American Beauty

Forgive the casual atmosphere and unflattering top-down lighting: This Venice steakhouse serves some of the best wood-fired steaks and seafood in the city, plus an array of delicious, globally inspired starters and sides. The wood grilled flatbread with smoked honey and labneh is, quite frankly, out of this world, and the rosti-like stuffed hash browns (which comes as a giant potato pancake) pair well alongside any of their simply finished steaks. For seafood lovers, the must-order are the grilled prawns. Coming two to an order, they’re huge, sweet and delicious even before the side of lemon and herb butter enter the picture. The Flannery 15-day dry-aged prime ribeye is one of the best steaks we’ve ever had in L.A., all at a fraction of the cost of most other steakhouses serving the same quality of meat.