Los Angeles’s 21 Greatest Restaurants

After a long uphill battle filled with pandemic regulations, Angelenos can feel normal once more while dining out, passing plates with friends and family. Restaurants in Los Angeles have endured so much over the past two years, and it’s more apparent than ever that they are integral threads in the city’s cultural fabric.

Now that the city is reopening, it’s time to acknowledge those hard-working restaurants—new and old, from Silver Lake to Manhattan Beach—that have defined the city’s dining scene, nourished residents, and established Los Angeles as a global destination for anyone who loves food. These are The Greats, 21 restaurants that make Los Angeles shine.

Marion Brewer and Amber Gibson

20 Restaurants

Updated April 04, 2022

Restaurants:	Osteria Mozza, Gracias Madre - West Hollywood, Mian - West Adams…
Price Range:	$$ - $$$$
Cuisines:	Italian, Mexican, Chinese…
Neighborhoods:	Hollywood, West Hollywood, Mid-City…

Osteria Mozza

$$$$

Italian

Hollywood

4.8

5890 reviews

When it opened in 2007, Osteria Mozza changed the face of Italian food in Los Angeles. Helmed by James Beard Award winner and Chef’s Table documentary subject Nancy Silverton, the restaurant reminded Angelenos of the pleasures of fresh cheese and homemade pasta, and introduced relatively unknown items that are seen on menus across the city today, such as bitter Italian amaros and chicory salads—all of which nabbed the restaurant a MICHELIN star. The restaurant, like the food, has a timeless quality to it that’s helped it remain relevant to this day. You might still find Silverton plating up antipasti behind the best seat in the house: the mozzarella bar.

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Gracias Madre - West Hollywood

$$$$

Mexican

West Hollywood

4.7

5706 reviews

This chic Mexican restaurant specializes in small-batch agave spirits and plant-based fare—a testament to Los Angeles’s inventive and delicious vegan food scene, one of the best in the country. The jackfruit carnitas tacos, potato pimento flautas, and mushroom fajitas are so flavorful and hearty that carnivores won't even miss the meat. Executive chef Diana Briscoe is committed to sourcing local ingredients whenever possible and her healthy, sustainable approach to food extends to the bar program too, where zero-waste margaritas (made with leftover lime juice, lime, and orange peels) and mezcal slushies are popular orders. The courtyard is a great place to spot celebs too: Natalie Portman, Ellen DeGeneres, Selena Gomez, and Jessica Alba are all fans.

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Mian - West Adams

$$$$

Chinese

Mid-City

0 reviews

MIAN is the brainchild of James Beard Award-nominated chef Tony Xu, who is largely credited with popularizing Sichuan-style cuisine in Southern California after the opening of his first restaurant, Chengdu Taste, in the San Gabriel Valley in 2013. Named after the Mandarin word for “noodle,” MIAN specializes in Sichuan-style noodles and traditional dishes from the southwestern Chinese province. Timid diners, be warned: the flavors here are bold, pungent, and tongue-numbingly spicy, but worth every bite. It's easy to understand why the late Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold, after just one meal, asserted that “there is nothing quite like Mian,” and why the MICHELIN Guide selected the restaurant for a prestigious Bib Gourmand award in 2019.

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Bacari - Silver Lake

$$$$

Italian

Silver Lake

4.6

1772 reviews

Since opening the first Bacari location in West Adams in 2008, the trio behind the Mediterranean restaurant has opened five additional outposts of their shared plates concept. Executive chef Lior Hillel and his co-owners Robert and Danny Kronfli cater to the local community, expressing each neighborhood's personality with every location. Their newest Silver Lake restaurant opened in June 2021 and was an immediate hit, with cicchetti-style dishes such as signature fries topped with a fried egg, as well as larger plates like gorgonzola pasta and juicy lamb-stuffed eggplant. Everything is meant to be shared with the entire table for a collective experience. The Silver Lake location has live music every weekend and a late night bar program featuring small-production funky wines, sangria, beer, and specialty cocktails with housemade syrups, juices and bitters.

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(abeautifullife) Jamaican Kitchen

$$$$

Jamaican

Little Tokyo

4.1

135 reviews

Since its founding in 2013, (abeautifullife) has been a destination for the restaurant’s distinctly Californian take on Jamaican food. Its airy, tropically decorated space provides the perfect backdrop for its plates, which combine island traditions with a commitment to responsible sourcing. The results are tasty mashups, such as jerk bone broth, oxtail ragu, and a range of bowls like jerked wild-caught salmon with rice and peas, sautéed cabbage, and fried plantains. It’s a combination that’s won (abeautifullife) such a loyal following that the restaurant now has two locations, a food truck, and a line of jerk-themed clothing.

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Felix Trattoria

$$$$

Italian

Venice

4.7

1332 reviews

There is no shortage of fresh pasta in Los Angeles these days, but no restaurant elevates it to an art form quite like Felix, where chef Evan Funke makes a kaleidoscope of shapes in a glass-walled, temperature controlled pasta “lab.” Funke’s single-minded pursuit of pasta perfection landed him a cookbook deal on the subject, a spot on Eater’s best new restaurants list in 2017, and Felix the reputation as one of the city’s definitive restaurants. Diners can travel Italy from the north to the country’s islands via the restaurant’s menu, eating through geographically organized pastas such as linguini with lemon and asparagus covered in a shower of pecorino.

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Rossoblu

$$$$

Italian

Downtown

4.6

1490 reviews

For perfect renditions of regional Italian cooking, head downtown to Rossoblu, where chef Steve Samson draws upon his childhood memories spent at his grandparents’ house in Bologna, recreating dishes at such a high caliber that it has made the Los Angeles Times’s list of 101 Best Restaurants for several years running. Here, diners have the opportunity to try dishes rarely seen outside of Emilia-Romagna, such as erbazzone, a savory pastry filled with swiss chard, bitter greens, and cheese, or the now-infamous minestra nel sacco, a bowl of parmigiano reggiano dumplings in brodo.

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Bicyclette

$$$$

Contemporary French

West Los Angeles

4.6

701 reviews

This homey 80-seat bistro, all mosaic tiles, oversize armoires, and vintage European posters, was masterminded by Walter and Margarita Manzke, the chefs behind Los Angeles’s widely acclaimed French-inspired bakery and cafe République. Kick off your meal here with toasty baguettes and Rodolphe Le Meunier butter from Normandy, a fitting preview for the decadent fare that will follow. Gallic staples, such as tuna “steak” tartare, duck leg confit, and beef short rib a la Bourguignonne, are prepared with locally sourced meats and produce. To that, add the charming maison-inspired interiors—the polished wooden tables were built by the multi-talented Walter Manzke—and you’ve got a slice of Paris in West LA.

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Gjelina

$$$$

American

Venice

4.7

1659 reviews

Los Angeles’s penchant for all-day cafés and avocado toast has risen to the level of stereotype, but Gjelina is the mother of the genre—when the restaurant opened in 2008, there was nothing else like it in the city. And to this day, the restaurant’s wooden communal tables, industrial chic stools, and effortlessly stylish crowds invite anyone who visits to indulge in the fantasy of California cool. But more importantly, Gjelina pioneered the type of eating that Angelenos take for granted today, where a wood-burning oven cranks out creative pizzas alongside a variety of vegetable-forward small plates, such as charred romanesco cauliflower spiked with anchovies, capers, Fresno chiles, and mint.

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Q Sushi

$$$$

Sushi

Agoura Hills / Westlake Village

4.8

312 reviews

If you’ve had a bacon-wrapped date in the past 10 years, you can thank A.O.C. and chef Suzanne Goin. This venerable wine bar was one of the first to embrace the shareable small plates style of dining, kicking off a trend that would define LA restaurants for years to come. Co-owner Caroline Styne curates the award-winning wine list, while Goin continues to balance menu innovations with greatest hits, such as the Spanish fried chicken, served with romesco aïoli and chile-cumin butterFor the city’s best traditional omakase menu, head downtown to the MICHELIN-starred Q Sushi. Here, every single piece of fish is prepared by chef Hiroyuki Naruke, who avoids creative flourishes and instead stakes his reputation on perfect cuts of fish and well-executed, simple preparations of rare varieties such as black abalone or Hokkaido scallops. The small, spare dining room only accommodates two seatings per night, both for $300 per person. But compared to the cost of a plane ticket to Tokyo, it’s well worth it to experience some of the city’s most flawless fish. Pro tip: Head for lunch for a $150 version of the meal.

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Bavel

$$$$

Middle Eastern

Downtown

4.8

3363 reviews

Bavel, from the renowned team behind Bestia, is a Middle Eastern restaurant that follows the traditional format (spreads, salads, small plates, large plates) but utilizes wholly untraditional ingredients. The cloud-like hummus alone sets it apart as one of the city’s great restaurants, arriving in a bowl slicked with olive oil, either simply dressed with a slug of green zhoug or, more creatively, with duck ‘nduja. These unexpected additions—always perfectly executed—will make diners want to try every dish on the menu, and are the reason Eater named Bavel LA’s restaurant of the year when it opened in 2018.

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AOC - 3rd Street

$$$$

Californian

Beverly / Fairfax / La Brea / Third St.

4.8

4370 reviews

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71Above

$$$$

Contemporary American

Downtown

4.7

3733 reviews

Set on the—you guessed it—71st floor of the 1,018-foot U.S. Bank Tower, this natty modern American restaurant, the highest west of the Mississippi, most definitely scrapes the sky. Drink in 360-degree city views along with signature cocktails, named for Los Angeles neighborhoods such as the Hollywood, a powerful mix of jalapeño vodka, fortified wine, and grapefruit cordial, or the Downtown, a bourbon, cognac, and apricot liqueur concoction. Fortunately, the plates are just as awe-inspiring as the sky-top vistas. Begin your evening with caviar service before sampling a variety of seasonal dishes, such as heritage pork topped with garlic-cherry purée and delicate handkerchief pasta with mushrooms. For a closer view of the kitchen action, sit at one of the two chef’s tables.

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Here's Looking At You

$$$$

Contemporary American

Koreatown

4.8

693 reviews

This critically acclaimed Koreatown restaurant, a celebration of Los Angeles’s signature multiculturalism, resurrected in January thanks to a crowd-funding campaign. And though it returns with an edited menu, owner Lien Ta and executive chef Jonathan Whitener confirm they are game-changers when it comes to global plates. While certain crowd-pleasers, such as the Chinese sausage-topped tomatoes, beef tartare, and the renowned frog legs remain, a selection of daily changing newer offerings, like a crispy duck confit, prove Whitener’s inventive instincts are firmly intact. Feast on it all in a cool and confident space, complete with penny tiles, taxidermy, and cookbook stacks.

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Orsa & Winston

$$$$

Japanese

Downtown

4.6

838 reviews

Orsa & Winston had already established itself as one of the city’s most creative restaurants before the pandemic struck, earning a MICHELIN star and rave reviews for chef Josef Centeno’s mash-up of Japanese and Italian flavors. But it earned the title of 2020 restaurant of the year from the Los Angeles Times due to the grace and creativity with which it weathered the pandemic: Centeno cooked for hospital workers, opened a pick-up window that served an excellent cheeseburger on Japanese milk bread, and even made masks via his clothing line. With dining open once again, Orsa & Winston is back to serving its famed tasting menu, featuring dishes such as hand-torn pasta with porcini bolognese, lovage-dashi butter, and salted shiso.

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Birdie G's

$$$$

American

Santa Monica

4.7

107 reviews

After earning a MICHELIN star and literally writing the book On Vegetables, chef Jeremy Fox has moved on to global comfort food at his sprawling Santa Monica spot Birdie G’s. Inspiration comes from all over on this menu: homemade cavatelli is dressed with Calabrian chile and kimchi, while the Southern noodle kugel is a tribute to the Eastern European food Fox’s grandmother used to make—though it’s safe to guess his grandma probably didn’t weave in ricotta, chow-chow, pecans, and sage brown butter. There’s an excellent kids menu too, including potato-crusted chicken fingers even adults will love. The mix of nostalgia and fine dining skill have made Birdie G’s an instant hit just two years after opening.

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Ospi

$$$$

Italian

Venice

4.7

747 reviews

Southern Italian specialities dominate the massive menu at this light-filled Venice spot, the sophomore restaurant of Jackson Kalb—one of the city’s best pasta chefs who will compete in Top Chef’s 19th season—and Melissa Saka, of Jame Enoteca fame. The duo took over the former space of the Canal Club, a 20-year-old beachy hangout, refurbishing it with blonde wood and expansive communal tables, plus a glass-encased pasta station made for watching chefs roll out a range of silky noodles. The restaurant is named after the Italian word for “host,” and fittingly, Kalb and Saka make frequent tableside appearances here. Choose from the aforementioned pastas, fett’untas (toasted breads), meats, and extra-thin Roman pizzas, including an especially inventive spin on a Hawaiian pie, which pays homage to a dish Saka grew up eating in her native Long Beach.

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Fishing With Dynamite

$$$$

Seafood

Manhattan Beach

4.8

2205 reviews

For the best seafood in Los Angeles, head to Manhattan Beach, where Fishing With Dynamite serves some of the city’s most expertly shucked bivalves alongside globally inspired fish dishes within a stone’s throw of the Pacific Ocean. Chef and owner David LeFevre offers several raw bar platters that give diners a taste of the restaurant’s intentionally sourced shellfish, such as the “Mothershucker” that places bicoastal oysters on a tray with a whole lobster, Alaskan king crab, and signature Peruvian scallops presented in their own shell with a bit of citrus. The rest of the menu at this tiny spot is basically an encyclopedia of seafood preparations from around the world, drawing inspiration from New England for the bacon-packed “chowda” bowl, or El Salvador for the shrimp pupusas.

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Providence

$$$$

Seafood

Hollywood

4.8

3825 reviews

Chef Michael Cimarusti’s deft touch with seafood and partner Donato Poto’s legendary front-of-house presence have made Providence one of Los Angeles’s preeminent fine dining restaurants for more than 17 years, racking up almost every award there along the way—including two MICHELIN stars. Looking over the $250 tasting menu, it’s easy to see why: Dishes such as rock crab over creamy soy milk panna cotta with sweet corn and caviar are sustainably sourced and gracefully couriered through the sea-toned dining room by expert staff, giving the whole experience an overtone of luxury befitting of the price tag.

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LA Cha Cha Chá

$$$$

Mexican

Little Tokyo

4.6

967 reviews

This stylish Arts District restaurant was born in Mexico City. Its Los Angeles location, a happy hour dream and the brainchild of Mexico-based Grupo Palmares, is lined with cheery yellow floors and views of bustling Third Street. Tuck into tacos and tostadas, crafted with inventive ingredients such as octopus and bluefin tuna and handmade tortillas—rumor has it the kitchen, led by chef Francisco Moran, once churned out 400 a day. But leave room for reimagined family recipes, such as chicharos de sierra with fresh peas, serrano aioli, and crispy potato. Don’t sleep on the cocktails: this predominantly outdoor expanse is ideal for sipping colorful libations, such as a blue corn tortilla whiskey old fashioned and a red bell pepper mezcal negroni.

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