live without the a la carte choice. A 13-course tasting menu with a vegetarian option is regularly available at n/naka for $310 along with wine and sake pairings.