Best of LA: Eat
“No Name” Club
432 N Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90036
(323) 651-1583
If you’ve spooned buttery corn risotto while watching Jackson Browne coo sweet nothings or popped salty beads of salmon roe between your molars in time with Twin Shadow’s synthesized drums, then you’ve been to the club that goes by “No Name.”
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2015: Eat, Best of LA: 2015, Best of LA: Eat, Music Venues
101 Coffee Shop
6145 Franklin Ave, Hollywood, CA
323-467-1175
101 Coffee Shop doesn’t mess with the classic
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Category: American, Best of LA, Best of LA 2014: Eat, Best of LA: 2014, Best of LA: Eat, Coffee/Tea, Restaurants
1886
1250 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 91105
Today Brady Weise shakes up cinnamon syrup with pineapple, grapefruit, and cranberry juices.
Neighborhood: Pasadena
Category: Arts & Entertainment, Bars, Best of LA, Best of LA 2013: Eat, Best of LA: 2013, Best of LA: Eat
A.O.C.
8700 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA, 90048
310-859-9859
At A.O.C. Christiaan Rollich’s salad-in-a-glass comes in a vodka version but tastes just as fresh with chamomile tea, basil, arugula, jalapeño, cucumber, and lime.
Neighborhood: Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, West Hollywood
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2013: Eat, Best of LA: 2013, Best of LA: Eat, Restaurants, Small Plates
Aladin Sweets & Market
139 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90007
At Aladin Sweets & Market, folks stop in for glasses of milky tea with honey-dipped fried pastries, though savory dishes are the main draw.
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2013: Eat, Best of LA: 2013, Best of LA: Eat, Restaurants, Southeast Asian
All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
465 S. La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90048
(310) 246-5551
Let go of any misgivings you have about buffets: the steaming vats, grisly carving stations, hepatitis C. TRES BY JOSÉ ANDRÉS at SLS Beverly Hills pulls off a $42 brunch spread without a lick of ick. Andrés’s approach might best be called minimalist. Quail eggs accompany sliced-on-demand Russ & Daughters smoked salmon. Crab claws are […]
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA: 2016, Best of LA: Eat, Best of LA: Eat
Andy’s Orchard
1615 Half Road, Morgan Hill, CA, 95037
Friends of farmer Andy Mariani liken him to a mad scientist
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2015: Eat, Best of LA: 2015, Best of LA: Eat
Animal
435 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90036
323-782-9225
At their still-unmarked Fairfax enclave, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo have maintained—even honed—their knack for rejiggering comfort food into balanced, thoughtful dishes that leap with spurts of acid and fat.
Neighborhood: Fairfax, Hollywood, Los Angeles
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2012: Eat, Best of LA: 2012, Best of LA: Eat, New American, Restaurants
Babita Mexicuisine
1823 S. San Gabriel Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 91776
Nestled in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it suburban storefront, San Gabriel’s Babita Mexicuisine finds the gracious middle ground with such daintily presented dishes as green cilantro margarita sorbet and tequila-soaked salmon sopes.
Neighborhood: San Gabriel
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2013: Eat, Best of LA: 2013, Best of LA: Eat, Mexican food, Restaurants
Baco Mercat
408 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA, 90013
213-687-8808
Josef Centeno’s umlaut-bedecked flagship has all the Moroccan bistilla and Provençal brandade you could want, and the menu weds Catalan, Italian, and Abkhazian ingredients.
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2012: Eat, Best of LA: 2012, Best of LA: Eat, Latin American, Restaurants, Spanish/Tapas/Basque
Barbacoa
5850 S Eastern Ave, Commerce, CA, 90040
(323) 725-1429
Masters of Mexican barbecue, or barbacoa, know that the best meat is roasted in an underground pit. But try telling that to the health department. Former engineer Paco Perez, chef-owner of AQUI ES TEXCOCO in Commerce, invented an oven that mimics subterranean cooking. The result is succulent lamb barbecue flavored with century plant and avocado […]
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA: 2016, Best of LA: Eat, Best of LA: Eat
Bea’s Bakery
18450 Clark St., Los Angeles, CA, 91356
818-344-0100
Part cookie, part cake; sort of Jewish but kind of Italian—the black and white is a New York deli favorite that has enthusiastic fans in the west.
Neighborhood: Tarzana
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2012: Eat, Best of LA: 2012, Best of LA: Eat, Dessert/Ice Cream/Yogurt, Restaurants
Belcampo
Grand Central Market, Los Angeles, CA, 90013
(213) 625-0304
For the record, the café and butcher shop was making bone broth before it was trendy—“when it was still just on vinyl,” jokes head butcher Jered Standing
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2015: Eat, Best of LA: 2015, Best of LA: Eat
Belly & Snout
974 S. Western Ave, Koreatown, CA, 90006
323-643-4170
Named for the pig parts that make up its signature dish, Koreatown’s Belly & Snout is not for the meat-shy
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2015: Eat, Best of LA: 2015, Best of LA: Eat
Blondie
7807 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90036
(323) 932-1142
Lately we’ve seen renewed interest in the brownie’s nutty, cocoa-free cousin. Connie & Ted’s dessert menu has a knee-weakening version à la mode, but CAKE MONKEY BAKERY gets our top vote. Its dense, pecan-studded square is as salty as it is sweet and crowned with a layer of toffee.
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA: 2016, Best of LA: Eat, Best of LA: Eat
Boa Steakhouse on Sunset
9200 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90069
310-278-2050
We appreciate a nice patio as much as the next Angeleno, and the one at Boa’s new flagship ranks among the area’s loveliest
Neighborhood: Los Angeles, West Hollywood
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2015: Eat, Best of LA: 2015, Best of LA: Eat, Restaurants, Steakhouse
Bottega Louie
700 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90017
213-802-1470
Downtown’s most popular breakfast, lunch, and dinner destination is an Italian restaurant, high-end patisserie, and cocktail dispensary rolled into one.
Neighborhood: Downtown, Los Angeles
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2012: Eat, Best of LA: 2012, Best of LA: Eat, Italian, Restaurants
Breakfast Sandwich
143 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90036
(323) 939-0151
Ooey-Gooey flavor-bomb egg sandwiches are la mode, but at the Sycamore Kitchen, Quinn and Karen Hatfield have come up with a stacked morning meal that’s as approachable as it is craveable. For their SCRAMBLED EGG AND CHORIZO SANDWICH, fluffy eggs, melted Swiss cheese, house-made chorizo, and roasted onions unite in one supersavory bite after another. […]
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA: 2016, Best of LA: Eat, Best of LA: Eat