Picking the best restaurants in Los Angeles is harder than it sounds. The city is huge, the dining scene changes every season, and a place that was everywhere on social media two years ago may already be gone. This guide sticks to restaurants that are open now and have a track record: century-old Hollywood institutions, the city’s first three-Michelin-star dining rooms, and the taco counters, Korean barbecue houses and delis that locals actually line up for.
Every restaurant below was checked against its own website and a current guide (the Michelin Guide’s current California listings or Time Out Los Angeles’s September 2026 list of the city’s best restaurants) in November 2026. Hours, menus and prices change often in LA, so check before you go. Price levels ($ to $$$$) are the Michelin Guide’s where one is published.
Iconic Los Angeles Classics
Start with the restaurants that have outlasted every trend. None of them requires a hard-to-get booking.
The Musso & Frank Grill (Hollywood)
Open on Hollywood Boulevard since 1919, Musso & Frank is widely described as Hollywood’s oldest restaurant. Much of the original menu, created by French chef Jean Rue, is still served, and the dining rooms have hosted generations of writers and actors; Raymond Chandler, Dorothy Parker and F. Scott Fitzgerald were all regulars. Order a martini (the bar is famous for them) and something from the grill. Cuisine: classic American grill. Where: 6667 Hollywood Blvd. Reservations: recommended, through OpenTable or by phone. Dinner only, Tuesday to Sunday.
Canter’s Deli (Fairfax District)
Canter’s has been serving pastrami, matzo ball soup and rye bread on Fairfax Avenue since 1931, and its bakery case (black-and-white cookies, rugelach) is reason enough to stop. It keeps late hours, closing at 11:30 pm most nights and staying open around the clock on Saturdays. Cuisine: Jewish deli. Where: 419 N. Fairfax Ave. Reservations: usually not needed, though it is listed on OpenTable.
The Apple Pan (West LA)
Since 1947 this small white house on West Pico Boulevard has done two things: burgers and pies. Seating is at the counter, in view of the grill. Order the Hickoryburger with its closely guarded hickory sauce, then a slice of banana cream pie or apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Cuisine: burgers and pie. Where: 10801 W. Pico Blvd. Reservations: none listed; counter seating, so expect a short wait at busy times. Open daily from 11 am.
Philippe the Original (near Chinatown and Union Station)
Philippe’s opened in 1908 and has stood on North Alameda Street since 1951. It claims to have invented the French dip sandwich (Cole’s in Downtown makes the same claim). The routine hasn’t changed in decades: line up at the counter, order a French dip, then carry it on a paper plate to the long shared tables on a floor scattered with sawdust. Cuisine: sandwiches and deli. Where: 1001 N. Alameda St. Reservations: none; it’s counter service. Open daily, 6 am to 10 pm.
Langer’s Delicatessen (Westlake)
Many Angelenos will tell you the city’s best pastrami is served across from MacArthur Park. Langer’s has been open since 1947, and its No. 19 is the order: hand-cut pastrami on double-baked rye with coleslaw, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing. The Michelin Guide lists it as a Bib Gourmand. Cuisine: Jewish deli. Price: $$. Where: 704 S. Alvarado St. Reservations: not taken; curbside pickup can be ordered online.
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills dining is concentrated in the few blocks around Canon Drive, Beverly Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard, so it is easy to pair dinner with a walk past the Rodeo Drive shops. For a closer look at the neighborhood itself, our Beverly Hills tour covers the streets around these restaurants.
Spago
Wolfgang Puck’s flagship is still the restaurant most visitors think of when they hear “Beverly Hills dining,” and it has kept its place for decades. The kitchen cooks seasonal California food from local ingredients, à la carte or as a full tasting menu, and the bar is a good choice for a lighter evening. Cuisine: Californian. Where: 176 N. Canon Dr. Reservations: recommended. Closed Mondays.
Funke
Chef Evan Funke (also behind Felix and Mother Wolf) built this restaurant around a pasta laboratory where rare, regional Italian pasta shapes are made by hand in view of guests. It fills a three-story 1930s art deco building, with a rooftop bar on top. Time Out Los Angeles includes it on its 2026 list of the city’s best restaurants. Cuisine: Italian. Price: $$$$. Where: 9388 S. Santa Monica Blvd. Reservations: strongly recommended.
matū
A different kind of steakhouse: matū serves only 100% grass-fed Wagyu from First Light Farms, and the room, with wood panels, exposed brick and brass, feels warmer than the usual steakhouse. The Michelin Guide recommends it. Cuisine: steakhouse. Price: $$$$. Where: 239 S. Beverly Dr. Reservations: recommended.
Also nearby: for glatt kosher food, Jeff’s Gourmet Sausage Factory (open since 1999 at 8930 W. Pico Blvd. in Pico-Robertson) makes its sausages, hot dogs and burgers on site. It closes early on Fridays and reopens after Shabbat on Saturday night.
West Hollywood, Hollywood and Melrose
This stretch holds the city’s highest concentration of acclaimed restaurants, including both of Los Angeles’s three-star Michelin restaurants.
Providence
Chef Michael Cimarusti has run this seafood-focused restaurant on Melrose Avenue since 2005. In 2025 it became one of the first two Los Angeles restaurants to earn three Michelin stars, and it also holds a Michelin Green Star for sustainability. The cooking is precise and built around carefully sourced fish and shellfish. Cuisine: seafood. Price: $$$$. Where: 5955 Melrose Ave. Reservations: essential. Dinner Tuesday to Saturday.
Somni
The other three-star restaurant. Chef Aitor Zabala first opened Somni (Catalan for “dream”) in Beverly Hills in 2018, closed it during the pandemic and reopened it in West Hollywood as an intimate, highly personal tasting-menu restaurant. Cuisine: contemporary. Price: $$$$. Where: 9045 Nemo St., West Hollywood. Reservations: essential.
Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza
Nancy Silverton’s two restaurants share the corner of Melrose and Highland. Osteria Mozza holds a Michelin star and a Green Star and serves creative Italian cooking and cocktails. Pizzeria Mozza, open since 2006 and a Michelin Bib Gourmand, is the easier, cheaper way in, built around Silverton’s pizzas. Cuisine: Italian. Price: $$$$ (Osteria), $$ (Pizzeria). Where: 6602 Melrose Ave. and 641 N. Highland Ave. Reservations: recommended at both.
République
Walter and Margarita Manzke’s bakery, café and restaurant fills a landmark building on La Brea Avenue that Charlie Chaplin built in 1929, with high ceilings, brickwork and skylights. Breakfast and brunch run daily from 8 am, and Margarita Manzke won the 2024 James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker, so do not skip the pastry counter. Dinner (Tuesday to Saturday) is French-inspired California cooking. Cuisine: California-French. Price: $$$$. Where: 624 S. La Brea Ave. Reservations: recommended for dinner; the bakery and café are walk-in.
Night + Market WeHo
Chef Kris Yenbamroong’s Thai restaurant on the Sunset Strip serves loud, spicy Thai drinking food with natural wine and cold beer. Sister restaurants Night + Market Song (Silver Lake) and Night + Market Sahm (Venice) serve a similar menu. Cuisine: Thai. Where: 9043 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. Reservations: through Resy. Dinner Wednesday to Sunday.
Crossroads Kitchen
Proof that plant-based dining can feel like a night out. Crossroads Kitchen serves a fully vegan menu at lunch, weekend brunch and dinner in a polished Melrose Avenue room. Cuisine: vegan. Where: 8284 Melrose Ave. Reservations: recommended, through OpenTable.
Yamashiro Hollywood
Come for the setting. Yamashiro sits in a 1914 mansion modeled on a palace near Kyoto, high in the hills above Hollywood, with a garden courtyard, koi pond and wide city views. The menu is Japanese-inspired, from sushi rolls to Wagyu sukiyaki, and it is a popular choice for birthdays and anniversaries. Cuisine: Japanese-inspired. Where: 1999 N. Sycamore Ave. Reservations: recommended, through Resy; valet parking available. Dinner nightly and Sunday brunch.
Downtown, the Arts District and Chinatown
Downtown LA ranges from a two-star tasting menu to a century-old food hall.
Grand Central Market
Open since 1917 on Broadway, Grand Central Market is the easiest way to eat well in Downtown without a plan. Long-running stalls such as Tacos Tumbras a Tomas (Michoacán-style carnitas) sit alongside newer vendors serving Oaxacan food, ramen and more. Cuisine: food hall. Where: 317 S. Broadway (parking garage at 308 S. Hill St.). Reservations: none. Open daily, 8 am to 9 pm.
Kato
Chef Jonathan Yao’s tasting menu draws on his Taiwanese background and his Los Angeles upbringing. Kato now holds two Michelin stars, and its cocktail and zero-proof drinks are as carefully made as the food. It sits in the Row DTLA complex on the edge of the Arts District. Cuisine: Taiwanese-influenced tasting menu. Price: $$$$. Where: 777 Alameda St., #114. Reservations: essential. Dinner Wednesday to Sunday.
Bestia
Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis’s Arts District restaurant has been one of the city’s busiest Italian dining rooms for more than a decade, known for blistered pizzas, grilled prawns and rich pastas. It is loud and lively, which is part of the appeal. Cuisine: Italian. Price: $$$$. Where: 2121 E. 7th Pl. Reservations: recommended. Open nightly, 5 to 11 pm.
Rossoblu
Chef Steve Samson’s restaurant in the Fashion District cooks the food of Emilia-Romagna, such as house-made tagliatelle with pork and beef ragù, and finishes with a well-loved tiramisu. The Michelin Guide recommends it. Cuisine: Italian. Price: $$. Where: 1124 San Julian St. Reservations: recommended.
Howlin’ Ray’s
Nashville-style hot chicken has been drawing long lines to this Chinatown counter since 2015. Choose your heat level carefully. There is also a Pasadena location. Cuisine: fried chicken. Where: Far East Plaza, 727 N. Broadway, #128. Reservations: none; expect a line at peak times.
For a view: Perch, on the 15th and 16th floors of a building on Pershing Square, is a rooftop bar and French-inspired restaurant with skyline views and live music. The 16th-floor rooftop is 21+.
Santa Monica, Venice and Malibu
Gjelina
Gjelina opened on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in 2008 and has been one of Venice’s busiest restaurants ever since, with an upbeat room and a locally sourced, produce-forward menu. Its success led to a take-away counter and a popular bakery. The Michelin Guide recommends it. Cuisine: Californian. Price: $$. Where: 1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice. Reservations: recommended, through its website.
Rustic Canyon
A Santa Monica favorite since 2006: a warm wine bar and seasonal kitchen with intimate booths and a busy bar. The daily 5 to 6:30 pm happy hour in the bar is walk-in only and a good way to try it. Cuisine: Californian. Price: $$$. Where: 1119 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. Reservations: recommended for dinner; street parking only.
Malibu Farm
For a meal by the ocean, Malibu Farm sits at the start of the Malibu Pier and serves fresh, farm-to-table breakfast, lunch and dinner with a full bar. Cuisine: Californian. Where: 23000 Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu. Reservations: taken for dinner; brunch is first come, first served.
Also in Venice: Café Gratitude on Rose Avenue (with a second location in Larchmont Village) is a long-running plant-based café serving all-day breakfast, bowls and juices.
Koreatown, the Eastside and South LA
Some of the city’s best food is a short drive east and south of Downtown, and much of it costs far less than a Westside dinner.
Park’s BBQ
Open since 2003, Park’s is one of the city’s most celebrated Korean barbecue restaurants. The draw is USDA Prime and Kobe-style beef grilled at the table, and the photo wall of famous chefs, actors and politicians by the door shows how many visitors agree. Cuisine: Korean barbecue. Price: $$$. Where: 955 S. Vermont Ave. Reservations: available through its website; recommended on weekends. Open daily, 11 am to 10 pm.
Soban
For Korean home-style cooking rather than barbecue, Soban is known for its soy-marinated raw crab (ganjang gejang), braised short ribs (galbi jjim) and braised black cod, served with a spread of banchan. Cuisine: Korean. Where: 4001 W. Olympic Blvd. Reservations: available online. Closed Tuesdays.
Guelaguetza
Behind its bright orange façade, this family-run restaurant is the city’s best-known address for Oaxacan food. Order one of the moles (the family also sells its mole pastes online) and a michelada. Cuisine: Oaxacan. Price: $$$. Where: 3014 W. Olympic Blvd. Reservations: accepted.
Guisados
The original Boyle Heights shop of this family-owned taqueria serves guisados, slow-cooked Mexican stews, in tacos. Try the steak picado or the cochinita pibil, braised with achiote and topped with pickled onions. Cuisine: Mexican. Price: $. Where: 2100 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave. (other locations around LA). Reservations: none; order at the counter.
Holbox
Chef Gilbert Cetina’s seafood counter inside Mercado La Paloma, south of Downtown, holds a Michelin star at counter-service prices. Expect bright ceviches and aguachiles, grilled lobster and tacos on house-made heirloom corn tortillas. Cuisine: Mexican seafood. Price: $$. Where: 3655 S. Grand Ave., #C9. Reservations: walk up for the counter; the tasting menu (Wednesdays and Thursdays) is by reservation only. Closed Mondays.
Tips for Eating Out in LA
- Book ahead for dinner. Most sit-down restaurants in this guide use OpenTable or Resy, or take bookings through their own websites. Tasting-menu restaurants such as Providence, Somni and Kato release tables in advance and fill quickly; casual spots like Philippe’s, Langer’s, Guisados and Howlin’ Ray’s don’t take reservations at all.
- Dress codes are relaxed. Los Angeles is a casual city, and none of the restaurants above publishes a strict dress code. Smart casual is a safe choice for the tasting-menu rooms and Beverly Hills; jeans are fine almost everywhere else.
- Read the check before you tip. Tipping for table service is customary in the US. Many LA restaurants also add a service charge (Bestia, for example, adds 4% to fund staff health benefits and will remove it on request). California law lets restaurants charge these fees as long as they are clearly disclosed, so check the menu and the bill before adding a tip.
- Plan for traffic and parking. Distances between neighborhoods are long and evenings are slow on the freeways. Group your plans by area, and check whether a restaurant offers valet; some, like Rustic Canyon, have street parking only.
If you would rather not drive at all, our classic car tour in a 1970 Cadillac DeVille convertible can end at one of the Hollywood or Beverly Hills restaurants above. For the morning after, see our guide to the best coffee shops in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.
Best Restaurants in Los Angeles: FAQ
Which Los Angeles restaurants have three Michelin stars?
Providence in Hollywood and Somni in West Hollywood. Both were promoted to three stars in the 2025 Michelin Guide California, the first Los Angeles restaurants ever to reach that level.
What are the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles that are still open?
Philippe the Original dates to 1908, Grand Central Market to 1917 and The Musso & Frank Grill, Hollywood’s oldest restaurant, to 1919. Canter’s (1931), Langer’s (1947) and The Apple Pan (1947) are other long-running classics.
Where can I eat well in LA on a budget?
Guisados is rated $ by the Michelin Guide, and Holbox is a Michelin-starred counter with $$ prices. Philippe’s, Grand Central Market, The Apple Pan and Langer’s are all affordable, no-reservation options.
Do I need reservations at LA restaurants?
For dinner at sit-down restaurants, yes, especially on weekends. Tasting-menu restaurants need to be booked well ahead. Counters, delis and food halls don’t take reservations, so arrive outside peak hours to avoid a long wait.