The best late night restaurants in Los Angeles

Open until 2am weekdays, 3am Fri, Sat. This fleet of seven cash-only taco trucks across L.A. serves the best al pastor tacos in the city, and it’s all available well past midnight. Though they also offer burritos, mulitas, huaraches and other Mexican street food specialties, your eyes will likely be drawn to the trompo–a rotating spit of tender, marinated al pastor topped with a shaved, juicy hunk of pineapple. Though Leo’s draws its largest crowds on weekend nights from the nightclub set, this isn’t just your average drunchie. Whether eaten right on the spot or taken home, the thin slices of al pastor, topped with a bit of pineapple, are a beautiful sight to behold—and consume.

Open 24/7. Despite having expanded to two locations in the area, this Koreatown galbi jjim specialist still fills up at all hours of the day with partygoers and night owls hankering for a fiery, cheese-covered mountain of marinated short rib, potatoes and onions. 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. For those closer to the San Gabriel Valley, Sun Nong Dan also has outposts in San Gabriel (open until midnight) and Rowland Heights (open 24/7).

Open until 1:45am. Over the years, this Thai Town classic has attracted fans from near and far for its large menu of homestyle dishes—and there’s nowhere better in the area for a meal after midnight. Start with the classic tom kha kai, a spicy coconut soup with plump chicken, mushrooms, lemongrass, lime juice and fresh chili for a refreshing starter. Then take a menu detour with the khao pad krapow gai, a satisfying and fiery chicken-basil-rice stir-fry topped with an optional egg, and khana moo grob: These crispy and juicy chunks of pork paired with broth-wilted Chinese broccoli are a must. Note that Sanamluang can get quite busy, especially on weekends—so a little patience might be required to snag a table on Friday and Saturday nights.

Open until 1am weekdays, 3am Fri, Sat. This charming Japanese diner has been a Little Tokyo staple since 1972—and it looks the part. As if frozen in time, daily specials get added to a white pegboard near the front of the restaurant, while the unpretentious menu covers comforting territory with decades-plus dishes like curry udon, shrimp tempura, straightforward donburi and okonomi combo plates. Our favorite dish, though, is the beef hayashi rice: a rich, comforting demi-glace sauce topped with a supplemental fried egg. Over in Chinatown, you can find much of the menu available for delivery until 12:40am via Suehiro Mini, which offers a truncated (but vegan-friendly) menu of ramen, udon, curry and rice bowls and a handful of seats for dine-in.

Open until 4am. It’s all in the details at LA Tofu House, a strip mall gem on the eastern end of Koreatown that gives nearby mini-chain BCD a run for its money. Whether opting for a standard tofu soup or sizzling plate of meat or their delicious octopus bibimbap, each dish supersedes other versions around town by leaps and bounds, with a slight premium in menu prices to match. A warm deep-fried croaker and small, but well-made banchan selection round out a homestyle Korean meal here, but you can also opt for takeout or local delivery if you’d rather snuggle up at home.

Open until 2am. This beloved neighborhood bar and restaurant in West Hollywood keeps its kitchen open until 1:20am—all the better to slide into a booth well after dinner primetime for the spaghetti and meatballs, famously decadent skillet apple pie and other red-sauce joint favorites. Sundays through Thursdays, Jones also offers the “Beggar’s Banquet” menu, which features discounted pizzas, pastas and salads. Though the place is a veritable Hollywood nightlife destination on weekends, don’t let the scene-y aspect deter you from visiting for a late-night snack; the Jones staff is just as gracious to average diners as they are to the repeat A-list visitors.

Open until 11pm weekdays, midnight Fri, Sat. This West L.A. institution offers the convenience of later nighttime hours than most local burger joints around town. Queue up and take a seat at the U-shaped counter, where burger patties sizzle on the griddle that’s been around since 1947 and you’ll be served by friendly waiters that have been around for decades. The go-to order: the smoky hickory burger slathered in house sauce. Pair it with an order of crispy fries and save room for a slice of homemade apple pie (á la mode, all the way) or whatever else hasn’t sold out for the day.

Open until 1am weekdays, 3am weekends. Brave the weirdos and tourists of Hollywood Boulevard for a taste of this no-frills storefront's delicious, juicy Syrian-style shawarma. Whether you're stopping by after a concert at the Fonda or the Bowl, or trekking from elsewhere, Hollywood Shawarma delivers the late-night goods with two different kinds of thinly shaved, juicy and delicious street meat—chicken or mixed lamb and beef. Inside a pan-grilled wrap, the shawarma almost seems to melt in your mouth, especially when paired with the delectable sauces (tahini for the lamb and beef, garlic for the chicken). If you're closer to Sherman Oaks, owner Adham Kamal just opened up Sincerely Syria, which serves a similar menu until midnight on weekdays and 2am on weekends.

Open until midnight. Thai Town is already home to plenty of excellent late night restaurants, but this family-run sidewalk operation outside Silom Supermarket is changing the game with budget-friendly rice and noodle dishes served fresh off the wok. Also available during the day on Sundays at Smorgasburg, Radna Silom specializes in radna, a flat rice noodle dish covered in a mild pork gravy—but the pad thai with crispy shrimp, peanuts and fresh bean sprouts is a must-order as well. On weekend evenings, the plastic chairs and red-and-white tablecloths fill up early in the evening with diners chowing down on the modestly sized menu items, transforming this already popular stretch of Hollywood Boulevard into a scene straight out of a Bangkok night market.

Open 24/7. Run by the second generation of a family of SoCal pho shop owners, this workhorse Vietnamese restaurant in the South Bay offers the convenience of late-night hours and a straightforward, vegetarian-friendly menu centered around pho and familiar khai vi. Pho Daily’s namesake nourishing broth delivers flavor with minimal grease and plenty of herbs, while the summer rolls with pork sausage arrive with a tasty, high-quality peanut sauce. Beyond pho, there’s also a vast array of other common Vietnamese dishes, some more well-executed than others—making Pho Daily a great option for any and all late-night Vietnamese cravings and a solid takeout and delivery go-to for locals.

Open 24/7. With a bakery, cocktail lounge, full-service restaurant and some of the finest neon along Fairfax, Canter’s is as iconic as they come. This classic Jewish deli has sold more than 24 million bowls of chicken soup, more than 10 million pounds of corned beef and more than 10 million matzo balls in its 85-plus years on Fairfax. The best part? After a pandemic-era hiatus, it’s once again open 24 hours a day for all your matzo soup and pastrami sandwich needs. Don’t even think about leaving without a black-and-white cookie.

Open until midnight weekdays, 1am weekends. Though a little early for the after-club crowd, this Hong Kong-style café in the San Gabriel Valley serves dishes like beef chow fun and baked pork chop over rice well past normal dinner hour. Alongside more familiar takeout mainstays you’ll find unique items like club sandwiches, baked pastas and even beef satay udon—all of which reflect the eclectic mix of Western and Asian dishes available at cha chaan tengs in the international port city, as well as Macau and neighboring areas of Guangdong. Swing by before 11am for Hong Kong-style French toast, which layers thick peanut butter between two slices of milk bread before deep-frying the whole sandwich in an egg batter.

Open until 4:30am. Though relatively sleepy during the day, Lucky Deli offers the only after-hours dim sum in Los Angeles—the mere prospect of which sets our hearts on fire. Next to the cash-only there’s even a few parking spots, and with absolutely no seating, you’ll either need to eat in your car, on the sidewalk or take your bounty elsewhere. On hand at all hours are translucent har gow, wonton-wrapped siu mai and fluffy pork buns—and if this is what your heart desires in the middle of the night, this Chinatown takeout joint is here for you.

Open until midnight. Some people like their ice cream with a side of apple pie, or maybe a shot of espresso. If you’re El Prado’s Nick Fisher, the perfect pairing just might be some horny goat weed or any of the other supplements available at Fluffy’s, a new late-night scoop shop in Echo Park. Nightly, local characters dressed in styles from every decade—from Y2K to the Roaring Twenties—flock to Fluffy’s for vegan-friendly ice creams, plus sodas and, interestingly enough, a ham and cheese sandwich. The gleaming all-mirror walls offset a giant Saturn-shaped lantern overhead; there’s a demonic juke box, a Lactaid candy dispenser and a horned ice cream case; and banana splits and scoops come in classic silver-hued ice cream dishes. It’s just the sort of fever dream you’re looking for after 10pm.

Open 24/7 . Located in the same plaza as Ruen Pair and a stone’s throw from buzzy new pop-up Radna Silom, Crispy Pork Gang isn’t the place you go for the best crispy pork and rice or pad see ew. It is, however, inexpensive, open extremely late and extremely solid for a late-night bite in Thai Town. A large jack-of-all-trades menu includes pad thai, tom yum soup, curries and plenty of options for vegetarians, so you can take your meatless friends here without major issues.

Open until midnight weekdays, 24/7 Fri, Sat. The South Bay nightlife scene wouldn’t be the same without the Kettle, a Manhattan Beach staple known for its sprawling diner-style menu that includes tacos, burgers, salads, pasta and muffins (a local favorite). Situated just blocks from the beach, it draws diners at all hours hungry for delicious, no-nonsense breakfast and the kind of casual restaurant atmosphere that just hits different at two in the morning.

Open until 4am. Though the Downtown, South Bay and West L.A. locations stay open until midnight or 1am on weekends, the Sunset Boulevard outpost of this Brazilian mini-chain stays open well past last call for the nightlife crowd every day of the week. All dine-in customers are subject to a 21% service charge after 10pm (which then takes care of the tip), but that’s a small price to pay in our eyes for the chance to savor skirt steak, picanha and garlic shrimp in the wee hours of the morning. Carb-heavy pastas, pizzas, sandwiches and rice bowls are also available to soak up all the booze in your stomach at 2am.

Open 24/7. Though closing times vary across this beloved local burger chain’s two dozen-odd locations, the original Original in Historic Filipinotown still offers its famed double chili cheeseburger at all hours of the night. For some night owls, two well-seasoned beef patties, cheese, pickles, a glop of hearty chili and a thick slice of tomato are all that one needs to finally head home and grab a little shut-eye.