The 23 best restaurants with a view in Los Angeles

This skyscraper-topping restaurant easily could’ve coasted on its views alone. But 71Above—you guessed it, it’s 71 floors up in the U.S. Bank Tower—backs up its height with a tasty prix-fixe feast of poached oysters, agnolotti, steak tartare and scallops. Try the bar for a sunset-facing seat, and look out for a pair of tables pushed right up to the edge of the windows.

Valley views are significantly underrated, and this hillside Burbank eatery easily boasts the best of them. A recent renovation swapped a country club atmosphere for something a bit more fresh, with steaks, whole roast fish and impressive charcuterie boards. The patio, with a clear shot of the entire SFV, is the place to be, as is the adjacent subject-to-availability bar, the Green Room.

Though other WeHo hotel restaurants might possess a similar winning combination of ritzy, ultra-chic interior design and breathtaking urban vistas (plus the glitzy patrons to match), only Wolfgang Puck’s newest fine-dining endeavor strives to do more than just coast on its looks. Pairing aesthetics with actual substance, Merois demonstrates that later works in a longtime celebrity chef’s oeuvre, even one as expansive and commercialized as Puck’s, can still delight and outright impress seasoned diners. French Californian dishes with plenty of Asian culinary influences, all atop the Pendry’s rooftop? Sounds like a date to us.

This New York City cocktail bar has landed on the rooftop of the Maybourne—and while the coastal Italian cuisine can be hit or miss, the award-winning drinks, ritzy ambience and a ninth-floor vantage point have made Dante a rooftop restaurant destination to beat. We’ll be the first to admit mortadella atop white pizza and bucatini al pomodoro aren’t exactly groundbreaking, but these highlights from the kitchen sure taste delicious when you’re sipping the brand’s signature “fluffy” orange juice Garibaldi and taking in sweeping views of the Hollywood Hills. Open all day and mostly booked solid on weekends (though the bar is held for walk-ins), your best bet for a regular dinner hour reservation, released 30 days in advance, is to wake up early: Dante releases the next batch of tables on Resy at 8am.

Nobu Malibu is one of those places that’s so stunning, you may just hear yourself muttering, “Is this real life?” With a menu designed by celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa, the iconic restaurant—overlooking Surfrider Beach and Malibu Pier—is so close to the beach that you can overhear children playing on the sand. Its minimalist aesthetic complements its natural environment, and the sushi and modern Japanese food are just as disarmingly beautiful as the setting. Mini tacos are filled with deliciously creamy uni, and Nobu’s signature tiradito—thin slices of whitefish dotted with chili—are wonderful. 

Eighteen stories above Santa Monica, the Penthouse at the Huntley offers a wraparound view of the Promenade and the Pacific Ocean, plus a luxe white interior and chandeliers. In short: The restaurant is picture-perfect, and even comes with a ride up an all-glass elevator. Though the pricey Mediterranean-inspired New American food runs more adequate than truly memorable, the chance to enjoy a long evening with a loved one—or even a group of friends—at this ultra-romantic Santa Monica eatery with breathtaking ocean views is more than worth the cost of admission.

This mountain palace (its literal translation) was built to house a private art collection a century ago, but these days it’s best known for framing gallery-worthy views of Hollywood. While Yamashiro is only worth a visit if you could nab a window seat, the Japanese-leaning fusion menu is decent enough if you lower your expectations.

With small plates from farm-to-table icon Suzanne Goin, highly focused, yet breezy cocktails and amazing views of Downtown, Cara Cara would easily land on our rooftop bars list, save for one not-insignificant snag: tables take up most of its square footage, and they’re almost always packed with reservations. Walk-ins are forced to hover by the fire pit or jockey for an empty table, making this excellent rooftop bar more of a light-bites lounge. Don’t let all the hoops deter you, though—the views, food and drinks at this Downtown rooftop restaurant definitely justify the need for advanced planning.

This Santa Monica terrace offers a postcard-worthy panorama of the palm-tree–lined beachfront without the clubby vibes that overrun some of the spots closer to the ocean. The breezy rooftop feels like a chic living room—just one that happens to serve cacio e pepe pizza and squid ink and crab gemelli.

You’ll find most food items you order astonishingly mediocre and overpriced at the ultra-expensive luxury rooftop atop the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, but Rooftop by JG (short for mononymous celebrity chef Jean-Georges) also boasts nearly 360-degree sunset views of the city that are absolutely perfect for special occasions—hence why it’s still on this list. More restaurant than bar, Rooftop by JG reserves the best seats in the house for diners, while walk-ins are consigned to the first-come, first-served bar and lounge area. When it comes to food, skip almost everything but the ginger marinated tuna tartare.

For ages, Perch was somehow the only rooftop restaurant and bar in DTLA. There may be plenty more now, but this one—draped in greenery and warm decor—is still the prettiest. Spread across two floors, the lower one features a romantic interior and a slim patio to feast on steak frites and bread pudding, while the open-air rooftop carries over the same menu along with a happy hour on weekdays (4–6pm). Pretty much every seat has a perfect view of the skyscrapers surrounding Pershing Square, as well as an eye-level perspective of the gothic crown of the Title Guarantee Building.

If you can’t quite swing a meal at Nobu, make your way down the street and onto Malibu Pier instead for beachside bites from Malibu Farm. You’ll fine a pair of options: the casual cafe with scrambles and seafood sandwiches at the end of the pier, or California fare at the sit-down patio restaurant near the entrance.

The skyline-topping Wilshire Grand Center has both a steakhouse and buffet tucked into the top floors of the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. But skip those for the 73rd-floor lounge—the tallest open-air bar in the Western Hemisphere. On the one hand, the bottle service-y hotel bar vibes are strong and the prawns, steaks and burgers are just competent, but sitting outside next to a fire pit nearly 1,000 feet above L.A. makes up for all of it.

Manhattan Beach’s steep oceanfront hills means huffing and puffing as you walk around town, but it also affords this mainstay an elevated view of the pier and beach. Sit on the small salt air patio, if you can, over some black truffle risotto and scallops or stuffed French toast during weekend brunch. It’s not cheap, but what else would you expect from a top-notch meal a block away from the beach in one of the South Bay’s ritziest hoods.

Tropical cocktails, street-food-inspired dishes and colorful, seaside shack flair combine to transport vacation ambience to DTLA’s most easygoing rooftop. Pull up one of the mismatched chairs at the Freehand Hotel’s restaurant and bar and slurp down a frozen cocktail day or night against the skyline. Just a heads up, though, that the seating area is barely bigger than the pool.

This Hollywood boutique hotel’s main restaurant sits on the ground floor, but if you’re meeting someone at Mama Shelter it’s probably for the first-come, first-served rooftop. Hollywood is overstuffed with hotel-topping hangouts at this point, but none is as colorful and laid-back as Mama—and those vibes translate into its menu of globally inspiredcomfort food, like Nashville hot fried chicken baos, calamansi chicken drummettes and the Le Royale Burger on a Hawaiian bun.

This 10th floor Downtown rooftop comes courtesy of Stephanie Izard, whose Girl & the Goat outpost in the Arts District has also drawn rave reviews. In similar Chicago-to-L.A. fashion, Cabra is the second location of the Top Chef winner’s Peruvian-inspired small plates concept, with Izard’s usual sharp, playful takes on dishes like striped bass ceviche and lomo saltado. From appetizers to dessert, there’s something memorable and delicious for everyone to love at Cabra. The quinoa and beet salad’s cornucopia of bright flavors and textures particularly won us over, and caramel-covered picarones—sweet potato doughnuts topped with puffed rice—stood out on the dessert front. The views aren't as nice as Cara Cara, but you can still look out over much of Downtown L.A. from your table.

Palos Verdes’ sumptuous resort Terranea boasts more than a half-dozen outdoor dining options, but Mar’sel is the go-to for an impress-your-date (or parents) kind of place. Its peninsula-topping patio looks out toward the rugged PV coast and Catalina Island; it’s the kind of privileged setting that simply won’t want to give up when you’re done. Dinners quickly climb into the triple digits, so consider the three-course Sunday brunch for (a still expensive) $75 to keep things in check.

The Long Beach outpost of the San Diego-based brewery sits right on Alamitos Bay, with a patio pointed toward the end of an oceanfront jetty that’s perfect for beer flights and fried pub fare. Just make sure to join the waitlist before you start perusing the 60-draft-strong beer menu.

Alright, L.A.’s most famous music venue isn’t really a restaurant. But the Hollywood Hills amphitheater is a spectacular setting for a meal during the third of the year when it’s hosting shows (with picnic opportunities even when it isn’t). Here’s how we see it: The picnic boxes and menu offerings put together each summer by Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne are shockingly good for such a massive venue, and you can either wine and dine at a proper table in a swanky box or opt for the cheap seats with even better views of the hills and (if you’re particularly high up) the Hollywood Sign.

You’re probably taking the 405 and the tram uphill to the Getty for the Impressionist masterpieces and French furniture, not the food. But don’t pass up the dining options at the Sepulveda Pass museum: The sit-down Restaurant offers modern American fare with travertine-trimmed views of the Santa Monica Mountains, while you can pick up a simple sandwich or wrap from the Garden Terrace Café and eat it overlooking the museum’s sloping lawn, central garden and a city-meets-the-ocean vista. 

Sure, you can find better hot dogs and bowls of chili elsewhere—but we’re pretty sure this is the only spot in L.A. County where you can enjoy them a mile above the ground. This seasonal cafe atop Mt. Wilson takes some dedication to get to (about a half-hour-plus very winding drive up Angeles Crest Highway), but you’ll be rewarded with the entire basin below you (and sometimes even the clouds). It’s only open on weekends (Apr–Nov 10am–5pm), and we’d also suggest coming later in the day and sticking around for sunset.