Taking over from the Happy Foot/Sad Foot clinic, this Indian pizza parlor in Silver Lake is a razor-sharp distillation of everything great about dining in Los Angeles: fun, not too expensive and, best of all, gloriously unfussy. Though billed as a sports bar with giant flatscreen TVs, Pijja Palace's destination-worthy appeal lies in its playful, delicious menu of South Asian-inspired pizza, pasta, wings and cocktails. (It's also made the red-hot new restaurant busy at all hours, so it's best to try to snag a reservation or walk in right at opening.) Rich in spice, though not necessarily spicy, each simple-but-complex dish tastes fresh and exciting, from the dosa onion rings dipped in mango chutney to vodka sauce-like malai rigatoni.
There are plenty of things to do in Silver Lake, but the most important thing seems to be eating. Walking around this trendy, hilly L.A. neighborhood will probably work up an appetite, but there are countless eateries, coffee shops and bars hoping to sate your hunger or thirst at a moment's notice. These days, the area's full-tilt transformation to gentrification is nearly complete (peep the Shake Shack, Sweetgreen and even Habit Burger along Sunset Boulevard), but just as many locally owned independent restaurants are still thriving in Silver Lake, so we rounded up the best of them—and man, was it difficult to choose—for the neighborhood's best grub options.
RECOMMENDED: See more in our neighborhood guide to Silver Lake