The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near Tamales Elena
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Rank 1. Tamales Elena
Guerrerense Mexican
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Quesataco rojo · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Judept Irra
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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 3. Nueva Segovia
Nicaraguan
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Rank 4. Los Sabrosos Al Horno
Mexican
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #77 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Suckling pig taco · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 5. Rays Barbeque
Texas-Style Barbecue
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Rank 6. 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 7. BALAM
Mexican/Global
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Rank 8. 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 9. 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 10. Tacos La Guera
Jalisco-Style
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Rank 11. Poncho’s Tlayudas
Oaxacan Mexican
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Alfonso “Poncho” Martinez
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
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Rank 12. 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 13. Mariscos Chiltepin
Mexican
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Rank 15. 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 16. Birrieria Barajas
Jalisco-Style
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Rank 17. Maru Coffee
Korean-Inspired
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Rank 18. Rocio's Mexican Kitchen
Mexican
Chef Rocio Camacho operates from a spare dining room in Bell Gardens, letting her moles—dark Oaxacan, spicy-sweet manchamanteles, bright verde—do the talking. These are layered, intricate sauces paired with your choice of protein, from chicken to a substantial chile relleno, arriving in portions that edge toward reckless. The signature dish alone justifies the trip.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Rocio Camacho
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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Rank 19. Taqueria Culiacancito
Mexican
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Rank 20. Coni'Seafood
Nayarit-style Mexican
The back patio at this family-run institution feels like the real dining room—a proper place to eat shrimp prepared three ways: breaded in tacos, head-on in chile and beer sauce, swimming in ceviche bright with lime. Since 1987, the kitchen has held steady to Nayarit traditions, sourcing from Sinaloa's waters, and a whole fried fish with chips remains as reliable as the morning tide.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Tacos de marlin · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 21. Tacos 'Los Guichos'
Mexico City-Style
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Rank 22. Torimatsu
Japanese
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Rank 23. 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 24. Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen
Soul Food
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Rank 25. 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 26. Olive & Rose
French/Californian
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Rank 27. Camelia
French Japanese
- Bon Appétit 2025 · America's Best New Restaurants
- Esquire 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The New York Times 2024 · The Restaurant List
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Rank 28. 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 30. Sora Craft Kitchen
Seasonal Turkish
- Esquire 2025 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #39 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 31. 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 32. 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
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · Fifty Under $50
- Time Out #37 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 33. Wagyu Butcher
Japanese
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Rank 34. Tire Shop Taqueria
Tijuana-Style
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Rank 35. Tev's Kitchen
Caribbean
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Rank 36. Otafuku Restaurant
Japanese
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Rank 37. Dulan's Soul Food Kitchen
Soul Food Southern
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Greg Dulan
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Greg Dulan
- Time Out #25 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 38. The Paella Concept
Spanish
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Rank 39. 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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Rank 40. Dulan's On Crenshaw
Southern
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · Fifty Under $50
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #56 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 42. 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 43. 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 44. Two Hommés
West African/Californian
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #29 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 45. Fuegos La
Argentinian
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Rank 46. Carnitas los Gabrieles
Michoacan-Style Mexican
- LAist 2025 · Carnitas · Best Bites
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Costilla taco · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 48. 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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- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Fish flauta · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 50. Mariscos 4 Vientos
Meixcan
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Rank 51. Orsa & Winston
Contemporary
Chef Josef Centeno orchestrates Japanese and Italian influences through an open kitchen, where crudos meet uni-crowned rice porridge with unforced invention. Peak-season ingredients bend between Mediterranean and Japanese sensibilities, rarely settling into tradition.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #25 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Time Out #12 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 52. kodō
Kyoto Japanese
Inside a converted firehouse on Santa Fe, kodō trades heat for restraint—a serene dining room anchored by a boulder-desk and raw materials. The kitchen moves between robata and sushi with California ease, the nigiri precise enough to quiet even the Instagram crowd; little neck clams in garlic butter and off-menu sea snail are the real pleasures here. A place built for calm rather than spectacle.
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Rank 54. Sushi Kaneyoshi
Sushi
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
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Rank 55. Birria El Jaliciense
Jalisco-Style
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Rank 56. YESS Restaurant
Progressive Japanese
- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
- Esquire 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 57. 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 58. 715
Japanese
At an eight-seat counter bathed in ambient music, chef Seigo Tamura works in concentrated silence, aging larger fish in-house and building each nigiri with Osaka-style firm rice and a whisper of sugar. The seafood arrives from Japan—monkfish liver arrives excellent, beltfish gets a char and sansho pepper—while the sake list rewards lingering over a carafe.
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Rank 59. Mariscos 4 Vientos
Meixcan
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Rank 60. Manuela
Southern
In a stark gallery-like room within the Hauser & Wirth complex, the open kitchen channels Southern restraint through locally sourced ingredients and house-made cocktail components. Biscuits arrive warm and laminated; a roasted duck breast arrives bronzed and spare, balanced on smoked onion purée with peaches—the work of a kitchen that knows when to stop.
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Rank 61. Los Originales Tacos Arabes de Puebla
Puebla-Style
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Rank 62. Tacos Don Cuco Estilo Tijuana
Tijuana-Style
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Rank 64. Carnitas Los Chingones
Mexican
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Rank 65. DAMA
Latin American
A Havana-style dining room with spinning wicker fans and a glam bar frames Latin dishes like kanpachi aguachile and lamb chops with olive salsa verde. The tropical cocktails and front patio greenery complete the breezy downtown escape.
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Rank 67. Rossoblu
Emilia-Romagna Italian
Steve Samson's restaurant channels the cooking of Emilia-Romagna with unadorned clarity—redeye tuna tartare arrives with avocado purée and lavash, housemade tagliatelle swims in pork-and-beef ragù, tiramisu arrives topped with candied cocoa nibs. The pleasure here is in quality ingredients and restraint, not innovation.
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Rank 68. The Factory Kitchen
Northern Italian
A soaring industrial space with garage doors and cement columns houses Angelo Auriana's devoted take on Northern Italian cooking. Hand-rolled seafood ravioli and crisp focaccia filled with creamy cheese justify the Bib Gourmand nod.
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Rank 70. Pane Bianco
NY-Style
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Rank 71. Holy Basil
Thai
- Food & Wine 2024 · Best New Chefs · Wedchayan "Deau" Arpapornnopparat
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
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Rank 72. Tacos Tamix
Mexico City-Style
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Rank 73. Perch
French
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Rank 74. The Serving Spoon
Soul Food
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Rank 75. Asadero Chikali
Mexicali-Style
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Rank 76. Sushi Gen
Sushi
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Time Out #32 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 77. Redbird
Contemporary
A converted church in Downtown with soaring ceilings and two circular bars draws a boisterous crowd trading small plates and cocktails under the open roof. The global menu balances playful invention—Meyer lemon tart with blueberry frozen yogurt—against grounded dishes like John Dory in leek fondue, each confident in its own register.
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service · Tobin Shea
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 78. Providence
Seafood
Michael Cimarusti's tasting menu at Providence draws from pristine wild-caught seafood and classical technique, each course arriving with the fastidiousness of a jeweler arranging stones. A soft-poached egg trembling with uni, a lobster mousse tartare set in crab beurre blanc—the meal never falters in its commitment to clarity and restraint.
- Michelin Guide 3 Stars
- Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
- 50 Best 2025 · Michael Cimarusti · Chefs' Choice Award
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Rank 79. 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 80. San Laurel
Modern Californian Spanish
A tenth-floor dining room with views of Disney Concert Hall serves modern California cuisine inflected with Spanish tradition, including a tomato tartare that subverts expectation. Chef José Andrés's team executes with precision across savory and dessert courses, the latter ethereal and balanced.
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Rank 81. Girl & the Goat
Contemporary
Stephanie Izard's downtown Los Angeles outpost radiates boho ease—linen tones, potted plants, natural light flooding a perpetually animated room where cocktails arrive crowned with marigolds. Her cooking moves freely across continents with confident audacity, from roasted oysters to goat curry to potato crepes that reinterpret Vietnamese technique with whimsy.
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Rank 82. Macheen
Mexican
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #93 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Brisket taco · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 85. Le Draq
Tex-Mex/Italian Fusion
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · Fifty Under $50
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Puffy taco · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #73 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 86. Sonoratown
Sonoran-Style
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · Fifty Under $50
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Caramelo with costilla · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
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Rank 87. Mariscos 4 Vientos
Meixcan
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Rank 88. Somerville
Progressive New American
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Rank 89. Langer's
Deli American
A sprawling deli counter that has been ladling matzoh ball soup since 1947, Langer's commands booths and a national following with its encyclopedic menu of latkes, blintzes, and chopped liver. The No. 19 pastrami sandwich—Swiss cheese, coleslaw, Russian dressing—is the irreducible point.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Time Out #40 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 90. Baby Bistro
French
- The New York Times 2025 · The Restaurant List
- Wine Enthusiast 2025 · Top 50 New Restaurants
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #51 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 91. Fat + Flour
Bakery
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Nicole Rucker
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Nicole Rucker
- LAist 2023 · Cookies · Best Bites
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Rank 92. Parks BBQ
Korean
A room of framed celebrity snapshots and the low hiss of tabletop grills mark one of Los Angeles's steadiest Korean barbecue houses, where servers tend meat with practiced efficiency. Prime beef—from standard cuts to pricier American Wagyu—arrives lightly marinated, balanced by crisp kimchi pancakes and cold noodles that anchor each bite.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Time Out #29 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 93. Yunomi Handroll
Sushi
The counter gleams in moody darkness at David Movsinski's handroll shop, where crispy Brussels sprouts meet sweet soy and shichimi, and rock shrimp tempura arrives tossed in spicy mayo. The Yunomi special—spicy albacore, shrimp tempura, crunchy onions, truffle soy—shows a kitchen uninterested in convention.
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Rank 94. Morihiro
Sushi
Chef Morihiro Onodera's sushi counter in a contemporary space traces LA's omakase lineage back through composed dishes and nigiri, with rice milled on-site and fish sourced from Japan. The meal closes with matcha and sweets served in ceramics he threw himself—a gesture that transforms ingredient precision into something intimate.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #7 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 95. Propaganda Wine Bar
Italian
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Rank 96. Casa Gish Bac Cocina Oaxaqueña
Oaxacan Mexican
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · Fifty Under $50
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #83 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 97. Mariscos Jalisco
Jalisco-Style
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Rank 98. The Belvedere
French
The dining room at The Belvedere maintains the formal grandeur of old Hollywood without apology, all starched linens and architectural restraint. It is the kind of place where the ritual of a long meal feels less like indulgence than inheritance.
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Rank 99. Donna's
American Italian
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · U.S. Bartender of the Year · Linda Douglas
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar – U.S. West
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar – U.S. West
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Rank 100. Maccheroni Republic
Italian
Mirrors and tin ceilings catch the light in this Broadway trattoria across from Grand Central Market, where handmade pastas anchor a menu of straightforward Italian cooking. The bigoli della nonna arrives in a ragout of angus and sausage; polpettine di gamberi and warm olive oil bread offer gentler pleasures. A place that announces no pretense and keeps its promises.