During an exceedingly challenging year, favorite older restaurants made to-go meals better than ever with dinner kits, spectacular new dishes, and an extra helping of creativity. Here are some of our top picks.
If you’re going to get a taco kit, you might as well come here for the city’s best flour tortillas and amazing carne asada. The exceptional burritos also travel well. 208 E. 8th St., downtown, sonoratown.com.
Hearty, bistro-style prix-fixe meals and perfect pastries from this all-day charmer make weekend takeout feel special. 624 S. La Brea Ave., Hancock Park, republiquela.com.
Panumas Joe Sungkmaee
We recommend anything with crispy pork or oxtail from the Thai mainstay’s beautifully overwhelming, 200-plus-item menu. Just know that even “mild” here can be intensely spicy. 5233 W. Sunset Blvd., East Hollywood, jitladala.com.
Crowd-pleasers like grilled prawns and a soul-warming chicken tagine are the pinnacle of L.A.’s modern Middle Eastern food. 500 Mateo St., Arts District, baveldtla.com.
Jordan Kahn’s deeply thoughtful, evocative, and ever-changing multicourse takeout menus have spanned the globe—Sicily, the Yucatán Peninsula, Japan—and he’s re-
created dishes by Grant Achatz and Sean Brock, too. If you’re looking to pick up a celebratory meal, this is a great option. 3599 Hayden Ave., Culver City, vespertine.la.
Ariel Ip
Excellent porchetta and char siu are available in combo meals or by the pound at the Cantonese barbecue specialist, which delivers all over the city. 541 S. Spring St., downtown, ricebox.net.
Dumpling queen Shirley Chung has added dazzling new dishes like tea-smoked duck for dinner and pork-belly tots for brunch. 3829 Main St., Culver City, mschicafe.com.
It turns out that Josiah Citrin’s famous lobster Bolognese holds up well when you reheat it in the microwave. Order the equally famous “egg caviar” if you’re feeling extra fancy. 1104 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, citrinandmelisse.com.
Ms Chi Cafe
Whether you get a family-sized Korean, American, Mexican, or Chinese meal at this spinoff of an A-list catering company, you’ll probably also want a jug of guava margaritas. 25600 Narbonne Ave., Lomita, bitesandbashes.com.
Let yourself go and pair the generous bo ssam (boiled pork belly) lunch special (available for takeout all day) with a bottle of natural wine. 698 S. Vermont Ave., Koreatown, kobawoo-house.com.
RELATED: L.A.’s 10 Best New Restaurants of 2020
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