The best secret menu items in Los Angeles

Uttering “Jitlada” produces a visceral reaction in many seasoned food-loving Angelenos, who might grab their throats as they mime breathing fire. The Thai restaurant might be known for its unapologetically spicy dishes, but owner Jazz Singsanong’s eponymous secret menu burger is actually on the tamer (but still spicy) side. You can only get one when Singsanong is there, and if the longtime Thai American restaurateur feels like making it. Featuring two beef patties studded with chilis and caramelized with garlic and palm sugar, the low-carb Jazz Burger comes on a lettuce wrap with Thai basil, red onion and tomatoes, plus a drizzle of housemade Thousand Island dressing.

Inspired by Petit Trois’s Big Mec, this off-menu burger at this newly Michelin-starred Arts District bistro is decadence incarnate. Dry-aged beef and duck meat are formed into a thick, juicy patty, which is topped with a beef fat-based remoulade sauce and caramelized onions. A plush brioche bun made with duck fat instead of butter adds to the extravagance of this $30 burger and fries—an item typically only available to diners at the bar or on the restaurant’s small patio. If you’re sitting tableside, however, don’t be afraid to ask for Le Burger—the staff will be more than happy to accommodate.

Klondike’s Choco Taco may be gone forever, but its departure has inspired pastry chefs across America to create their own iterations of the beloved summer treat. Here in L.A., you’ll find an off-menu choco taco offered at this West Adams pasta bar, where the pastry team uses a pizzelle cookie, dark chocolate and vanilla ice cream to recreate the dessert taco of your childhood—plus swirls of freshly roasted marshmallow fluff. Just note that the kitchen only makes a handful of these a week, and they normally run out on Monday evening.

Crispy skirt! Crispy skirt! As unhinged as these words might sound to some, it’s the only way to respond to this Westfield Century City ramenya’s off-menu snack gyoza. Merged together in a dumpling skirt, Ramen Nagi’s gyoza come to your table fused in a thin batter connecting all the fried dumplings in the pan—a wonderfully crispy amalgamation that shatters with each bite dipped in soy sauce and vinegar. They’re tiny, crunchy and, true to their name, make the perfect snack while you’re waiting for a steaming hot bowl of ramen. Unlike other appetizers, you won’t find the snack gyoza on the menu, so ask your server if it’s available that day.

Head to the front lounge or the bar area at this midcentury modern steakhouse in Manhattan Beach, where chef David LeFevre's off-menu burger is a luxurious ode to thick, steakhouse-style burgers. Each patty combines ground chuck, brisket and short rib and comes topped with Nueske’s applewood-smoked bacon, melted Emmental cheese and a heap of caramelized onions. The housemade sesame seed bun uses a modified Parker House roll recipe and always comes plush, soft and buttery. If you ask nicely, they'll even let you have it at the table.

Though no longer listed on the regular menu, you can still order Bar Amá’s signature Tex-Mex tacos, which L.A. fine-dining chef Josef Centeno gives a gourmet flourish with high-quality meat and vegetarian fillings like chicken, beef picadillo, chorizo, potato and shrimp. What makes for a puffy taco, you might ask? They’re deep-fried corn tortillas, which puff up as the masa expands, creating a hollow clamshell shape that’s stuffed with your choice of filling, red salsa, either lettuce or cabbage and a sprinkle of cheese. Be sure to ask your server what’s available, since not every type of puffy taco is regularly available at this Downtown cantina.

Superfans of Johnny Ray Zone’s perpetually busy hot chicken shop—now with a newer sit-down location in Pasadena—might know this sandwich well along with the rest of the secret menu, but if you’re late to the party, fear not: This off-menu items is yours for the taking all five days a week Howlin' Rays is open. (Compare this to the JoJo-style sando, which is available only on weekends.) Made with two slices of buttery Texas toasts, the Luis-style sando comes with a spicy chicken breast draped in cheddar cheese

For the rare days when the Hickory Burger at this no-frills West L.A. institution just doesn’t feel right, spring for the restaurant’s off-menu tuna melt, a straightforward rendition of cheese (cheddar or Swiss) and tuna salad on griddled bread, with optional grilled onions sandwiched in between. For those who eschew tuna salad (or maybe just mayonnaise), Apple Pan’s patty melt, made with ground beef patties and cheese, is equally delicious, particularly with a side of soda served out of the pie and burger shop’s retro paper cones.

This iconic Jewish deli on Fairfax is famous for its matzo balls, pastrami sandwiches and staying open for 24 hours, but you likely didn’t know about its deep-fried kreplach, an off-menu special that longtime patrons might still remember from the menu’s previous iterations. Fried until crisp and stuffed with brisket, these Jewish dumplings are a flaky, meaty indulgence worth ordering any time of day. (You can also add them to your matzo ball soup.)