Best Restaurants In Los Angeles

There are both new and decades-old street food stands in this massive metropolis, as well as a plethora of international cuisines and restaurants of every scale and size that use the best of the region's folkloric produce. One recurring theme in Los Angeles food and restaurants is that flavors must stand out — ideally, heat, acid, and umami are present in some form in every dish.

At its heart, the city's diverse neighborhoods, cultures, and flavors converge to form an array of culinary boundary-pushing restaurants that make it America's most compelling dining destination. Robo made a list of best LA restaurants for you!

Bestia

A refined, multiregional tour of Italy through the eyes of one of Los Angeles’ best chefs. Bestia still needs reservations ten years after its splashy 2012 opening, and for good reason—always it’s in style and always packed with stylish and chic guests.

Even after numerous orders, chef and co-owner Ori Menashe’s menu highlights never fail to impress. For instance, the spaghetti rustichella is shockingly straightforward but shockingly delicious. It consists of a small pyramid of noodles topped with dungeness crab, citrus, Calabrian chili, Thai basil, and onion seed. We’re likely to stay until the staff starts busing our dessert plates and wine glasses because of the industrial-modern decor and the slick atmosphere.

Guerilla Tacos

Guerilla Tacos' brick-and-mortar location has taken what was once an outdoor food truck and brought it inside with vibrant graffiti walls, an open kitchen (whose tiles say "LA Don't Play"), and a stencil in the style of the late Angeleno food critic Jonathan Gold. The fried egg-topped sweet potato quesadilla made with Oaxaca cheese is a must-try, as is the traditional Mexican breakfast dish of huevos ahogados, which consists of drowned eggs in mouthwatering tomato sauce.

Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen

With three locations (Inglewood, Crenshaw, and Westmont), this restaurant has been a South Los Angeles institution for more than 20 years. It serves the best platters of Southern comfort food in the city, including fried chicken, smothered pork chops, and a variety of sides, including outstanding cornbread.

The restaurant's generous homestyle portions and no-frills atmosphere are a welcome contrast to the more ostentatious restaurants in the area. Whether you choose the corn and okra or Dulan's beloved macaroni and cheese, every element of a choose-your-own plate complements the others perfectly. The Inglewood location of the restaurant, which is currently managed by Adolf Dulan's son Terry and was founded by the late "king of soul food" Adolf Dulan, is especially handy for visits on days when there are games at the close-by SoFi Stadium and after trips to and from LAX.

Guelaguetza

Guelaguetza's sights and smells will give you the impression that you have just entered Oaxaca. While Mexicans and Angelenos meet over mezcal in this unusual Mexican restaurant, banda musicians play their instruments. In fact, it's a James Beard Award-winning restaurant where the energy of the diners, who on the right nights of the week will end up dancing into the early hours, matches the vitality of the food. Just being there is cause for celebration; get the tlayudas (basically a Mexican pizza) and the black mole chilaquiles.

Park’s BBQ

The city's premier Korean BBQ destination, serving prime and American Wagyu beef in a sleek modern space that has withstood the test of time. Korean BBQ may not be everyone's favorite in Los Angeles, but Park's seems to be the one thing that unites everyone, at least on special occasions. That's because quality is what ultimately matters: Since the meat is of the highest quality, you can also find exquisite cuts of beef and pork that are grilled right at your table in addition to the traditional kimchi pancakes, tofu stews, and banchan in abundance. If you really want to go all out, there is an entire section of the menu devoted to Wagyu. Order a bit of everything for the best results: In addition to a wide selection of banchan and a full menu of entrées like spicy black cod, stone-pot octopus, soup with rice cakes, and necessities like expert kimchi pancakes, there is boneless Wagyu short rib, seasoned pork belly, succulent house galbi, beef tripe, and nearly anything else you can imagine throwing onto the grill.

You don't like mustardy French beef tartare? Park's milder Korean beef tartare is recommended. This dish, seasoned with pine nuts and Asian pear slices, is a game changer for omnivores who are wary of eating raw beef.

N/naka

Almost too beautiful to eat, N/naka is serves customers who occasionally have to wait up to three months for a reservation. You'll be equally as impressed with chef Niki Nakayama's classic presentation of sashimi as you will with the spaghettini with abalone, pickled cod roe, and Burgundian truffles. Each dish on their 13-course menu (which is also available in vegetarian form) is a love letter to the season. The three-hour culinary experience that could change the way you think about food is thought-provoking.