Photo courtesy of Funke
It’s no secret that Los Angeles is one of the best restaurant cities on the planet. It’s also one of the most diverse. It's not only easy to eat pancakes for breakfast, Korean soup for lunch, and a huge Thai feast for dinner in one day; it’s encouraged. Promiscuous cuisine hopping might be the best way to fully appreciate just how delicious Los Angeles truly is.
It feels nearly impossible to narrow more than 7,000 restaurants down to just ten. But these stood apart—not only for how good they are, but for what they reveal about the fabric and culture of Los Angeles.
République
One look at the extra-long pastry case that adorns the entrance at République, and it's easy to understand why, even nearly 13 years after the restaurant first opened its doors, there is still a steady line down the block every morning. Started by chefs Walter and Margarita Manzke in the space that once housed Charlie Chaplin’s film studio, République is one of LA’s best bakeries by day and a stunning French restaurant by night. There are no daytime reservations, but the line is justified. Margarita’s pastries, shaped by the farmers market and her Filipino heritage, include a buttery ube brioche, mango-and-passion-fruit cream pie, and a salted-caramel chocolate cake that may be the best in the city.
Quarter Sheets
Just a few blocks from the Dodgers stadium sits one of LA’s best pizza spots—with a secret. The small restaurant is also home to some of the city’s best cakes. Chef and co-owner Aaron Lindell is a master of dough and cranks out incredible Detroit-style pies with a thick, airy crust and a crispy, caramelized cheese edge. Don’t sleep on the house salad either, which features crisp little gem leaves tossed in a lip-puckering miso and Banyuls vinegar dressing. And make sure to order dessert as soon as you sit down. Co-owner and pastry chef Hannah Ziskin’s cakes—both her iconic layer cakes and her marzipan-wrapped princess cake—sell out daily.
Funke
It’s best to wear stretchy pants when entering Chef Evan Funke’s three-floor playground of pasta in Beverly Hills. Funke is an obsessive when it comes to the art of handmade pasta, so much so that the restaurant features a glass-enclosed pasta lab, where you can watch chefs roll out and skillfully shape everything from petit agnolotti stuffed with tender, braised meat to twisty trofie, ready to be tossed in fresh pesto. The pasta parade is best broken up with other elite carbs by Funke: the airy, ethereal rounds of focaccia known as sfincione, the beloved mortadella sandwich served on freshly baked, folded pizza dough, and the comforting, fresh-from-the-fryer arancini. It’s not unusual here to spot a celebrity in between bites of pasta.
Photo courtesy of Eric Wolfinger and Wonho Frank Lee
Anajak Thai
Los Angeles is a city brimming with incredible Thai food options, but Anajak Thai remains a perennial favorite for good reason. Well, several reasons, including the super-crispy Southern Thai fried chicken served piping hot with a side of sticky rice, the extra-garlicky pad see ew, and the whole fried fish that arrives in a pool of zippy, addictive, bright-green nam jim sauce. Anajak also has an incredibly diverse and fun wine list, one of the many changes Chef Justin Pichetrungsi implemented after taking over his family’s Sherman Oaks restaurant in 2019.
Yang's Kitchen
Yang’s Kitchen is one of the best examples of modern Chinese cooking in Los Angeles. In the chic, minimalist space, the team serves up favorites like bowls of steaming mapo tofu and satisfying cold sesame noodles for dinner, while diners line up on weekends for their epic brunch, including giant mochi pancakes. What really sets Yang’s apart is its dedication to sourcing: Each dish is made with the best ingredients, sourced from as many local farms as possible. And it’s easy to taste the difference.
Photo courtesy of Celine Linarte
Surawon Tofu House
Given that Los Angeles is home to the country's largest Koreatown, the options for excellence are nearly endless. But there is one place that stands out above the rest, especially when it comes to soondubu, the beloved spicy soft tofu stew that arrives at every table in a small bubbling cauldron. At Surawon Tofu House, they make their stew with a black soybean tofu that the team makes in-house every week. The stew, which pairs perfectly with the spread of banchan, or small side dishes, which they drop on every table, is always generous and packed with flavor. Not only is the restaurant affordable, delicious, and nourishing, it also has a free parking lot in the back — a rare combination in Los Angeles.
Azizam
If you think Persian cooking is all meaty kebabs and saffron rice, Azizam will make you think again. Though there is no shortage of great Persian food in Los Angeles (one of the city’s nicknames is Tehrangeles after all) this charming Silver Lake spot specializes in Persian home cooking with dishes like kofteh tabrizi, a giant braised beef and rice meatball that is stuffed with dried stone fruits and walnuts and comforting bowls of ash-e-jo, a soup made from barley, beans, and mint oil. Azizam, which translates to “my darling” or “my beloved” in Farsi, is a fitting name for a restaurant that is easy to fall in love with.
Photo courtesy of Laura Mohn
Dunsmoor
There are few restaurants more inviting and cozy than Dunsmoor, where most of the menu is cooked over a live fire. Chef Brian Dunsmoor specializes in what he calls “American heritage cooking,” which means plates of creamy Carolina Gold rice folded in with mushrooms, and an insanely memorable bowl of pork and green chili stew. It’s best to order Dunsmoor’s famous cast-iron white cheddar skillet cornbread, crowned with a generous scoop of honey butter, as both an appetizer and for dessert, too. It’s comfort food at its finest.
Photo courtesy of Antonio Diaz
Kato
The Row in DTLA is home to one of the city’s most ambitious and exciting restaurants, headed up by chef Jonathan Yao. In the dining room with soaring ceilings, polished concrete, and warm wood furniture, Yao serves a tasting menu that draws heavily from his Taiwanese heritage, showcases California’s produce, and does not shy away from flavor with dishes like crispy pig's ears slicked with chili oil and a silky egg custard with a kelp vinegar. Kato also has one of the most thoughtful non-alcoholic drink menus, making it an extraordinary fine dining experience for everyone.
Photo courtesy of Colleen O'Brien
Holbox & Komal
Technically, Holbox (pronounced whole-bosch) and Komal are two separate restaurants, but both are located inside the Mercado La Paloma and are among the best and most flavorful Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles. There is a perpetual line out the door at Holbox, where Chef Gilberto Cetina whips up incredible Mexican seafood dishes, like a tostada topped with super-fresh bluefin tuna ceviche, avocado puree, and an arbol-guajillo chili sauce. While across the market, at Komal, Chef Fatima Juarez is cranking out the most tender corn tortillas from scratch. She transforms them into stunning squash blossom quesadillas that easily rival those from the streets of Mexico.
Photo courtesy of WonHo Frank Lee