The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Koi Japanese Cuisine
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Rank 1. Koi Japanese Cuisine
Japanese
In a Seal Beach strip mall, experienced chefs command a spare sashimi counter where regulars arrive like family. Orange clams and pristine kampachi give way to delicate nigiri—seabass kissed with yuzu kosho, scallop crowned in uni—while tempura-fried zucchini flowers stuffed with scallops bridge the meal like a palate-cleansing interlude. The place trades trend for craft and rapport.
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Rank 2. Gusto Bread
Mexican
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Bakery
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Bakery
- The New York Times 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now
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Rank 3. Heritage
California New American
Philip and Lauren Pretty's single tasting menu in a Rose Park Craftsman spotlights California cooking anchored by their own farm produce, with seasonal fruit threading through dishes like duck with preserved kumquats. The cooking gets details right without fuss, prices reasonably, and tastes like genuine care.
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
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Rank 5. Sushi Nikkei
Nikkei
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Rank 6. Ammatoli
Modern Middle Eastern
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Hospitality
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Dima Habibeh
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
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Rank 7. The Attic
Refined Southern
A Craftsman bungalow on East Broadway shelters dining rooms appointed with brick fireplaces and floral wallpaper, where Chef Cameron Slaugh's plates marry Southern tradition with restless technique. Fried chicken and gumbo anchor a menu that pivots toward refinement—bubble and squeak, roasted cauliflower with cracked oats—before closing with powdered beignets and strawberry compote.
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Rank 8. Selva
Colombian-Inspired
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Rank 9. Chiang Rai
Northern Thai
Inside a forgettable storefront lies a colorful, quirky dining room where Northern Thai specialties shine. The khao soi arrives as thin egg noodles topped with raw ribeye, then blanketed in hot curry broth that cooks the beef to silken tenderness—a dish that justifies the detour to Tustin.
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Rank 10. Nettuno
Coastal Italian
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Rank 11. Ellie's
Southern Italian
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- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Michael Procaccini and Stefano Procaccini
- LAist 2023 · Totti · Best Bites
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Rank 15. Tacos Lionydas
Mixe-style
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Rank 16. Sonoratown
Sonoran-Style
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Rank 17. El Barrio Cantina
Mexican
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Rank 19. Ramen & Tsukemen TAO
Noodles
A modest storefront in an open-air mall houses bowls of ramen made with uncommon care. The spicy red miso arrives rich and creamy, noodles snappy beneath the surface; the chicken broth runs lighter but no less purposeful. Twenty seats, no pretense, every visit a reason to return.
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Rank 21. PhởHolic
Noodles
At this Westminster pho shop, beef broth simmered with anise achieves an almost meditative sweetness, drawing everyone from grandparents to Gen Z devotees. The kitchen forgoes shortcuts despite gentle prices, sending out massive bowls of uncomplicated, deeply satisfying comfort.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · Fifty Under $50
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Rank 23. Yigah
Authentic Korean
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Inside a nondescript mall corridor, Chef Ben and Ayako Sato run an intimate sushi counter where the menu changes nightly by hand. Kanpachi arrives barely kissed with heat and finished with yuzu; firefly squid yields to tender flesh beneath nori and scallion. What matters here is not the setting but the deliberate care—warm service, precise technique, a kitchen that understands restraint.
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Rank 25. Nardo
Southern Italian
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- The Pinnacle Guide 2026 · 2 Pins
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
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Rank 27. Brodard Vietnamese Cuisine
Traditional Vietnamese
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Eater The 38 Essential Orange County Restaurants
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Rank 28. Knife Pleat
Contemporary French
Nestled above the fashion boutiques of South Coast Plaza, this third-floor dining room glows with the warmth of an open kitchen and a sheltered patio. Chef Tony Esnault's French foundation—steelhead with fennel, barley risotto with chestnut—yields gracefully to global inflection and composed desserts that taste of clarity.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
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Rank 31. Rajdhani Restaurant
Traditional Indian
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Rank 32. Phở 79
Noodles
Phở 79 has been ladling oxtail-enriched broths since the early eighties, earning its reputation as a Southern California standard. The spartan room with its yellow walls fills nightly, a small price for broth that justifies the wait.
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Rank 33. Amor y Tacos
Mexican
Thomas Ortega brings fine-dining precision to his native Cerritos, where handmade tortillas and house-made salsas meet unexpected flourishes—Coca-Cola glaze on pork belly, Doritos scattered across chilaquiles. His tacos range from crisp beer-battered cod to charred al pastor, each one executing a playful fusion of Mexican tradition and American invention.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Short rib taco · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 34. Nep Cafe
Modern Vietnamese
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Viet Nguyen
- Eater The 38 Essential Orange County Restaurants
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Rank 36. Albaraka Restaurant
Palestinian Middle Eastern
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Eater The 38 Essential Orange County Restaurants
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #32 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 37. The Ranch
Steakhouse
An urban steakhouse playing cowboy without irony: beef-forward, but anchored by vegetables from their own farm. The prime rib arrives impossibly tender with cast-iron potatoes and horseradish; popovers come with homemade tomato jam. A place built for sharing and for appetites that match its generous portions.
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Rank 39. LSXO
Vietnamese
Tucked within Huntington Beach's Bluegold, LSXO trades ocean views for a cooler, louder energy—a speakeasy with real conviction. Pork, shrimp and crab dumplings arrive with a peanut-spiked black vinegar that catches fire; the cháo, a silky broth of crab and white fish, justifies the difficulty of getting a table.
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Rank 40. Mar'sel
New American
At the peninsula's edge, Mar'sel commands views of the Pacific from a dining room warmed by fireplace and careful service. Wagyu short ribs arrive with celery prepared four ways; a caramel pot de crème arrives with the confidence of a signature. The meal feels orchestrated, the room feels privileged, and the herb gardens outside feel like prelude to something refined.
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Rank 41. CHAAK Kitchen
Yucatán Mexican
Smoke and spice from the Yucatán arrive in Tustin through careful hands and an understanding of the peninsula's layered culinary traditions. Charred habanero salsa clings to crisp corn empanadas; cochinita pibil, marinated in citrus and achiote, yields to a fork beside fresh tortillas. It's cooking that takes its ingredients and history seriously, without performing either.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Eater The 38 Essential Orange County Restaurants
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Rank 42. Sababa Falafel Shop
Middle Eastern
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Rank 43. Kato
Taiwanese Chinese
Jonathan Yao's tasting menu at Kato announces itself with conviction: fish maw arrives with crab-shell vinegar and caviar; spice-crusted duck nestles into fluffy bao; pig ears blaze with chili oil. The Row DTLA dining room, all polished concrete and open kitchen, becomes an austere stage for cooking that draws boldly from his Taiwanese roots and refuses restraint.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- 50 Best 2025 · #26 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
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Rank 44. Marché Moderne
Modern French
The Marneaus' dining room glows with the confidence of a place that knows exactly what it is: a modern kitchen fluent in French tradition, where coq au vin and lobster flambéed in Courvoisier emerge from an open kitchen with the same precision as the house charcuterie sliced on a vintage Berkel. Seasonal cocktails and generous wine pairings bracket meals that feel both familiar and alive.
- AAA Four Diamonds
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Eater The 38 Essential Orange County Restaurants
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Rank 45. Holbox
Coastal Mexican
Gilbert Cetina works a counter inside Mercado La Paloma with the precision of a jeweler, coaxing impossible brightness from aguachile and ceviche with seafood so fresh it arrives still trembling. His grilled lobster and house-made tortillas, dressed in an arsenal of salsas, suggest that restraint and impeccable sourcing need no fanfare.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- 50 Best 2025 · #42 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Chef · Gilberto Cetina
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Rank 46. Maru Coffee
Korean-Inspired
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Rank 47. Sushi Inaba
Sushi
Chef Yasuhiro Hirano works in near-anonymity behind a counter in a shuttered room, aging exotic fish with the precision of someone still discovering what sushi can be. Soba with uni, baby eel "udon," kombu-cured kasugodai—each course arrives as a small argument for silence. One seating nightly, a handful of seats, the kind of place you hear about in whispers.
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Rank 48. Angel's Tijuana Tacos
Tijuana-Style
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Rank 50. Komal
Mexican
In the Mercado Del Paloma, Chef Fátima Juárez coaxes depth from heirloom corn nixtamalized in-house, each quesadilla and tlacoya a small study in restraint and smoke. The fried plantain in black mole and short-rib tacos demand salsa applied with purpose, not timidity.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Emerging Chef · Fátima Juárez
- Bon Appétit 2025 · America's Best New Restaurants
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 51. Vaca
Rustic Spanish
Amar Santana's rustic tapas bar in Costa Mesa pairs an extensive Spanish wine list with consistently executed small plates in a quirky dining room where the semi-open kitchen holds court. The bikini sandwich—jamón ibérico, Manchego, truffle oil on grilled bread—and golden croquetas de pollo suggest a place more interested in precision than spectacle.
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Rank 52. Fable & Spirit
Californian
Overlooking Newport Harbor, this bistro marries seaside elegance with unfussy cooking, from inventive vegetable dishes to a showstopping 12-hour Kurobuta porchetta. The room crackles with the energy of diners who come for more than the views.
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Rank 53. Hana re
Sushi
A ten-seat counter hidden in a Costa Mesa strip mall becomes a sanctuary of unhurried precision under Chef Atsushi Yokoyama, who moves from delicate composed dishes—chawanmushi crowned with blue shrimp, braised abalone with uni—into nigiri with the inevitability of ritual. What emerges across the evening is a argument for restraint: excellent fish, simply prepared, allowed to speak for itself.
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Rank 54. Omakase by Gino
Sushi
A sushi counter in downtown Santa Ana where distressed wood and Japanese touches frame Chef Gino Choi's assured hand—yuzu cream cradling house-cured ikura, flame-kissed tuna over miso. The udon arrives thick and creamy with uni and black truffle, a dish that tastes like joy.
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Rank 55. Khan Saab Desi Craft Kitchen
Pakistani Indian
Chef Imran Ali Mookhi wields spices with precision, letting beef sirloin kebabs and Khan biryani sing on a menu that respects carnivores and vegetarians alike. The bright, hip dining room and craft mocktail bar make this South Asian outpost a welcome anomaly on a Mexican-dominated stretch.
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Rank 57. Sushi Sonagi
Omakase Sushi
An eight-seat counter open weekends only, where Chef Daniel Son orchestrates a tightly choreographed omakase that moves from delicate ankimo to minimalist nigiri. The dolsot sekogani—female snow crab heated in a stone pot until the rice crisps—arrives as the evening's fulcrum, its richly seasoned meat a brief, perfect argument for limitation and focus.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Time Out #20 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 58. Sushi Ii
Sushi
A spare coastal room overlooks the highway while the chef moves through kaiseki's ceremonial rhythms: tofu crowned with Bafun uni, belt fish paired with dashi-simmered tomato, nigiri of wild flounder and baby sea bream rendered with surgical precision. Seasonal Japanese imports and local catches arrive meticulously composed, each plate a small argument for restraint and timing.
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Rank 59. Kareem's Falafel
Middle Eastern
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- LAist 2024 · Smashburger · Best Bites
- Eater The 38 Essential Orange County Restaurants
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #91 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 62. Vin Folk
Wine Bar
Kevin De Los Santos and Katya Shastova have opened a neighborhood wine bistro in Hermosa Beach where the mussels tart arrives in flaky pastry with fennel cream, and chili crab nestles into warm risotto. The room feels unhurried, the wine list approachable, the cooking deliberately generous—each plate designed for sharing, each flavored with a wandering international hand. Book ahead.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #31 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Eater Best Place to Be a Regular · The 2025 Eater Los Angeles Award Winners
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Rank 63. Camelia
French Japanese
- Bon Appétit 2025 · America's Best New Restaurants
- The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
- Esquire 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 64. Hayato
Japanese
Chef Brandon Hayato Go orchestrates a single nightly seating where pristine seasonal ingredients—abalone, snow crab, corn—meet his curated Japanese pottery with unhurried precision. Reservations are nearly impossible; the sake list rewards those who secure them.
- Michelin Guide 2 Stars
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Best Chef: California · Brandon Hayato Go
- Time Out #2 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 65. Restaurant Ki
Contemporary Korean
Chef Ki Kim's ten-seat Korean tasting menu hides behind an unmarked entrance in downtown Los Angeles, rewarding the hunt with playful dishes like truffle gimbap and charred snap peas with fish roe. Confident cooking threads global ingredients through refined courses, from barbecued squab to mushroom ice cream.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best New Restaurant
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
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- Time Out #13 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #75 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 69. Baroo
Modern Korean
At a sleek concrete counter in downtown Los Angeles, Kwang Uh and Mina Park orchestrate a tasting menu that pivots between Korean tradition and precise technique. A seared Hokkaido scallop swims in watercress sauce studded with seaweed jelly; silky black cod arrives in a wide bowl where buttermilk is poured tableside. The meal reads as composed and assured, uninterested in noise.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best Chef: California · Kwang Uh
- Eater The All-Time Eater 38
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Kwang Uh
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Rank 70. Thunderbolt
Southern-Inspired
- The Pinnacle Guide 2 Pins
- 50 Best 2025 · Sustainable Bar Award
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar
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Rank 71. Damian
Mexican
A converted warehouse in the Arts District with polished concrete and exposed brick, softened by leather seating and trailing plants. The kitchen reads Mexican tradition through a lens of precision—corn tamales, uni tostadas on blue corn, fish tacos that feel both classic and startling. Industrial bones, refined technique, and a terrace that draws crowds.
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Emerging Chef · Jesus "Chuy" Cervantes
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Time Out #7 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 72. Lola Gaspar
Mexican
Downtown Santa Ana gastropub where Chef Luis Perez's streamlined menu—handmade tortillas, masa-based quekas, churros—reflects a deliberate turn toward quality. Grilled tomato and dried chili salsa tops tacos filled with carnitas and shrimp; vegan mushroom quekas come with confit potatoes and guacamole, cheese optional. The editing is ruthless, the execution isn't.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Citrus marinated chicken taco · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 74. Terrace by Mix Mix
French/Italian/Filipino
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Rank 75. Hook & Anchor
Seafood
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Rank 76. Chinchikurin
Hiroshima-Style
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Rank 77. Populaire Modern Bistro
Modern French
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Rank 78. Pizzeria Bianco
Pizza
Chris Bianco's Los Angeles outpost draws lines through ROW DTLA with a spare menu of impeccable pizzas, each one a small argument for precision over novelty. The margherita alone justifies the wait, though the biancoverde and wiseguy suggest he's thought carefully about what pizza should be.
- Foodist Awards 2025 · Food Pioneer · Chris Bianco
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · Fifty Under $50
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Rank 79. A Restaurant
New American
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Rank 80. Fuoco Pizzeria Napoletana
Neapolitan Pizza
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Rank 81. Kaori Sushi
Sushi
Lanterns crowd the intimate dining counter at Kaori Sushi, tucked into a Fullerton strip mall where the chef's nigiri—golden eye snapper, toro with wasabi, saba layered over shiso—proves the setting irrelevant. The focused menu balances sashimi's clarity with cooked experiments like mara udon and crab risotto, each plate executed with restraint that rewards close attention.
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Rank 82. Alta Baja Market
Mexican
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Rank 83. Torimatsu
Japanese
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Rank 85. Mariscos Jalisco - Boyle Heights
Jalisco-Style
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Time Out #15 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Tacos dorados de camarón · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 86. Perro Exquisite Taco
Sonoran-Style
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Rank 87. Haven Craft Kitchen + Bar
Californian New American
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Rank 88. Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen
Regional Mexican
The cooks honor regional Mexican traditions through refined dishes like citrus-kissed achiote pork panuchos, refusing substitutions because they know what they're doing. An open storefront spilling onto Orange's antique-lined street and backlit tequila shelves create an warm, unpretentious setting.
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Rank 89. Wagyu Butcher
Japanese
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Rank 90. Firstborn
Contemporary Chinese
Anthony Wang remixes Chinese-American tradition with disciplined technique—tender tofu dumplings, aged duck with persimmon—in a bright, open kitchen designed for sharing. Desserts like vanilla sponge with red bean sauce suggest a chef thinking beyond the obvious.
- Esquire 2025 · Bartender of the Year · Kenzo Han
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best New Restaurant
- Punch 2025 · Best New Bartenders · Kenzo Han
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Rank 92. Bestia
Italian
A warehouse-sized room with copper bar and suspended booths frames the cooking of Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis, whose kitchen moves easily between grilled prawns with serrano pesto, blistered pizzas touched with Sichuan peppercorn and wildflower honey, and truffle-laden pastas. The place hums with the contentment of both diners and staff, a dining room that feels genuinely loved.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Time Out #37 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · Fifty Under $50
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Rank 94. Sweet Rice
Thai
At a shopping-center counter in Gardena, a Thai breakfast shop serves jok—congee threaded with pork meatballs and fresh ginger—alongside noodles and soups that justify the pilgrimage. The mango sticky rice, when available, tastes like the meal's afterthought becoming its entire point.
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Rank 95. Los Sabrosos Al Horno
Mexican
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Suckling pig taco · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #77 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 96. Tacos La Carreta
Mexican
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Chorreada mixto · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 97. Camphor
French
An open kitchen hums with purposeful energy as Max Boonthanakit sends out French bistro dishes sharpened with unexpected invention—sea bream crudo meets green apple ice, scallop pasta swims in truffle-chive beurre blanc. The steak au poivre arrives classic and assured, its Cognac cream and crisp frites a reminder that reinvention works best when it knows what it's disrupting.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Esquire 2024 · Provence Martini · The Best Martinis in America
- Time Out #18 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 98. Bavel
Middle Eastern
- Time Out #4 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #16 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 99. Bello by Sandro Nardone
Italian
Low light and large canvases frame an open kitchen where Sandro Nardone, drawing on his Italian heritage and mastery of wood-fired cooking, executes contemporary dishes with precision. Pizzas emerge blistered and austere; house-made rigatoni in guanciale and tomato sauce carries just enough pepper to sing. A room designed for lingering, and food that justifies every moment.
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Hidden in a downtown basement, Sushi Kaneyoshi unfolds with the restraint of a Japanese tea room—minimalist, serene, every element considered. Chef Yoshiyuki Inoue attends to particulars: hand-thrown pottery, seared ocean perch with crisp nori, warm oysters in soy, prawns dusted in yolk and umami. Nothing escapes notice, not even the miso soup.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #24 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Time Out #16 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now