2 Best Restaurants in The Valley, Los Angeles

Just because Bea Bea’s is a no-nonsense kind of place, it doesn’t mean the food (of which they have a lot, like 23 different takes on pancakes a lot) isn’t special. This diner serves breakfast food that is about as close to extraordinary as the most important meal of the day can be. Plates are piled high but chances are you'll have worked up an appetite during perpetually long waits.

Mediterranean-inspired Casaléna, a bi-level maze of large luxe dining rooms, pretty patios and rooftop spaces decked out with dramatic chandeliers, modern art, potted trees, and fireplaces, is another example of the second generation successfully breathing new life into the family business. Befitting the space, the menu is also big, plucking ideas from Italy, Spain, and Greece and putting them through a California filter which results in mostly pasta, pizza, seafood, share-sized salads, and pricey cuts of beef. With a strong bar program, weekend brunch, and special occasion pricing, it's quite popular for date nights and big-group celebrations and, given the scope of the restaurant, it can get pretty busy and then noisy. Never enough however to keep you from the beet salad, the whole branzino in chimichurri, or fried squash blossoms.