The Top 100 Restaurants Near The Paella Concept
-
Rank 1. The Paella Concept
Spanish
-
Rank 2. 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
-
Rank 3. 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
-
- 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
-
Rank 5. Taqueria Culiacancito
Mexican
-
Rank 6. Nueva Segovia
Nicaraguan
-
Rank 7. 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
-
Rank 8. 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
-
Rank 9. Rays Barbeque
Texas-Style Barbecue
-
Rank 10. Sergio's Tacos
Mexican
-
Rank 11. Asadero Chikali
Mexicali-Style
-
-
Rank 13. Tacos El Toro
Mexican
-
Rank 14. Tacos Baja
Ensenada-Style
-
Rank 15. Tacos El Toro
Mexican
-
Rank 16. Tacos La Guera
Jalisco-Style
-
Rank 17. Tacos Don Cuco Estilo Tijuana
Tijuana-Style
-
-
Rank 19. BALAM
Mexican/Global
-
Rank 20. 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
-
Rank 21. 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
-
Rank 22. Los Originales Tacos Arabes de Puebla
Puebla-Style
-
Rank 23. Taquearte
Mexico City-Style
-
Rank 24. Birria El Jaliciense
Jalisco-Style
-
Rank 25. Mariscos 4 Vientos
Meixcan
-
Rank 26. 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
-
Rank 27. 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
-
Rank 28. Mariscos Chiltepin
Mexican
-
Rank 29. Birrieria Barajas
Jalisco-Style
-
Rank 30. Santa Rita Jalisco Taco Truck
Jalisco-Style
-
Rank 31. Taco Nazo
Ensenada-Style
-
Rank 32. Carnitas Los Chingones
Mexican
-
Rank 33. 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
-
Rank 34. Mariscos 4 Vientos
Meixcan
-
Rank 35. 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
-
Rank 36. 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
-
Rank 37. Tacos Don Cuco Estilo Tijuana
Tijuana-Style
-
-
Rank 39. 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
-
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
- World Culinary Awards 2025 · Nominee · North America's Best New Restaurant
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
-
-
Rank 42. Carnitas El Momo
Mexican
-
Rank 43. 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
-
- Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Fish flauta · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
-
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
-
Rank 46. 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
-
Rank 47. 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.
-
Rank 48. 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
-
Rank 49. 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.
-
Rank 50. Olive & Rose
French/Californian
-
Rank 51. YESS Restaurant
Progressive Japanese
- Condé Nast Traveler 2024 · The best new restaurants in the world
- Esquire 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
-
Rank 52. 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.
-
Rank 53. Guisados
Mexican
A corner storefront with a grill visible from the few tables inside—this family-run spot serves tacos that demand napkins. The stewed flank steak in steak picado tacos, the cochinita pibil with its achiote-braised pork and pickled onions, arrive messy and unguarded, all sauce and spilling juice. It's the kind of place that tastes like someone's kitchen, only better.
-
Rank 54. 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
-
Rank 55. 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.
-
Rank 56. Longo Seafood
Cantonese Noodles
A packed Cantonese noodle parlor in Rosemead where the kitchen moves with quiet efficiency, turning out sugarcane shrimp skewers with crackling exteriors, silken rice noodle rolls studded with char siu, and siu mai that arrive steaming and precisely seasoned. No dim sum carts here—just straightforward execution and the kind of popularity that fills the parking lot most nights.
-
Rank 57. Tacos Tamix
Mexico City-Style
-
Rank 58. 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
-
Rank 59. Henry's Cuisine
Cantonese Chinese
A modest storefront on Valley Boulevard where homestyle Cantonese cooking persists with quiet confidence, lobster painted silver and gold adorning the walls as a hint at what the kitchen does best. Salted-egg shrimp arrives delicate and bright; the deep-fried pig's feet crackle like chips; mustard greens with garlic offer a soothing counterpoint. This is cooking for people who know what they want.
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · The 101 Best Restaurants in California
- Time Out #34 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
-
Rank 60. 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.
-
-
-
Rank 63. Tacos La Rueda
Sonoran-Style
-
Rank 64. Tacos Baja
Ensenada-Style
-
Rank 65. 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
-
Rank 66. Carnitas los Gabrieles
Michoacan-Style Mexican
- LAist 2025 · Carnitas · Best Bites
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Costilla taco · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
-
Rank 67. Evil Cooks
Mexican
- Food & Wine 2025 · McSatan · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Alex Garcia and Elvia Garcia
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Elvia Garcia and Alex Garcia
-
Rank 68. 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
-
Rank 69. 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
-
-
Rank 71. Pane Bianco
NY-Style
-
Rank 72. Chengdu Taste
Chinese
No temperance here: Chengdu Taste brings uncompromising Sichuan heat, where toothpick lamb arrives cumin-dark and chili-bright, crispy beef stakes its claim as rival, and even shredded potato sings with precision and fire. The kitchen doesn't dial it back, and neither should you.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Time Out #36 · The 40 best restaurants in Los Angeles you need to try right now
-
Rank 73. 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.
-
Rank 74. X'tiosu
Oaxacan/Lebanese
-
Rank 75. 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
-
Rank 76. 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
-
Rank 77. 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
-
Rank 78. 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.
-
-
Rank 80. Yang’s Kitchen
Asian-American
- Time Out The best Chinese restaurants in America
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Christian Yang
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
-
Rank 81. 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
-
Rank 82. Le Draq
Tex-Mex/Italian Fusion
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · Fifty Under $50
- Los Angeles Times 2025 · #73 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Times 2024 · Puffy taco · The 101 Best Tacos in Los Angeles
-
Rank 83. 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 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. West
-
Rank 84. Carnitas El Momo
Mexican
-
Rank 85. Rajdhani Restaurant
Traditional Indian
-
Rank 86. Ipoh Kopitiam
Malaysian
A Malaysian café that draws lines from open to close, Chef Kenji Tang's succinct menu pivots from the neighborhood's Chinese norm with poached Hainanese chicken served cold alongside three sauces and seasoned rice, layered curry matched with flaky roti canai, and wok-fired char kway teow—each plate evidence of discipline in executing classics without flourish or apology.
-
Rank 87. 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.
-
Rank 88. 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
-
Rank 89. 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.
-
Rank 90. Sea Harbour
Cantonese Chinese
The dim sum arrives from the kitchen rather than a cart, each dumpling and bun steaming with purpose at this Cantonese standby in Rosemead. The preserved salty egg bun breaks open to reveal a molten yolk; the seafood dishes earn their reputation through exacting technique. What might coast on nostalgia instead commands respect through consistent execution.
- Chinese Restaurant Awards 2025 · #6 · Elite 30 Canada
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Tony Ho
-
Rank 91. 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
- Bon Appétit 2018 · America's Best New Restaurants
-
Rank 92. 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.
-
Rank 93. Chinchikurin
Hiroshima-Style
-
-
Rank 95. Marugame Monzo
Udon Noodles
Behind the counter at this spare, welcoming udon shop, cooks stretch and cut dough into chewy strands you watch unfold. The mushroom udon arrives in a miso-rich broth, while a uni and miso carbonara and crispy agedashi eggplant promise textural surprises—all reason enough to arrive early and join the crowds of families and friends waiting for a seat.
-
-
Rank 97. 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.
-
Rank 98. 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.
-
Rank 99. Perilla
Korean
- The New York Times 2023 · The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Jihee Kim
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
-
Rank 100. 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 2024 · Semifinalist · Best New Restaurant
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Holly Fox and Adam Weisblatt - Last Word Hospitality
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: California · Melissa López