The most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles for Valentine’s Day are made for all kinds of relationship statuses.
If you’re just getting started, try a bi-level tapas spot with excellent Spanish wines in Santa Monica. When you’re ready to introduce your friends to your SO, do it at a modern Mexican destination in Atwater Village where delicious seafood meets great cocktails. Epic celebrations call for one of LA’s best tasting menu experiences at an acclaimed restaurant in Downtown.
This guide pairs LA’s restaurants with romantic occasions from first dates all the way to milestone anniversaries. These are LA’s 13 best date-night restaurants.
Find the most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles for Valentine’s Day and date nights year-round on OpenTable now.
Read on for a guide to LA’s 13 best date-night restaurants.
For a first date
For knockout Spanish tapas paired with stellar wines – book at Xuntos (Santa Monica)
The golden lights at this bi-level tapas spot make sure everyone looks good—critical to a smooth first date. Start at the bar or one of the stand-up high-tops and sip on Spanish wines and sherries, which pair well with chef Sandra Cordero’s top-notch pintxos like scallops with saffron butter. If things are going really well, move to an upstairs table and keep the small-plates party going.
For innovative small plates and creative cocktails – head to Here’s Looking at You (Koreatown)
One of the great things about dining at HLAY, as regulars call it, is that there’s plenty to talk about—starting with the adventurous menu of small plates (think uni panna cotta and chicken liver mousse with tiki butter). And the bar shakes and stirs a rotating menu of some of the most creative (and delicious) cocktails in town. If you want to keep things super casual, pop by after 8:30 p.m. for an excellent “happy hour” cheeseburger topped with au poivre mayo and caramelized onions.
For a second date
For wood-fired American dishes at one of the most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles- reserve a table at Dunsmoor (Glassell Park)
The flickering lights from chef Brian Dunsmoor’s wood-fired hearth and the tapered candles on the long wooden tables set the scene for one romantic night at this Glasswell Park favorite. Share the chef’s signature cornbread, slathered in cultured butter and honey, and other hits like Kobe beef tartare with sunchokes. If you’re drinking, make sure to chat up one of the knowledgeable servers to help you pick a bottle from one of LA’s most exciting wine lists.
For exquisite housemade pastas in one of the most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles – head to Antico Nuovo (East Larchmont Village)
Chef Chad Colby’s love letter to Italian food is perfect for enjoying with someone who’s graduated from drinks to a more intimate dinner. Get to know your date better over luxurious housemade pastas like tortelli with lemon, ricotta, marjoram, and pine nuts. Don’t miss the wood-fired meats like a lamb shank with moscato jus and a pitch-perfect, mostly Italian wine list. And Colby’s gelatos are the perfect sweet ending to a (hopefully great) second date.
For an anniversary or romantic milestone
For elegant French fare at one of the great date restaurants in Los Angeles – visit pasjoli (Santa Monica)
There’s no shortage of romance at Dave Beran’s gorgeous, MICHELIN-Starred restaurant on Main Street in Santa Monica. The dining room itself is stunning—think decorative arches and hand-painted floral wallpaper accents. Then there’s Beran’s menu of elevated French fare, like charred radicchio with hazelnut vinaigrette and a show-stopping pressed duck. If you opt for the duck, don’t miss the nightcap of cognac and duck juice.
For a proposal-worthy meal
For contemporary Taiwanese at a MICHELIN-Starred restaurant – book at Kato (Downtown)
Topping the Los Angeles Times’s list of the city’s best restaurants for two years running, MICHELIN-Starred Kato is a special place that screams special occasion. In addition to having some of the best cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks in town, chef Jon Yao’s Taiwanese-inspired tasting menus feel like LA on a plate. Before you pop the question, don’t overlook Ryan Bailey’s incredible wine list.
For a group date
For a Mexican seafood extravaganza at one of the great date restaurants in Los Angeles – head to Loreto (Frogtown)
What’s better than a group hangout over shrimp aguachiles and scallop tostadas? Modern, indoor-outdoor Loreto strikes the perfect balance of casual and cool, and the menu of coastal Mexican food is ideal for sharing. The chicharron de pescado (rock fish roasted in two types of salsa) is the ultimate family-style feast. Keep the party going with one of the refreshing cocktails.
For a laid-back Middle Eastern feast at a stylish date night spot – head to Saffy’s (East Hollywood)
Chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis are well-known in Los Angeles for their hotspots Bestia and Bavel. Saffy’s, their laid-back Middle Eastern restaurant, serves up no-utensils-required classics like kebabs, shawarma, and falafel wraps. Post up at the curved pink-tiled bar or get cozy in one of the gold banquettes at this laidback and low-pressure date-night spot that you and your friends will want to return to again and again.
For an adventurous, transportive date spot
For an innovative tasting experience at one of the most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles – visit Meteora (Hollywood)
Dressed in neutral tones and decorated with hundreds of lush plants, acclaimed chef Jordan Kahn’s gorgeous restaurant will transport you to a Mexican resort town. The stunning space sets the stage for Kahn’s knockout, MICHELIN-Starred tasting menu, a celebration of seasonal, sustainable flavors and textures—think burnt murasaki yam with yeast butter, smoked trout roe, and maradol papaya. After a few bites, you and your date will forget you’re in Los Angeles altogether.
For upscale, MICHELIN-Star Japanese and Italian fusion – book a spot at Orsa & Winston (Downtown)
In its 12th year, Orsa & Winston has become a Los Angeles classic for several reasons: chef Josef Centeno’s masterful mashup of Italian and Japanese flavors in elegant five-course omakase-style tasting menus, a strikingly modern dining room, and transcendent beverage pairings. It’s for all of the above that the restaurant was awarded a MICHELIN Star and was named the top restaurant in LA by the Los Angeles Times in 2020.
For an intimate, cozy restaurant where you have the potential to be a regular
For elegant French-Japanese fusion at one of the most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles – head to Camelia (Downtown)
The blockbuster team behind beloved OTOTO and Tsubaki lean into elegant French-Japanese fusion fare at chic Camelia. The cozy bistro with midcentury vibes and lots of dark wood is the type of place you could come again and again to explore innovative dishes like abalone and wild shrimp pot pie and spaghetti Bolognese a la Japonaise paired with one of the most exciting sake lists in town. Don’t miss the stellar thick-pattied, dry-aged burger.
For a romantic French dinner at one of the great date night restaurants in Los Angeles – reserve a table at Petit Trois Le Valley (Sherman Oaks)
Petit Trois’s classic French bistro fare is what date night dreams are made of—think garlicky escargots swimming in butter, gorgeous frisee and endive salads and steak frites with a pat of bearnaise butter. With cozy banquettes and a beautiful bar, the sweeping dining room channels bustling French brasseries-ideal for lingering with your date over cappuccino and one of the restaurant’s decadent desserts.
For an eatertainment date
For live music and swanky supper club vibes – head to Verse (Toluca Lake)
Owned by Grammy award-winning sound mixer Manny Marroquin, Verse is part modern-day supper club, part cocktail bar, and part high-tech music venue. Whether you and your date settle in for a live performance or simply listen to a playlist curated by Marroquin himself, 52 speakers give the dining room an immersive feel. So sit back, relax, and dig into fancy steakhouse-inspired dishes like lobster tagliatelle and a 30-day aged tomahawk steak while grooving to the beats.
From a blockbuster MICHELIN-Starred tasting experience to a cozy French bistro and a laid-back Middle Eastern spot, these most romantic restaurants in Los Angeles for Valentine’s Day impress with top-notch food and dreamy date-night vibes. Plan ahead to secure one of these in-demand tables.
Secure reservations today at one of these top date night restaurants in Los Angeles and book with OpenTable.
Read on for a guide to some of the best restaurants in LA:
- 11 MICHELIN-Star restaurants in Los Angeles to try ASAP
- 11 swanky restaurants in Los Angeles for your next celebration
- 10 LA restaurants that scream cozy
- LA’s 13 hottest restaurant openings of 2024
Karen Palmer is a pizza- and pasta-obsessed food writer based in Los Angeles. She is the former editorial director of Tasting Table, and her work has appeared in Eater, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and many other publications. Follow her on Instagram at @karenlpalmer.
