Patricia Kelly Yeo

Before the Yelp ratings and “best of” accolades start to roll in, how do you know what’s actually good or not among L.A.’s just-opened eateries? Every month, I put myself through the ringer attempting to visit every new, notable restaurant around Los Angeles. Usually, I enjoy revisiting the city’s best eateries and sipping cocktails at tried-and-true bars, but scouting for the best new restaurants and bars in L.A. is, to put it nicely, kind of a grab bag. Whenever I’m out scouting for the latest openings or my next starred review, I’m just as likely to blow hundreds of dollars on an overhyped dud as I am to stumble upon the city’s next truly great restaurant. With Time Out’s guide to L.A.’s best new restaurants (with a few exceptions, I’ve personally checked out every single one), you don’t need to sift through pay-to-play influencer videos and user-generated reviews to decide where to head next—we’ve done the work for you, from looking for parking and waiting in line to trying those ultra-pricey spots ($70 al pastor anyone?), since there’s nothing worse when dining out than wasting your precious free time and, of course, money. How do I decide which restaurants are worth including? I take into account the quality of cuisine, overall ambience and, of course, the final bill. Not every notable new restaurant I try will make my list (which is why you won’t find MXO by Wes Avila or the Benjamin in this month’s update). I offer suggestions on what to order and let you know what to

Despite post-pandemic inflation and the rising cost of doing business, L.A. is still home to one of the most innovative, exciting and diverse food scenes in the country. Brick-and-mortar restaurants, Instagram pop-ups, street vendors and food trucks: No matter the form, you can find amazing food in a city whose reputation is built as much on off-the-beaten-path tacos and pop-ups as it is on fine dining-trained chefs making quick work of farmers’ market produce and mainline access to the top-notch Pacific seafood. At its core, L.A.’s restaurant scene thrives on diversity, resulting in genre-bending formats and cuisines that have given rise to some of the country’s best omakase restaurants, fine dining institutions and strip mall hidden gems. Our experts scour the city for great eats and great insider info. We value fun, flavor, freshness—and value at every price point. We update our list regularly to reflect changes in menu offerings, style of service, new locations and the ever-changing pulse of the city’s food scene. If it’s on the list, we think it’s awesome and worth the hype, wait and money —and we bet you will, too. October 2024: In the last two months, I finished the three-year(!) process of scouting for the city’s best sushi restaurants and finalized our trusty vegan dining guide. After a year of ribeye, wedge salad and creamed spinach, I also definitively updated our list of the city’s best steakhouses, reviewed an affordable new Sichuan spot in Highland Park and trie

Though we consistently cover new restaurants with killer cocktail offerings, new bars in L.A. are few and far between—but deserve just as much attention. To keep you up to date on the city’s bar scene, we’ve got a quarterly guide to the city’s best new bars, where you can find the city’s freshest places to drink that are actually worth checking out.  Plenty of newer drinking-oriented establishments straddle the line between bar and restaurant, but on this list we prioritize venues where it’s not strange at all to order a single nightcap or aperitivo—without your server trying to upsell you on bar bites when you aren’t hungry. We also strive to include establishments that stay open past 10pm on weekends, though we of course make exceptions for standout spots.  While these fledgling watering holes and lounges might lack the storied reputations of the city’s best bars and cocktail dens, they make up for it with stylish interiors and unique booze offerings. Some even have delicious bar bites perfect for whenever you’re feeling peckish, but this list focuses on destination-worthy venues with excellent drinks or first-rate atmosphere for going out (ideally, a combination of both).  So just how new are these drinking dens? We limit our list to bars, lounges and breweries that have opened in the past nine months. We check out each bar personally to make sure it’s worth your time and hassle—since there’s only so much booze money to spare.Oct 2024: This summer has seen an explosion of

The self-proclaimed “Heart of Screenland,” Culver City is a historic moviemaking town once located on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Today, it’s the current home of Sony Pictures Studios, as well as a growing hub for digital media and tech companies. Entertainment, media and tech’s outsized influence on downtown Culver City have kept the quiet Westside neighborhood’s main dining scene catering primarily to employees of Sony, Amazon, Apple, HBO and TikTok, while the major E Line-adjacent shopping hub Platform Culver City continues to showcase a handful of excellent, but pricey, dining options, like New York export Roberta’s. When it comes to restaurants, there’s plenty to love in Culver City, both old and new alike. Newcomers like Citizen Public Market and well-known citywide favorites like Hatchet Hall forge a peaceful coexistence alongside local favorites like Tito’s Tacos and S&W Country Diner. While it remains to be seen whether the small city will ever become a true Los Angeles-wide dining destination, here’s where to dine, drink and snack in Culver City—from the sleepier Mar Vista-adjacent outskirts to the pedestrian-friendly streets of downtown Culver. RECOMMENDED: Our full guide to Culver City

What is it that they say about L.A.’s smog? Oh yeah, the reason for its beautiful sunsets that never get old. Make the city’s pollution and marine layer work for you at these sky-high cocktail bars, where the views rightfully rival the booze. With so many new rooftop restaurants and bars in town, we’ve narrowed this list to the best drinking-oriented spots in the city, rather than full-blown dining destinations. They run the gamut from lowkey Westside rooftops to see-and-be-seen hotspots in West Hollywood, with a few longtime favorites thrown in for good measure. Most take walk-ins, thankfully, and those that require reservations aren’t necessarily the places we’d endorse paying for a full meal anyway. None of our picks require a cover fee or drink minimum, unless stated otherwise. (There are many more rooftop bars than the ones featured on our guide, but trust us, we’ve visited every single one of them, and not all of them merit paying premium cocktail prices.) From rooftop watering holes in Downtown and Hollywood to a few tried-and-true beachside bars in Venice and Santa Monica, here are the city’s—literally—top rooftop bars.

As an ocean-adjacent city with plenty of beach access, L.A. is full of restaurants with great seafood—and if you disagree, you’re frankly just not looking all that hard. In every neighborhood, whether you’re close to the Pacific or not, the city is rich in seafood options from all over the globe, from great sushi to a decent lobster roll. Some of the best seafood restaurants might be otherwise classified as Korean, Mexican, Chinese and soul food restaurants, but their flavorful dishes incorporating les fruits de mer beg to differ when it comes to serving the ocean’s freshest catch, so we’ve thought to include them here for the next time you’re craving freshly cooked, high-quality seafood. From special occasion fine dining to everyday takeout, here are the best seafood restaurants in L.A. RECOMMENDED: Guide to the best restaurants in Los Angeles

Home to one of the most accessible beaches in Los Angeles, Venice is a longtime artist and bohemian enclave whose colorful characters have managed to stick around despite recent gentrification by white collar tech bros. Between the boardwalk and bustling Abbot Kinney, this changing beach neighborhood is full of destination-worthy, delicious places to eat. Here, you’ll find traditional Italian fare, seasonal California cuisine and approachable Mexican food—plus Thai and Japanese fusion standouts. RECOMMENDED: Check out more in our full guide to Venice.

While Silicon Beach gentrification and longtime area bohemian beach culture might be Venice’s current competing claims to fame, the Westside neighborhood is also home to Abbot Kinney Boulevard, where you can find some of the city’s trendiest boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants and bars. Named after Venice’s first real estate developer, the full length of Abbot Kinney runs from Washington Boulevard to Santa Monica’s Main Street, but the bulk of its shops and restaurants are located where the street meets Venice Boulevard. Starting at upscale health grocery store Erewhon on its eastern end and ending around L.A.’s only Everlane at its Main Street terminus, the bourgeois chic, beach-adjacent street offers a full day’s worth of people-watching, shopping and dining. Throw on your best “effortless” athleisure and hop on your beach cruiser (or let’s be real, your e-scooter): Here’s our guide to the best spots along Abbot Kinney. RECOMMENDED: See our full guide to Venice.

Move over, New York City: You might have dollar-ish slices, but these days, the Los Angeles pizza scene has grown to encompass dizzying variety of pizza styles, including Detroit-style squares, classic NYC-style triangles, Tokyo-style Neapolitan, Roman pinsas and yes, the California-style flatbreads first made famous by Spago and later, California Pizza Kitchen. Since the pandemic, it’s become easier than ever to grab a slice of great pizza in L.A., no matter where you live—almost as easy as stopping by a taco stand or stumbling across some great strip mall sushi.In researching this guide, I've tried (and retried) over 70 different L.A. pizzas, pitting imports from elsewhere like Phoenix’s Pizza Bianco, New York City’s Emmy Squared and Naples’s very own L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele against beloved hometown favorites and up-and-coming newcomers. While they all make wonderful pizzas, I also excluded more upscale, less specialized restaurants like Bestia, Gjelina, Jon and Vinny's and Evan Funke’s powerhouse trio (Felix, Funke and Mother Wolf) since while they all make great pies, pizzas generally a nice-to-have at these restaurants, not an essential part of your meal. I’m always on the hunt for the latest and greatest pizzas in L.A., and I’m not afraid to drop old-timers from the list if quality has dropped off. Gourmet or lowbrow, takeout or dine-in, thin crust or thick—these places are serving the best pizzas in Los Angeles right now. September 2024: Since last updating this g

Plant-based dining in L.A. has come a long way from the days when Annie Hall parodied the Source, one of the city’s trendiest (and cult-iest) vegetarian restaurants in the ’70s and ’80s. The word “vegan” hasn’t raised eyebrows or prompted jokes about granola or nut loaf for years, if not decades, and there’s more 100% plant-based options on menus at regular restaurants than ever before. National chains like Veggie Grill have made animal product-free dining easier, if not necessarily healthier, and the last five years have seen an explosion in the city’s plant-based fast food options, whether you’re eating an Impossible patty at Burger King or Carl’s Jr or opting for a local joint like Burgerlords or Monty’s. These days, you can find slices of pizza piled high with veggies and faux meats; fully plant-based takes on Mexican cuisine; L.A.’s always trusty Ethiopian restaurants; and more vegan Italian dining than you can shake a stick at. For those who seek it out, you can also find amazing Asian cuisine sans animal products, including Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese cooking that rivals the city’s best restaurants. In our humble (and vegan-vetted) opinion, here are the very best of the best places for plant-based eats—though some places do serve a few dishes containing egg. Editor’s note: After visiting over two dozen vegan restaurants, we’re pleased to add six new additions to the guide, including new plant-based options for kebab, ramen, Chinese food and more. RECOMMENDED: The be

Sipping cocktails while toppling high scores is that beautiful utopia where adulthood meets childhood: You can stay out as late as you want, the retro vibes never cease, the beer flows freely and games cost as little as a quarter. We’ve compiled a list of the best adult-friendly arcade bars in the Los Angeles area, the kinds where you can both order a cocktail, some natural wine or a beer and play some Space Invaders. From a trendy Arts District bar to an Echo Park spot that doubles as a restaurant, here’s where to unleash your inner pinball wizard in L.A., all grown up.

For those who don’t live on the Westside, making the trek to Santa Monica for lunch or dinner can be daunting. Will there be traffic? Probably. Will it be hard to find parking? Unless you’re in one of the public lots around Third Street Promenade, probably. (I’ll take a moment to shout out the E Line, which will drop you right off by Bergamot Station as well as the Promenade.) But will the food be worth it? Yep. From destination-worthy sushi to every price point and type of Italian food under the sun, this small, tourist-friendly beachside city is full of amazing restaurants, some of which are worth the drive across town. In recent years, Main Street has become a hotbed of up-and-coming culinary talent, where more affordable, still destination-worthy eats like Heavy Handed and Crudo e Nudo coexist alongside more upscale eats like Pasjoli. Closer to the Promenade, I’ve visited overpriced old-timers like Capo and touristy chains like BOA and Hillstone to bring you the best of Downtown Santa Monica, as well. Venture to the city’s sleepier areas, like Ocean Park, and you’ll find excellent sandwiches, sushi and bagels. This guide is by no means exhaustive, but these are the Santa Monica restaurants we think you shouldn’t miss. RECOMMENDED: Best restaurants on the Westside

Former Time Out contributing critic Simon Majumdar is fighting oligodendroglioma, a rare incurable form of brain cancer. Together with fellow Food Network faces Antonia Lofaso (Dama), Mei Lin (Daybird) and Brooke Williamson (Playa Provisions), the globetrotting British American food writer is hosting a one-night-only benefit dinner for Oligo Nation, a nonprofit that funds research into how to treat and potentially cure this rare disease. Held at one of Lofaso’s other restaurants, Venice’s Scopa Italian Roots, Chefs United For a Cure will consist of a four-course family-style meal featuring dishes by all three chefs and a wine pairing, a meet-and-greet with Majumdar, a cocktail reception (with early access for VIP ticketholders) and live auction. 

Part natural wine bar, part restaurant, Companion is the stylish all-day hangout spot that Venice never knew it needed. Run by neighborhood residents Nick and Dakota Monica, the narrow, well-designed space serves pastries daily and sandwiches on housemade focaccia bread (the latter only 11am–3pm, Wed–Sun) before switching to a tightly curated Cal-Italian menu during dinner hours. In the evening, Quarter Sheets alum Jack Goode serves impeccable pizzas made with crispy, New Haven-inspired dough, plus seasonal delights like Caesar-style romano beans and olive oil cake topped with blackberry-peach compote. A well-heeled locals’ crowd and the lure of vinyl spinning after nightfall have already made Companion a total scene (pejorative), but I’ll hold my nose for Goode’s delicious, painstakingly sourced cuisine.

Tucked away in a barebones Echo Park space just before the Glendale Freeway, Ricardo Zarate’s latest endeavor serves delicious, reasonably priced renditions of the Japanese-Peruvian raw fare that put him on the map at Causita, Picca and Mo-Chica, among other now-closed restaurants. The difference this time? Zarate’s on his own. While the turquoise-quartz ceviche bar and pink neon lighting add plenty of flair, the Hummingbird is a no-frills, casual affair with no wine and beer license (yet). Start your meal with a few of the chef’s creative hand roll options, then order a couple of raw items—I particularly enjoyed the scallop aguachile topped with pepper ash and the classic sea bass ceviche. Best of all, nothing on the menu is over $40. Compared to most new restaurants opening in L.A., the Hummingbird definitely delivers the most bang for your buck.

Housed within a Brutalist-inspired minimalist space, this standout omakase bar ($225) in Hollywood offers all the trimmings of the typical high-end sushi experience—plus a few extra noteworthy tricks. Originally from Tokyo, Udatsu Sushi’s overseas counterpart boasts a Michelin star. Here, the eight-seat concrete counter offers a meal orchestrated by Shingo Ogane, the protégé of eponymous founding chef Hisashi Udatsu. The chef’s skillful variance of texture and temperature result in a subtle yet satisfying 17-course meal on par with L.A.’s best omakase spots. Highlights of the current menu include a seasonal herb roll, smoked fatty tuna served with a hazy flourish and sea urchin topped with crispy fried nori. If you have the time, arrive a tad earlier for a cocktail on the patio (not included in the price) to take in views of the Hollywood Sign.

Barr Seco, Sam’s Place, Sauced—there are noteworthy wine bars with tasty food popping up all over the place, but this stylish wine bar’s menu offerings distinguish themselves from all the rest. The uniquely carnivore-centric menu includes housemade charcuterie and sausages, plus impeccably finished steaks. Sure, the prices might be a little high, but the quality of the meat’s even higher. Owners Tyson and Bridgette Blackney pride themselves on sourcing antibiotic-free meats that are then dry-aged and butchered in-house. Standouts include the picanha beef tartare, grass-fed Wagyu steaks and the surprisingly refreshing fruit granita. In truth, a meal at Butchr Bar might run on the simpler side, but if you’re someone who loves a good steakhouse, don’t ignore this unlikely dining destination.

The former Ace Hotel has a brand-new rooftop in the form of Sauced, an NYC transplant known in its hometown as an ultra-hip, menuless wine bar. While it remains to be seen if its L.A. counterpart can draw the same crowds, the beloved Downtown third space is thankfully mostly unchanged except for a bunch of new plants and a cringeworthy “Can’t Stop Drinking About You” neon sign. Head inside to the bar for a choose-your-own-adventure experience—guided by one of Sauced’s expert bartenders—and a small selection of light bites, then take your glass outside and take in the sweeping views of Downtown. Weekend evenings bring DJs and food pop-ups to the space (which are generally announced on the bar’s Instagram), so if you’d like to help resuscitate Downtown’s struggling nightlife scene, give Sauced the good old-fashioned college try.

The old Mandrake Bar space at the edge of Culver City has a new tenant: No Smoking, a stylish cocktail bar that’s a little too expensive to truly be considered a neighborhood dive. Lowbrow touches like bar chips and $12 well drinks combine with pricey works of art on the walls and wood paneling. Reasonably priced $15 house creations include frozen ube coladas and Toki highballs (though you can find the same exact drink for cheaper at Afuri Ramen down the street). Happy hour (4–7pm) brings $10 wells and glasses of wine, plus $5 beers. If No Smoking was in Silver Lake or Northeast L.A., this opening wouldn’t be noteworthy—but in a part of town lacking in interesting cocktail options, I’ll take any decent-enough casual bar I can get.

Yes, I know: Canto VI is all the way out in Chatsworth, but this sophisticated drinking den is worth the trek for serious wine lovers. Run by Mélisse’s former sommelier, Brian Kalliel, Canto VI’s premium by-the-glass selections punch well above their weight class. (Kalliel is a total wine snob, which means the bottles open on any given night are rarer, more interesting and usually more expensive than those at most L.A. wine bars, which translates into more bang for your buck.) Paired with reasonably priced, rustic cuisine from Joan’s on Third alum Chester Hastings, the overall experience is an epicure’s delight. Next to the U-shaped counter, a cocktail bar offers top-shelf liquor and excellent renditions of classics for those in the mood for something stiffer. Upscale touches like complimentary valet, a killer playlist and live music on select evenings round out a surprisingly classy night out in the Valley.

Now open all day, this perpetually packed trailblazer from Phoenix is probably one of the least casual pizza experiences you'll find in Los Angeles, but it's also one of the very best. Housed at the ROW DTLA, Pizzeria Bianco is the namesake spot from James Beard Award-winning pizzaiolo Chris Bianco, who can also be seen on Chef's Table: Pizza on Netflix. These days, you can find the signature New York-Neopolitan hybrids all day, which has helped the restaurant meet demand, but we still recommend booking a table if you're looking to come for dinner. Once sat, a full wine and beer menu accompany an elegant menu of pizzas, salads and antipasti that stands up to the Arizona original.

Spooky season will get a bit boozier this year thanks to this traveling horror-themed cocktail pop-up at the Normandie Club in Koreatown. Halloween lovers can sip expertly mixed cocktails amid metal music and goth decor, including the famous 12-foot-tall skeleton from Home Depot. Drink highlights include the Siren’s Song (aged rum, rye whiskey, pineapple liqueur, oat orgeat, sherry, lime, salt, bitters) and the Hex Appeal (gin, vermouth, honeydew, citrus, absinthe).

This onetime pizza van pop-up now has a brick-and-mortar in Long Beach’s Belmont Heights, where heavenly circles of naturally leavened sourdough float out of the oven with astonishing speed. Relative to other red-hot pizzas around town, the bubbly, well-charred slices here have more definitive heft, with a menu that mixes conventional pies like margherita and pepperoni with more unique options, including the Hawaii Pie Oh, made with koji-infused tomatoes, charred pineapple, fermented jalapeños, among other market-driven toppings. Hovering around the $20 mark—dairy-free and cheese varieties aside—these pies don’t exactly come cheap, but discerning pizza fans will find plenty in the way of quality and flavor to justify the cost and effort involved.

This California-inspired bakery and restaurant isn't the first place you might think when you think “Italian cuisine,” but Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan's wood-fired pizzas, housemade pastas and seriously delicious garlic knot have made Milo + Olive an all-day Santa Monica mainstay. The thin crusted pizzas here are some of the best in the city, and there’s a wickedly good bolognese on the menu that rivals some of the more authentic-leaning options around town. Lighter options like chopped salad and a citrus-y kale salad appeal for those dining in for lunch, and there's also, of course, a marvelous pastry assortment during brunch hours.  

For several months, Highland Park area residents speculated about what would take over 5816 York Boulevard. A yoga practice, perhaps? Once signage for “Mala Class” appeared, some wondered if the former Salvadoran restaurant might transform into an arts and crafts studio. (In addition to the feminine version of “bad” in Spanish, mala also translates to “garland” in Hindi and Urdu. It can also refer to the prayer beads used in Hinduism and other South Asian religions.) It wasn’t until the end of June that co-owners Kevin Liang and Michael Yang opened their brightly colored fast-casual Chinese restaurant, clarifying the name’s intended meaning. Málà, as the term is accented in standard pinyin, refers to the unique numbing, spicy flavor profile most commonly associated with Sichuan, the southwestern Chinese province known for its bold, pungent cuisine full of garlic, chilies and peppercorns.  Photograph: Jesse Hsu for Time OutFive years in the making, Mala Class takes over a space that once housed a Salvadoran restaurant. With a modern, nuanced interpretation of the region’s cooking, Mala Class—which I recently awarded five stars—is easily the most interesting Sichuan restaurant in Los Angeles to open in the last decade. Drawing inspiration from the East Coast’s Han Dynasty (where the two first met, and one of NYC’s best Chinese restaurants) and their families’ combined experiences in the restaurant industry, Liang and Yang have created a winning formula: a reasonably priced, a

While a handful of great restaurants opened this summer, many of 2024’s most hotly anticipated newcomers have delayed their openings to the fall or even early winter. In the next few months, expect new projects from local favorites like Holbox, Cassia and Cento, plus sushi bar openings from out-of-towners. Read on for our guide to the 10 biggest L.A. restaurants that are expected to open this fall. 1. Somni 2.0 Anticipated opening: December (but reservations go live this Friday) As first reported in 2022 by the Los Angeles Times, previously two Michelin-starred Somni will reopen in West Hollywood, albeit with significant delay. Culinary icon and founding chef José Andrés is no longer involved, but his Spanish-born protégé Aitor Zabala, who previously oversaw the day-to-day kitchen at the SLS Hotel original, will revive the concept on his own. Located at 9045 Nemo Street, the slightly larger space will feature a still-intimate 14 seats. Expect the same irreverent-meets-highbrow fine dining that once earned Somni glowing reviews. While the restaurant won’t seat diners until December (or November, if repair schedules allow), Somni will release reservations via its website this Friday, September 6, at noon Pacific Time. If you’re interested in snagging a reservation, we suggest setting an alarm—the first round of seats are likely to book out within minutes. Photograph: Patricia Kelly Yeo for Time Out 2. Komal Anticipated opening: Mid-September Run by Fátima Juárez and Conrado

L.A. Redditors might revile its price (anywhere from $15 to $24 per pound), but once you’ve tasted the sweet, fragrant flesh of Harry’s Berries, you’ll quickly understand why they’re the most expensive strawberries in Southern California. The certified organic family farm in Oxnard grows delicate, flavorful strawberry varieties and only picks them at peak ripeness, shortening shelf life but maximizing flavor. Available at farmers’ markets and upscale grocery stores, they’re favored by many of L.A.’s best chefs.Now, fourth-generation farmer Molly Gean (daughter of the farm’s namesake, Harry Iwamoto) and her husband Rick are retiring. (Don’t worry: They’re leaving Harry’s Berries in the hands of their adult children and a few of their grandchildren.) In honor of their decades of hard work, A.O.C. is hosting a retirement bash for the Geans complete with a slew of one-night-only Harry’s Berries specials at the restaurant’s Brentwood location on Thursday, September 26.  Photograph: Courtesy Harry's Berries For Harry’s Berries superfans, it’s a chance to meet the Geans personally as well feast on the farm’s peak season produce, which includes tomatoes and beans as well as strawberries. (While the strawberries are available year-round, they’re generally more plentiful in the summer months.) “This is our moment to pay tribute to an epic lifetime of farming and good food,” chef Suzanne Goin said via press release. “Please join us as we celebrate Molly and Rick!” Highlights of the on

A decade after closing its last store in Santa Monica, Koo Koo Roo is returning, at least in pop-up form. The L.A.-based rotisserie chicken chain, beloved among Angelenos for its healthier options and cooking methods, announced a comeback via a newly launched Instagram account Tuesday morning. Its first appearance will be at chef Timothy Hollingsworth and actor B.J. Novak’s ChainFEST in early October.  One of the most popular, healthy-ish fast-food chains of the late ‘90s and early aughts, Koo Koo Roo first opened in 1988. Founded by brothers Mike and Ray Badalian, the chain distinguished itself from competitors with its charbroiled skinless chicken, devoid of frying, breading, preservatives or additives. Items like saffron rice and the eponymous flatbread reflected the Badalians’ Middle Eastern heritage, while dishes like “Asian” chicken salad and a California burrito filled with guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream reflected California as a whole. At its height, the brand boasted 52 locations across North America, including 25 across Southern California. The company went public in 1991, later acquiring franchises like Color Me Mine and Hamburger Hamlet. Koo Koo Roo also attempted to launch its own coffee chain, Arrosto Coffee Co. After various changes in ownership and filing for bankruptcy in 2003, Koo Koo Roo struggled to stay afloat throughout the early aughts. At some point in 2014, the chain’s last outpost in Santa Monica closed. So who’s behind the new Koo Koo Roo?

It's official: After nine and a half years, Otium will be closing in Downtown L.A. on September 8. Chef-owner Timothy Hollingsworth, who has largely focused on his pop-up concept Chain in recent years, announced the news on Instagram last week.  “The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges making it increasingly difficult to sustain our operation,” reads the message on social media. “We never would have thought we would have to shut our doors for 18 months during a pandemic, putting us into a position that was a constant climb to get out of. We are very grateful to have had the Broad by our side throughout the years, their support and partnership has been unparalleled.” The Instagram post also thanked the restaurant’s staff for its constant dedication, taking heart in the sort of camaraderie that the team was able to nurture.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Otium (@otiumla) Fans of the eatery took to the comment section to bemoan the news (“This is heartbreaking,” one user noted), reminiscing about the times they spent on the premises. Many also found some solace when reading the message in which Hollingsworth explains that he is considering reopening at a new address. “While we are closing our doors at this location, we are hopeful about the future for Otium,” reads the message. “We are working to find another location in Los Angeles.” To be frank, we aren't surprised by the impending closure. The stunnin

Tonight, Michelin announced its list of starred California restaurants for 2024 at an awards ceremony in the Bay Area, and the results for Los Angeles are in: three all-new one-star additions, including Gilberto Cetina Jr.’s scrappy Yucatecan seafood spot Holbox inside South L.A.’s Mercado La Paloma, plus seven new Bib Gourmands in L.A. County. A fourth restaurant, Jordan Kahn’s Vespertine, was given two “new” stars. The controversial chef’s Culver City fine-dining experience, which previously held two stars pre-pandemic and lost them in 2022, reopened last spring after a four-year closure. Vespertine also received a Michelin Green Star, a category recognizing sustainable industry practices. (In Los Angeles, Nancy Silverton’s one-star Osteria Mozza and Chi Spacca, as well as Providence, currently hold this designation.) One of the world’s most famous dining guides (as well as a multinational French tire company), Michelin decides what it considers worth visiting by sending anonymous inspectors all over a given city, state, region or country. In North America, the guide’s overall bias towards Japanese omakase and French fine-dining restaurants is well-known, though it also includes a variety of unstarred restaurants in terms of cuisine and price point within each edition of the guide.  Photograph: Courtesy Irina LograThe dining room at Meteora. Aside from Cetina’s Holbox, this year in L.A. was largely no different. The other two newest starred restaurants for 2024 are Uka, a

“Very Niche, But Where Can I Find” is a new recurring column where Food & Drink Editor Patricia Kelly Yeo will track down—and in some cases try—hard-to-find food and drink items across Los Angeles.  Have an elusive dish or drink you’d like to know where to find? Email p.kelly.yeo@timeout.com. Of the various shaved ice desserts beloved across Asia and its diaspora, Japanese kakigori might be the hardest to track down in Los Angeles. In Koreatown, you’ll find plenty of joints serving Korean bingsoo, which often includes chopped fruit and a scoop of ice cream. The San Gabriel Valley is full of boba shops and dessert cafés serving variations on Chinese and Taiwanese bao bing—miniature snow-capped peaks doused in brown sugar syrup and condensed milk, plus various sweet, oft-chewy items like mochi, boba, red beans and grass jelly. There’s rainbow-hued halo-halo at Filipino restaurants scattered across L.A. County and a handful of options for Hawaiian shave ice; both dishes can trace their roots back to Japanese immigrants and overseas workers making kakigori. If you’re in L.A. and jonesing explicitly for Japanese-style shaved ice, however, you might find yourself in a bit of a pickle. Made of ultra-light, extremely fluffy shaved ice, plus flavored syrup, whipped cream and sometimes other toppings, this time-sensitive window for this frozen dessert is even more punishing than a scoop of ice cream. Step away for mere minutes and that snow-like pile won’t be as you left it. In essence

“You’re doing great! Keep going!” My friends shouted words of encouragement as I struggled to paddle against the current, the realization slowly hitting that all that separated me from the Pacific Ocean was a life jacket and an enormous hunk of plastic. For the first time in my life, I was kayaking, and though I’d like to consider myself a quick study, the unpredictable tides and craggy seascape off the coast of Southern California’s Channel Islands probably weren’t the ideal conditions to first use a narrow, human-powered boat.  I consider myself only a little outdoorsy and of average athleticism, but I am nothing if not a sucker for the esoteric—so when the Los Angeles Times featured kayaking to the islands’ hidden sea caves as one of five epic outdoor adventures to consider pursuing at the start of this year, I started looking into the prospect despite having zero experience on the water. By the end of February, I’d booked a private “Adventure Sea Caves” tour in mid-July for me and seven other outdoors-inclined friends through Ventura-based Channel Islands Adventure Company, one of two companies licensed with the National Park Service to operate tours and boat rides in and around the Channel Islands. (There’s also another company, Santa Barbara-based Channel Island Expeditions, which operates non-landing kayaking tours.) Note: For novices, the Times article’s suggested kayaking route to the Painted Cave—one of the largest and arguably most beautiful sea caves in the world—

These days, the cost of dining out is higher than ever. While L.A.’s cheap eats certainly get the job done, sometimes all you want to do is indulge your inner gourmand with a tasting menu. Over the last 12 months, I’ve seen prices for everything from Michelin-starred omakases to the humble street taco creep up across the board. A reality check’s in order: Most people in L.A. can’t afford to regularly, consistently spend over $100 per person on a single meal. For many folks, dining out, at least at the higher end of the scale, is purely an event reserved for special occasions or something that happens closer to once a month rather than once a week or more.  That’s where these fairly under-the-radar tasting menus below $100 come into the equation. While you’ll still end up spending around $100 or a little more after tax and tip, these cheaper upscale dining experiences are a welcome relief from the sky-high prices of most L.A. tasting menus and omakases. With some conditions—some require you to come in on specific weekday evenings—these newer, slightly more budget-friendly chef’s tastings will more than fit the bill (pun intended). Photograph: Courtesy Katrina Frederick n/soto What is it: A $95 six-course tasting menuWhen: Wednesday and Thursday eveningsWhy you should book: Niki Nakayama and Carole Iida-Nakayama’s Mid-City izakaya might offer a vastly different experience from, n/naka, the pair’s two Michelin starred kaisaki experience, but this newer seasonal tasting menu br

For Kenji Suzuki, the Type 47 liquor license he received earlier this year was the chance at reinvention for his family's restaurant. “We felt like we needed to evolve, to become something more than we were before,” says the second-generation owner of Suehiro, the widely beloved 52-year-old Japanese mom-and-pop café previously located in Little Tokyo. Last fall, after over half a century of serving the historically Japanese American neighborhood, the restaurant was forced to relocate. The only option? A much larger, grander space in Downtown’s Historic Core. In the last few years, Suzuki had worked with a broker in hope of securing a license to serve hard liquor. Suehiro’s new address, which formerly housed Josef Centeno’s P.Y.T., practically begged for a liquor license, he says, with the multi-story layout, two bar areas and imposing high ceilings, but the process of getting one is quite difficult. Liquor licenses typically cost well over six figures, unless you win a literal lottery held by California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.  But that's just what happened to Suzuki. Last October, his broker lucked out, drawing lucky number 15—in a year when the statewide agency doled out just a few dozen new, far more affordable licenses to serve hard liquor. Now, with the help of Seven Grand and Steep After Dark alum Huy Nang Pham, he’s opened Bar Suehiro, a craft cocktail den that will begin serving the public on Wednesday, July 31.  Photograph: Courtesy Eugene LeeBar S

“Very Niche, But Where Can I Find” is a new recurring column where Food & Drink Editor Patricia Kelly Yeo will track down—and in some cases try—hard-to-find food and drink items across Los Angeles.  Have an elusive dish or drink you’d like to know where to find? Email p.kelly.yeo@timeout.com.The Choco Taco™ is dead, long live the untrademarked choco taco. It’s been two years since Klondike discontinued the iconic taco-shaped waffle cone filled with ice cream and chocolate, and I’m honestly still not over it. In one fell swoop, the Unilever division brand deprived America of one of the best mass-produced novelty ice cream items ever produced. Not only did the original Choco Taco have the ideal filling-to-cone ratio—you basically get a bit of waffle cone with every bite of ice cream—the story behind the loosely Mexican-inspired dessert is a true testament to the spirit of America. First invented in Philadelphia by Alan Drazen in 1983, the Choco Taco is the product of one enterprising individual’s ingenuity and ability to trend forecast. According to Eater, the ice cream truck supervisor realized that his company, Jack & Jill, did not have a signature item, and Drazen wanted to change that. One day at the office, as fall approached, signaling the start of his industry’s slow season, an idea popped into his head: a taco-shaped frozen treat.  “Mexican food was the fastest-growing segment of the food industry, and the taco was the most recognizable shape,” he told Eater. His boss a

It’s not every day that a new tiki bar opens in Los Angeles, so when the Lucky Tiki debuted in West Hollywood at the end of March, I knew I had to visit. The only problem? It’s one of the hardest reservations in town. Four nighttime visits, over a dozen different cocktails and a lot of Resy wrangling later, I’m happy to report the speakeasy-style cocktail lounge behind Tail o’ the Pup earned a four-star review from Time Out. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of rum or sugary drinks, I still think it’s worth heading to the Lucky Tiki, which offers one of the most transportive drinking experiences in the city.  What I didn’t realize, at least at first, is that the Lucky Tiki isn’t new, not entirely. In 2004, Bobby Green, Dimitri Komarov and Dmitry Liberman, the trio behind the prolific 1933 Group, first opened the Lucky Tiki inside a former dive bar in the Valley they’d landed through a probate auction. When a developer decided to raze the entire block, the trio closed the bar after just a year and a half. Over the next two decades, Green and his business partners went on to open other bars like Oldfield’s Liquor Room in Palms and Harlowe in West Hollywood, but they never got the chance to reopen the Lucky Tiki—that is, until now. It might have taken 18 years, but the bar’s not only back in business, it’s one of the buzziest drinking experiences in Los Angeles right now.   Photograph: Jesse Hsu for Time OutEvery inch of the Lucky Tiki is covered in island-inspired memorabilia