Patricia Kelly Yeo

It is a truth universally acknowledged that L.A.'s Vietnamese food scene has nothing on the culinary diversity of Orange County, but that doesn't mean you necessarily need to drive all the way to Westminster's Little Saigon for an amazing bowl of pho or a great bowl of bun (rice vermicelli). Sure, we may not have the culinary riches of Garden Grove or Fountain Valley, but L.A. County more than holds its own thanks to the San Gabriel Valley, where many immigrant-run Vietnamese shops offer amazing regional specialties you won't find at your standard neighborhood pho shop.  In general, as with Chinese cuisine, L.A.'s best Vietnamese joints pointedly skew suburban, from the deep recesses of the San Fernando Valley to the inland South Bay. Across these less densely populated regions of Los Angeles, you'll come across hard-to-find delicacies that will transport you to the streets of Saigon, Hanoi and Hue, Central Vietnam's major culinary powerhouse. While researching this guide, I came across plenty of new-to-me delights, including several outstanding varieties of goi cuon (literally, "salad roll"), the freshly wrapped rice paper rolls that offer so much more than shrimp or tofu with a side of peanut sauce.Still, not all of us live in these neighborhoods, or are willing to spend 45 minutes to an hour driving for a meal—so we've tracked down the best of the more centrally located options from the Westside to Downtown L.A. We even found the best vegan and vegetarian options among L.A

There’s no official alfresco season in L.A., a city where outdoor dining is technically possible year-round, so of course it’s full of decidedly alfresco restaurants. You know the ones. These are the types of places where you can hear the waves crashing, watch the city lights sparkle from a rooftop or get lost in the greenery—or scenery—that surrounds your table. While most Angelenos know by now that most meals can be enjoyed outside, whether you’re at a coffee shop, a taco truck or a fine-dining restaurant, there are still plenty of destination-worthy scenic spots worth visiting for the views (as well as the food). Without further ado: Here are the best restaurants for outdoor dining in L.A. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to things to do outside in Los Angeles

Whether you’re a longtime fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race or just a fan of day drinking, there’s no better place in town for an inclusive, fun-filled and rowdy afternoon than a good old-fashioned drag brunch. While plenty of West Hollywood’s iconic gay bars are serving looks and lunch every weekend, you can also find plenty of campy fun across town in Downtown, the Valley and even the Westside. After years  without the love and light brought by these impossibly talented queens (and kings), these excellent L.A. spots are finally bringing it back to brunch—just make sure to bring plenty of cash to show your appreciation. 

Dating in L.A. can be just as tough as being single in L.A., but there are plenty of other Angelenos riding solo who feel your pain (and could use a stiff drink). From beachside hangouts to happy hour spots, L.A.’s bars are full of other singles ready to mingle. For a sense of class, stop into a wine bar filled with friendly faces and strike up a conversation about your favorite bottle or glass, or stop into an old-school bar for a pinball tournament (which is maybe one of the greatest icebreakers ever?). We’ve done some hopping around at the city’s buzziest watering holes—namely, some of the best cocktail bars—to bring you the scoop on the where singles dating in L.A. can find Mr. or Ms. Right (or, let’s be honest, your next hookup). RECOMMENDED: The best bars in Los Angeles

When we’re out for a drink, you’ll usually find us at one of the best cocktail bars in L.A., but sometimes we’re looking for something a little more old school. To marvel at the city’s short (yet long) history, we like to stop by a few of the oldest bars in L.A., all of which have stuck around long enough and become essential museums of local culture. From Downtown bars to Hollywood and beyond, these places will let you step back in time for the night—or at least until you’ve finished a cocktail or three.

Not every happy hour special is created equal, and what makes a spot someone’s go-to for a much-needed early-evening drink can vary. But we think there’s a little something for everyone among these happy hour spots below. Los Angeles is never short on great bars to try, ranging from your neighborhood dive bars to sports bars and delicious restaurants that compliment that 4pm cocktail with some delectable food. Of course, having to navigate the city’s web of freeways for the perfect special puts a dent in that discount, so we’ve gone ahead and compiled a comprehensive list of the best happy hour deals all over L.A. Set a reminder in your calendar this coming workweek and round up your friends because here is where you can grab a drink and meal for just a fraction of the price.

The most socially acceptable way to drink before noon, bottomless brunch wasn’t invented in L.A., but we’ve certainly perfected the sport of pairing our bacon and eggs with a side of sugary, great-tasting booze. For the weekends when you’re not headed to the hiking trails or getting away from the city, these restaurants are ready to fill your cup with sparkling white wine and orange juice, plus Aperol Spritzes, Bloody Marys, margaritas, sangria and rosé. They may not all offer the best brunch (we’ve got a separate list for that) or brunch with a side of drag, but these eateries faithfully serve the best drink deals for those hoping to day drink on special occasions—even if the occasion is just the weekend. Find yourself a designated driver, remember to stay hydrated and party on at these weekend brunch spots from the Westside to the Valley.

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.

“Malibu tends to astonish and disappoint those who have never before seen it,” Joan Didion once wrote in The White Album, “and yet its very name remains, in the imagination of people all over the world, a kind of shorthand for the easy life.” The water may not be as turquoise blue as Newport Beach, nor the sand as pristine as Carmel by the Sea up north, but the built-up, carefree surfers’ mythos around Malibu continues to make the coastal city a playground for bikers, surfers, Jonah Hill and people who just want to go to the beach.  When it comes to restaurants, Malibu offers some of the freshest seafood—surprise, surprise—but there’s so much more than yellowtail jalapeno sashimi at Nobu Malibu and fish ’n’ chips. Along the Pacific Coast Highway, you’ll find some of L.A.’s most iconic coastal dives and patios by the water and cozy spots for Thai takeout and breakfast burritos, plus a few beloved old-school joints closer to the Santa Monica Mountains. Here’s our guide to eating through Malibu like a local—we hope you brought your appetite, and maybe some sunscreen. RECOMMENDED: Find more in the best of Malibu

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.

Your mom’s been through a lot: She did your laundry, got through those angsty teen years and probably even let you control the car’s radio without batting an eye, even when all you did was blast boy bands for hours on end. And while Mother's Day brunch won’t completely compensate for all those years of emotional distress, you can still show her you’re really, truly thankful for all of that with a meal to end all meals from one of L.A.’s best brunch restaurants. With endless mimosas and rosé, seaside eggs Benedict and fresh-baked pastries, these Mother’s Day brunch specials around town are the perfect way to say “I love you.” Whether she’s looking for something cozy and low-key or decadent and classy, here’s where to find the best Mother’s Day specials around L.A. this year. RECOMMENDED: Our guide to Mother’s Day in L.A. (which, FYI, is May 12 this year)

Despite all that’s transpired during the pandemic, 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. April 2024: We've updated our guide to reflect n/Naka and Hayato's temporary closures this month.

This Brentwood steakhouse has one of the most beautiful dining rooms in the city—with the sort of well-heeled, designer bag-carrying local clientele that one might expect for the area. Enter through Baltaire’s enormous wooden front doors and you’ll be treated to a refined take on classic steakhouse fare, plus a few standout California-style sides like spicy salmon crispy rice and seasonal grilled artichokes. The menu prices might be steep, but executive chef Samuel Jung’s attention to detail shines through in the juicy, well-marbled and perfectly cooked bone-in ribeye and a crisp wedge salad topped with decadent bacon lardons and plenty of blue cheese dressing. Finish your meal with the freshly made powdered beignets or a slice of banoffee pie—and maybe a cinnamon-spiked tequila espresso martini.

Run by the same team behind Park's, KTeam BBQ takes over the space that once held Ong Ga Nae, which quietly closed last year. The Vermont Avenue newcomer offers a more affordable, pork-centric Korean barbecue experience—albeit with the same meat quality, bounty of banchan and excellent prepared dishes as its older, critically acclaimed sibling across the street. Cheerful orange-and-white checkered tile tables serve as the backdrop for a reasonably priced à la carte menu that includes a phenomenal bowl of chilled spicy acorn noodles; delightfully chewy tteokbokki, served with one or more barbecue orders; and three types of beef. The star of the show, however, is the thinly sliced frozen pork belly, a cut popular in South Korea. Paired with supplemental myeonglan paste (pollack roe) or the classic trio of spicy soybean paste, garlic and jalapeño, each lettuce or perilla-wrapped bite will transport you to Seoul.  

Less than a mile away from some of Altadena’s most scenic hiking trails, this casual teahouse serves an excellent afternoon tea (weekends 10am–4pm). Each set includes a plant-based array of delicious toasts, scones and pastries, including Asian-inspired sweets baked by South Pasadena’s Cookie Chaos. Our favorite afternoon tea set at Callisto, however, is the gong fu tea service for two ($69), which comes with the regular sweets and savories plus a traditional Chinese tea ceremony. Brewed tableside on a wooden tray, each gong fu service also comes with an adorable color-changing tea pet. (On our visit, it was a pair of metallic pink-gold carp.) Guests are meant to pour hot water over the small pottery figure while blooming their tea leaves, and the tiny figures are associated with good luck. Note: While you can drop into Callisto for a casual pastry and a cuppa any day of the week, advance reservations are highly recommended for the weekend tea offerings.

The word is getting out about Spicy Sugar, the best Thai restaurant in L.A. you haven’t heard of yet. Located in a former Mid-City diner, the restaurant is far from the congested streets of Thai Town, with an actual parking lot and a grassy median and curved parkway separating it from busy La Brea Avenue. These days, more and more locals are dropping by the tiny eatery, which hosts about eight tables, plus a stray outdoor table or two. While chef-owner Kattareeya “Katt” Goldsmith serves the usual suspects and fusion-style dishes like chicken katsu with panang curry and delightful green curry dumplings, you’re really here for the regional Isaan-style menu that, true to the restaurant’s name, offer equal amounts spicy and sweet.  Open since last August, the restaurant is the second of its kind. Goldsmith also operates the original Spicy Sugar location in Long Beach, which she purchased from Jitlada’s Sugar Sungkamee (for whom the restaurant is named) in 2021. Since taking over, Goldsmith has largely made the menu her own. Instead of Southern-style specialties, she’s filled the pages with variations of somtum (papaya salad), larb dishes, seafood galore and rustic, lemongrass-heavy soups made with ingredients like bamboo shoots, ant eggs and beef tendons. Newer gai yang skewers, made with chicken or pork, are juicy and perfectly seasoned. All of these are popular in Isaan, the region of Thailand that includes Goldsmith’s home province of Roi Et. While Spicy Sugar isn’t the only p

Since 1975, this daytime-only Cuban American café has served Silver Lake locals strong coffee, delicious pastries stuffed with guava and cheese and other everyday bites like sandwiches and empanadas. Now under new ownership after what seemed like a permanent closure in December 2023, we hope this beloved neighborhood eatery keeps chugging—since everything about it, from the affordable fare to the friendly service, is worth preserving for generations to come.

Chef Joshua Gil (Mírame, Tacos Puntas Cabras and more recently Level 8’s Maison Kasai) is back with this more casual, no less stylish Los Feliz bar and restaurant. Up a hidden flight of stairs, the gorgeous three-story restaurant features a tree towering over the open-air dining room and an approachable Baja-inspired menu of tacos and other drinking snacks at an overall price point that's far lower than the 90210 original. The solid list of tequilas and mezcals and several agave-based cocktails come courtesy of resident agave enthusiast Maxwell Reis (formerly of Gracias Madre). Food-wise, chef Joshua Gil has imported a few signature items from Mírame, including the fried chicken taco, but newer, bolder additions like the beef tongue taco arabe and crispy sweet potatoes keep diners engaged from a culinary standpoint, even if the space alone is a veritable feast for the eyes.

The crowds can get chaotic and the street parking sucks, but the crispy-edged ricotta pancakes topped with blueberry compote and a standout tuna sandwich have made this trendy, design-forward café in East Hollywood a worthy destination for a casual weekend brunch. Cafe Telegrama also sources its pastries from nearby Friends & Family if you're in the mood for a little treat instead of a meal, while the breezy outdoor patio feels worlds away from Western Avenue's busy traffic. Chef Evan Algorri (formerly of Sherman Oaks’ Augustine Wine Bar and NYC’s Bouley) offers well-executed sandwiches and brunch, including a scrambled egg plate served with crispy bacon and griddled toast. I also enjoyed the crumbly, ultra-cheesy kale salad, which throws in breadcrumbs and roasted corn for additional textural contrast. If you prefer a calmer, less frenetic atmosphere, stop by on a weekday, when the see-and-be-seen East Coast transplant vibes dial way, way down—albeit not all the way.

This cherished dim sum spot in Pasadena, Alhambra and Torrance serves dainty golden egg buns, with runny, sweet yolk centers that ooze out from fluffy white exteriors. The almond milk with puff pastry is another one of their signature creations, with hot and just-sweet-enough almond milk beneath a fluffy, flaky top. House-made dumplings are aptly labeled “jumbo,” and their sticky rice wrap has exceptional flavor and just the right texture. Arrive early to avoid the inevitable brunch rush, but latecomers, take heed: Unlike other spots on this list, Lunasia serves dim sum well into the evening.

Chef Helene An helped revolutionize the way Americans view and taste Vietnamese food, and her L.A. flagship is the best place to see why. Now part of a successful multigenerational culinary empire, An’s Vietnamese seafood eatery has made a name for itself through signature dishes like garlic noodles with tiger prawns and the arresting whole Dungeness crab, though smaller bites like the grilled beef satay and the corn soup are not to be missed. Artful, inventive and walking the perfect line between comfort flavors and fine dining, the cuisine here is now overseen executive chef Tony Nguyen, who has kept the legacy going strong with a new weekend brunch full of tasty dishes like ube soufflé pancakes and Wagyu crispy rice benedict.

In Arcadia and Monterey Park, eponymous chef Tony He is crafting gourmet dim sum of the highest order. While his original dim sum destination Sea Harbour offers a wider array of dishes and more cozy environs, his cooking shines just as bright at his sleeker, more youthful concept with truffle-laced shumai; translucent, fish egg-topped scallop and shrimp dumpling; and not just one, but two jet-black dishes topped with edible gold: shrimp har gow and salty-sweet lava egg yolk buns—the latter best eaten extremely carefully. Among its desserts, you’ll also find a trio of darling sesame-eyed coconut jelly bunnies. Although the final bill is likely to raise an eyebrow among dim sum aficionados, a meal here justifies both the price and the wait, which can get long on weekends if you don’t come early.

Angelenos in the know flock to this neighborhood coffee shop in Historic Filipinotown, where owner Naomi Shim's pastry skills and cooking prowess transform your standard coffee-and-a-pastry into a full-fledged artisan breakfast experience. While their Instagram is full of limited-run seasonal creations like tomato danishes and passionfruit fruit pie, you can always depend on their all-day menu of heartier breakfast fare, like the braised pork shoulder-based Doubtless Burrito and the seven-grain pancakes topped with apple verjus and maple cinnamon butter.

No detail goes unaccounted for at Destroyer, where otherworldly presentation and high-quality ingredients combine for the most aesthetically pleasing breakfast (and brunch) in town. Helmed by Jordan Kahn, the same critically acclaimed chef behind nearby Michelin-starred Vespertine, the pricey, counter service-style daytime café draws crowds on late weekend morning, but arrive early or come on a weekday to slather house-cultured butter with seasonal jam on their Icelandic seeded rye bread or dig into the avocado confit—Destroyer's truly high-fashion take on avocado toast.

If the heavy weekend crowds have kept you from trying Hannah Ziskin’s amazing desserts and Aaron Lindell’s Detroit-inspired pizza squares at Quarter Sheets, you’re in luck: The nationally recognized pizza joint in Echo Park will begin taking reservations at the end of this month. Per a social media post, Quarter Sheets will offer table times up to two weeks out, with the first batch of reservation dates—May 1 to May 14—becoming available on Resy on Monday, April 29. Parties of up to six guests will be able to book. All tables will be limited to an hour and a half of dining. In our experience, that’s more than enough time to enjoy a couple of appetizers, a few pizza squares and dessert here. Photograph: Stephanie Breijo for Time OutFor a certain kind of L.A. diner, this is worthing waiting over an hour for. The tiny restaurant, which we consider one of the city’s top pizzerias, will continue to hold space for walk-ins. In early 2022, Ziskin and Lindell transitioned their popular pandemic pop-up to a brick-and-mortar, and the line has largely been bonkers ever since. Nationally, Quarter Sheets has been recognized in the New York Times and Bon Appetit. In 2023, Food & Wine also named Ziskin, who leads the pastry program at the restaurant, one of the country’s best new chefs. In practice, national recognition, combined with plenty of local love, has led to notorious weekend crowds at the restaurant rivaling Courage Bagels in nearby Virgil Village. However, Quarter Sheets has, a

For a city known for its proximity to the beach, we have relatively few oceanside rooftop bars. That number briefly dipped with the closure of Santa Monica’s Onyx earlier this year, but it’s luckily ticked back up as that same space flips into the Coco Club beginning Thursday, April 4. The new lounge sits atop the Beacon by Sonder, an Airbnb-like hotel service that took over the former Hotel Shangri-La late last month. Now managed by Boulevard Hospitality Group (TCL Chinese Theatre, Adults Only), the seventh-story space has a completely new look and feel, plus a tropical-leaning cocktail menu. Photograph: Courtesy Joseph DuarteA design refresh gives the former Onyx space a whole new look and feel. The bar’s name pays homage to two L.A. nightlife destinations from the 20th century: the Cocoanut Grove, which was located in Koreatown’s Ambassador Hotel from 1921 to 1989 (where RFK Community Schools now stands today), and the short-lived Coconut Club inside the Beverly Hilton, which opened its doors in 1998 and closed them in 2002. Inside, birds-of-paradise wallpaper, saffron-colored feathery chandeliers and plenty of Art Deco accents conjure an aura of Old Hollywood glamour. These breezy design elements more than compensate for the space’s otherwise claustrophobic low ceilings and lack of natural lighting during daylight hours. Photograph: Courtesy Claudio Robles What everyone actually cares about, however, is the outdoor terrace and lounge, where Boulevard Hospitality has t

When Souplantation closed all 97 of its restaurants in 2020, citing health concerns around self-serve dining, seemingly all of Southern California grieved. The San Diego-based buffet chain, which was also known as Sweet Tomatoes in other states, had already filed for bankruptcy in 2016, but the early pandemic was the company’s true death knell. Popular with immigrant families (including my own), hungry students and seniors on limited incomes, the restaurant was known for its affordable, slightly mediocre mix of salads, soups, pastas and baked goods. There were also a few desserts like soft-serve and, if my memory serves me correctly, the occasional molten chocolate sheet cake or seasonal fruit cobbler with which one could create your own dessert à la mode. As of February 28, a third party in the Inland Empire has resurrected one of Souplantation’s former locations under the name Soup ’n Fresh. It’s not the first time someone has tried to revive the buffet-style soup-and-salad concept, but it’s the only one to have opened thus far. Located about 45 minutes away with no traffic (and more than double that during rush hour) from Downtown L.A. in the city of Rancho Cucamonga, the similarly named restaurant uses a slightly different color scheme but has all-but-identical menu offerings and pricing. To see how the new dupe stacks up to the original, we sent our freelance video contributor Richard Tranley on Sunday, March 17 to review Soup ’n Fresh and then called him up for a play-b

Though the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood is famous worldwide for its exotic revival architecture and the collection of over 200 celebrity hand and footprints, the 97-year-old “Chinese” theater itself has never actually served Chinese food—until now. Starting this weekend, the concession stand will begin serving a small Cantonese dim sum menu created by Tony He, the well-known San Gabriel Valley culinary veteran behind Rosemead’s Sea Harbour and Chef Tony, his newer, more upscale mini-chain with locations in Arcadia and Monterey Park. (He also owns and operates Vancouver’s Yidong restaurant group.) Photograph: Courtesy Chef Tony Dim Sum.Assorted dim sum at Chef Tony Dim Sum. The theater’s new Hollywood Dim Sum will serve three combos with commonly offered dim sum items including shrimp dumplings (har gow), shrimp and pork dumpling with black truffles (siu mai) and xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings. Combo C is entirely plant-based, making it suitable for vegans or vegetarians, while Combo A also features a stunning jet-black salted lava bun, one of He’s signature dishes. Combos are priced at $20.99, with a dollar upcharge for the plant-based option. Photograph: Courtesy Wonho Frank Lee.Combo A features He’s signature truffle-covered siu mai and squid ink salted egg yolk bun. Though the San Gabriel Valley and, increasingly, the South Bay offer a wealth of excellent dim sum restaurants, there are relatively few actually good options within the City of L.A. (Not too far from t

Kattareeya “Katt” Goldsmith, née Chaboonmee, grew up without running water or electricity in a rural village in Roi Et, a tiny province in northeastern Thailand. After attending college in Bangkok, she built a career in corporate sales and eventually landed a job as a country manager for Stanley Black & Decker. It wasn’t until sometime in her 30s that she met her future husband, David, a video assist technician and L.A. native who grew up in the entertainment industry. (Her father-in-law is, believe it or not, the Most Interesting Man in the World.)  After moving to L.A. in 2016, Goldsmith started a catering business geared towards film sets, a decision provoked by the various co-workers who kept asking David where he’d gotten the homemade lunches he'd bring to work. Her exemplary cooking skills have led to the latest act in her colorful life story: chef-owner of Spicy Sugar Thai Mid-City, an exceptional six-month-old restaurant located in an unlikely place—a former motel diner near La Brea and San Vicente. While Goldsmith also offers a crowd-pleasing menu of fusion dishes and takeout classics, it’s her homestyle menu of Isaan-style cuisine full of heat, funk and flavor that makes Spicy Sugar Thai really stand out from the crowd. Photograph: Jesse Hsu for Time OutThe motel-anchored space most recently housed a Brazilian restaurant. Goldsmith also maintains Spicy Sugar’s original location in Long Beach, which the self-taught chef purchased from Jitlada’s Jaratporn “Sugar” Su

If you believe the judges at the 2024 US Coffee Championships, the City of Angels is now home to the best barista in the country. Last weekend, local coffee shop co-owner Frank La placed first in the barista category at the specialty coffee world’s most prominent trade competition. La owns Melrose’s Be Bright Coffee with his wife, Michelle. The pair started off vending at Smorgasburg in the Arts District before opening Be Bright Coffee in late 2022, and originally started the company as a subscription-based coffee bean supplier. Photograph: Courtesy Stan Lee It’s not the first time an L.A. coffee shop owner has won the U.S. Barista Championships. In 2015, Charles Babinski, founder of local chain Go Get ‘Em Tiger and the “B” in G&B Coffee in Grand Central Market, took home the top prize. Winning the championships isn’t as simple as pulling a decent shot of espresso; in addition to making a standard drink to the judges’ specifications, competitors must design and present their own specialty drink (complete with theme song). In La’s case, as first reported by Sprudge, the theme for La’s specialty drink entry was kodawari, a Japanese phrase roughly translating to “the pursuit of perfection.” He was coached by L.A. coffee veteran Jaymie Lao, the former director of experiences at Go Go ‘Em Tiger. As the winner of the U.S. Barista Championship, La will represent the United States in the World Barista Championship this May in Busan, South Korea. Until then, you just might catch hi

As first reported by local blog Hear in LA, Silver Lake’s Café Tropical is officially back in business as of March 16. Over the last few weeks, the café has quietly been serving free pastries and coffee out of the 2900 Sunset Boulevard space, which suddenly closed in December. The new ownership appears to be the same folks behind Milkcult, a traveling gourmet ice cream pop-up.  First founded in 1975 as an ice cream shop, the Cuban bakery and café has served hot coffee, guava cheese pastries and sandwiches since sometime in the ’90s. For the last three decades, the café’s back room has functioned as a community gathering space for those in recovery, according to the Los Angeles Times. Café Tropical’s abrupt closure, also reported by the Times, was due to familial disputes between then-owner Daniel Navarro and his mother. (Navarro also operated Silver Lake’s longtime El Cochinito and newer cocktail bar Bolita in nearby Virgil Village, both of which also closed in December.) As a result of those financial woes, the former employees’ final paychecks bounced—they’ve since started a still-ongoing GoFundMe. The new Café Tropical first reopened to friends and family on Thursday, March 14, with the grand reopening to the public  beginning on Saturday, March 16. Stories from the café’s newly started Instagram account have shown someone baking orange doughnuts and guava cheese pastries, making it clear new management doesn’t feel the need to mess with a good thing.   Photograph: Jesse

They go big on birthdays at Marouch, a 41-year-old East Hollywood restaurant at the corner of Santa Monica and Edgemont. When it comes time for cake, a staff member will turn out all the lights, a disco strobe casting rainbows across the room. A 1970s Lebanese pop version of “Happy Birthday to You” will blare from a hidden CD player (yes, it still works), every head in the room swiveled towards your table, clapping along. And you, or your friend, or your loved one, will be the center of attention, a blend of embarrassment and delight on their face from such a wonderfully cheesy display. Photograph: Jesse Hsu for Time Out Others might prefer Glendale's more opulent dining rooms or Westwood’s tiny but mighty collection of Persian restaurants, but you can’t ignore the cozy atmosphere and steadfast cuisine at Marouch. The modest strip mall space feels like a cozier, more compact version of a Glendale kebab palace, down to the pseudo-bricks and Corinthian columns that line the walls. Marouch's Armenian-inflected Lebanese fare first put it on the map in the ’80s. In 1990, then-L.A. Times restaurant critic Ruth Reichl included Marouch in her list of the city’s top 40 restaurants, praising the meze, a dizzying, tasty assortment which you can still get today. The late Jonathan Gold used to visit the restaurant weekly. Even compared to then-new competition like Raffi’s, he deemed it “as good as ever” in 1994. Photograph: Jesse Hsu for Time Out At a time when L.A. diners are easily

In another bid at keeping up with the digital age, Michelin has added nine new L.A. restaurants to its California guide, including several that have opened in the last six months. Among them you’ll find Sushi Sonagi, Time Out’s best new restaurant of last year, which we loved for its Korean-influenced omakase and warm approach to service, plus other picks that Angelenos might recognize from our best new restaurant and all-time best restaurant guides. In other words, these newly recognized restaurants shouldn’t come as a surprise to our longtime readers or anyone familiar with the city’s dining scene. To be clear, these nine additions to the guide—labeled simply as “new” for now—haven’t been awarded Michelin stars or a Bib Gourmand, but they potentially could receive either of those distinctions later this year. Photograph: Patricia Kelly Yeo for Time OutAn ankimo tart with caviar and cherry tomato from Sushi Sonagi. In alphabetical order, the nine L.A. area restaurants are as follows, with full inspector notes available via Michelin's official press release. All restaurants are within city limits unless otherwise specified, with any Time Out star designations noted with brackets. Amour (West Hollywood) Funke (Beverly Hills) Little Fish Liu’s Cafe Pollo a la Brasa Quarter Sheets (Bar) Sawa [5 stars] Sushi Sonagi (Gardena) [5 stars] UKA For those unfamiliar with how Michelin restaurants are selected, here’s how it works: Anonymous Michelin inspectors travel across a given

If all goes according to plan, nightlife and hospitality veteran Jeremy Fall (who’s spent the last few years dabbling in crypto and NFTs) will open a new gourmet mini-mart named SUPERMARKET in Pasadena’s Playhouse District by this summer. Though most of the L.A. chef and restauranteur’s projects shuttered several years ago, he is also the founder of Venice’s Nighthawk Breakfast Bar, which just closed, purportedly for renovations, at the end of last year. According to Fall’s representatives, SUPERMARKET is inspired by Japanese and Taiwanese convenience store culture. Neighborhood locals, including a handful of people on Reddit, first noticed and snapped photos of the chef inside the former Pasadena MIX space at 55 South Madison Avenue. The back of SUPERMARKET will also house Fall’s “innovation kitchen,” where the chef plans to create limited-edition dishes meant to generate the same level of hype and demand as streetwear drops. In a similar vein to David Kuo’s Fatty Mart in Mar Vista, Fall plans to focus on a line of high-quality grab-and-go options, including salads, grain bowls and other handheld foodstuffs. All menu items will be made in house, with inspiration directly taken from Japanese 7-Eleven and Family Mart. SUPERMARKET isn’t the first L.A. restaurant or eatery riffing on Asia’s convenience store culture: Daniel Son’s Katsu Sando in Chinatown and San Gabriel, as well as the now-closed Konbi, are both famous for sandwiches inspired by the ones sold in Japanese konbini

Nancy Silverton is planning to open a Koreatown restaurant sometime this fall, according to a recent interview. The famed Mozza chef appeared on an episode this week of the podcast How Long Gone, a “bicoastal elite podcast” by veteran multi-hyphenates Chris Black and Jason Stewart. Among other topics, Silverton mentioned two upcoming local projects: a potential fusion pasta bar in Koreatown through business partner Joe Bastianich, plus menu consultation for a Larchmont diner by the Somebody Feed Phil star, Everybody Loves Raymond showrunner and prolific L.A. restaurant investor Phil Rosenthal. According to Silverton, the Koreatown deal came about when an unnamed hospitality veteran approached Bastianich about opening a pasta restaurant; he then turned to Silverton. “Let me research this and try to develop sort of a fusion that actually works, that could be interesting,” she added, after mentioning that the unnamed hospitality operator wanted “just a regular pasta restaurant.” In the last half decade, the La Brea Bakery founder has opened (and since closed) the Barish, a steakhouse in the lobby of the Hollywood Roosevelt, and Pizzette, a flatbread concept housed inside Culver City’s Citizen Public Market. Last May, Silverton also opened a second location of Chi Spacca in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  Within the same interview, the chef and cookbook author also mentioned recipe development for a diner project with Rosenthal. The project is to be named after Rosenthal’s late parents, H

Table at Third & Fairfax is a weekly dining column in 2023 where Food and Drink editor Patricia Kelly Yeo will eat her way through the Original Farmers Market. Each column will drop on Thursday for a week-by-week recap of her journey through the classic L.A. tourist attraction. Last week, Kelly revisited Trejo's Tacos and recapped the market's best dishes and restaurants. On my very last visit for this column, holiday season is in full swing at the Original Farmers Market. The garland-covered clock tower is fully lit up, there's an enormous tree covered in red and green baubles and the market is actually busy on a Tuesday night thirty minutes before closing. When I walk past Pampas Grill, I'm amazed to see the place all but filled with people: Families with children, people of all ages, a pair of sisters in red-and-white Christmas sweaters. Most people carry shopping bags from the Grove. I've been told by market staff that summer is the busiest time of the year, but the holidays seem to be in second place.  It feels only fitting to finish Table at Third & Fairfax with the same order that inspired this column: The gluey, tasteless chicken tenders at Fritzi Coop, which I first tried a little over a year ago. Walking up to the stand, I'm disappointed (but not surprised) to find the stall completely out of sandwiches and Stinger (buffalo) sauce—meaning my order will be confined to the Nashville-inspired Fritzi Hot and classic tenders. I ask for four pieces ($10.95 without the com