In the Where to Eat: 25 Best series, we’re highlighting our favorite restaurants in cities across the United States. These lists will be updated as restaurants close and open, and as we find new gems to recommend. As always, we pay for all of our meals and don’t accept free items.
Anajak Thai
Sherman Oaks | Thai
This family-run Thai restaurant in Sherman Oaks has a superpower: shape-shifting. Tuesdays are for Thai-inspired tacos and tostadas, which make sense the second you taste them, or for cheffy, one-off collaborations, while the last weekend of each month means it’s time for Justin Pichetrungsi’s freestyle tasting menu. But what some might consider the ordinary days in between are a joy, too, with dishes like the mouthwatering fish custard haw mok or Southern Thai fried chicken. That’s when the restaurant plays the part of neighborhood gem and you can see all the loving updates that Mr. Pichetrungsi made after he took over from his parents and bulked up the wine program.
14704 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks; 818-501-4201; anajakthai.com
Antico Nuovo
Koreatown | Italian
Italian country cooking is an endlessly replicated genre in Southern California, but a visit to Chad Colby’s open kitchen and glowing, grown-up dining room is an energizing reminder of how irresistible it can be when handled with focus and skill. Go for the slightly esoteric, perfectly made pastas, like dimpled foglie d’ulivo, perky malloreddus and slippery, thin-skinned plin dell’ alta langa, but don’t let it be at the expense of the olive oil-soaked focaccia, the beans baked with bread over a wood fire or the intensely flavored ice creams.
4653 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles; 323-510-3093; anticonuovo-la.com
Azizam
Silver Lake | Iranian
With all due respect to grilled meat on skewers, Cody Ma and Misha Sesar have been using the hashtag #notjustkebabs since they started Azizam as a pop-up in 2021, determined to expand the idea of Iranian food in Los Angeles. Their casual Silver Lake cafe is devoted to the kind of deeply delicious, often labor-intensive cooking that doesn’t like to show off about how much prep (a lot) goes into it. The kitchen bakes nigella seed-freckled barbari each day for its sandwiches, which might be filled with sliced beef tongue or herb-packed kuku sabzi. Stay for a bigger meal, and the rewards are bigger, too: The kofteh Tabrizi is a single, family-size, fruit-studded meatball in tangy broth. The ash-e-jo — an unassuming jewel based on Mr. Ma’s mother’s recipe — is a luxuriously slippery rendition of the stew, stacked with barley, lentils, kidney beans and chickpeas, and crowned with caramelized onions and fried mint. It tastes like being home, no matter where you’re from. TEJAL RAO
2943 Sunset Boulevard; 323-928-2286; azizamla.com
Baroo
Arts District | Korean
The chef Kwang Uh built his reputation at this highly experimental and weirdly affordable gem of a lunch spot, where tubs of fruits and vegetables labeled with blue tape were always fermenting away on the open shelving. The new Baroo, run with his partner and wife, Mina Park, might share a name with its predecessor, but it leaps forward in a beautifully designed dining room with an elegant tasting menu that moves quickly and lightly. Look on the underside of the menu for the names of everyone who labored over the meal: Now it’s not just a couple of cooks on a shoestring budget doing the most with the least, but a whole team at work behind the scenes, paying attention to every detail.
905 E 2nd St #109, Los Angeles; 213-221-7967; baroolosangeles.com
Birdie G’s
Santa Monica | Jewish, New American
The steaks at Birdie G’s may be impeccable, but some of the restaurant’s most exciting maneuvers are often vegetarian, or almost vegetarian, or entirely vegan. (The chef, Jeremy Fox, did write a cookbook called “On Vegetables,” after all.) The kitchen seems to delight in sneaking cheeky, technical marvels and from-scratch fermentations, pickles and preserves into the most casual of dishes, without drawing too much attention to them. And the kids’ menu, with its matzo margherita pizza and fresh pasta with butter, is one of the most charming in the city, if you’re keeping up with that sort of thing.
2421 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica; 310-310-3616; birdiegsla.com
Borit Gogae
Koreatown | Korean
A “set meal” at Borit Gogae is, in fact, a magnificent Korean feast that emphasizes the real luxury of going out: variety. Barley rice is at the center of the meal, which comes with a basket of dozens of banchan. The table crowds with dishes: fried kelp, acorn jelly salad, mung bean pancakes, snails in vinegar. And when you think that surely must be it, the pumpkin porridge and perilla seed chicken soup arrive. The food tends to be gently seasoned; don’t miss the gochujang or bottle of sesame oil that live on the table for you to adjust things to your taste.
3464 West Eighth Street, Los Angeles; 213-388-8818; instagram.com/boritgogae
Camélia
Downtown | Japanese, French
A delicately crunchy slice of ham katsu, enrobed in Mornay sauce, rests on a slice of sweet, buttery housemade shokupan, almost entirely hidden by a softly fried egg. Even the basic croque-madame here is a thoughtfully composed thrill. Charles Namba and Courtney Kaplan, known for their sake-focused Japanese restaurants, have opened a chic, freewheeling bistro that almost feels as if it were imported from the 11th Arrondissement, but has a distinctly Los Angeles flavor. It’s an ideal spot to meet for an aperitif and an aioli garni, but even better to make a long and winding dinner out of its hits. Take the tomatoes and burrata (yawn!) scattered here with fried shiso leaves and a habit-forming ponzu jelly, so soft and delicate that it becomes the dressing. This is the magic of a good bistro: a place where you can come across the familiar, and even predictable, and fall in love with it again. TEJAL RAO
1850 Industrial Street, Los Angeles; 213- 800-9750; cameliadtla.com
Dunsmoor
Glassell Park | Southern
Plush, but not fussy. Cozy, but not cramped. Dunsmoor is beautifully lit by glowing lamps and the warmth of the hearths where Brian Dunsmoor and his team cook oysters, pork chops and trout over fire. They also bake cornbread in cast iron so the edges get dark and crisp before letting a luxurious amount of butter melt into the top. The menu is concise, but dishes lean toward exuberance, and even the flavors of a soupy bowl of Carolina gold rice with Gulf shrimp are turned all the way up. If you didn’t book a table, Dunsmoor has a jewel box of a bar next door that’s only for walk-ins, and you can make a night out of this menu too, which includes an excellent burger and fries cooked in duck fat.
3501 Eagle Rock Boulevard, Los Angeles; no phone; dunsmoor.la
Found Oyster
East Hollywood | Seafood, Raw bar
There aren’t many places I’d rather be in the late afternoon when it’s time for a drink and a bite than Found Oyster’s narrow bar, or its cluster of sidewalk seating. The no-reservations policy is only a tiny nuisance — you can wait around with a glass of wine until you’re sitting down happily with some head-on prawns, a crab cocktail and a dozen just-shucked oysters. Considering that seafood is the point here, the bar steak and fries are far better than they ought to be, as is the weekend schnitzel hidden under a big salad draped with white anchovies. And while the restaurant doesn’t make dessert, it’s hard to complain when they sell slices from Nicole Rucker’s pie shop Fat + Flour.
4880 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles; 323-486-7920; foundoyster.com
Holbox
Historic South Central | Seafood, Mexican
Bay scallops and chocolate clams from Baja. Line-caught tuna from around the Channel Islands. Spot prawns from Santa Barbara. Gilberto Cetina runs a mariscos stand inside Mercado La Paloma that seems fairly unbuttoned, but don’t be fooled: He’s serving some of the highest quality and most beautifully prepared seafood in Los Angeles. Order these not just in sunny ceviches, cocteles and tostadas, but also grilled, fried, roasted and stewed with stacks of hot tortillas on the side — Fátimah Juárez nixtamalizes and mills the corn next door at Komal (also on this list). Once you understand the draw of Mr. Cetina’s counter, you’ll want to reserve a seat for the eight-course tasting menu he serves two nights a week.
3655 South Grand Avenue No. C9, Los Angeles; 213-986-9972; holboxla.com
Holy Basil Market
Atwater Village | Thai
Wedchayan Arpapornnopparat and Tongkamal Yuon first got my attention during the pandemic with their sai oua, each link of the Northern Thai-style sausage holding more deep and vivid flavor than seemed possible, packed for easy pickup and cooking at home. Their second outpost in Atwater Village is small and casual, but the cooking is more lively, expansive and playful than ever, with mind-bendingly delicious results. See: satay mushrooms from Long Beach, grilled over charcoal; platters of Dungeness crab curry with sticky rice; and lip-tingling beef nam tok. You can still get some of the food to go, but don’t be distracted by the convenience of takeout — eating those chewy rice noodles right out of the wok is reason enough to sit down here.
3170 Glendale Boulevard, Unit C, Los Angeles; no phone; holybasildtla.com
Kato
Arts District | Taiwanese American
You don’t have to know Jon Yao’s story to enjoy his restaurant. You could be oblivious to his journey from a scrappy, ambitious Taiwanese-leaning restaurant in a strip mall to this chic, decidedly luxurious space downtown, complete with all the bells and whistles required of a serious, big-budget fine-dining restaurant. You could simply go, sit down for the $275 tasting menu, and let it work its magic — revealing to you, moment by carefully choreographed moment, exactly what this format is capable of and why submitting yourself to it can be such a worthwhile pleasure.
777 South Alameda Street, Building 1, Suite 114, Los Angeles; 213-797-5770; katorestaurant.com
Komal
Historic South Central | Mexican
Fátima Juárez started out making the tortillas at Holbox, an exquisite seafood restaurant inside Mercado La Paloma that’s also on this list. She now runs her own molino just across the mercado’s shared dining area, where she nixtamalizes heirloom corns from Mexico to make blue, red and yellow masa each day for her small, but thrilling menu of tacos, tlacoyos, chucitos and more. Even the dishes that aren’t built with masa are exceptional, like the delicate, barely sweet molotes of mashed plantain, fried until crisp and giving way to a tender center of melting, freshly made quesillo, all of it bobbing in a smooth, thin and highly drinkable mole negro.
3655 South Grand Avenue, No. C9, Los Angeles; 213-275-1062
Lasita
Chinatown | Filipino
Lasita bills itself as a Filipino rotisserie and natural-wine bar, but in addition to the beautiful chicken Inasal, marinated in vinegar and calamansi juice, served crisp and practically hairy with the fibers of so many crushed aromatics and spices, there’s a whole menu to fall for here. Swirls of fatty lechon, whole fish, lumpia, pancit and all sorts of stylish and surprising specials that come and go quickly.
727 North Broadway No. 120, Los Angeles; 213-443-6163; lasita-la.com
Macheen
Boyle Heights | Tacos
One of the many joys of living in Los Angeles is that a quick breakfast around the corner might involve tacos — specifically soft, hot, housemade corn tortillas piled with daikon pickles and thinly sliced, grilled rib-eye, dripping with lime juice or sweet, smoky beets al pastor. Macheen, an energetic taco pop-up with a residency inside Milpa Grille in Boyle Heights and regular appearances at Smorgasburg and Distrito Catorce, continues to expand on the form with equal parts finesse and playfulness (and isn’t above adding an egg to a taco, if that’s what your heart desires).
2633 East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, Los Angeles; 323-269-2995; instagram.com/_macheen
Moo’s Craft Barbecue
Lincoln Heights | Barbecue
Andrew and Michelle Muñoz started out hosting pop-ups out of their home in Los Angeles, inspired by the style and flavor of Central Texas barbecue, getting better and better with each time. Wobbly, still-steamy slices of brisket, housemade sausages and ribs (with excellent sides and soft slices of potato bread) are still the touchstones of the menu at their busy brick-and-mortar restaurant. But it’s also fun to enjoy Moo’s smoked meats in the form of single-subject sandwiches, whether the juicy, smoky pulled pork, the chopped brisket or the excellent smoked burgers — specials that developed such an intensely loyal fan base, they became a permanent fixture.
2118 North Broadway, Los Angeles; 323-686-4133; mooscraftbarbecue.com
Morihiro
Atwater Village | Sushi, Japanese
The first bite at Morihiro tends to be a creamy, bite-size piece of homemade tofu, an awfully quiet start at a luxurious sushi restaurant, but one that’s startlingly rich and unexpectedly satisfying. Pay attention and you might notice the rice mill in the dining room — it’s where Morihiro Onodera, a chef and potter who made many of the ceramics in the restaurant’s collection, and a star in the Los Angeles sushi scene, spends each morning polishing the rice he imports from Japan. If you’re lucky enough to sit at the counter, you’ll be able to measure the evening in clusters of that warm rice as they move through his hands, one by one, tinting with vinegar before they’re finished with transcendent shivers of fish.
3133 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles; 323-522-3993; morionodera.com
Pasjoli
Santa Monica | French
Let’s say you don’t have a soft spot for the gorgeous, grisly, Escoffier-era grandeur of canard à la presse, a specialty of Rouen in which the duck’s carcass is crushed in a wheezing, torturous contraption — bones crunching, blood rushing — to build a rich sauce. Yeah, that’s all right. You can still have a good time at Pasjoli. In fact, Dave Beran’s bistro is much more of a true steak-frites joint now than it used to be: Get the fries layered with duck gravy and Gruyère, an exceedingly cheesy French onion soup, or the bistro burger so thick, it’s almost a challenge to eat.
2732 Main Street, Santa Monica; 424-330-0020; pasjoli.com
Perilla L.A.
Victor Heights | Korean
The little banchan shop spills into a courtyard where you can feast on warm seasoned rice, sweet pepper muchim, marinated okra, perfect spirals of rolled omelets and more of whatever Jihee Kim has cooked in her tiny open kitchen that day. Ms. Kim, who started Perilla as a pop-up during the pandemic’s first wave of restaurant shutdowns, is guided by Korean cooking and fermentation techniques as much as by what excites her at the farmers’ market. The results are as unpredictable as they are delicious.
1027 Alpine Street, Building E, Los Angeles; no phone; perillala.com
Pine & Crane DTLA
Downtown Los Angeles | Taiwanese
Bowls of savory soy milk, doused with vinegar and chile oil, and pork-floss-filled fan tuan made with purple sticky rice are a small, essential part of breakfast at Vivian Ku’s Taiwanese restaurant. The downtown location is informal, but the menu is more expansive and ambitious than her first Pine & Crane, with breakfast now a permanent fixture, lots more dishes through lunch and dinner, a bigger tea program and a list of Taiwanese whiskeys that you can try neat or in chilled, fizzy highballs.
1120 South Grand Avenue, Unit 101, Los Angeles; 213-536-5292; pineandcrane.com/dtla
Poncho’s Tlayudas
Historic South Central | Oaxacan
The grill in the garden outside the offices of the Comunidades Indígenas en Liderazgo (CIELO) has long been an oasis for those seeking thin, toasted tlayudas filled with gently steamed cabbage and golden dregs of lard, but it has recently transformed into something else, too. As word has spread, Poncho’s has become a destination for blood-sausage connoisseurs of all kinds who travel from every neighborhood in Los Angeles for a taste of Alfonso Martinez’s mastery of the form: dark, sweet, delicate loops, barely marked by the grill, flecked with onion, yerba buena and dried chiles.
4318 South Main Street, Los Angeles; 213-359-0264; ponchostlayudas.com
Quarter Sheets
Echo Park | Pizza
Aaron Lindell and Hannah Ziskin’s Echo Park pizzeria confidently shifts from thick, airy, crisp-edged Sicilian corners inspired by, say, California Pizza Kitchen’s barbecue chicken pizza one day, to cracker-thin bar pies jeweled with wrinkly, charred Jimmy Nardello peppers the next. Though Ms. Ziskin’s daily dessert specials and seasonal sheet cakes would be reason enough to join the loyal crowd that gathers outside as soon as the restaurant opens. Slices — both savory and sweet — are always worth the wait.
1305 Portia Street, Los Angeles; 424-543-4970; instagram.com/quartersheets
République
Mid City | French
Walter and Margarita Manzke run several good restaurants here, but République is inseparable from the city and its rhythms — the efficient breakfast meetings, the working lunches, the birthdays and anniversaries and date nights. An important note: The breads and pastries aren’t just for looking at on the way in, and the baguette is excellent, even at dinnertime, when you can and should order it with both butter and pan drippings to start your meal.
624 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles; 310-362-6115; republiquela.com
Roasted Duck by Pa Ord
Thai Town | Thai
There’s nothing fancy about this tiny, occasionally chaotic strip mall restaurant, but Pa Ord easily outcooks fancier kitchens when it comes to its specialty. The birds are slowly roasted whole, deeply browned, sliced so that every piece of juicy, seasoned meat holds a crackle of glistening skin and a fine, soft layer of fat. There’s no wrong way to order it — with rice, skinny jade noodles or in the glorious kind of salad where the meat is the salad. Keep in mind that no part of the bird goes to waste, which means that after carving the roasted bones are simmered to make a dark, rich broth for a particularly life-affirming duck noodle soup. And if you didn’t save room for it, it’s one more reason to come back.
5136 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles; 323-599-6511; instagram.com/roastduck_bypaord
Yang’s Kitchen
Alhambra | Asian, New American
Order a single, gigantic pancake and you’ll start to understand the magic of Chris Yang’s endearing all-day cafe in Alhambra, where even a pancake comes together with immense deliberation and care (and locally ground cornmeal and mochi rice and ripe, juicy fruit from the farmers’ market). But Yang’s really gets going at dinner, when you can build a feast of a meal and sip sake and wines from a short, unfussy list that somehow doesn’t look like every other restaurant’s short, unfussy list.
112 West Main Street, Alhambra, Calif.; 626-281-1035; yangskitchenla.com
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Tejal Rao is a chief restaurant critic for The Times.
The post The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now appeared first on New York Times.
