Marugame Monzo

This Little Tokyo noodle shop offers the city's best bowls of the thick, chewy wheat-based noodles, plus mesmerizing sights of noodle-pulling action through the kitchen's picture window. Behind a large glass, the udon master will roll out the dough and cut strands and strands of the thick, chewy noodles for each order. The traditional bowls are great here; try the hot kitsune udon topped with fried tofu, or the cold plum shiso bukkake udon. For a fun mash-up of Japanese and Italian cuisines, go for the popular miso carbonara udon. Just be prepared to wait: As the hands-down best udon shop in Los Angeles, peak dinner time can cause gaggles of groups to queue all the way down the block.