WHY One of the finest small markets around, tiny and personal and packed with good things to eat. WHAT Oh, how we love this wee little market in an old house! There’s the quality produce, of course, and the good meat and fish. And those amazing scones made by the French guy who sells them [...]
WHY Don’t-miss dishes like salt-and-pepper shrimp, whole steamed fish and crab in black bean sauce. WHAT Vast and glossy, this reliable Cantonese restaurant is chaotic for dim sum and a bit more refined at dinner. The fresh and varied dim sum is served from rolling carts, and the seafood is consistently excellent. A seafood feast [...]
WHY The Pioneer rice special, a combination of crispy minced shrimp cake, slabs of grilled marinated pork, delicate steamed egg loaf and a salad garnish, has customers returning again and again. WHAT The small city of Artesia may be famed for Little India, in which this Vietnamese place sits, but in fact it’s as multinational [...]
WHY Old-school hot dogs of every conceivable topping combo, creatively named for celebrities and movies. WHAT These aren’t the best wieners in town, but Pink’s is still a must-stop for visitors and L.A. newbies, just to soak up the atmosphere and watch the tourists from all over the world. There’s always a line, but the [...]
WHY Martinis, atmosphere, flannel cakes, atmosphere, chicken pot pie and atmosphere. WHAT God knows it isn’t the cooking that makes this place an essential L.A. restaurant—it’s the rich blend of traditional architecture and Hollywood history, faded smoke and legendary lies, all aged to an irresistible patina. (Okay, the cocktails are part of the draw, too.) [...]
WHY To worship at the shrine of California cuisine. WHAT Wolfgang Puck still works the room from time to time, when he’s not off overseeing his global empire, but this is really Lee Hefter’s kingdom, and it’s a magical kingdom indeed. Hefter-Puck (with chef de cuisine Tetsu Yahagi) have kept the standards at peak level [...]
WHY Beautiful Mexican seafood in a landmark Boyle Heights setting, with kind service. Try the shrimp gorditas for lunch and a fresh-fish special for dinner. WHAT An L.A. treasure, La Serenata serves carefully prepared, sometimes elegant Mexican seafood dishes to a loving and longtime clientele. It now has two branches on the westside, and they’re [...]
WHY Free backyard fruit, vegetables and herbs from thoughtful urban farmers. WHAT Actress Hynden Walch started this nonprofit co-op, through which residents from Glassell Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz and Eagle Rock drop off their excess backyard crops at a pre-set time and place, and Walch and volunteers bag up assortments that are then delivered [...]
WHY Succulent roast pork and Cuban-style roast chicken, and (when it’s available) amazing oxtail, too. WHAT A no-frills, inexpensive L.A. landmark beloved for its garlicky marinated roast chicken, juicy, salty Cuban roast pork, plantains, black beans and rice. Branches on south La Cienega and in Encino and Manhattan Beach. 10319 Venice Blvd., Culver City, 310.558.3168, [...]
WHY Luscious prime rib and a theatrical sense of ‘going out.’ WHAT It’s kinda like the Disneyland of restaurants. Lawry’s has characters (waitresses in uniforms and perky caps and imposing carving men in stiff toques), adventures (salad tossed tableside in a huge spinning bowl, prime rib carved from a silver cart) and tons of Japanese [...]
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