Los Angeles’s dining scene is as innovative as the city’s world-renowned entertainment industry. Iconic restaurants such as Lawry’s, BCD Tofu House, and Grand Central Market gave the city its culinary credence, but it’s also home to newer genre-defying spots that rethink sustainability, fuse unexpected cuisines, and highlight underrepresented communities.
These places are rewriting the dining script in the nation’s creative capital right now. Read on for a guide to ten cutting-edge spots to book ASAP in LA.
Redbird – Los Angeles (Downtown)
It doesn’t get grander than Redbird, an acclaimed New American restaurant in what was a historic cathedral. Co-owners Neal and Amy Knoll Fraser turned it into a breathtaking dining space in 2014, earning nods from Vogue, Architectural Digest, and more. The Latin-inscribed stone facade and terracotta pavers suggest the building belongs to a different era. But sleek additions including plush orange stools, a couple of dramatically backlit bars, and a glass-encased wine cellar give it a modern feel—without overshadowing the structure’s original majesty. It all makes for a unique past-meets-present meal, enhanced by award-winning cocktails from bar director Tobin Shea. Don’t skip the bourbon-forward Cardinal Punch—proof that spirits (of a different kind) still rule this former house of worship.
Dunsmoor (Eagle Rock)
The edgiest thing about Brian Dunsmoor’s northeast LA restaurant is the chef’s commitment to early American cooking traditions. The kitchen ditches 21st-century influences (no blenders or induction burners) and opts for a large brick hearth and wood-fired oven for Southern-inspired dishes such as white cheddar cornbread, cider-glazed Bandera quail, and coal-roasted seafood. Though the chef’s previous place, Hatchet Hall in Culver City, also featured fire-pit cooking, Dunsmoor goes all in with its heritage-heavy approach. Its long communal tables offer prime views of the action-packed kitchen and the hardworking hearths that help the restaurant shake up the status quo.
Flor y Solera Spanish Tapas Bar (Downtown)
Rare Catalan specialties take center stage at this first-of-its-kind downtown stunner. Flor y Solera is led by aerospace engineer-turned-chef Mònica Angelats, a Barcelona native who wants to give Angelenos a nuanced take on tapas. There are some familiar dishes such as tortilla de patatas and arroz con negro. But skip the usual suspects and go for lesser-seen treasures such as mandonguilles amb sèpia (pork meatballs with cuttlefish and almonds), best paired with a velvety sherry flight—not typically found at tapas places in America. Angelats learned to cook from her grandparents and draws inspiration from post-church family lunches. Enjoy the quintessentially Spanish meal in a space that’s just as transportive, lined with tiles modeled after Barcelona’s signature mosaics.
Leona’s (Studio City)
Leona’s is a Japanese-Peruvian paradise known for pitch-perfect fusion. Udon noodles get the carbonara treatment, uni from Hokkaido plays a starring role in a garlicky tiradito, and shimeji mushrooms stud a fontina-flavored risotto. The inventive creations come from veteran sushi chef Shigenori Fujimoto, who knows how to make a Japanese restaurant pop, even on Ventura Boulevard’s crowded sushi strip. Choose from three very different dining areas (a marble-clad indoor-outdoor space, a hushed sushi bar, or a chandelier-decked dining room) and dig into a menu that isn’t afraid of coloring outside the lines.
Manuela (Arts District)
This rustic charmer in the Hauser & Wirth complex is known for a knockout brunch, but it also stands out for executive chef Kris Tominaga’s devotion to honoring chefs, farmers, and artists. If you need proof, look no further than the thriving urban garden he planted next door, which provides the herbs, fruits, and chiles for the restaurant’s dishes and cocktails. That outdoor oasis is also home to a flock of chickens who supply fresh eggs for California-inspired dishes such as black bean chilaquiles and popover Benedicts. Add striking art from world-renowned names including Franz West and Subodh Gupta, and it’s a winning formula for a full-fledged sensory feast.
Ilé (Hollywood)
Ilé is one of the hottest pop-ups in a city exploding with them. The West African dinner party happens in chef Tolu Erogbogbo’s Hollywood apartment. Its nine-course tasting menu is made with spices and ingredients shipped straight from Nigerian villages, along with produce from SoCal farmers markets. Erogbogbo transforms those raw materials into jollof rice with fried chicken and spicy lamb suya and introduces each course with a personal story. Even though it’s a BYOB experience, Erogbogbo—the ultimate host—is known for throwing in complimentary tequila shots. The result is a communal dining experience that you won’t find anywhere else in Los Angeles.
Pijja Palace (Silver Lake)
This laidback pizza parlor slash sports bar occupies the ground floor of a Comfort Inn, but isn’t held back by its humble address. Naples meets North India on Pijja Palace’s ambitious claim-to-fame pies, thin and crispy with base layers of fenugreek-laced tomato sauce or spinach and onion saag. Classic bar bites come with South Asian twists, including chicken wings soaked in cilantro-mint chutney and aloo tikki hash sliders layered with Amul cheese. Wash it all down with a draft beer or a chai whiskey sour, and raise a toast to this extra-original icon, which has already scored serious local honors—and Hollywood love.
Poltergeist (Echo Park)
If 2022 was the year of chaos cooking, then Poltergeist is the genre’s unhinged poster child. The freewheeling restaurant sits in a vintage Echo Park barcade and serves seemingly mismatched but compatible dishes, including a Thai spin on a Caesar, made with lemongrass and puffed rice croutons, green curry bucatino, and broccoli beef ravioli (a tribute to chef Diego Argoti’s viral street-pasta pop-up, Estrano), plus a banana split with pop rocks. The mixed-up menu mirrors Argoti’s zigzaggy career, which included several stops at LA’s most revered kitchens. A meal here features the clicks and dings of surrounding pinball machines, plenty of gothish decor, and quirky by-the-bottle wine options—Poltergeist is hoping to pave the way for natural wines from eastern Europe—making it one of the most subversive restaurants in town.
kodō (Downtown)
This minimalist Japanese spot (the anchor restaurant at the Kensho Group’s Rykn hotel) resembles nothing else that’s landed in DTLA before. kodō is so chic, you almost forget it was once a firehouse. To enter, diners pass through a wave of steel and stone and eat under hanging orange fabrics dyed with fermented persimmon juice, a technique that originated in 13th-century Japan. But don’t expect an austere Zen experience: kodō strikes an unlikely balance between tranquil teahouse and upbeat izakaya—and sticks the landing. Expect Cali-accented Japanese dishes that are just as elegant, including Kyoto-style small plates (read: pickled and simmered things), dishes cooked over binchotan charcoal, and a sumptuous six-course sushi omakase at this vibey and experimental star.
Amiga Amore (Highland Park)
Chef Danielle Duran-Zecca and her husband Alessandro Zecca were pros at the pop-up restaurant game for years, even doing a prestigious stint at the James Beard House in New York City. In 2023, the duo finally landed a brick-and-mortar space in an old denim repair shop. Amiga Amore serves an imaginative mashup of Italian and Mexican flavors, a solid cross-cultural comfort food lineup that includes the signature elote agnolotti, chorizo-crusted cod, and a “noprese” (a caprese made from cured cactus paddles). Don’t let its tiny dining room fool you—this Highland Park gem is raising the bar for LA’s killer fusion restaurant scene.
Tried them all? Check out other options here.
Aarti Virani is the blog editor at OpenTable. She is based in the cultural melting pot that is Jersey City, New Jersey.
