Monday, August 31, 2026

The Top 77 Places to Eat Near Serrano Spa




  1. Rank 4. Mariscos Jalisco

    Seafood Mexican

    The signature fried shrimp taco has a shell that shatters like tempura, which tells you most of what you need to know about this Jalisco-style mariscos shop in Pomona. The menu is short: tostadas loaded with lime-forward ceviche and that taco, nothing more. Raul Ortega started with a truck in Boyle Heights and the city never really let go. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand. First-timers order one; everyone else orders a plate.



  2. Rank 6. Eat Joy Food

    Taiwanese Chinese

    Tucked into the back of a Rowland Heights strip mall stacked floor-to-ceiling with restaurants, this Taiwanese spot is the kind of place you almost drive past three times before finding. Inside, the warehouse floors and generously spaced tables make it unusually calm for a menu that reads like a small novel, packed with seafood, consommés, and rice dishes. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, and regulars tend to already know what they're ordering before they sit down.


  3. Rank 7. CHAAK Kitchen

    Yucatán Mexican

    Cochinita pibil marinated in citrus and achiote, pulled and served with fresh tortillas, is the kind of dish that makes Yucatán cooking click. This modern Mexican restaurant in Tustin focuses on the smoke- and spice-driven food of the peninsula, and it holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Mezcal cocktails come customized with tamarind and mole bitters, and the charred habanero salsa arrives whether you ordered it or not, which is the right call.


  4. Rank 8. Lola Rose

    Eastern Mediterranean


  5. Rank 9. The Ranch

    Steakhouse

    The popovers arrive with housemade tomato jam before you've even settled in, which tells you a lot about how this Anaheim steakhouse operates. Saddle-and-spur decor sets the mood at this meat-forward room, though produce from the restaurant's own farm keeps things from feeling purely carnivorous. The prime rib and scalloped potatoes are built for sharing, as is everything else, unless you've skipped lunch with conviction.


  6. Pakistani-Indian restaurant on a Fullerton strip that otherwise runs to taquerias and carnicerias, which tells you something about how much confidence it takes to open here. The room is bright and a little hip, with a craft mocktail bar in the back. Beef is quietly central to the menu, though chicken and vegetable dishes hold their own. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and on Eater's list of essential Orange County restaurants.


  7. Rank 11. Le Vallauris

    Californian French


  8. Rank 12. Alice B.

    American Contemporary, Mediterranean Cuisine

    Candlelit stone tables and cushioned banquettes set the mood at this modern California-Mediterranean restaurant inside Palm Springs' Living Out community. Sue Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken run the kitchen, turning out wood-roasted seafood and hand-rolled pastas with the kind of ease that makes it look unfair. The Michelin Guide has it selected, and the Los Angeles Times put it on their 101 best in California list for 2025.


  9. Rank 13. Workshop Kitchen & Bar

    Farm-to-table New American

    The surprise here is that "farm-to-table in the desert" is less a marketing line than a geography lesson: the Coachella Valley is one of the country's most productive agricultural corridors, and this modernist New American restaurant sources accordingly, down to a dedicated garden in Rancho Mirage. The space itself is a polished-concrete interior tucked inside an old Spanish-style building, with a mist-cooled courtyard out back. The bar program runs to house-made ginger beer.




  10. Omakase in a Rowland Heights strip mall, and the price point will make you do a double-take. Sushi Yuen runs a tight, focused counter where most nigiri comes imported from Japan and the kitchen opens with seasonal courses that punch well above the room's modest surroundings. Lunch is walk-ins only and draws a devoted crowd. The Michelin Guide has had its eye on the place, which should settle any doubts the parking lot raises.


  11. Walls hung with Calder and Warhol set the tone at this American restaurant and bar, where the design hovers somewhere between garish and glamorous and reservations disappear weeks out. If you didn't plan ahead, arrive before doors open and angle for a bar seat. A precisely made martini is the move, and the burger has earned its reputation as a signature. The Michelin Guide has it listed, and the crowd dresses accordingly.


  12. Distressed wood and exposed brick give this intimate Santa Ana sushi counter the feel of a tavern that took a sharp left turn into Japan. Chef Gino Choi runs an omakase where the mood is warm and unhurried, and the courses keep pace with his evident enthusiasm for the form. The Michelin Guide has it listed. Tucked into a quiet stretch of downtown, it draws the kind of crowd that drives past the freeway exits everyone else takes.



  13. The refrigerators hum louder than the dining room at this bare-bones dumpling shop tucked into the back of a City of Industry strip mall. Water is available if you ask, and the menu makes more sense once you find the poster on the wall. None of that matters much when handmade dumplings arrive with fillings like lamb with fennel or pork with lotus root, and noodles come glossed in scallion oil.




  14. Samosas fried to a proper crisp, with that classic potato-and-pea filling, are a good early sign at this Punjabi restaurant in La Puente. The kitchen leans into north Indian cooking, which means the heat stays measured and the flavors do the work instead. The room is warm in the way that matters, with staff who pay attention. The tandoori dinner is a reasonable way to commit to the whole thing.


  15. Rank 24. Cheeky's

    American

    The bacon flight, five strips in rotating flavors, is reason enough to brave the wait at this daytime-only brunch spot in Palm Springs. Text-ahead seating lands you on a covered patio full of sunglasses and no particular hurry. The weekly-changing menu leans on local produce and runs from breakfast quesadillas to proper coffee cake, with housemade pastries at the counter for anyone too impatient to sit down.



  16. Handmade flour tortillas and hand-pressed masa are the foundation at this Mexican gastropub in downtown Santa Ana, where a post-pandemic reset trimmed the menu down to tacos, quekas, and churros and made each one count. The Bib Gourmand reflects that focus. Grilled tomato and dried chili salsa ties the tacos together; habanero salsa does the same for the quekas. Happy hour makes running the whole short list an easy call.


  17. A sign-in sheet on the sidewalk is your first clue that this strip-mall dumpling shop in Monrovia runs on its own terms. The menu is short, roughly half of it devoted to the namesake specialty, and the kitchen makes everything fresh each morning rather than pulling from a freezer. The pan-fried options tend to disappear fastest. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, which explains the lines without quite preparing you for them.


  18. The menu at this tiny Arcadia noodle shop is short by design, because the kitchen is doing exactly one thing: Shanxi-style hand-pulled noodles, springy and chewy in a way that dried pasta simply isn't. The pork belly and fermented soy number has regulars arguing over what to call it. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, cash-and-carry energy, and a strip mall address that filters out anyone not paying attention.


  19. Rank 29. Poppy & Seed

    Modern Southern

    Dinner inside a working greenhouse, with outdoor tables ringed by citrus trees and herbs, sets the mood before a plate arrives. Poppy & Seed is a fine dining room in Anaheim's Packing District built around organic, locally sourced Southern cooking, the kind where shrimp and grits shares a menu with steak tartare brightened by pickled sea beans. A James Beard semifinalist, it draws a crowd that dresses up without overdoing it and lingers well past sunset.


  20. Lanterns of every shape crowd the ceiling of this intimate sushi shop tucked into an open-air strip mall in Fullerton, which is either the last thing you'd expect or exactly the kind of setup that delivers. The menu is short, with daily specials filling the gaps, and the nigiri and sashimi are where the kitchen is clearly most at ease. The rolls get their own dedicated section too, if that's your move.


  21. Rank 31. Boozehounds

    Cocktail Bar

    The patio has its own doggy door, and the dogs get their own menu. Boozehounds is a cocktail bar in Palm Springs where the drinks list runs deep and the bar food swings wider than you'd expect, from truffled parmesan fries to tuna tataki to Korean rice cakes. The indoor room is humans only, sleek and air-conditioned, while the enclosed patio handles the four-legged clientele with its own bowls and treats.


  22. Rank 32. Tac/Quila

    Modern Mexican

    Hacienda arches and in-house tortillas set the tone at this modern Mexican restaurant in downtown Palm Springs, where business lunchers and sunburned tourists in cover-ups share the room without anyone noticing the difference. The menu runs from street tacos to lobster, and the quesabirria short rib tacos come with a side of consommé for dipping. The tequila list is long enough that the margarita flights feel almost restrained.


  23. Moroccan-style tilework and wallpaper set the mood at this hotel restaurant inside Colony Palms, where the turquoise pool has been catching afternoon light since Clark Gable was a regular. The menu keeps things loose, running from snacks and hummus to grilled pork chop and chicken pot pie. Dress is poolside-adjacent, the vibe is old Palm Springs glamour, and someone at the next table may have just driven up from L.A. for the weekend.


  24. Rank 34. 4 Saints

    Southern

    On the seventh floor of the Rowan Hotel, this fine dining room has the highest rooftop in downtown Palm Springs, with the San Jacinto Mountains spread out in every direction. The chef riffs on Southern cooking, grilled steaks and seasonal produce with a warm-weather looseness that fits the setting. Date-infused Old Fashioneds arrive while the light goes gold. Prices float as high as the altitude, but so does everything worth watching in Palm Springs.



  25. Rank 36. Haven Craft Kitchen + Bar

    Californian New American





  26. Rank 40. A&J Restaurant

    Dim Sum Chinese





  27. Rank 44. La Copine

    New American





  28. Rank 48. The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar

    Californian New American Wine Bar







  29. Rank 54. Birba

    Modern Italian







  30. Rank 60. Townie Bagels

    NY-Style Bakery





  31. Rank 64. Taco Nazo

    Ensenada-Style Mexican


  32. Rank 65. El Taco Nazo

    Ensenada-Style Mexican





  33. Rank 69. Taco Nazo

    Ensenada-Style Mexican


  34. Rank 70. Taco Nazo

    Ensenada-Style Mexican


  35. Rank 71. Taco Nazo

    Ensenada-Style Mexican



  36. Rank 73. Bandito Taqueria

    Tijuana-style Mexican





  37. Rank 77. Fonda Moderna

    Modern Mexican


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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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      Stay Score

      The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. It runs on the scored places nearby: more good stuff within reach, higher score. If it looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.