Even as Los Angeles tiptoes toward the return of indoor dining, alfresco service will surely stay in style. It’s no surprise then that new outdoor dining spots continue to open—seemingly all at once in the past few weeks in particular. So if you’re in the mood to dine out this month, scope out these limited-time pop-ups and notable new openings.
THEBlvd Privé
What do you do when you don’t have a proper dining terrace but you do have a luxuriously wide driveway? Well, if you’re the iconic Beverly Wilshire, you flip your porte cochere into a pop-up patio restaurant—surrounded by gas lamps imported from a castle in Edinburgh, because Beverly Hills. Starting March 3, you’ll find the menu from interior hotel bar THEBlvd there, complete with caviar, roasts and superbly well-made cocktails.
Broken Spanish
A staple of our best restaurants list, Broken Spanish’s departure from Downtown last year was a particularly hard punch in the gut. But chef Ray Garcia is back for a Thursday-through-Sunday residency at NeueHouse Hollywood through the end of March (UPDATE: It’s now been extended through April). Expect former favorites from the old Broken Spanish alongside new additions like chicharrón, duck meatballs and tortillas and lentils. You’ll find it in an absolutely bonkers tent on the terrace where Rooftop Cinema Club used to be held; reservations are pretty tough for this one, so look out for any last-minute openings.
The Bungalow Kitchen
Santa Monica’s ever-popular boho hideaway the Bungalow now has an even more ambitious Long Beach sibling thanks to this team up between hospitality vet Brent Bolthouse and Michelin-starred chef Michael Mina. Best known in L.A. for Bourbon Steak, you’ll find more of Mina’s from-the-grill dishes at the Bungalow Kitchen alongside entries like lobster pot pie and a whole bunch of pizzas. The interior looks like the swankiest ’70s den you’ve ever seen, but the two tiers of near-oceanfront Belmont Shore terraces are clearly the spot to be (starting March 4).
Sant’olina
While many patio pop-ups have spilled over into the street and parking lots, the latest from the h.wood Group—the team behind the Nice Guy and Bootsy Bellows, among others—is heading to the rooftops. Israeli and Mediterranean pop-up Sant’olina will take over the roof of the Beverly Hilton starting March 11 (it’s still under construction, but expect it to land more or less near the space in the photo above). The menu from chefs Michael Teich, David Johns and SLAB’s Burt Bakman is set to go heavy on the veggies alongside some mains like lemonfish crudo, oysters and harissa cured salmon.
Saso
This space on the outside corner of the Pasadena Playhouse has hosted a number of restaurants in the past few years, most recently Trejo’s Cantina, but Saso is the first one that’s been able to temporarily take over the nearly century-old theater”s Spanish Colonial Revival courtyard. Chef Dominique Crisp’s seafood-focused menu mixes together a little bit of L.A., the Pacific Northwest and Basque Country. You’ll find a crudo bar alongside shrimp, crab cakes and clams in the pintxos section of the menu (you can splurge and order them all for $99), plus land-based options like a Basque-inspired rice bowl at lunch, a jamón ibérico sandwich at happy hour (3–6pm) and strip steak for dinner.