Patricia Kelly Yeo

New Yorkers love to hate on L.A.’s pizza game (still), but native Angelenos are the first to tell you that the city’s Neapolitan-style pizza roots date back to the late ‘30s, when an influx of WWII soldiers returned after a taste of the holy grail overseas. Manhattan may claim Lombardi's as America's first pizzeria, but we have our own claim to pizza fame. In the '80s, Wolfgang Puck's smoked salmon pie at Spago and California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ chicken pizza made Los Angeles part of the national conversation (and, admittedly, a bit of a punchline for snarky East-Coasters). Then, Nancy Silverton’s still-going-strong (and on this list) Pizzeria Mozza opened in 2006—a pizza inflection point!—and made the rest of the country take LA seriously. Today, pizzaiolos here are flipping styles from all over the map. Detroit squares. Tokyo-Neapolitan hybrids. Indian mashups. Classic New York thin crust. Even montanara, Naples' fried-then-baked pie. You name it—it's somewhere in Los Angeles. Read on to get your fix. RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in Los Angeles Updated October 2026: Hail Mary Pizza, Speak Cheezy, L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele, Joe’s Pizza, and Prince Street leave the list, making space for Fiorelli’s permanent brick-and-mortar on West Third, Gjelina Takeaway (GTA), Not No Bar, Jon & Vinny’s, and yes, the new outpost of Pizzeria Sei (Palms). Not only did Pizzeria Sei rank number 5 on the 50 Top Pizza 2026 list, but it came in at number 2 on the 50 Top Pizza USA. Note tha

Sure, there are cool places to stay all over New York, but it won’t shock you to learn that as the edgier, cooler younger sibling to the Big Apple’s heartland of Manhattan, Brooklyn knows a thing or two about a stylish hotel.  With so many of the best places in the whole of N.Y.C. peppered throughout this borough, it was our duty to compile a list of our favorites. New for fall 2026 are reviews of Hotel Indigo Williamsburg and Arlo Williamsburg, but scroll on for the complete roundup. Brooklyn’s coolest hotels at a glance: 🤩 Most iconic: The William Vale 👛 Best budget: Pod Brooklyn 🌃 Best view: Wythe Hotel 👙 Best pool: Arlo Williamsburg ➡️ Discover our ultimate guide to the best hotels in New York How we curate our hotel lists Our team of writers and travel experts review hotels all over the world—new openings, old classics and everything in between—to bring you fresh, honest recommendations, all year round. We have reviewed many of the hotels featured below, but we may not have stayed at every single one. Any we haven’t stayed in have been selected by experts based on their amenities, features, pricing and more. By the way, this article includes affiliate links. These links have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 🛌 Check out the best Airbnbs in New York

Los Angeles doesn't get nearly enough credit as an Italian-food city, which is wild considering how many Italian-American restaurants I can think of within a five-mile radius of my apartment alone (a few of which made this list). Sure, Little Italy no longer exists (much of it sat in what's now Chinatown), and we're a far cry from the under-€20 standout meal you can find in just about any town in Italy (vino included). But you can still throw a rock down Melrose and hit a storefront with perfectly al dente pasta, change-your-life focaccia and meatballs passed down from a bis-bis-bis-nonna. Whether you're after a Michelin-starred splurge, an Italian-ish omakase counter where no two seatings are the same, or a no-frills, all-thrills red-sauce joint you can afford every day of the week, Los Angeles is your osteria. Here's where you can find the best of them. Mangia! Updated October 2026: This update adds Donna's, Cosetta, Little Dom's, Companion, Barrique and Vesti. We've removed Pizzeria Mozza, Milo + Olive and Jon & Vinny's. All three are better bets for pizza than for a full Italian meal (and Nancy Silverton is still well represented here with Chi Spacca and Osteria Mozza). Spina has also been removed. For more on our new policies, feel free to check out how we review at Time Out.

As the city braces for El Niño and the holiday socializing crush, it’s important to know which bars are worth finding (see: buying) your umbrella and making the trek outside. Despite a rocky few years, L.A.’s finding its footing and this guide details a mix of veterans and, increasingly, newer blood. As the temps cool off enough to brave happy hours again, your favorite dive bars and fancy cocktail lounges are still waiting for you. We checked them all out while you were at the beach and found the absolute best bars across Los Angeles. Best Los Angeles bars at a glance: For impeccably made cocktails: Vandell – a buzzy cocktail lounge geared toward local walk-ins with destination-worthy bites and drinks (Los Feliz) For standout martinis with a sunset view: Dante Beverly Hills – the ritzy 90210 outpost of an award-winning NYC cocktail bar (Beverly Hills) For drinks on the Westside before midnight: Accomplice – a standout restaurant bar program with killer non-alcoholic options (Mar Vista) For a classic night out in Koreatown: Dan Sung Sa – a divey, always bustling classic known for its sprawling food menu and soju selection For when you can’t choose between a Negroni and a boilermaker: Shim Sham – a cocktail dive where everyone knows your name (Historic Filipinotown)   Update October 2026: Daisy Margarita Bar joins its sibling, Mírate, after an impressive and consistent first year on the block. We’ve also bumped Vandell to number one, with their daily hours making it easier t

While the experience of dating in L.A. can feel like navigating land mines, apparently Californians are the most primed for dating opportunities. With some of the best cocktail bars around and scores of fun date ideas within reach, the hardest part of dating is just finding that special person. We’ve scoured the city for the best places to lock eyes with someone from across the room (or across a few pinball machines), from the dark dens that create a natural filter to the dancefloors glittering under spinning disco balls. If you’re looking for your next partner in crime, here’s where to clink your way to success. RECOMMENDED: The best bars in Los Angeles Update July 2026: The Bungalow has undergone a bit of an identity crisis in recent years with even longer lines and a brief flirtation with pricey cover charges, and the reduced hours make it so that you can’t even escape to a chill weeknight. We’ve removed it from this list along with the shuttered Mama Shelter, Harlowe, and The Friend (The Little Friend is still up and running in Venice). How we curate and review at Time Out.

What constitutes a classic steakhouse? So many things. Sultry lighting. Dark wood. Suited servers. Booths. A good bar. A proper martini. Potatoes. Caesar salad (even better if it's tableside). A soufflé of some sort. And of course, steak. LA's steakhouse scene goes almost as far back as Hollywood itself. Musso & Frank opened in 1919, the same decade the first film studio (Nestor) started rolling cameras. But times have changed. Today’s LA steakhouses go well beyond red booths and sundaes. (No shade to Musso—it's still an institution and the go-to spot to close movie deals.) The new guard of chophouses ranges from Michelin-starred butcher shops to fire-filled Argentine parrillas to Wagyu-only temples so exacting they've trademarked a new temperature (Warm Red™, more on that below). A great steakhouse meal is a rite of passage. And rest assured, whatever type of cut you're craving, this city's slicing it. Just don’t be caught dead ordering your steak well-done or nursing a martini.    Updated October 2026: Taylor’s, Baltaire, The Georgian Room and Charcoal rotate out, while Gwen, Alto, Fia Steak, and Baldi join the ranks—three of them rounding out the top 10. The rest of the rankings have been revised and updated accordingly.  For more on our new policies, feel free to check out How we review at Time Out. RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in L.A.

If beer and sausages are your idea of a good time, look sharp: Oktoberfest is upon us. With all the beer Los Angeles has to offer—from craft breweries to Bavarian-style biergartens—you’d be remiss not to celebrate Oktoberfest here in Los Angeles, but we’ve also rounded up larger, rowdier events a little farther away in Orange County and San Bernardino, if you’d rather make a day trip out of it. So put on your lederhosen, brush up on your oompah dancing and welcome autumn with a bratwurst in one hand and a stein in the other. Prost! What is Oktoberfest? A massive, centuries-old beer festival in Munich, Germany, that’s now celebrated around the world. When is Oktoberfest? Though the German originator starts in mid-September (September 19 this year, to be exact), most Oktoberfest events in L.A. run throughout October, with a few that kick off in early September and last till mid-November.

You know the saying "only boring people get bored"? Charles Bukowski—L.A.'s poet laureate of dive bars and cheap wine—lived by that ethos. He also lived in East Hollywood, drank at the same few spots (looking at you, Musso & Frank's), and probably never drove 45 minutes for tacos. If you’re reading this, you’re probably seeking more stimulation than Bukowski, and the country's most sprawling food mecca has it in spades. The best meal of your life might be in a strip mall off the 10, a Little Tokyo office building basement, or walking distance from LAX. You may have to drive, but you won’t have to fly, because generations of immigrants have turned L.A. into a city where you can eat your way around the world without ever leaving town. Our list of L.A.'s best restaurants spans the Michelin-starred, the buzzworthy, the under-the-radar, and the mom-and-pop spots you might otherwise overlook because that Law Brothers or Chris Hemsworth billboard caught your eye. If it's on the list, we think it's worth the drive, the hype, and the price—and worth coming back to again and again. We promise you won’t get bored. Best L.A. restaurants at a glance: Best for inventive Thai: Anajak – a recently renovated 44-year-old institution passed from parents down to former Imagineer turned James Beard Award–winning chef Justin Pichetrungsi. (Sherman Oaks; $100+ pp) Best place to hit up during a layover: Tomat – one of the city’s most sustainable restaurants, minutes from LAX (Westchester; $50+ pp)

Southern California’s apple picking season, which generally runs from Labor Day through Thanksgiving, draws apple-loving Angelenos to comparatively rural counties nearby for a fresh taste of fall and a change of scenery. The closest apple picking area to Los Angeles is Oak Glen, a small unincorporated town in San Bernardino County where a cluster of longtime orchards allow purists to pick apples straight off the tree and indulge in timeless fall treats like apple cider, apple cider doughnuts and hot chocolate (even if the actual weather outside still hovers above 80 degrees).  While the trek to Oak Glen typically takes an hour or two to drive from most parts of L.A., many of these U-pick farms offer a day of worthwhile family-friendly activities, from fresh cider pressing to petting zoos and archery—hence why they’re part of our guide to the best things to do in the fall. If you’re willing to spend three or four hours in the car, the sleepy town of Julian in San Diego County is an even more charming apple picking town—albeit better suited to an overnight trip or a longer day trip for those willing to get up even earlier to make the drive. From late October (the last few weeks of prime apple picking season) to early November, the remote mountain town also transforms into one of SoCal’s true fall foliage destinations and local bakery Julian Pie Company turns the fall bounty into some of the best pies in Southern California. When to pick apples near L.A. Though it usually runs

Face it, Angeleno: It’s Chinatown. And the menus there are often worth the cross-city trek. If you’re still thinking of cash-only, lazy-Susan feasts, well, there are still plenty of those around. But these days, you’re just as likely to stumble on a great burger, a Filipino feast, a natural-wine bar or a cure-all cocktail lounge. That’s the fun of eating and drinking in this particular neighborhood: Despite its name, Chinatown refuses to stay in one culinary lane. The neighborhood’s three main plazas—Far East, Mandarin and Central—are packed with everything from decades-old institutions to newer spots that have made the area into a destination in its own right. Come hungry, bring cash and be willing to explore. We’ve rounded up the Chinatown restaurants and bars worth a visit, whether you want a bowl of beefy pho, a double-dipped French dip, Nashville hot chicken or a great glass of wine.  RECOMMENDED: See more in our full guide to things to do in Chinatown

August in L.A. is hot AF—which makes it the perfect time to have ice cream. Every day. Multiple times a day, even. And why wouldn't you indulge when you've got Eleven Madison Park veterans slinging pints, parlors that have been churning cream for literally a century, and plant-based scoops (rivaling the real stuff) loaded with Rocky's ceremonial matcha. Can't decide among the top 26 artisanal ice cream, gelato, soft-serve, and paleta makers in the city? Have them all! We're not here to judge. It’s hot out there! RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in Los Angeles Updated August 2026: Since our last update, Fatamorgana Gelato in Studio City has closed, and we've opted to remove Handel's from the list. Coming in hot—or cold—are newcomers All Chill, Henry's Secret Ice Cream, and Ecco un Poco gelateria, which claim our top three spots. The rest of our rankings have shifted a bit, and Awan just introduced new seasonal flavors, so be sure to get to one of their locations pronto. Note: Capri Gelato & Coffee Bar closed its Marina del Rey location. Time Out has also instituted a sitewide change in how most listings are structured. For more on our new policies, feel free to check out how we review at Time Out.

In Hawaii, poke (pronounced poh-keh) is an everyday food. You'll find it in many permutations at the deli case at Foodland, sold by weight at local fish markets, alongside rice and mac salad at food trucks and, less often, at high-traffic tourist spots and hotel restaurants, where fresh ahi is harder to guarantee (though still advertised). Authentic poke is a simple dish in the truest sense: cubes of just-caught ahi or octopus (salmon poke is more of a mainland invention) with shoyu, white onions, green onions, sea salt and limu (seaweed). The fish is the event—everything else is meant to enhance its freshness. Which is what makes great poke in Los Angeles such a tall order. We're 2,500 miles from the water ahi loves to swim in. The window between hyper-fresh and not isn't very big. Still, the spots on this list have figured out how to stay inside that window, often by flying their fish in from Honolulu several times a week. The top picks don't bury ahi under overpowering spicy mayo, crunchy onions and a trifecta of sauces. They let the fish speak for itself. RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in Los Angeles Updated July 2026: This annual update adds Ohana Superette, Ry's Poke Shack, and Island Rootz Cafe, along with older sibling and longtime favorite Aunty Maile's. Sweetfin is out; despite the convenience factor, the chain's consistency and freshness haven't held up. It's also worth noting that Ali'i Hawaiian Grill has closed its Torrance location. How we review at Time Out.

Housed inside a decommissioned Silver Lake church which is nearly 100 years old, Hotel Lucile is one of the swishest openings to grace this east-ish side of L.A. in years. The boutique property—home to just 25 rooms—combines high style, local charm and culinary chops that Casetta (its hospitality group) has become synonymous with.  While the main draw for both L.A. residents and out-of-town visitors alike is Sous Sous, the downright stunning French-meets-Southern restaurant that occupies the church’s former nave, the in-room amenities and modest pool area make for a comfortable place to rest your head for a long weekend. During my two-night stay, I loved being able to cosplay as a Silver Lake local by visiting the Saturday morning farmers’ market and dropping into trendy Seco for a quick aperitivo. I also recommend making use of the hotel’s small but mighty rooftop, which is typically only accessible to overnight guests.  What are the rooms like at Hotel Lucile? Aside from the lone Lucile Suite, the other two dozen rooms here are made up of a mix of kings and doubles spread out across three levels, some of which were once Sunday school classrooms. All of them are fairly compact, although the Signature and Premium King rooms include a dedicated mini-desk perfect for video calls or a quick work session. The green or white subway tiled bathrooms offer walk-in showers, plus a pair of eye-catching yellow-and-beige striped bathrobes from Venice’s Parachute.  Naturally, the minibar

Pizzeria Sei’s OG is a spartan storefront on Pico Boulevard serving impeccable Tokyo-style Neapolitan pie, now known as Sei Pizza Bar.  Made with San Marzano DOP and other high-quality ingredients, pizzaiolo William Joo’s heavenly circles of thin, blistered dough have an addictively mochi-like crust. Though pricey for their personal-ish size ($19 to $27), these wonderfully delicate pies are as delicious as they come. Factor in the tiny antipasti selection and a perfectly airy tiramisu, and it’s easy to see why Sei Pizza Bar sometimes sells out early—Angelenos are willing to pony up for quality when they see it. Just note that they’re better fresh out of the oven (i.e., while dining in), but you can also order takeout on weekdays.

One of the city’s best—and most delicious—fundraising events is back with bites from the best restaurants in L.A. Of course, as you make your way through tastings from more than 60 award-winning chefs, wineries, breweries and bar directors, you’ll also be helping Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation: the heartwarming charity helps to fight childhood cancer. Chef Suzanne Goin and her business partner, Caroline Styne (A.O.C.), as well chef David Lentz (of the now-closed Hungry Cat), host the afternoon cookout that brings in top chefs from across the country and beyond to UCLA’s Royce Quad. This year’s returning chefs include Providence’s Michael Cimarusti; Mozza’s Nancy Silverton; Bestia and Bavel’s Ori Menashe; Jon and Vinny’s Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo; Jitlada’s “Jazz” Singsanong; and Petit Trois’s Ludo Lefebvre, among others. You can find the full list of participating chefs, restaurants, bars, wineries and breweries here (try not to drool, we dare you). A large portion of your ticket is even tax-deductible—seriously, what’s not to love about L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade?

This traveling horror-themed Halloween cocktail pop-up stops at Melrose Umbrella Co. again this October. The women-owned concept—created by industry veterans Erin Hayes and Kelsey Ramage—is taking over the Beverly Grove bar, serving up expertly mixed cocktails amid metal music and spooky decor (including the famous 12-foot-tall skeleton from Home Depot). Drink highlights include the Bone Temple, made with Teremana Blanco Tequila, and Abyssa’s Obsession, made with pumpkin-infused Kraken Black and Gold Spiced Rums—plus fun glassware you can purchase for yourself. Spirit-free options are also available. And if you can’t get enough Black Lagoon, there’s another SoCal outpost at Midnight Oil in Long Beach.

Held over two weekends (Oct 10–11, 17–18), this Oktoberfest celebration combines Santa Anita’s famous horse races with the best of the Bavarian fall festival, including stein-holding and costume contests, a corn hole competition, keg rolling, pretzels—and beer of course. Each general admission ticket includes a mini tasting stein and eight three-ounce beer tastings, as well as a $5 betting voucher, a tip sheet and access to open grandstand seating at the race track. A pricier VIP group ticket (with a three-person minimum) secures you picnic table seating and a $20 food voucher. 

Go beyond low-quality celebrity-owned agave spirits with this daylong festival dedicated to mezcal de campesinos held at Los Angeles River Center and Gardens. Organized by Madre (home to the largest mezcal selection in the country), Mezcal Por Siempre will bring together visiting mezcaleros from all over Mexico—most of whom don’t normally import their product to the United States. Each $82 ticket nets guests unlimited mezcal samples from visiting producers, plus access to cultural programming including ballet folklórico performances, live music and art installations. Food from local-favorite vendors will also be available for purchase. 

This women-run wine festival—which is officially of drinking age itself this year, as it turns 21—is back, moving from Long Beach to a more central location: the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank. Expect hundreds of wines, brews and spirits from all over the world. Food trucks, live music, games and artisan pop-up boutiques will also be on hand on the expansive grounds. Each GA ticket includes entry to the fest, unlimited drink tastings and a souvenir wine glass. VIP ticket sales benefit the event’s nonprofit partners: the Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club and AHEAD With Horses. Note: On-site parking is only available if purchased in advance. Otherwise, you’ll have to park at Providence High School (511 S Buena Vista St) and take a free shuttle over. That said, designated, ride-sharing or public transport are highly recommended.

The summer edition of Dine L.A. is back from August 14 to 28, with over 400 restaurants across 84 neighborhoods participating in the two-week blitz of bang-for-your-buck set menus. Scattered among the prix-fixe tradition’s dizzying full list of menus are some of L.A.’s best restaurants offering their signature fare at a more budget-friendly price point. This iteration welcomes newcomers including Dominique Crenn’s Monsieur Dior in Beverly Hills, San Gabriel Valley favorites Omaniku and Hipico, and purveyors of the best falafel in L.A., Dune in Atwater Village.

Minutes away from the airport, Burbank’s Broken Compass is a new-school tiki bar of the highest order. Inside, the owners have shied away from Polynesian idols and other more culturally appropriate design choices in favor of vaguely pirate-themed island decor, though the space still feels transportive with palm roofs, wicker lamp fixtures, and plenty of parrots. The drink menu, however, is a full-blown tiki lover’s paradise; tiki staples like Navy Grog, Zombies, and Painkillers coexist peacefully alongside newer creations like the caffeine-spiked Wake Me Up Before You Coco. There are even a few nonalcoholic house creations—instead of just rum-free piña colada—like the Port in a Storm, which combines a booze-free rum alternative with pineapple, falernum, grenadine, and lemon juice. Foodwise, chef-owner Erica Abell whips up a Polynesian-inspired menu of bar bites that includes a kalua pork breakfast burrito, poke nachos and “bang-bang” shrimp tacos. 

Carb lovers, rejoice: This two-day festival dedicated to all things pizza is returning to L.A. Live for the fourth year. Enjoy all-you-can-eat slices from 40 different vendors, watch live dough demos and hear from pizza experts including Nancy Silverton of Pizzeria Mozza and Aaron Lindell of Quarter Sheets. More than a handful of Time Out’s favorite pizzerias in town—Pizzana, Triple Beam Pizza, Prince Street Pizza, Prime, Apollonia’s, Joe’s Pizza, Speak Cheezy and LaSorted’s—are on the lineup.

Little Tokyo is one of L.A.’s most compact and bustling neighborhoods, so there’s a lot to explore in just a few blocks in the realm of food and drink. This year, Go Little Tokyo is back with its annual food tour and festival that will help you discover—or appreciate—the neighborhood’s cornucopia of legacy small food businesses. Highlights of the one-day event include a food history walk-through of Little Tokyo, a pastry decorating class and a furoshiki wrapping workshop. Check in at the Delicious Little Tokyo HQ at the Little Tokyo Arts District Metro Station Plaza to pick up your event map on Saturday afternoon.

In the middle of the bustling, high-end neighbourhood of Ginza – whose name is synonymous with luxury around the world – lies the Tokyo Edition, Ginza. What this slimly built 14-storey oasis of beauty and calm lacks in city views and square footage it makes up for in the service and dining departments, including the Punch Room, a second-floor cocktail lounge featured on Asia’s 50 Best Bars. Your stay will begin with an invitation to relax on one of the sleek white chaise lounges and a complimentary flute of champagne, and the white-glove approach to hospitality only becomes more apparent from there. To be honest, I slightly preferred the property’s larger sibling – the Tokyo Edition, Toranomon – but I believe the Tokyo Edition, Ginza is still a worthy splurge for a certain type of visitor. Proximity to some of the best shopping and dining in the world, as well as the city’s famed Toyosu Market, renders this an ideal five-star hotel for the high net worth or business traveller intent on spending several days experiencing all that the ritzy Tokyo neighbourhood has to offer.  Why stay at the Tokyo Edition, Ginza? The luxury hotel is close to major shopping attractions like the 12-storey Uniqlo flagship and Ginza Six, a luxury shopping mall with foreign imports like Blue Bottle and Eataly. The historic Kabukiza Theatre is just a short walk away. With the aforementioned proximity to Toyosu Market, dozens of Michelin-starred restaurants are also nearby – and staff will be more than

She may have yet to open Lapaba, her hotly anticipated Koreatown pasta bar—though it’s slated to debut by end of year—but L.A. culinary icon Nancy Silverton has already announced plans for another high-profile culinary venture. This time, the James Beard Award-winning chef is betting big on the still-recovering Pacific Palisades with Spacca Tutto, a more casual Chi Spacca spinoff inside Rick Caruso’s yet-to-reopen Palisades Village. Rather than Mozza Group, the restaurant will be in partnership with River Jetty, a primarily Orange County-based hospitality group behind A PCH, a new-school steakhouse in Long Beach. It’s a notable choice for Silverton to sign a lease with Caruso, who also recently attempted a run for mayor in 2022. During the devastating Palisades Fire last January, the billionaire real estate developer hired private water tankers to protect the ritzy outdoor shopping mall—a controversial decision that likely led to Palisades Village being one of the few major commercial structures in the area to survive the wildfires. The commercial complex is slated to reopen sometime in 2026. Photograph: Courtesy Laura GrierFrom left to right: Joseph “McG” Nichol of River Jetty, Nancy Silverton and Rick Caruso. “The name Spacca Tutto reflects resilience, creativity, and courage—the same qualities driving the Palisades community to come roaring back in 2026,” said Rick Caruso, speaking via press release. In Italian, “spacca tutto” roughly translates to “go for it” or “give

Time Out L.A.'s 2025 class of Best Young Chefs, Yazeed Soudani, Ashley Cunningham and Sarah Durning are three of L.A.’s most exciting rising talents, all under the age of 30. They helm buzzy and popular concepts, and have made an impact on the city’s restaurant scene with less than a decade of experience under their belts. We sat down with the chefs to find out their favorite places for sushi and tacos—arguably, two of L.A.’s most iconic food groups—plus their top picks for a good cup of matcha. Here's what they told us. Favorite tacos in Los Angeles? Tacos Los Cholos (South L.A.) and Taqueria Frontera (Cypress Park) Photograph: Patricia Kelly Yeo for Time Out “I would have went for Ricky’s Fish Tacos as well, but he disappeared. I need to make sure they hear about Ricky’s Fish Tacos, because that was the GOAT.” – Yazeed Soudani Villa’s Tacos (Highland Park) and Angel’s Tacos (Sylmar) Photograph: Stephanie Breijo for Time Out “Number one, Villa’s Tacos. Number two, Angel’s Tacos. I specifically love the Sylmar location. Those are my two favorites.” –Ashley CunninghamMariscos Jalisco (multiple locations), Tacos Guelaguetza (East Hollywood) and Brothers Cousins Tacos (West L.A.) Photograph: Patricia Kelly Yeo for Time Out “Mariscos Jalisco, number one. Tacos Guelaguetza outside of Pavilions on Melrose and Vine. Brothers Cousins on the Westside. I watched that place blow up and it is so good. I’m never over there anymore, but I crave it all the time.” –Sarah Durning Favori

The first time I walked into RVR (pronounced “river”) last fall, I felt the usual rush of excitement that accompanies visiting a well-regarded chef’s newest culinary concept. In many cases, a proven name’s follow-up effort more than delivers—the cadence of the menu familiar yet novel enough to inspire newfound delight. Highs are all but guaranteed, lows are few and far between.  This has not been the case at Travis Lett’s new-but-old seasonal “izakaya” on Abbot Kinney, which just celebrated its first year in business on October 1 and has garnered recognition from the New York Times. Every time I’ve visited RVR in the last year—now four times over—something or the other has gone terribly awry. Here, within the same cramped space that held Lett’s all-but-identical Japanese concept, MTN (pronounced “mountain”), Gjelina’s founding chef applies the same breezy-yet-upscale, distinctly Californian approach to Japanese cooking as he once did for Italian cuisine back in 2008. Unfortunately, Lett hasn’t been nearly as successful this time around. Photograph: Patricia Kelly Yeo for Time OutThe ambience at RVR during a reservation later in the evening. Pork gyoza arrives cloaked in a delicate skirt, but the dumplings themselves completely disintegrated on more than one occasion. Coursing between dishes lag with no apparent explanation; the harsh cacophony of the dining room, at least at peak hours, all but ensures you have to yell out your order. A “jammy” strawberry shochu highball ta

Over the last few months, word has slowly trickled out about Kojima, a new no-frills omakase counter on the second floor of Sawtelle Place. Run by Hayato Kojima—previously of Tokyo’s Michelin-recognized, now-closed Nishi-Ogikubo Hayato—the West L.A. restaurant’s signature offering, a $200 omakase, is a bit of a misnomer, at least here in the U.S., where the term has largely become synonymous with high-end sushi. The boorish omakase bro in search of an endless cavalcade of nigiri and a hand roll or two to finish is likely to be disappointed.  What Kojima offers, instead, is something far more quietly thrilling, especially for those of us who actually glance at the bill after dining. Although untethered from the form’s rigid constraints, the restaurant presents a dozen courses that are loosely but distinctly inspired by kaiseki—the traditional Japanese multi-course dining experience emphasizing seasonality and harmony. In both spirit and substance, if not always pacing, the meal bears more than a passing similarity to two-Michelin-star Hayato in the Arts District ($450) all for a fraction of the price.  Photograph: Patricia Kelly Yeo for Time OutHayato Kojima with a gohan course in late August. Aside from a lone server, Kojima-san singlehandedly pulls off a tasting menu that may contain, at any given moment, creamy whorls of shirako with fried taro and ankake, a thick, velvety sauce made with dashi; the best grilled chicken heart you’ll ever have in your life; chilled housema

On the face of it, Tomat is an unlikely place for some of the city’s most interesting new California cuisine. Hidden inside a sprawling shopping complex, the four-month-old London-inspired restaurant is located less than a mile away from LAX. A giant tomato decorates the exterior of the three-story building; Tomat derives its name from a childhood nickname coincidentally shared by married owners Harry Posner and Natalie Dial. After dark, the bright red neon sign draws in hungry neighborhood locals and in-the-know diners from across the city hankering for an eclectic, unforgettable combination of global flavors most Angelenos have never seen or tasted before. While Posner and Dial’s intentions might sound fairly common—they want Tomat to be an upscale neighborhood fixture, worthy of date nights and the like—the painstaking efforts that went into the making of Tomat, along with each meal, reveal a restaurant that is anything but. Five years ago, the couple moved to L.A. from London, abandoning careers in medicine (Posner) and global health (Dial) in order to take advantage of an unmissable lease opportunity in Westchester, where in the late 1940s Dial’s late grandfather started Drollinger Properties, the area’s oldest, largest commercial real estate group. (Her mother now presides over the company today.) The couple have pored over every aspect of the fully renovated building, from the open kitchen to the dining room’s pale wood, dark green and burnt-orange color scheme. Photo

If you know the ins and outs of Los Angeles’ sprawling food scene, you probably know and love Kato, Holbox and Providence. At a September 25 awards ceremony in Las Vegas, all three critically acclaimed L.A. restaurants were the awarded spots on the inaugural edition of North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list—a brand-new regional offshoot of World’s 50 Best Restaurants recognizing restaurants in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. (Mexico is represented on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list.) They’re also, according to us over here at Time Out, some of the best restaurants in Los Angeles,  After being awarded the Resy One to Watch award by the World’s 50 Best organization last year, Kato was ranked the 26th best restaurant in North America—the highest ranked restaurant in L.A. and thus all of Southern California. Chef Jon Yao’s Taiwanese fine dining restaurant in the Arts District also possesses a Michelin star and, if you’re asking me, one of the best cocktail programs in Los Angeles, courtesy of bar director Austin Hennelly. The critically acclaimed tasting menu spot has also been named the No. 1 best restaurant in L.A. on the Los Angeles Times’ 101 Best Restaurants list for the last two years in a row. Photograph: Courtesy Jeni AfusoKato Per the awarding body behind North America’s 50 Best Restaurants, the eatery offers “refreshingly original Taiwanese American fare with [an] elevated drinks offering.” The listing also describes Kato’s dishes as “some of t

September 24 update: Monsieur Dior will not actually be Dominique Crenn’s first L.A. restaurant. That title actually goes to Santa Monica’s short-lived, critically panned Abode, which Crenn first opened in April 2007 before departing the restaurant in October of the same year. The headline has been updated to include the qualifier “in nearly two decades,” and additional information has been added below on Crenn’s experience in the L.A. culinary world. It’s not every day that a Michelin-recognized, world-renowned chef like San Francisco’s Dominique Crenn opens a restaurant in Los Angeles—and with Dior, no less. In a surprise Sunday morning news post on WWD, the international luxury fashion house announced plans to open a Beverly Hills rooftop restaurant this fall in partnership with Crenn, who made history in 2018 as the first female chef in the United States to earn three Michelin stars for her eponymous San Francisco restaurant, Atelier Crenn. Many may also be acquainted with the French American’s work through season two of Netflix’s Chef’s Table or the on-screen culinary wizardry featured in The Menu (2022), a horror-comedy satirizing the absurdities of fine dining. Crenn also has deep roots in Los Angeles. Back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, she spent nearly a decade of her early career cooking in Los Angeles, serving as executive chef of Manhattan Beach’s Manhattan Country Club from 1998 to 2006. In 2007, she briefly served as the opening chef for Abode, a short-lived,

In spite of the mythos surrounding chefs and the intangibles of hospitality, the success of a restaurant often boils down to a few smart real estate decisions, and the three-month-old Baby Bistro is no exception. The buzzy, self-described “bistro of sorts” is the final piece of the puzzle completing Alpine Courtyard, located in Victor Heights. As of writing, the trendy commercial complex is single-handedly gentrifying the tiny, oft-forgotten neighborhood at the border of Chinatown and Echo Park, just north of the 110 freeway.  The place’s vintage charm is obvious before you even spot Baby Bistro, which you’ll find tucked away towards the back of the complex. Owned and painstakingly developed over several years by preservation-minded architect-developer Jingbo Lou, it consists of six converted buildings, including a 1908 Craftsman house and three Victorian era homes (one of which houses Baby Bistro), arranged around a brick-lined central courtyard with a lush, carefully maintained garden full of banana trees, bougainvillea and plenty of herbs and vegetables. Photograph: Patricia Kelly Yeo for Time OutAlpine Courtyard’s garden during the day. In a city of sun-bleached asphalt, minimal shade cover and other hostile urban features, it feels downright heavenly to step into Alpine Courtyard. By day, Angelenos pick up plant-based pastries at Bakers Bench, specialty caffeinated drinks from Heavy Water Coffee and gourmet banchan from Perilla LA. After 4:30pm, when Perilla closes up

Say it ain’t so: Birdie G’s in Santa Monica is closing at the end of 2025, as first reported by the Los Angeles Times. According to chef-owner Jeremy Fox (who also runs nearby Rustic Canyon), the critically acclaimed restaurant—and Time Out’s pick for the best restaurant in Santa Monica, as well as No. 22 across all of Los Angeles—has not been immune to the economic downturn related to this year’s devastating wildfires, among several other long-term factors, including location and the overall size of the space. Birdie G’s first made its debut in June 2019, about nine months before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. From the get-go, the sprawling, industrial-modern restaurant located steps away from Bergamot Station earned recognition from local and national media for Fox’s family-friendly, farm-to-table comfort food, which draws inspiration from the chef’s experiences growing up in a Jewish family in the Midwest. Photograph: Patricia Kelly Yeo for Time Out The restaurant is named for Fox’s daughter Birdie and grandmother Gladys. Over the years, Birdie G’s has earned local and national recognition for its inventive dishes and cooking techniques. Personally, I always looked forward to its seasonal dishes made with housemade hoshigaki, or Japanese-style air-dried fuyu persimmons. From where I stood, the upscale restaurant provided a unique, largely satisfying mix of comfort, value and creativity—a total rarity in Santa Monica, a land of mostly boring Italian restaurants, fast-casua

Correction: This article originally stated that the Original Pantry Cafe would reopen on September 11. This was incorrect; on Thursday morning, Unite Here Local 11 and new owner Leo Pustilnikov held a press conference announcing the restaurant would aim to reopen by New Year’s Eve, per original reporting from Eater. In a rare win for L.A.’s struggling restaurant and bar scene, Downtown L.A.’s iconic Original Pantry Cafe will once again reopen its doors after shutting down a little over six months ago, per a report from LAist. The 101-year-old diner, which for most of its original run was open 24 hours a day, has fed generations of Angelenos affordable cups of coffee alongside plates of pancakes, spaghetti with garlic bread and other hearty American fare. How did this come about? Unite Here Local 11, the union representing the restaurant’s staff, was able to reach a deal with Leo Pustilnikov, the prolific local real estate developer who purchased the building earlier this year.  The Figueroa Street greasy spoon originally closed its doors on March 2. Shortly thereafter, former employees revived its menu at East Los Tacos in nearby East L.A., according to Boyle Heights Beat, through a breakfast pop-up known as East Los Pantry. In a Thursday morning press conference outside the Original Pantry, Unite Here Local 11 and Pustilnikov announced the restaurant would aim to reopen by New Year’s Eve, a.k.a. the end of the year. Why did the Original Pantry Cafe close in the first place

Updated September 2025: Since we first tried the omakase-style tasting menu at Pizzeria Sei in June 2024, the Pico Robertson pizzeria has been crowned ninth-best in the world.  Outside of Italy, Japan and a short-lived pop-up in the Philippines, the idea of a pizza omakase, or chef’s tasting menu, hasn’t exactly caught on across the globe. Until quite recently, Americans needed to travel outside of the country to experience the likes of Pizza Bar on 38th at the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo and Pepe in Grani just outside Naples. Now, L.A. is home to one of the country’s only pizza tasting menus, courtesy of William Joo, the Korean American pizzaiolo behind Pizzeria Sei in Pico-Robertson. The so-called $150 “omakasei” menu, which debuted last month, is slated to run every other Tuesday evening at 7pm, with reservations for each subsequent tasting menu generally dropping on Resy at noon the following day. Each menu includes a rotating half-dozen-plus parade of Tokyo-style Neapolitan slices that might be inspired by everything from Pizza Hut to some of the world’s best pizzerias. I’m going to be honest here: I’ve spent the last two years trying about 50 different pizzerias across Los Angeles, and I still think Pizzeria Sei serves the best pies in town. It’s the reason I’ve ranked the no-frills Pico Boulevard storefront number one on Time Out’s guide to the best pizzas in L.A. and included it among the city’s best restaurants. I’ve yet to revisit Tokyo for Seirinkan or Savoy Tomato &

Pizzeria Sei does it yet again! In 50 Top Pizza’s newly released annual list of the world’s best pizzerias, L.A.’s award-winning Tokyo-style pizzeria came in at an astoundingly high No. 9, beating out several other American pie shops in New York and Chicago. The tiny Pico-Robertson pizzeria was named America’s second-best pizza joint earlier this year by the same organization, which has roots in Italy and describes itself as the “first guide of the best pizzerias in the world.” At some point in the near future, the extremely popular restaurant (which is also Time Out’s pick for the best pizza in L.A.) is slated to move to a larger space in Palms, where chef-owner William Joo says he will also serve a new kind of pie. To determine its regional rankings—a recent ranking also dropped for all of Europe—the 50 Top Pizza judges use anonymous inspectors to sample pizzerias across the globe in search of high-quality dough, toppings, service and overall experience. Within California, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco also cracked the top 10, coming in tenth on the global list. If you believe the judges at 50 Top Pizza, there are actually two different best pizzerias in the world: I Masanielli – Francesco Martucci in Caserta, Italy and Una Pizza Napoletana in New York City. Both restaurants earned the No. 1 spot.Outside of L.A. County, one other Southern California pizzeria also made 50 Top Pizza’s worldwide pizza list: Dana Point’s Truly Pizza, which came in at No. 48. Recentl