The best restaurants in Koreatown

Named for the low-slung tables used in traditional dining, Soban serves one of the best Korean meals in Los Angeles that doesn’t involve a tabletop grill. Instead, this no-frills eatery offers the city’s best assortment of banchan and first-rate ganjang gejang, a.k.a. soy-marinated raw crab. Though service may be brusque, no other Korean seafood spot can top Soban’s buttery, sweet crab marinated in a blend of green chilies, white onion and soy sauce. The dozen-odd banchan plates that come with each meal burst with flavor, texture and painstaking attention to detail, from the cabbage kimchi to the seasoned acorn jelly. You’ll also find excellent galbi jjim—braised short ribs—and a fiery black cod stew. Newcomers should note Soban’s early close (8:30pm is the last call for orders). If you can, we suggest making a reservation: Everyone from the late Jonathan Gold to Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho has dined at Soban—so unless you’re visiting on a weekday afternoon, you’ll very likely have to wait for a table otherwise.

While Angelenos remain divided on their favorite everyday Korean barbecue joint, Park’s seems to be the one unifying constant for special occasions. This premier destination for platters of marinated short rib, heavily marbled rib-eye and even American Wagyu cuts takes its meat selection seriously, with the prices to match. There’s also the excellent assortment of prepared dishes, including the kimchi pancake, tofu stew and cold buckwheat noodles. If you’re the type to judge a Korean restaurant off the quality of its banchan, Park’s will more than deliver with a delicate apple and potato salad, cucumber kimchi and more. For best results, order some of everything—you won’t regret rolling out of here. If we had to single out one go-to dish, though, it’s the Korean-style beef tartare: a mellow, sweeter version of the raw dish typically found on French menus.

In the last three decades, this bright orange restaurant with pagoda roofs has put Koreatown on the map as a citywide destination for Oaxacan cuisine and garnered national awards and recognition in the process. Greatly influenced by indigenous foodways, this regional cooking style from the Mexican state is most known for introducing Americans to the many variations of rich, flavorful mole—a deep, comforting, ultra-savory sauce made with dried chilies and cacao. Though L.A. is home to many other wonderful Oaxacan restaurants (the most outside of Oaxacan itself), this family-run restaurant offers the kind of charming atmosphere (sometimes with live music) and friendly service that has made Guelaguetza a citywide institution, and the kind of place worth visiting over and over again.

After weathering the pandemic, Chad Colby’s first restaurant is basically brand-new—hence the addition of “Nuovo.” The Koreatown trattoria has completely retooled its menu since its 2019 opening, but the chi SPACCA alum’s Italian cuisine is as focused as ever. Every dish is excellent, but you’d be hard-pressed not to order their thick focaccia, seafood pastas and housemade ice cream. Ragu lovers will rue the day they try the beef check and veal tongue version offered at Antico Nuovo—since the dish will probably be ruined for them anywhere else.

This tiny, independently run Koreatown restaurant by the same team behind Silver Lake’s All Day Baby offers eclectic, globally inspired small plates filtered through a distinctly Angeleno lens. After what seemed like a permanent pandemic closure, HLAY (pronounced “H-Lay”) crowdfunded a miraculous return—and the new, more tightly curated menu has never been better. Signatures like the salsa macha frog legs bring back regulars and win over newcomers, while chef Jonathan Whitener’s seasonal items ensure the restaurant is never far from the cutting edge. The food’s genre-bending nature makes few concessions to crowd-pleasing, and Angelenos who love citrus, aromatics, wasabi and other expertly applied ingredients from the global pantry are richer for its unlikely comeback, especially once you throw in the selection of highly crafted tiki drinks.

At all hours of the day, Sun Nong Dan’s two Koreatown locations fill up with diners hankering for the cheese-covered mountain of marinated short rib, potatoes and onion known as galbi jjim. Though the cheese—and its requisite tableside pyrotechnics—is optional, the restaurant’s signature dish is not, at least for first-timers. Aside from their signature family-style dish, the rest of the beef-centric menu offers single-serving soups and meat platters designed to be dipped into bubbling hot pots. If you’re closer to the San Gabriel Valley, Sun Nong Dan also has outposts in San Gabriel (open until midnight) and Rowland Heights (open 24/7). If you're in Koreatown, the Western Avenue outpost typically has a much shorter wait.

This Vermont Avenue eatery serves an amazing take on North Korean-style mul naengmyeon (buckwheat noodles in icy beef broth), steamed kimchi dumplings and an array of hearty, mostly beef-based soups, braises and stews made with Korean taste buds in mind, but available for all to enjoy. The chewy housemade buckwheat noodles also come in the form of bibim naengmyeon, which douses them in a medium-spicy sauce flavored with gochujang and red pepper flakes. I prefer the subtler mul version, which offers a tangy, beefy flavor worthy of sipping to the very last drop, especially after lightly seasoning it with the mustard and rice vinegar available at each table. This might quite well be Koreatown’s best naengmyeon.

With its everyday ambience, decent menu prices and top-notch meat selection, Soowon Galbi is one of our favorite Korean barbecue spots in K-town, especially when we’re in a group of four or more. The wait times here generally run shorter than other popular spots like Park’s and Quarters, though we’re confused as to why; Soowon's banchan assortment and prepared dishes, including the perilla leaf stew and scallion pancake, showcase a depth and breadth of Korean cuisine that’s remarkable for a restaurant whose most popular items come cooked on a tabletop grill. The combination courses, in particular, offer excellent value for a crowd, especially the Combo B, which includes the must-have kkotsal, or marbled boneless short rib, and chadol, thinly sliced pieces of brisket that quickly crisp on the grill.

This historic Koreatown restaurant has been in countless movies and TV shows, but what keeps today’s diners coming back is the excellent menu of Korean bar staples like mouthwateringly crispy fried chicken, kimchi fried rice and heaping platters of spicy seafood noodles. The cocktails may not be great, but there’s plenty of beer and soju to wash it all down, and the moody red lighting, oak panels and oil paintings make it our favorite old-school joint in the neighborhood for a nightcap or a casual night of food and drinks with friends.

Run by the same team behind Park's, KTeam BBQ takes over the space that once held Ong Ga Nae, which quietly closed last year. The Vermont Avenue newcomer offers a more affordable, pork-centric Korean barbecue experience—albeit with the same meat quality, bounty of banchan and excellent prepared dishes as its older, critically acclaimed sibling across the street. Cheerful orange-and-white checkered tile tables serve as the backdrop for a reasonably priced à la carte menu that includes a phenomenal bowl of chilled spicy acorn noodles; delightfully chewy tteokbokki, served with one or more barbecue orders; and three types of beef. The star of the show, however, is the thinly sliced frozen pork belly, a cut popular in South Korea. Paired with supplemental myeonglan paste (pollack roe) or the classic trio of spicy soybean paste, garlic and jalapeño, each lettuce or perilla-wrapped bite will transport you to Seoul.

This polished Western Avenue strip mall eatery serves two versions of ganjang gejang (soy-marinated raw crab) with an element of hanjeongsik—a traditional Korean tablescape of rice, soup, side dishes and mains that makes any meal feel downright. Whether ordered whole or scooped out of the shell, the crab meat is sweet and tender, with none of the fishy, almost rotten odor carried by inferior versions of the dish. Other items like the raw salmon rice bowl and live sea urchin are equally delicious, and there's a separate, equally worthy section of beef-based soups and an above-average L.A.-style galbi (barbecued short rib). On colder days, the “special boiled beef” makes for an excellent hot pot; a mountain of chives obscures a shallow pan of brisket slices and milky broth, seasoned to your liking with salt and pepper. The beef soups might be beside the point for first-timers, but when you return (as you invariably will), these beef items are waiting, patiently, for their time in the sun.

It’s all in the details at LA Tofu House, a strip mall gem on the eastern end of Koreatown giving a certain three-letter soondubu spot a run for its money. Whether opting for a standard tofu soup or their delicious octopus bibimbap, each dish supersedes others in quality by leaps and bounds, with a slight premium to match across the (still quite affordably priced) menu. Combined with all-day hours—which stretch to 3am on weekends—and easy $3 valet parking, this tiny restaurant on Vermont Avenue is a must-go for neighborhood residents, those who love homestyle Korean cuisine and night owls in search of a cozy afterhours meal.

At this minimalist Asian American café, you’ll find delicious gourmet riffs on the city’s immigrant cuisines, all sandwiched between two slices of bread. Made with Clark Street baguettes and housemade milkbread, the Wilshire Boulevard eatery’s gluten-anchored spins on Thai satay, Hainan chicken, Korean kimbap and Mexican al pastor distill an array of second-generation foodways into one excellent lunchtime dining destination. The morning coffee and baked goods selection surpasses those at a standard coffee shop, with housemade pastries that incorporate the likes of matcha, doenjang and tahini, plus well-crafted coffee and tea drinks. A separate natural wine and market section stocks artisan goods like Awan ice cream and Little Ganshik dog treats, and best of all (at least for those not within walking distance), there’s two hours of free validated parking in the underground lot just off Catalina. 

Koreatown’s top-notch seafood-oriented KBBQ joint pays homage to the East China Sea by serving its edible bounty in waves at the table. Go with one of the bang-for-your-buck combo sets—even the basic A set is enough to feed a family—which begin with airy steamed egg, crisp-edged scallion pancakes, sizzling cheese corn and a heaping bowl of chili-packed mussel soup. From there, DIY grill options include sea scallops and mussels on the half shell, large shell-on shrimp, spicy chili salad, octopus tentacles and more. Upgrade to a B or C set to feast on rarer delights like abalone, which squirm in their shells before yielding tender meat when cooked. Step up your game with the D combo for selections from clams, oysters, a spicy cold seafood bowl and more.

This burger joint inside the Normandie isn’t new, per se. The original diner, founded by Al Cassell in 1948 and located just a couple blocks away, was an institution, known for its burgers, patty melts and slices of pie; a Korean family bought it in 2006, running the restaurant until it closed again in 2012 (quit playing with our hearts!). Now, the new Cassell's pays tribute with ‘50s memorabilia hanging on the walls and the use of the diner’s original Hobart meat grinder and patty press. Hit this place up if you're hankering for a classic cheeseburger or an ultra-cheesy patty melt.

What’s an old-school steakhouse doing in Koreatown? Thriving. This place doesn’t look like it’s changed one bit since it opened its OG location more than 50 years ago: The menus still boast classics like shrimp scampi and French onion soup, and they’re among the best in the city. Skip the prime rib; instead, opt for cuts from the char-broiler such as extra-thick, prime top sirloin served on a sizzling platter. Taylor’s may be one of the best-bargain steakhouses in town, and also one of the most comfortable. From the big leather booths to the servers who look like they were born in the RKO days, this is one L.A. classic that is timeless.