Clockwise from top left: a tasting menu course from Baroo, a burger from the Benjamin, the grilled Cobb’age salad from Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery, a prime rib katsu sandwich from Lawry’s The Prime Rib and a pastry from Bakers Bench.
(Collage by Brandon Ly / Los Angeles Times; photos by Silvia Razgoza / For the Times, Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times, Back of House Creative, Palm + Ocean)
The best places to eat and drink in L.A. this month, according to our food writers
The dog days of summer are upon Los Angeles. The sun rises early, and by noon the sidewalk is already too hot for a dog’s (or anyone’s) unprotected paws. Locals flock to shaded and air-conditioned spaces, emerging only as the sky begins to darken.
Thankfully, summer nights in L.A. offer plenty to do. You could line up for tacos at your favorite puesto or truck, as L.A. Times Food writers have been doing since the beginning of the year while researching our just-released guide to the 101 best tacos in L.A. The list covers Antelope Valley down to Orange County, with every type of taco you can imagine, from classic carnitas, birria and al pastor to veggie and seafood options. Restaurant Critic Bill Addison highlighted his favorite taquerias in a separate list, and we also rounded up our favorite vegetarian tacos. Tacos are everywhere, section editor Daniel Hernandez asserts in his essay tracing how L.A. reached peak taco. Every longtime Angeleno has a favorite taco spot. Let us know whether yours made our guide.
You can’t beat the heat, but you can duck onto the shaded patio or cool-aired interior of one of L.A.’s best new restaurants and bars, from a beachside terrace in Santa Monica to a vegan bakery in Victor Heights and a whimsical Turkish ice cream shop in Long Beach.
Showing Places
(Back of House Creative)
Agnes Restaurant & Cheesery
Pasadena American Cheese Shop $$
Columnist Jenn Harris makes the case for treating cabbage as the star of a meal rather than a side dish. At Agnes restaurant in Old Pasadena, the grilled “Cobb’age” is a take on the Cobb salad that replaces crispy iceberg lettuce with grilled cabbage. The salad features blue cheese dressing, prosciutto chips, gold cherry tomatoes and salt-cured egg yolks that are grated on top, and is hearty enough to serve as a meal on its own, though Vanessa and Thomas Tilaka Kalb’s Midwest-inspired menu is worth deeper exploration, with highlights such as a cornbread eclair with chicken liver mousse and potato dumplings loaded with cheddar, bacon and broccoli.
Read about the best cabbage dishes to try right now.
Read about the best cabbage dishes to try right now.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Bakers Bench
Chinatown Bakery $
After operating out of a weekend-only Chinatown kiosk for three years, baker Jennifer Yee has opened a full vegan bakery that will share space with a forthcoming Cassell’s Hamburgers location in the Victor Heights complex that also houses Perilla and Heavy Water Coffee. The French Laundry and Jean-Georges alum has closed the Chinatown kiosk until the summer heat tapers off, but the new, larger location features an expanded menu with tarts, cookies, cakes, refrigerated fruit jellies, whole pies and sandwiches. Yee, who hopes to create a sustainable model for bakeries, is also turning surplus soy milk into tofu pudding.
Read about the new location of Bakers Bench.
Read about the new location of Bakers Bench.
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(Silvia Razgova)
Baroo
Downtown L.A. Korean $$$
Kwang Uh and Mina Park’s Arts District restaurant Baroo is The Times’ 2024 Restaurant of the Year. After closing the first iteration of Baroo in 2018, Uh, with wife and business partner Park, reopened the temple to modern Korean dining in a new location with a tasting menu format. A vegetarian tasting menu is available with 24 hours’ advance notice.
Read about The Times’ Restaurant of the Year.
Read about The Times’ Restaurant of the Year.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The Benjamin
Fairfax American $$
After launching his annual food and streetwear festival, Family Style, and hosting a travel show centered around food called “Big Appetite,” Ben Shenassafar has opened his first restaurant alongside partners Jared Meisler (Roger Room, Gin Rummy) and Kate Burr, with the Benjamin on Melrose, not far from the retail outpost of his streetwear brand the Hundreds. Housed in a 1920s building, the restaurant leans into an Old Hollywood theme with door service and Art Deco touches. The menu from Executive Chef Johnny Cirelle (Spago, Bestia) takes similar inspiration with fine-dining standards including wagyu steak in a cognac cream sauce and a twice-baked potato with an optional caviar supplement. Led by Nathan Oliver (No Vacancy, Church & State), the cocktail program is built around martinis.
Read about the new restaurant from the Hundreds founder.
Read about the new restaurant from the Hundreds founder.
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(Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)
Din Tai Fung
Anaheim Chinese $$
Cap off a trip to the happiest place on Earth with a meal at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant in Downtown Disney. The Anaheim location is 7,500 square feet, including a circular bar and a window where you can see chefs meticulously sculpting the signature soup dumplings with 18 folds each. Classic Chinese and Taiwanese dishes fill out the menu, including noodle soups, steamed buns and wok-fried rice. A new apparel line with streetwear-inspired hoodies and T-shirts is available exclusively at the new Downtown Disney location.
Read about the new Din Tai Fung location.
Read about the new Din Tai Fung location.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Galata
Long Beach Turkish Ice cream $
Ice cream at this new Turkish parlor in Long Beach comes with a show from ice cream master Erkan Gozal, who adds whimsy to the already delightful dessert by flipping and swapping cones and teasing customers. Turkish-style dondurma ice cream is what allows Gozal to play with the usually fast-melting treat. Made with ground orchid roots and plant resin, dondurma has a chewier texture that is slower to melt than other ice cream. Opened this summer, the popular shop offers more than two dozen flavors of dondurma imported from Turkey, as well as baklava and other sweets, plus Turkish teas and coffee.
Read about the Turkish ice cream shop in Long Beach.
Read about the Turkish ice cream shop in Long Beach.
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(Courtesy of Handel’s)
Handel's
Los Feliz Ice cream $
A long-loved ice cream shop has landed in Los Feliz with hand-churned ice cream in approximately 50 nostalgic flavors ranging from mint with Oreos to banana cream pie, plus vegan ice cream, sherbets and sorbets. Stop by Handel’s new kiosk on the ground floor of the Elinor building for a cup, a cone or a pint to enjoy at home.
Read about the new Handel’s location in Los Feliz.
Read about the new Handel’s location in Los Feliz.
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(Palm + Ocean)
Lawry's The Prime Rib
Beverly Hills Steakhouse $$
The bar at Lawry’s The Prime Rib might not shell out self-service meatballs for free anymore, but it’s still an ideal perch for people watching with a martini and a prime rib katsu sandwich that isn’t available on the dining room menu. There’s also a prime rib sandwich with 6 ounces of thin, hand-carved meat and crispy tots that can be topped with smoked trout caviar, all of which columnist Jenn Harris recommends pairing with a meat-and-potato martini from the cocktail menu.
Read about the bar menu at Lawry’s.
Read about the bar menu at Lawry’s.
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(Rob Jenson)
Marelle
Santa Monica Californian $$
Find Marelle just blocks from the beach on the ground floor of the newly opened Sandbourne hotel in Santa Monica. The menu from Raphael Lunetta of Lunetta centers local produce and seafood in dishes such as Baja shrimp cocktail and spicy spaghettini with oven-dried tomatoes. The beverage menu from Amanda Fewster (formerly of Etta and Cal Mare) puts a focus on local women and BIPOC-owned spirit labels, with spritzes, a tiki-inspired concoction and a couple nonalcoholic cocktails on offer.
Read about the new restaurant in Santa Monica.
Read about the new restaurant in Santa Monica.
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(Andrea D’Agosto/For The Times)
Mariscos Jalisco
Boyle Heights Mexican Seafood $
Mariscos Jalisco, the food truck opened by Raul Ortega in 2002 that helped popularize seafood tacos in L.A. and has since grown to two additional locations in L.A. and another in Pomona, is the 2024 recipient of The Times’ annual Gold Award. The food truck appears regularly on The Times’ guide to the 101 best restaurants in L.A., with Restaurant Critic Bill Addison stating that his research for the annual project always begins with Ortega’s tacos dorados de camarón. The 2024 Gold Award will be presented to Ortega during this year’s Food Bowl festival at Paramount Pictures Studios on Sept. 20.
Read about the 2024 Gold Award recipient.
Read about the 2024 Gold Award recipient.
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(Courtesy of Prince Street Pizza)
Prince Street Pizza
Hollywood Pizza $$
Fans of Arby’s illuminated 10-gallon hat sign on Sunset Boulevard can still eat at the historic location even though the roast beef chain has vacated it, as the fast-food joint will soon be home to the first drive-thru pop-up of Prince Street Pizza, opening on Aug. 8 and running through at least Halloween. The pop up will serve the pizzeria’s signature Sicilian-style square pizzas by the slice and will debut mozzarella sticks as a new menu item.
Read about the drive-thru pop-up of Prince Street Pizza.
Read about the drive-thru pop-up of Prince Street Pizza.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Ruta 15
Long Beach Mexican Seafood $$
A new ceviche bar named after Mexico’s Carretera Federal 15 highway has landed in Long Beach. On executive chef César Sánchez León’s menu, you’ll find dishes inspired by different cities and regions in Mexico, including Tijuana-style cheese-griddled tacos and Michoacan-inspired enchiladas, plus cocteles, aguachiles, oysters, seafood empanadas and more. The beverage menu features margaritas, a handful of draft beer options and wines by the glass or bottle, raspados (including kid-friendly options) and aguas frescas.
Read about the new cevicheria in Long Beach.
Read about the new cevicheria in Long Beach.
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Tsubaki
Echo Park Japanese $$
In columnist Jenn Harris’ quest for dishes starring cabbage, she found the kyabetsu miso-kushiyaki at Tsubaki. It includes two skewers packed with squares of cabbage that are grilled on a hibachi with salt and oil until the leaves are wilted with char. The skewers are served over a butter sauce with miso and caramelized negi onions, with a lemon wedge on the side. Chef de Cuisine Klementine Song said the skewers are one of the restaurant’s top-selling menu items. Pair them with a sake from the curated, rotating list.
Read about the cabbage skewers at Tsubaki.
Read about the cabbage skewers at Tsubaki.
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(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Valle
Modern Mexican $$$$
Roberto Alcocer, an accomplished chef who also runs a wonderful open-air restaurant called Malva in the Valle de Guadalupe two hours south of San Diego, chose the city of Oceanside for his first stateside venture. In the summer, Valle’s sedate dining room in the Mission Pacific Beach Resort feels far from the heavily touristed streets just outside. Dinner revolves around a tasting menu of modernist Mexican dishes, priced at $185 per person. Over nine courses, the kitchen sends out gorgeous plates, immaculate and geometric in presentation. In Bill Addison’s review, he states that the best of them arrive in the heart of the meal: a tetela filled with pressed chicharrón in a bath of salsa verde; seared halibut over a freshly made tortilla with beurre blanc and asparagus, a Frenchified wink at the local penchant for fish tacos; and a delicate roulade of rabbit paired with inky and duly subtle huitlacoche sauce.
Valle also was mentioned in Addison’s recent roundup of 23 fresh recommendations for eating and drinking in San Diego.
Valle also was mentioned in Addison’s recent roundup of 23 fresh recommendations for eating and drinking in San Diego.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The Win-Dow
Hollywood Burgers $
One of L.A.’s best smashburger spots has expanded to a new outpost at Ovation Hollywood, just off the bustling intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue. After opening a window in Venice next to its sibling steakhouse American Beauty in 2019, the Win-Dow has since expanded to locations in Silver Lake, Long Beach and now Hollywood, with an affordable menu featuring cheeseburgers for less than $5. A fried chicken sandwich, veggie burger, grain bowl, salad, fries and desserts including hand-spun shakes and dipped cones complete the menu.
Read about the new location of the Win-Dow.
Read about the new location of the Win-Dow.
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