The Best Los Angeles Restaurants: 15 Tables Worth Booking Tonight

I used to live in Santa Monica and spent my first year eating within a mile of my apartment—content, a little smug, and rarely leaving the neighborhood. Nights rotated between Rustic Canyon and Cassia, two doors I could wander to without checking traffic. Then I started crossing town for dinner, and suddenly I understood why locals would claim this is a city with a dining scene that’s unmatched anywhere.

Koreatown meant late plates at Park’s BBQ and midnight galbi jjim at Sun Nong Dan; the Arts District delivered serious cooking in brick-and-beam rooms at Bestia and Bavel; in Silver Lake and Los Feliz, places like Pine & Crane and Kismet felt like chefs letting themselves play; East Hollywood had that scrappy, test-kitchen energy at Kuya Lord and Saffy’s. Suddenly the whole city clicked.

Now I’m in and out of L.A. for work all the time, and I plan trips around meals. I’ll take the 10, slip onto the 110, and bail onto the 101 if it means catching a menu before it changes. I try every new place I can and keep returning to the ones that still surprise me on visit three.

Over the years, that’s turned into this list—restaurants I trust, book, and recommend without hesitation.