Beverly Hills Restaurants

Sushi Yamamoto, which opened in the old Urasawa space on Rodeo Drive, is one of the best omakase bars in the LA sushi scene. Put your trust in rising-star chef Yusuke Yamamoto, who’s worked behind the counter at the Beverly Hills classic Matsuhisa and at Nobu Tokyo: He sources some of the world’s best seafood, like uni from Hokkaido, Oma tuna from Aomori, and Astrea caviar.

Chef Evan Funke became a household name in LA for his saucy, cheesy tonnarelli and salt-flaked sfincione at Felix. At his eponymous restaurant Funke, you’ll find some of his greatest hits from Felix (and from Mother Wolf), plus dishes inspired by the chef’s travels through Bologna: ultra-thin tagliatelle, chewy orecchiette, and a beloved plate of pork-stuffed agnolotti. The dining room is a little kitsch, sure, but that’s part of the magic: If you’re lucky, you’ll land a spot near Evan Funke’s glassed-in “laboratory” and watch the master pull pasta by hand.

You asked for healthy takeout; we delivered. Our take on takeout is a menu of hearty bowls, vibrant salads, delicious handhelds, pizza, pasta, rotisserie, and more—all gluten-free and often finished with goop Certified Clean sauces, dressings, and marinades.

At glam and dimly-lit La Dolce Vita, you’re looking at a menu of Italian-American classics: dry martinis, strip steaks, and spaghetti bathed in red sauce and parmesan-dusted meatballs. It’s all impressively good without reinventing the wheel, and the service is excellent.

With an outpost in Atwater Village and another in Beverly Hills, Momed has both sides of LA covered. The focus here is on the zesty, refreshing North African and Mediterranean soups, salads, mezze, and mains that are so well suited to the soupy Los Angeles heat. We’re partial to the Beverly Hills location—super casual with small tables running the length of the deli-style bar—which is an ideal spot for a healthy lunch that doesn’t break the bank. The chicken souvlaki (a Greek word for anything grilled on a skewer) is doused in a citrusy sumac vinaigrette with tomatoes, a scattering of herbs, and some lavash to mop up the chickpea aioli.

Thanks to loads of press and a swift global expansion in 2005, the Ladurée celadon green is almost as iconic as Tiffany’s robin’s egg blue, or Hermes’ orange: It all started in 1862 at 16 rue Royale, when writer Louis Ernest Ladurée opened a pastry shop. Though macaroons had been kicking around France since the 16th century, when Catherine de Medici introduced them from Italy, Ladurée’s grandson revolutionized the concept in 1930 by using a bit of ganache to create a macaron sandwich. That said, their lunch service is great, with a kid-friendly menu that adults can enjoy too. The original Ladurée is a fixture on the Champs-Elysées; in addition to this new LA location and another at The Grove, there are now outposts in New York, London, Lebanon, Japan, Sweden, Hong Kong, Brazil, and more.

At his celebrated Beverly Hills restaurant Maude (which is currently one of the hardest reservations to snag in Los Angeles), Curtis Stone and his team create an elaborate tasting menu centered around one seasonal ingredient every month. So if you come in during, say, Radish Month, the veggie will be incorporated in some way into each of the nine courses. The restaurant is named after Stone’s grandmother, and is lovingly decked out with antique linens and dishes as a homage to her kitchen.

Affectionately known as “Il Trem,” this is a great place to grab a sandwich on your way to check out all the commissioned architecture in the Rodeo Drive area: It’s surrounded by Beverly Hill’s most notable architectural gems, which include Frank Lloyd Wright’s Anderton Court Shops from the ‘50s (one of his only forays into retail), and Rem Koolhaus and Ole Scheeren’s 2004 Prada store on Rodeo Drive.

Longtime Beverly Hills institution Madeo has temporarily moved a couple of blocks to North Camden Drive while the original (and much beloved) restaurant undergoes renovations. Here, you’ll find the best eggplant parmesan in the city, and what is probably the most delicious linguini al pesto outside of Liguria. Their fish with red sauce is also crazy delicious. The emphasis is on classic Northern Italian dishes, all served in the charmingly clubby space—the bill is invariably steep, but the quality of the meal erases any sticker shock.

A classic Beverly Hills lunch spot, this place has the best chopped salad, which they do Italian-style and allow you to modify it to your liking from a long list of fresh items. They also have a large selection of antipasti, soups, panini, fresh, homemade pastas and more. It's been around forever and probably always will be. There's another, less-buzzy (read: quieter) outpost in Brentwood.