Los Angeles.
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71 places
Rooms you can walk into, ranked the way I would send you.
Key: what the badges mean
★ Michelin star · Bib Bib Gourmand · Green ★ Michelin Green Star · Michelin in the Michelin guide, no distinction · J Jeff's own note · Jeff ★★★★☆ 2019 his own rating out of five, and the year he gave it · new the venue itself opened recently · just added recently added to Jeff's list, whatever its age · 2◆ independent chef/industry recommendations · ! hygiene caution in force · ? no current public hygiene record, not a caution · keep walking Jeff has been and would walk past it · the line under a name says when to go: Destination (plan around it) / Solid (the dependable send) / Listed (on the radar). Under it, where the entry states one: how the room takes bookings, and the date I last checked the entry.
Go here first.
Where I'd actually send you first: the rooms I'd put a visitor in on night one, in town rather than an hour down the highway, spread so six cards are six different answers. Producers, markets and the rest of the city are below.
Providence★★★just added?
Destination · Seafood · Melrose · $$$$
booking essential
Three Michelin stars and a green star, and the coriander on the caviar course is cut on the roof. Dinner starts at $375.
Thunderbolt?
Solid · Cocktails, Southern · Historic Filipinotown · $$
book ahead
Mike Capoferri keeps 25 Madeiras on the backbar and pours one from the 1960s. He spins the Martini in a centrifuge.
Pizzeria BiancoBibjust added?
Solid · Pizza, Italian-American · ROW DTLA · $$
book ahead
Chris Bianco's LA room holds a Bib Gourmand and runs a handful of pies. The Wiseguy is wood-roasted onion, fennel sausage and smoked mozzarella.
Kuya Lordjust added?
Solid · Filipino · Melrose Hill · $$
walk-in
Lord Maynard Llera took the 2024 James Beard for Best Chef: California off a takeout counter on Melrose. Order the lechon kwali.
Sei Pizza BarMichelinjust added?
Solid · Pizza, Japanese-Neapolitan · Pico-Robertson · $$
book ahead
William Joo crimps the rim so the cornicione chews like mochi, then bakes fast over gas and wood. The Pico room is the original one.
Courage Bagelsjust added?
Solid · Bagels · Virgil Village · $$
walk-in
Courage bakes its Montreal-shaped bagels almost to char, dense enough that biting one cracks. Prepared ones are sold by the half, so order two.
Somewhere tonight.
One tap hides everything shut today and everything that needs a booking, then sorts the rest by how close it is to you. I don’t publish opening hours, because they go stale faster than anyone can check them. Check the door before you go.
The dependable sends
Good cooking needs no occasion, and these are the ones I hand out on a normal Tuesday. 4 here.
RépubliqueMichelinjust added?
French, Mediterranean · Miracle Mile · $$$$
book ahead
Chaplin put this building up in 1929 and it has been a bakery ever since. Margarita Manzke won the 2023 James Beard for pastry off the front counter.
Anajak Thai CuisineMichelinjust added?
Thai · Sherman Oaks · $$$
booking essential
Forty years on Ventura Boulevard, and Tuesday is taco night with no reservations and a line around the block. The wine director won Michelin's California sommelier award in 2024.
Pijja Palacejust added?
Indian American · Silver Lake · $$
book ahead
Avish Naran built an Indian sports bar on Sunset and put malai rigatoni and a green chutney pijja on the menu. The name is the Indian pronunciation of pizza.
The Joint Seafood and Coffeejust added?
Seafood, coffee · Sherman Oaks · $$
walk-in
Liwei Liao buys at dawn against the sushi chefs, butchers whole fish behind a tiled wall, and dry-ages the rest. The espresso bar is on the other side of it.
On my list
These are on my list; I haven't been yet. 61 here.
L’Antica Pizzeria da Michelejust added?
Pizza, Neapolitan · Hollywood · $$$
book ahead
The Naples pizzeria's first American room runs an AVPN-trained pizzaiolo and flour shipped from Italy. Order the Margherita and the Marinara, then stop.
San LaurelMichelinjust added?
Spanish, Californian · Downtown · $$$$
book ahead
José Andrés' Spanish kitchen sits ten floors up in the Conrad, looking straight at the Disney Concert Hall. Garrett Snyder rated the view above the plates.
Budonokijust added?
Japanese, Thai · Virgil Village · $$
book ahead
The best thing on the menu at this Virgil Village izakaya is Thai. Naem, a sour fermented pork sausage, comes with crispy rice and slaw.
Jyan Isaac Breadjust added?
Bakery · Ocean Park · $$
walk-in
A 19-year-old off the Gjusta bread team started baking sourdough at home in 2020 and was making 5,000 loaves a week by 2022. Come at lunch, for the sandwiches.
Bistro Na'sjust added?
Chinese, Beijing · Temple City · $$$
book aheadthe room’s own account
The kitchen cooks royal Manchu banquet food in a Temple City shopping block, and it held a Michelin star in 2019 and 2021. Come as a table.
Otafuku Restaurantjust added?
Japanese, soba · Gardena · $$
walk-in
The kikouchi is pure Nagano buckwheat with no wheat to hold it together, and the kitchen makes ten servings at lunch and ten at dinner.