The Top 100 Restaurants Near California Donuts
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Rank 1. Biriyani Kabob House
Indian
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Rank 2. Dan Sung Sa
Old-School Korean
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Rank 3. Rasarumah
Malaysian
Chef Johnny Lee's Malaysian kitchen greets you with a battery of sambals and moves into shareable plates of pork jowl satay, charred okra, and beef rendang that arrives in a deep, creamy curry with buttery roti. The prices sit above neighborhood casual, but the portions and technique justify it—this is cooking that respects ingredients and tradition without apology.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Holly Fox and Adam Weisblatt - Last Word Hospitality
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The Infatuation 2025 · #9 · LA’s Best New Restaurants
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Rank 4. Seongbukdong
Korean
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Rank 5. Danbi
Korean
A concrete-floored dining room with hanging plants and dark wood sets the stage for Chef Lareine Ko's streamlined Korean cooking, where mushroom bibimbap and charcoal-grilled wagyu zabuton arrive in shareable portions. Desserts by Chef Isabell Manibusan—banana milk clouds and Korean-inflected Mont Hallas—suggest a kitchen thinking beyond the plate.
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Rank 6. Budonoki
Japanese
- Esquire 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Eater 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Eater Best New Restaurant
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Rank 7. YeoGiYo
Korean
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Rank 8. 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 9. Quarters Korean BBQ
Korean
The dining room fills nightly with people willing to wait for marinated beef and pork cut into quarter-pound portions—a format that invites exploration across the menu. Silky pork skin arrives sizzling with collagen and seasoning; boneless short ribs hit the table in delicate, pink-centered strips. This upscale spot rewards the patient and the hungry.
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Rank 10. Liu's Cafe
Chinese
Liu's Cafe fills quickly with regulars drawn to its counter-service rhythm and glimpses into a compact kitchen where house-made wontons swim in chili oil and braised pork belly arrives steaming over rice. Pastries—from morning arrival to citrus curd tart at close—anchor a menu that asks little of you except to arrive early and steep yourself in tea.
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Rank 11. Borit Gogae
Korean
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #66 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 12. Antico Nuovo
Italian
Backlit booths and a hand-cranked rotisserie grill set the scene at Chad Colby's compact Italian restaurant, where pastas stuffed with rabbit and roasted vegetables dressed in bagna cauda share space with focaccia topped in whipped ricotta and pistachio. The kitchen balances restraint and indulgence, the kind of place that takes its housemade ice creams as seriously as its proteins.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
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Rank 14. Manila Inasal
Filipino
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Rank 15. Mdk Noodles
Korean
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Rank 16. Soowon Galbi
Korean
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- Punch 2025 · Real Charmer Daiquiri · Our Favorite Cocktails
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. West
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
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Rank 18. Bridgetown Roti
American Caribbean
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Emerging Chef · Rashida Holmes
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Rashida Holmes
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
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Rank 19. Lapaba
Italian Contemporary
In a Koreatown dining room lit low and lined with bar seating, McKenna Lelah and Matthew Kim serve Italian pasta reimagined through Korean flavors—bulgogi meatballs in truffle tomato sauce, radiatore with short rib ragu—with an intimacy that rewards lingering. The portions invite group dining, and even tiramisu bows to tradition's subversion, layered with misugaru and makgeolli.
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Rank 20. 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 21. Jeong Yuk Jeom
Korean
The brothers Son run this cavernous Korean barbecue room with the polish of a steakhouse and the generosity of a butcher's shop—which is what the name means. Premium beef arrives on trays for tableside grilling: tomahawk steaks that feed a crowd, dry-aged prime rib, marbled short ribs finished with nothing but salt and soy. The setting is sleek, the service attentive, the banchan abundant.
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Rank 22. K Team BBQ
Korean Barbecue
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Rank 23. Guelaguetza
Oaxacan Mexican
Guelaguetza celebrates Oaxacan mole with the fervor of a convert, its complex negro and rojo varieties layered with spices that defy decoding. The tlayudas and pozole satisfy, but the moles—darkly rich, unapologetically intense—are what compel return visits.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Time Out #39 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 24. Yuk Dae Jang
Korean
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Rank 25. Yong Su San
Traditional Korean
Behind carved wooden doors and hanbok-clad servers lies a Seoul transplant devoted to royal Korean court cuisine, where bibimbap and galbijjim arrive surrounded by abundant banchan. The braised short ribs taste of history and restraint, each plate a study in what happens when tradition refuses to hurry.
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Rank 26. Pollo a la Brasa
Peruvian
The smell of wood smoke announces this Koreatown institution before you reach the door. Peruvian rotisserie chicken, cooked over live fire and finished with a family-secret marinade, arrives with skin that cracks under your fork; the twice-fried fries and spicy green aji sauce are worth the wait alone.
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Rank 27. doto
Californian/Japanese
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Rank 28. Surawon Tofu House
Korean
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Rank 29. Kuya Lord
Filipino
- Bon Appétit 2023 · America's Best New Restaurants
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Best Chef: California · Lord Maynard Llera
- Time Out #19 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 30. Iki Ramen
Japanese
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Rank 31. 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 32. Azizam
Persian
- Bon Appétit 2024 · 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 33. Pijja Palace
Indian/Italian
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- Eater 2022 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Bon Appétit 2023 · America's Best New Restaurants
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Rank 34. Lasung House
Korean Comfort Food
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Rank 35. Corridor 109
Asian Contemporary
An 11-seat counter behind Bar 109 where chef Brian Baik serves pristine Japanese fish with restraint and precision. Santa Barbara lobster tartare and charcoal-grilled sawara stand out in a tasting menu that rewards the reservation hunt.
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Rank 36. Found Oyster
Seafood
A sparse corner bar in East Hollywood where impeccably sourced seafood—sea urchin, razor clams, Maine scallops from the owner's family farm—needs only olive oil and lemon to speak for itself. The kitchen understands restraint, letting lobster rolls and trout dip announce their own excellence. No ocean view, no pretense, just a full house every night.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Holly Fox and Adam Weisblatt - Last Word Hospitality
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
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Rank 37. Etra
Italian
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Rank 38. 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 39. Pine & Crane
Asian
A spare café across from Sunset Triangle serves serious Taiwanese cooking in a brick-and-concrete room that belies its ambitions. The three-cup Jidori chicken in clay pot and vegetarian mapo tofu show equal care.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #76 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 40. 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
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best New Restaurant
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A bright room on Melrose serves pristine, sustainably sourced seafood with the precision of fine dining and the ease of a neighborhood spot. The fried fish sandwich arrives with crackling batter and sweet, tender flesh; a tuna melt balances richness with clarity. Seasonal California produce and confident seasoning throughout suggest a kitchen that respects its ingredients without pretension.
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Rank 42. Gwen
Steakhouse
By day a butcher shop dealing in humanely raised meats; by night, a glittering dining room where crystal chandeliers and a fireplace preside over wood-fired steaks and house-made charcuterie. The kitchen moves with purpose—lobster ravioli with confit leeks, smoked beets with leek ash yogurt—and a seat at the counter puts you in its thrall.
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Rank 43. 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 44. République
Southern European Mediterranean
A sprawling bakery and restaurant with soaring brick ceilings that pulses from dawn pastries through evening service, République channels a bustling European market hall. The Southern European menu pivots on impeccable ingredients—warm beignets, silky risotto, braised beef—executed with unfussy precision.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Winner · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Margarita Manzke
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best Brunch Venue
- Time Out The best bakeries in America
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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. Quarter Sheets
Pan-style Pizza
Echo Park's Quarter Sheets serves thick, baked-to-order pan pizzas with assertive sauce and quality toppings—the pimento grove, spiked with 'nduja and olives, exemplifies their approach. The vinyl-lined room buzzes with the kind of casual confidence that draws lines, but Hannah Ziskin's rotating pastries, anchored by a signature Princess cake, justify the wait as much as the pizza does.
- Food & Wine 2023 · Best New Chefs · Hannah Ziskin
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Hannah Ziskin
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar
- 50 Best 2026 · #68 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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Rank 48. Kismet
Persian Middle Eastern
Kismet's Persian small plates—crispy phyllo pies, mushroom skewers with cashew cream—taste lighter than air, seasonal vegetables and bright spices never heavy. The staff glides through the room with the ease of a neighborhood institution that happens to cook at Michelin level.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Sarah Hymanson and Sara Kramer
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
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Rank 49. 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 51. 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 53. Dha Rae Oak
Korean
At this Koreatown spot, a whole duck roasted in clay—stuffed with chestnuts, sweet potatoes, rice, and herbs—emerges bronzed and crackling, carved tableside and served with spicy sauce and herbaceous broth. Order ahead for the full ceremony, though walk-ins find solace in the signature smoke and meat. It's the kind of dish that rewires your sense of occasion.
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Rank 54. Chosun Galbee
Korean
Servers in traditional dress move through a sleek dining room with the formality of a ceremony, tending to tables where diners grill their own meat over tabletop flames. The galbee—short ribs glazed in house-made soy sauce and finished with charred onions—arrives impossibly tender, a statement of what meticulous sourcing and preparation can achieve. Worth the wait, especially in a crowd.
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Rank 55. 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 56. 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 57. 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 58. Osteria Mozza
Italian
Dark wood and white marble frame a counter where antipasti come together in real time. Nancy Silverton's team treats bread and mozzarella as separate languages within Italian cooking, moving with equal confidence through crispy chicken legs and orecchiette studded with sausage. A rosemary olive oil cake with brittle and olive oil gelato closes the meal with understated elegance.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Wine Enthusiast 2024 · Forward 50 Restaurants
- Time Out #11 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 59. 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 60. Kali
Steakhouse
Kevin Meehan's Kali resurrects the old-school Hollywood steakhouse—red leather, divided dining room, full bar—with enough architectural precision that the nostalgia feels earned rather than forced. The Creekstone Farms beef anchors a menu of classics (tartare, risotto, potatoes fried to order) that trusts tradition while the meringue gelato with cured egg yolk suggests someone's paying attention.
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Rank 61. Saffy's
Middle Eastern
At Saffy's, open flames and the theatrical work of dough command attention—lamb and pork kebabs arrive from long metal skewers, while grilled lobster glazed in green harissa carries the refinement of fine dining. Bread ranges from delicate challah to pillowy laffa; dessert, anchored by avocado-honey soft serve with tableside sherry, refuses to be an afterthought.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- LAist 2024 · Dinner · Best Bites
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #28 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 62. 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 63. Tsubaki
Japanese
At this Echo Park izakaya, exposed brick and a convivial layout set the stage for straightforward Japanese cooking that doesn't announce itself. Kanpachi crudo arrives with ume ponzu; tempura and grilled skewers—chicken oysters, scallops—emerge without pretense. The sake list rewards curiosity, and everything invites sharing among the table.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #37 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 64. Mae Malai Thai House of Noodles
Thai Noodles
A strip mall noodle shop that treats its boat noodles—thick-broth affairs with pork or beef, customizable spice—like the serious business they are. Order multiple bowls to hedge your bets, then steady yourself with their chili holy basil, a stir-fry that announces itself immediately and unapologetically.
- Esquire 2024 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
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Rank 65. Petit Trois
Bistro French
A narrow counter perpetually cramped with diners, where French hip-hop plays against a canon of classical bistro dishes—garlicky escargots, steak frites, an exceptional omelet. The "Big Mec," a double cheeseburger with bordelaise, justifies the squeeze and the wait.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Time Out #24 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #81 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 66. Pizzeria Mozza
Pizza
The bright yellow façade signals Mediterranean ease, but inside Pizzeria Mozza, opened in 2006, the care runs deep. Puffy-crusted pies arrive topped with leeks and lemon zest or mozzarella and Fresno chiles, while the salads show the same precision in sourcing. A seasonally rotating lineup of cakes and gelato rounds out a place that transcends neighborhood pizzeria entirely.
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Rank 67. chi SPACCA
Steakhouse Italian
The wood-fired kitchen at chi SPACCA channels old-school steakhouse swagger through a modern Italian lens, with focaccia di recco and pollo alla diavola that improve with each return. Bold seasoning, live flame, and an Italian wine program of real depth make this intimate room feel both convivial and serious about meat.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Time Out #14 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 68. Meteora
Creative
The dining room unfolds like a fever dream—tangled vines, low light, hypnotic sound—but Chef Jordan Kahn's cooking grounds you in something real: live-fire technique married to sustainable sourcing, zero waste, wild ingredients transformed into dishes of real grace. Charred yam with smoked trout roe and hazelnut, scallops with burnt onion jus and plantain—each plate balances primal and precise.
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Rank 69. 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 70. 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 71. 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 72. Perilla
Korean
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Jihee Kim
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #18 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 75. Jitlada
Southern Thai
A strip mall on Sunset Boulevard holds a Southern Thai institution with decades of loyal devotion. The catfish salad crackles with green papaya and heat; the Taepo curry—chicken, morning glory, coconut—arrives bubbling and aromatic. Jitlada's sprawling menu suggests a place less concerned with refinement than with the sustained, unglamorous work of getting dishes right.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Sarintip “Jazz” Singsanong
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Time Out #8 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 76. Barra Santos
Portuguese
At this tiny Cypress Park counter, a chef works Portuguese family recipes with casual precision: bacalhau fritters arrive crispy-edged and tender, charred cabbage settles into white beans with Iberico pork and garlic butter, whole branzino swims in a verdant sauce of pumpkin seed and serrano. No reservations, but the bar seats offer an unobstructed view of the organized chaos that produces it.
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Holly Fox and Adam Weisblatt - Last Word Hospitality
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Melissa López
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Rank 77. Moo's Craft Barbecue
Barbecue
In a handsome Lincoln Heights room outfitted with craft beers, Andrew and Michelle Muñoz smoke briskets to a mahogany crust and stuff sausages with cheddar and jalapeños in the style of Austin pitmasters. The sides—creamed mac and cheese, banana pudding—fill out the plate with the same care applied to the meat. Come early; the best items disappear.
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Andrew and Michelle Muñoz
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Andrew Muñoz and Michelle Muñoz
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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Rank 78. 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 79. 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 80. 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 81. Pasta Sisters
Italian
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Rank 82. Little Fish
Seafood
Anna Sonenshein and Niki Vahle run a seafood counter in Echo Park where breakfast tartines and lunch sandwiches arrive without pretense. The beer-battered striped bass—American cheese, kewpie mayo, dill on potato bread—tastes like the kind of meal that justifies its own simplicity.
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Rank 83. 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 84. 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 85. Soban Los Angeles
Korean
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Rank 86. 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 87. 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 88. Dollar Hits
Filipino Street Food
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Rank 89. 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 90. Luv2eat Thai Bistro
Southern Thai
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outsdanding Hospitality
- Time Out #30 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
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Rank 91. Lucia
Caribbean
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Rank 92. Alta Adams
Southern
A string-lit patio draped in vines sets the stage for soulful cooking that rewards group dining—golden fried chicken arrives juicy and spiced, alongside sweet potatoes and herb-touched black-eyed pea fritters. The buttery coconut cake tastes like an heirloom recipe, unpretentious and complete.
- Eater The All-Time Eater 38
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #44 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 93. Flavors From Afar
International
A rotating kitchen staffed by refugees and immigrants channels recipes from Eritrea to Haida Gwai, turning homestyle cooking into a form of advocacy. The spicing is assured—cardamom and cloves brighten a goat pulao, coconut milk deepens an onion stew—and the mission, which funnels proceeds to displaced communities, feels inseparable from what lands on the plate.
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Rank 94. Dunsmoor
Southern
Two open-flame ovens anchor this Glassell Park dining room where Southern cooking—oysters, rib eyes, braised greens—emerges charred and smoky from the coals. Communal tables and a counter facing the kitchen deliver the spectacle of fire, while a quieter wine bar in back offers refuge from the heat.
- Esquire 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Brian Dunsmoor
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 95. majordōmo
Asian
A converted warehouse in Chinatown channels controlled chaos through an open kitchen where Asian flavors collide with purpose. Melon salad in fish sauce vinaigrette, spicy fusilli with kimchi and pork jowl—the menu pirouettes through snacks and noodles with the confidence of a place that knows what it's doing. Counter seats reward the persistent walk-in; everything else requires strategy.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #58 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Eater 2018 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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Rank 96. 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.
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Rank 97. 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 98. Taqueria Frontera
Tijuana-Style Mexican
- The New York Times 2025 · Taco al Pastor · The Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S.
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 99. Somni
Spanish
Chef Aitor Zabala has restored Somni into a Catalan dream of meticulous small plates—mussel escabeche, gazpacho, shiso tartare tempura—where kitchen and service move in perfect synchrony. The hushed dining room, anchored by a colorful bull's head, channels Spain through endless textural invention and restrained elegance.
- Michelin Guide 3 Stars
- The Infatuation 2025 · #2 · The Top-Rated New Restaurants
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #50 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 100. A Tí
Mexican