New American
A-Frame
12565 Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90066
310-398-7700
Situated in a former IHOP, Roy Choi’s A-Frame is the street food king’s manifesto for the sit-down-restaurant world that declares plates should be passed, hands should get dirty, and meals should feel like carnivals.
Website: http://aframela.com/
Neighborhood: Culver City
Category: Californian, Fusion/Eclectic/Global, New American, Restaurants
Abigaile
1301 Manhattan Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90254
(310) 798-8227
Another score for the beach cities.
Website: http://abigailerestaurant.com/
Category: New American, Restaurants
Akasha
9543 Culver Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90232
310-845-1700
Akasha is a sceney spot, but this one has its feet planted in a pair of Birkenstocks.
Website: http://akasharestaurant.com
Neighborhood: Culver City, Los Angeles
Category: New American, Restaurants
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.
Website: http://animalrestaurant.com
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
Bar Amá
118 West 4th Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90013
213-687-8002
Josef Centeno brings the flavors of his Texas heritage to 4th and Main and in doing so, redeems an entire cuisine.
Website: http://www.bar-ama.com
Neighborhood: Echo Park
Category: New American, Restaurants, Tex-Mex
Bar | Kitchen
819 S. Flower St., Los Angeles, CA, 90017
213-623-9904
We were drawn to the O Hotel’s sultry lobby restaurant by its siren song of fancy cocktails. The mixologists from New York’s famed Death & Company bar got their mitts on the drinks menu…
Website: http://www.barandkitchenla.com/
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: New American, Restaurants
Black Market Liquor Bar
11915 Ventura Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 91604
(818) 446-2533
Most nights it seems as if half the Valley is here, huddled at the bar for a peaty scotch cocktail or squeezed into a booth for a bowl of fennel-perfumed mussels.
Website: https://blackmarketliquorbar.com
Category: Arts & Entertainment, Bars, New American, Restaurants
Cast & Plow
4375 Admiralty Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90292
310-574-4333
It doesn’t get much more picturesque than the marina-adjacent fire pit tables atCast & Plow, the Ritz-Carlton’s new iteration of its hotel restaurant.
Neighborhood: Marina del Rey
Category: American, Fusion/Eclectic/Global, Health Food, New American, Restaurants, Seafood, Steakhouse
Church & State
1850 Industrial St., Ste. 100, Los Angeles, CA, 90021
213-405-1434
Chef Jeremy Berlin has put his stamp on this urban-romantic bistro with such items as the hearty vegetarian cassoulet with Tuscan kale, and braised pork belly with a pickled vegetable salad.
Website: http://www.churchandstatebistro.com/
Neighborhood: Downtown, Los Angeles
Category: French, New American, Restaurants
Craft
10100 Constellation Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90067
310.279.4180
Tom Colicchio may be the reigning arbiter of talent on Top Chef, but at heart he’s a Jersey kid who grew up on floppy pizza slices at the shore.
Category: New American, Restaurants, Steakhouse
Faith & Flower
705 W 9th St., Los Angeles, CA, 90015
213-239-0642
Edgy but not alienating, ambitious but not brash: It’s a tough line to walk but necessary for a 165-seat restaurant near the Staples Center
Website: http://www.faithandflowerla.com/
Neighborhood: Historic South-Central
Category: American, Best of LA, Best of LA 2015: Eat, Best of LA: 2015, Best of LA: Eat, Chinese, Fusion/Eclectic/Global, Japanese, New American, Restaurants
Goldie’s
8422 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA, 90048
323-677-2470
This might be the best-looking dining room of the year—if you’re into a Frank Lloyd Wright-meets-lumberyard feel. (We are.)
Website: http://www.goldiesla.com/
Neighborhood: Mid-City
Category: New American, Restaurants
Larry’s
24 Windward Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90291
310-399-2700
Brendan Collins has been cooking at Waterloo & City, where he remains executive chef, and he’s extending his reach with this casual open-air restaurant and bar.
Website: http://larrysvenice.com/
Neighborhood: Venice
Category: New American, Restaurants
Little Beast
1496 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90041
323-341-5899
Whatever occupies this Craftsman bungalow turned restaurant will become an Eagle Rock favorite.
Website: http://www.littlebeastrestaurant.com/
Neighborhood: Eagle Rock
Category: American, New American, Restaurants
M.B. Post
1142 Manhattan Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90266
310-545-5405
David LeFevre has left the haute hassle behind for this beachy room of sun-bleached wood.
Website: http://www.eatmbpost.com/
Category: New American, Restaurants, Seafood
Maude
212 S. Beverly Dr., Los Angeles, CA, 90212
310-859-3418
Every month Curtis Stone, the host of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, takes a long ingredient, like citrus, as the throughline for a nine-course prix fixe menu.
Website: http://www.mauderestaurant.com/
Neighborhood: Beverly Hills
Category: American, Fusion/Eclectic/Global, New American, Restaurants, Theme Restaurant
Noé Restaurant & Bar
Omni Los Angeles Hotel, 251 S. Olive St., Los Angeles, CA, 90012
213-356-4100
Asian-inspired presentations reign here and include six- and nine-course tasting menus…
Website: http://noerestaurant.com
Neighborhood: Downtown, Los Angeles
Category: New American, Restaurants
Palomino
10877 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 150, Los Angeles, CA, 90024
310-208-1960
An army of betoqued personnel bump about in the open kitchen of this bistro–cum–bustling bar scene…
Website: http://palomino.com
Neighborhood: Los Angeles, Westwood
Category: New American, Restaurants