11 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles, California

This spot comes alive the moment you walk through the rustic wooden door and into a softly lit dining room with long communal tables. Come later and the place heats up with an enthusiastic post-pub crowd lured by the seasonal menu and outstanding small plates, charcuterie, pastas, and pizza. Your endless starter options include pizza with house-made chorizo. For the main course, options include saffron butternut squash curry or braised pork belly with Oaxacan grits. Typically boisterous, the patio is a great hang-out spot and a gem for a Sunday brunch.

Wolfgang Puck's flagship restaurant is a modern L.A. classic. Spago centers on a buzzing redbrick outdoor courtyard (with retractable roof) shaded by 100-year-old olive trees, and a daily-changing menu that offers dishes like smoked salmon pizza or off-menu schnitzel. Dessert is magical, with everything from an ethereal mango soufflé to artisanal cheeses. Opt for the tasting menu as it comes with a personal tour of the kitchen, and if you’re lucky, a meet and greet with Puck himself.

This small and dimly lit, romantic spot in Santa Monica is full of adventurously global options, like Singaporean chili crab cake or black cod with a fermented black bean marinade. The new American cuisine, which is centered on the restaurant's wood-fired oven, also features standouts like braised lamb shank with sweet potato, pomegranate, labneh, zhough (spicy cilantro sauce), and flatbread. Another option for groups of four or more: the restaurant will craft a custom T&R Supper family-style menu with off-menu dishes like wood-fired goat with Moroccan accompaniments or a dry-aged standing rib rack. Book T&R Suppers at least seven days in advance.

Yardbird is a colloquialism for a domestic chicken, and as the name suggests, fried chicken is one of the main attractions here. Crispy white and dark meat chicken is made in a 27-hour process of coating, brining, and dredging in Grandma Lewellyn’s secret herbs and spices before going in the fryer.

This creative farm-to-table eatery uses all local ingredients to whip up fine cuisine in a chic environment. Savory musts include the shaved brussels sprout salad with toasted pine nuts as an appetizer, followed by the outstanding Mediterranean sea bass. Upon entry you'll notice a wood-beam ceiling, brick-laden bar, and hanging Edison lights that set the stage. Open for dinner with a revolving weekly special, the Arbour's cocktail menu includes a spicy mezcal margarita emblematic of its Pasadena roots. Happy hour doesn't disappoint, with sub-$10 offerings like yellowfin tuna crudo.

Michael’s, a Santa Monica institution, was one of the first to introduce "California cuisine" to a then-skeptical public more than four decades ago. Its rotating menu runs the gamut from 30-day dry-aged Wagyu Bolognese with pappardelle to charred octopus with ibérico chorizo. The expansive space features a stunning plant-lined patio with a retractable roof, which attracts a well-heeled crowd without being stuffy. The happy hour menu is a steal.

The coolest kid on the Pasadena block, the Raymond 1886 is carved out of an old Craftsman cottage and has an expansive patio with long wooden tables and hanging lights. Chefs dish out everything from mushroom bucatini with shaved black truffles to Chilean sea bass with lemongrass coconut curry sauce and "forbidden" rice. Inside can be a little more claustrophobic, but makes for a perfect spot for intimate daters to get a little closer. Keep an eye out for live jazz nights. Be sure to explore the daring seasonal and evergreen cocktail menus, with intriguing historical references like the Red Line paired with zany offerings like the Alien Pool Party. Don't miss the truly killer chilaquiles on the brunch menu.

A Santa Monica mainstay, the seasonally changing menu at this farm-to-table wine bar and seasonal kitchen consistently upends norms and has even earned a Michelin nod. The homey, minimalist space offers sweeping views of Wilshire Boulevard. On any given night, the menu of California cuisine may include bay scallops with Weiser Farms sunchokes or a heritage bone-in pork chop with apple butter. Everything is made in-house, down to the sea salt. Ask the knowledgeable staff for suggested pairings from the never-ending wine list.

Set in the heart of West Hollywood, fans who watch the Vanderpump Rules reality show on Bravo will instantly recognize SUR as the backdrop for the series's endless drama, broken relationships, one-night stands, and countless drinks. The actual restaurant serves a mélange of new American items that range from fried goat cheese balls and hazelnut pancakes to hibiscus flower rubbed seared salmon, plus boozy cocktails and toothsome desserts. Nearby Tom Tom with its plush seats and elegant lighting is a festive bar shaking cocktails and serving sliders, pasta, flatbreads, and a few entrées in a unique old-world setting. Happy Hour serves Vanderpump wines and seasonal shareables.

Vespertine earned two Michelin stars by providing a disruptive multisensory event and a space-age dining experience that's nothing short of unique. Chef Jordan Kahn—who cut his chops as Thomas Keller's youngest-ever chef at French Laundry while still a teenager—and architect Eric Owen Moss have created a one-of-a-kind, spare, undulating space with a menu that's as artistic as it is delicious. You’ll need to fork over $395 for the tasting menu, and the food and the atmosphere have both been contentious over the years, but think of the expense and experience as an artistic journey into a foodie wonderland.

Accommodating Century City's growing legions of agents and lawyers, Craft, around since 2007, is a major film industry hangout. At the helm is Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, who whips up shared plates like roasted octopus and foie gras with apple butter. Boutique produce goes into the plethora of side dishes, and desserts may include triple chocolate sunflower cookies or house-made ice creams and sorbets. In its open, airy dining room, deals are brokered over lunches made with seasonal ingredients.