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These are the 101 best restaurants in California

These are the best restaurants in California. From San Diego to the Bay Area and wine country, our food critic guides you to the best dining spots in the state.

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Does California have the best restaurants in the country? Yes. Here’s our proof

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Tell us: What are the best places to eat in your part of California?

The Mermaid co-owner Arlene Roldan stands outside her green-and-blue Little Tokyo Bar

Protest curfews wallop downtown restaurants: ‘Just stay open, make money where we can’

Employees put up a "Not For Sale" sign at the front of the USC Peace Garden on June 7, 2025.

South L.A. is set to lose a community garden near USC. What’s next?

Recipe of the Day

Latest Stories

101 Best Tacos

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These are the 101 best tacos in Los Angeles

A taco from Barbacoa Ramirez
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Restaurant critic Bill Addison’s list of best tacos in L.A.

Los Angeles, CA - July 14: A plate of tacos is displayed from at the Industrial Downtown Night Market on Sunday, July 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

How L.A. reached peak taco

Scenes and tacos at Evil Cooks, photographed for the 101 Best Tacos 2024 on Friday, July 12th, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA. (Andrea D'Agosto / For The Times)
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The 18 best places to get vegetarian and vegan tacos in Los Angeles

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A taco glossary: Words you need to know to order tacos like a pro

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Celebrities, chefs and athletes share their favorite tacos in L.A.

Behind the scenes of the Food team devouring tons of tacos.

We ate hundreds of tacos to find the 101 best. Here’s how the whole process went

Our California Guides

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25 of the best restaurants and bars for your Palm Springs road trip

Take a break from sunbathing and vintage shopping to check out the best restaurants in Palm Springs and as far afield as Cathedral City and Yucca Valley, including a secret speakeasy, a Balkan-inspired beer hall and a classic steakhouse.

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Our L.A. food critic’s highly specific guide to San Francisco dining

Jeune et Jolie in Carlsbad, Calif. with chef Eric Bost, July 13, 2024. Clockwiise from foreground: Gnudi, Porc, Melon and Croque Madame. (Amy Carson / For The Times)
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23 of the best restaurants and bars for your San Diego weekend getaway

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19 must-try diners and restaurants for your next California road trip

RIVERSIDE, CA - NOVEMBER 10, 2023: The Fox Theater was built in 1929, and is a Spanish Colonial Revival style building in the heart of downtown Riverside on November 10, 2023 in Riverside, California. It underwent a major renovation in 2010.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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SoCal’s most overlooked weekend escape is a place you’ve probably driven past

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Restaurant Reviews

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These are the 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles

Restaurant critic Bill Addison and columnist Jenn Harris rank the 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles.

4 things we learned about L.A. cuisine while finding its 101 best restaurants

Hall of Fame restaurants: These timeless classics define L.A. dining

Our Food Guides

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The best places to eat and drink this month, according to our food writers

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 28: The shrimp empanadas, the mixta, perona and the Reina de la Casa are a few of the more popular dishes on the menu at Mariscos El Faro in Highland Park on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA. The food truck serves Sinaloa-style seafood items. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

10 top mariscos spots for Sinaloan-style aguachile in L.A.

Los Angeles , CA - May 20: A view of Philippe The Original, one of Los Angeles's oldest restaurants, founded in 1908 at Philippe The Original on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 in Los Angeles , CA. (Alex Justice / For The Times)
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Dine with history at L.A.’s landmark restaurants, founded in 1935 or earlier

Oxtail zhajiangmian from Firstborn.

Zhajiangmian deserves its moment. 11 places in L.A. to try these comforting Chinese noodles

Award-winning barista Kay Cheon at Dune Coffee.

11 coffee shops along the Santa Barbara coast for your next weekend road trip

The plato de birria con pistola at Birrieria Barajas, photographed for the 101 Best Tacos 2024 on Wednesday, July 17th, 2024 in Compton, CA. Andrea D'Agosto For The Times

8 favorite birria and barbacoa tacos to try from the 101 Best Tacos guide

Two customers eating a spread of vegan food, including fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes with gravy.

7 must-try spots for vegan fried chicken in L.A.

Los Angeles, CA - February 13: Amy Krauser, roaster, makes latte art at Cognoscenti Coffee in Los Angeles Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. Photo taken in (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

13 convenient coffee shops near L.A. freeways to ease your daily commute

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 1: Guests enjoy each others company as they sit at the bar inside Somerville on Saturday, February 1, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. (Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)

10 Black-owned restaurants to visit before ‘Cowboy Carter’ and ‘Grand National’ tours at SoFi Stadium

Collage of food images: dumplings, sandwiches, and sushi

The best places to eat and drink this month, according to our food writers

A full spread of brunch dishes and cocktails at brunch service at Redbird.
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32 of the best weekend brunch spots in L.A.

Scenes and tacos at Bandito Taqueria, photographed for the 101 Best Tacos on Tuesday, July 16th, 2024 in Santa Ana, CA. (Andrea D'Agosto / For The Times)

11 carne asada tacos to try from the 101 Best Tacos guide

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Food Videos

Chef That! Grapefruit Pie!

Make this creamy, tart grapefruit pie with an easy graham cracker crust and swirls of whipped cream and crème fraîche.

Chef That! Pickley Cheesy Greens!

Chef That! Macaroni and Cheese Pie!

Chef That! Lowcountry Risotto!

Chef That! Frenchy Grilled Cheese!

L.A. Dreams of Sushi

This South Bay sushi shop has been serving the same six items for decades — and wants to keep it that way

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Should we be eating bluefin tuna?

Illustration of Pacific bluefin tuna

Wild or farmed? Pacific or Atlantic? Here’s what to know about bluefin tuna

Tell your friends: ‘I know a dancer who makes the best vegan sushi in L.A.’

SHERMAN OAKS, CA - APRIL 7, 2023 - Portrait of Liwei Liao, the founder of The Joint Tea/Seafood market, posing behind display counter, with a Dry aging Chamber on the right, April 7, 2023, Sherman Oaks, CA. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Dry-aged sushi? One of L.A.’s best fishmongers says ‘fresh is boring’

Yuko Shimizu / For The Times

The secret history of L.A.’s sushi revolution

TORRANCE, CA - APRIL 18: Seiwa Premium Nigiri from chef Shin Nagata at Seiwa Market on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 in Torrance, CA. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Supermarket sushi you’ll actually want to eat

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Grab quick, affordable sushi at 11 of the best hand roll bars in L.A.

SAN GABRIEL, CA - APRIL 12, 2023 - The best California Roll at Yama Seafood, San Gabriel, CA, on Thursday, April 12, 2023. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The ultimate California roll lives on at this SGV fish market. (Fights at the sushi case prove it.)

Sushi ingredients For DIY Hand Roll Party with Jeni Afuso

The key to making easy sushi at home? Throw a hand roll party

Morihiro resturant in Atwater Village, California.
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21 places in L.A. to find the best sushi, omakase, chirashi and more

Customers eating at Hanamaru Ginza, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant in Japan.
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What makes L.A.’s sushi scene so great? I found answers in Tokyo

Gizzard shad / kohada nigiri, photographed at Morihiro in Los Angeles

How Los Angeles became the epicenter of sushi in America

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Cooking

A hand lifts a forkful of spaghetti al limone from a plate in the L.A. Times Test Kitchen. Lemons, herbs and cheese behind.

Alba’s Spaghetti al Limone

A recipe for spaghetti al limone from chef Adam Leonti of Alba in Los Angeles features browned butter, lemon zest and juice and plenty of Parmesan.

Three sesame-crusted feta sticks drizzled with honey on a flower-patterned china plate.

Sesame-Crusted Feta

A red-rimmed white enamel bowl of baked taverna-style gigantes on a marble countertop

Taverna-Style Greek Gigantes

Hakka-inspired chicken cooked in a rice cooker with a side of ginger and scallion sauce.

Shu Lin’s Rice Cooker Salt-Baked Chicken

The Madonna Inn's Pink Cloud topped with whipped cream, a red cherry and pink sugar in a branded green goblet against pink.

Madonna Inn’s Pink Cloud Cocktail

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