Pijja Palace

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 (you can’t miss the giant flatscreen TVs), Pijja Palace’s destination-worthy appeal lies in its playful, delicious menu of South Asian-inspired pizza, pasta, wings and cocktails. 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. Top the green chutney pijja (Hindi slang for “pizza”) with a shake of masala spice for extra kick, and don’t miss the soft serve, available in two flavors: cookies and cardamom or mango lassi creamsicle.