The 10 biggest L.A. restaurant openings to look forward to in 2024

With a few exceptions, it’s been a slow year in terms of openings in Los Angeles—all the more reason to enjoy the city’s very best restaurants instead of flocking to the newest, hottest thing. That being said, 2024 is shaping up to be a banner year for new restaurants in L.A., with many of the most anticipated openings in 2023 having been delayed to the point they’ll open early next year.

In the new year, local, national and even international players will enter L.A.’s ever-changing dining and drinking scene, including long-awaited pristine sushi that can trace its lineage back to Jiro Dreams of Sushi's Jiro Ono and a couple of Michelin-starred restaurants that are expanding with second locations in L.A. Will they succeed? Only time will tell. Until then, read on for our guide to the 10 biggest L.A. restaurant openings to know for 2024. 

Sushi Nakazawa LA

Anticipated opening: By March

Jiro Dreams of Sushi fans, look alive: Jiro Ono’s longtime protégé, Daisuke Nakazawa, is still planning to set up shop in West Hollywood. Though the opening has been delayed at least a full year (we included it on 2023’s buzzy openings guide), reps tell us the plan is to open sometime this winter. Located at 145 North Robertson Boulevard, Sushi Nakazawa LA is the third location for the chef’s longtime apprentice, who also maintains outposts in Washington D.C. and New York City (both of which have Michelin stars). Based on omakase menus from previous locations, the L.A. sushi bar should offer 20-odd courses of edomae-style sushi.

MidEast Tacos

Anticipated opening: Mid-January

In just a few short weeks, Armen Martirosyan, the second-generation owner of Mini Kabob in Glendale—one of L.A.’s tiniest and best restaurants—will bring his popular Armenian-inspired taco pop-up back to life in Silver Lake. Along with business partner Aram Kavoukjian, Martirosyan is taking over the former Mh Zh space to sling the onetime Smorgasburg pop-up’s signature falafel tacos, plus tacos and burritos stuffed with chicken or steak kebabs. Freshly made tortillas will combine with garlicky chile de arbol and chipotle adobo sauce in one of the most tantalizing, exciting mashups we’ve seen in a long, long time.

Café Boulud Beverly Hills

Anticipated opening: By March

For the first time ever, world famous French chef Daniel Boulud is expanding to the West Coast in none other than the world’s most famous zip code. The ground floor restaurant inside the Mandarin Oriental luxury condominiums is named after the original café started on the chef’s family farm in Lyon and will offer a mix of French classics, seasonal fare and globally inspired cuisine.

Lustig

Anticipated opening: January

Former Patina and longtime private chef Bernhard Mairinger has a grand vision for the former La Dijonaise space inside Culver City’s Helms Bakery complex: Lustig, an Austrian-influenced all-day restaurant intended to function in a similar vein to Walter and Margarita Manzke’s well-regarded République. In the early 2010s, Mairinger drew glowing accolades for his short-lived Beverly Hills restaurant, Bierbiesl, including a James Beard Rising Star nomination in 2013. As it stands, Austrian cuisine is hard to find in Southern California, save for the longtime Johannes in Palm Springs and a few classic dishes at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago.

Holy Basil Atwater Village

Anticipated opening: January

After a year of construction and permit-related delays, Downtown’s critically acclaimed Holy Basil is almost ready to debut its second location at 3166 Glendale Boulevard. The fast-casual Thai spot by chefs Wedchayan “Deau” Arpapornnopparat and Tongkamal “Joy” Yuon is known for its unapologetically spicy Bangkok-style street food, as well as its seafood-oriented tasting menu on the weekends. Located steps away from local falafel favorite Dune and gourmet mini-mart Wine and Eggs, Holy Basil Atwater Village is primarily geared toward takeout and delivery within a small radius, just like the original location in Downtown L.A.

Maydan Market

Anticipated opening: Next summer

Inside a gigantic West Adams culinary compound, Washington, D.C.’s Rose Previte is planning to open a location of her Michelin-starred restaurant, Maydan. The upscale Middle Eastern restaurant will be housed inside of Maydan Market, a larger complex that will also house Compass Rose, an indoor-outdoor natural wine bar and another one of Previte’s pre-existing restaurants. Five more entirely new, still unnamed food concepts will also open within the market, each with their own specialty. If all goes according to plan, all seven concepts will cook out of the same live-fire hearth—a central feature of the original Maydan, which is known for its signature family-style tawle ("table" in Arabic) spreads. For now, Previte will host a series of winter pop-ups from the West Adams space, with the first ticketed event falling on December 16.

Somni 2.0

Anticipated opening: January

As first reported in 2022 by the Los Angeles Times, two Michelin-starred Somni will reopen in West Hollywood next year, minus the involvement of culinary icon José Andrés. Instead, Spanish-born Aitor Zabala, who previously oversaw the day-to-day kitchen at the SLS Hotel original, will revive the concept on his own with Andrés’s blessing. Located at 9045 Nemo Street, the slightly larger space will feature a still-intimate 14 seats. Expect the same irreverent-meets-highbrow fine dining that once earned Somni glowing reviews. More recently, Zabala debuted a Somni preview menu at Seoul’s Miyomi during Seoul Art Week.

Jônt Los Angeles

Anticipated opening: Next summer

As first reported by Eater, Washington, D.C.’s Hive Hospitality is taking over the former Bazaar and Somni space inside the SLS Hotel with plans to open a second location of its two Michelin star tasting menu restaurant, Jônt, as well as a new, unnamed à la carte dinner spot with “country farmhouse ambience.” While there will be some overlap with the D.C. original, Jônt Los Angeles will make ample use of the hotel restaurant space to offer welcome cocktails in one area, a 20-plus course meal in the main dining room then desserts and drinks in separate parlor and patio areas.

Stella West Hollywood

Anticipated opening: January

The former Madeo address will soon be home to Stella, a new Italian restaurant from Felix’s Janet Zuccarini and veteran Toronto chef Rob Gentile. The immaculately designed two-story concept will occupy the ground floor of a luxury condo building and will offer an à la carte menu. The most interesting dish on the menu is the su filindeu, or threads of God. One of the rarest pasta styles in the world, Gentile serves the thin strands in a light broth with pecorino cheese. Other than that, expect housemade pastas, seasonal ingredients and sustainable seafood with an Italian touch—in other words, more of the same old stuff, just in fancy designer digs.

Argento

Anticipated opening: “Next month”

It’s been in the works for some time now, but this is a new Silver Lake plant-based venture by music industry nepobaby and restauranteur Nic Adler (Nic’s on Beverly, Monty’s Good Burger, Coachella's food lineup). Recently, Argento received a recent boost of star power in the form of investors Billie Eilish and her producer, brother and right-hand man, Finneas O’Connell. Originally slated to open this summer, the former Little Pine space will feature a chef’s table and an expanded outdoor patio. According to LAMag, the head chef will be Matthew Kenney alum Scott Winegard, who plans to give the place a seasonally inspired Italian, “not Italian American with red-and-white checkered tablecloths” emphasis.

Update (Dec 10): Our entry for Sushi Nakazawa originally stated just the NYC location of Sushi Nakazawa had been awarded a Michelin star; both locations currently have the designation. Stella West Hollywood has plans to exclusively offer à la carte menu items—no tasting menu, as was originally stated. Argento's listing has been changed from "more purely" Italian to "seasonally inspired" Italian, reflecting Winegard's Californian cuisine approach.