Monday, August 31, 2026

The Best Restaurants in Los Angeles, by the Record

  1. Meats arrive in quarter-pound portions here, the menu structure doing double duty as the restaurant's name. This is an upscale Korean BBQ spot in Koreatown where the lines wrapping the block suggest the neighborhood has already made up its mind. Reservations help, or an early lunch will. Solo diners are required to order at least two cuts, which, given the marbled short rib coming off the grill, is less a hardship than it sounds.


  2. A former church in Downtown LA, now a contemporary restaurant with an open ceiling that lets the room breathe and the people-watching practically do itself. The crowd comes for small plates and cocktails at the two circular bars or settles into the sofa-stuffed lounge like they own the place. The menu roams globally, though the kitchen keeps one foot planted in the familiar. Loud, beautiful, and a little theatrical.


  3. Rank 166. Rossoblu

    Emilia-Romagna Italian

    Rossoblu is an Italian restaurant in the Fashion District that plants its flag firmly in Emilia-Romagna, the region where the chef spent formative summers eating very well. The pastas are made in-house, the ragu is slow and serious, and the tiramisu arrives as a proper brick rather than a cloud of pretension. Downtown shoppers and office lunchers fill the room, but the food is patient enough not to care.


  4. Rank 166. RYLA

    Contemporary Japanese

    A splashy, date-night-ready restaurant in Hermosa Beach where a husband-and-wife team runs a contemporary Japanese kitchen with broad Asian influences. Small plates arrive meant for sharing, though the menu makes a convincing case for possessiveness. The room reads sophisticated without stiffness, and the cooking leans into contrasts, sweet corn and pickled green strawberries cut against rich ox tongue curry rice, while dessert ends things with a spicy ginger-sugared churro.


  5. A Thai breakfast and dessert shop tucked into the back corner of a strip mall in Gardena, where congee bubbles away in the kitchen while the rest of Los Angeles is still eating eggs. The jok, thick with pork meatballs and fresh ginger, is the right place to start. Mango sticky rice appears when it appears, and regulars know to order it before it's gone. Counter service, paper lanterns, turquoise accents, and no pretension whatsoever.


  6. Rank 166. Tempura Endo

    Tempura Japanese

    Tempura Endo is a counter-focused omakase in Beverly Hills devoted entirely to the art of frying things in hot cottonseed oil, which sounds reductive until you're watching each piece emerge with a coating so lacy it barely registers as batter. Sit at the copper cauldron, not the tables. The tasting menu runs expensive, and the chef places each item in front of you one at a time, the way a ritual should go. A Michelin Selected Restaurant.


  7. Rank 166. The Attic

    Refined Southern

    A Craftsman bungalow with a front porch, herringbone floors, and a brick fireplace that makes a convincing case for staying all evening. This is a refined Southern restaurant where fried chicken, biscuits, gumbo, and fried green tomatoes anchor the menu, with the kitchen adding enough unexpected turns to keep things interesting. The crowd tends toward date-night and linger-over-a-second-glass, which fits the room's cozy, parlor-like logic perfectly.


  8. Dark wood, a full bar, and a reservation that fills faster than you'd expect for a Korean American restaurant on Sawtelle. The menu reads approachable but lands with precision, moving from kimchi pancake and steamed dumplings through charcoal-grilled short ribs to a caramelized cinnamon hotteok served warm with vanilla ice cream. The wine list gets taken seriously, which is either a pleasant surprise or exactly what you came for.


  9. Rank 166. Yong Su San

    Traditional Korean

    Servers in hanbok and a warren of curtained private rooms signal that this isn't your average Koreatown Korean restaurant. Yong Su San specializes in royal court cuisine, the elaborate dishes once prepared for Korea's aristocracy, and the setting leans into that history with carved wooden seats and cushioned booths. Large groups tend to arrive for set menus, but the à la carte banchan spread alone makes an argument for a quieter table for two.


  10. Rank 166. Zira Uzbek Kitchen

    Uzbek Middle Eastern

    Cumin is in the name and in the air at this Fairfax District restaurant, where ikat fabrics drape the wood furnishings and the menu reads like a Silk Road itinerary. Zira Uzbek Kitchen serves the food of Uzbekistan, a cuisine that lands somewhere between Central Asian and Middle Eastern, with hand-pulled noodle soup, shashlik off the grill, and fat dumplings that regulars argue over. The Michelin Guide includes it among its selected restaurants in Los Angeles.




  11. Rank 211. Marea

    Coastal Italian





  12. Rank 217. Etra

    Italian



  13. Rank 219. A Restaurant

    New American


  14. Rank 219. A&J Restaurant

    Dim Sum Chinese




  15. Rank 219. Crossroads Kitchen

    Plant-Based Mediterranean




  16. Rank 219. Goldburger Los Feliz

    Smashburger American



  17. Rank 219. Haven Craft Kitchen + Bar

    Californian New American


  18. Rank 219. Jones

    Italian American


  19. Rank 219. Kahani

    Modern Indian


  20. Rank 219. Kareem's Falafel

    Middle Eastern



  21. Rank 219. Loreto

    Seafood Mexican


  22. Rank 219. Mayfield

    Modern Mediterranean





  23. Rank 219. OyBar

    Japanese Cocktail Bar



  24. Rank 219. Pho Ngoon

    Noodles




  25. Rank 219. Shootz

    Hawaiian





  26. Rank 219. Tev's Kitchen

    Caribbean


  27. Rank 219. The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar

    Californian New American Wine Bar




  28. Rank 219. Yigah

    Authentic Korean




  29. Rank 253. Nettuno

    Coastal Italian


  30. Rank 253. Orla by Michael Mina

    Refined Mediterranean


  31. Rank 253. Perch

    French



  32. Rank 258. Tamales Elena

    Guerrerense Mexican




  33. Rank 261. Le Draq

    Italian Fusion Mexican Cocktail Bar


  34. Rank 261. Old Sasoon Bakery

    Middle Eastern


  35. Rank 261. Sonoratown

    Sonoran





  36. Rank 264. Cosetta

    New-School Italian






  37. Rank 264. El Bacano

    Dominican



  38. Rank 264. Lorenzo California

    Florentine Italian




  39. Rank 264. M Joy

    Chinese



  40. Rank 264. Panda Inn

    Chinese


  41. Rank 264. Panda Inn

    Chinese


  42. Rank 264. Rajdhani Restaurant

    Traditional Indian


  43. Rank 264. Sincerely Syria

    Syrian Middle Eastern


  44. Rank 264. Somerville

    Progressive New American





  45. Rank 264. Tun Lahmajo

    Armenian Middle Eastern



  46. Rank 289. Carnitas los Gabrieles

    Michoacan-Style Mexican


  47. Rank 290. A Tí

    Modern Mexican



  48. Rank 290. Bone Kettle

    Vietnamese


  49. Rank 290. Carousel Restaurant

    Middle Eastern


  50. Rank 290. Chinchikurin

    Hiroshima-style Japanese


  51. Rank 290. Chinchikurin

    Hiroshima-style Japanese


  52. Rank 290. Chinchikurin

    Hiroshima-style Japanese


  53. Rank 290. doto

    Californian Japanese Coffee Shop


  54. Rank 290. Ellie's

    Southern Italian




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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.

    How we score →

    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.

      How we score →

      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.

        How we score →

        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.

          How we score →

          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.