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If excellent eating is what you’re after, Los Angeles delivers in spades. The Southern California metropolis lays claim to some of the world’s best year-round farmers markets, and its enclaves of immigrant cuisines—Koreatown, Thai Town, and the San Gabriel Valley for Chinese—are unmatched. But here’s the thing: LA functions more like a patchwork of suburbs, each with its own culture and culinary draws. Stay in Santa Monica and you won’t be dining in the San Fernando Valley, or at least you shouldn’t be. The smarter move is to pick a pocket and dig deep, and in doing so, avoid losing hours of your trip to traffic.
Getting around Los Angeles takes four wheels, even if you stick to a smaller geographic area. Public transit is limited and slow, so plan on renting a car or relying on Uber and Waymo (you’ll see the self-driving cars everywhere). With that in mind, here’s where to stay in Los Angeles if eating is your priority, and where to eat once you’re settled in.
Silver Lake and Los Feliz (and Eastside, et al.)
Silver Lake is a magnet for young creatives and, fittingly, home to one of LA’s most eclectic food scenes. It’s here you’ll find the cult-favorite Courage Bagels—open-faced and topped with California-native ingredients—and Bridgetown Roti, where chef Rashida Holmes serves curry shrimp roti and honey jerk wings. Head slightly east on Sunset for Azizam, the Persian home-cooking phenom and 2024 Bon Appétit Best New Restaurant, and Café Tropical, a neighborhood landmark refreshed last year by new ownership, with dialed-in recipes for pastelitos and Cubanos.
Nearby Melrose Hill has emerged as a dining pocket of its own, with Café Telegrama (don’t miss the Chinese chicken salad), its elegant Italian sibling Ètra, and LA Grocery & Café, a hip grocery with farmers’ market produce and standout prepared foods.
One neighborhood over in East Hollywood, Middle Eastern-inspired Saffy’s is known for dinner but also offers a stellar Arabic breakfast, while across the street is Found Oyster, a cherished New England-style raw bar. In nearby Thai Town, don’t miss sai ua and khao soi at Amphai Northern Thai Food, followed by mango sticky rice at Bhan Kanom Thai.
And then there’s Los Feliz, five minutes northeast, home of Kismet, a bona fide classic for Mediterranean-meets-California cooking, alongside its fast-casual sibling Kismet Rotisserie and the LA outpost of matcha specialist Kettl. A few blocks away on Hillhurst, Maru serves some of the city’s best cappuccinos, while All Time draws crowds for breakfast burritos, salmon bowls, and the occasional celebrity sighting.
Staying at Hotel Covell is the closest you’ll get to feeling like you’re living in LA when you're actually just visiting. Perched above the Los Feliz location of local coffee chain Go Get Em Tiger, the boutique property has just nine, luxuriously appointed apartment-style suites. The linens are Parachute, the bath products are Le Labo, and the kitchens come with full-size Smeg refrigerators. Each room has its own personality—one evokes a 1950s New York flat, and another a Parisian atelier. Celebratory bottles of wine can be arranged by the hotel's downstairs sister bar, Bar Covell, and bespoke bouquets are requestable via Gilly Flowers, Silver Lake’s chicest florist.
Visited by Emily Wilson
Silver Lake Pool & Inn is a distinctive Eastside outpost of Palisociety, the LA boutique hotel group known for its character-driven properties. Its small, scene-y pool is framed by amber-toned Moroccan tiles, with Griffith Observatory visible in the distance.
Rooms pair comfort with modern design and a hint of cool-kid edge, featuring warm wood bedframes, terrazzo slabs, and leather seating. And the location is hard to beat: right next door to an Erewhon, a requisite stop for out-of-towners, and just a block from the cafés, shops, and bars that line Sunset Junction.
Visited by Emily Wilson
Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley
Pasadena proper has plenty of strong dining options, including Cannonball, a new American bistro from acclaimed chef Matt Molina with buttermilk biscuits and barbequed steak. But the real appeal of staying here is the neighborhood's proximity to the San Gabriel Valley, which offers one of the country’s most varied and celebrated concentrations of Chinese food within a wider mosaic of global flavors.
Highlights include Yang’s Kitchen, where you’ll find Japanese-style breakfasts by day and smoked pork jowl cha siu by night; Kang Kang Food Court, famous for its ethereal shengjianbao (pan-fried soup dumplings); Chong Qing Special Noodles, with its numbing soups and hand-pulled noodles; and Dolan’s Uyghur Cuisine, serving specialties like manti and laghman.
A stately resort tucked into the lush city of Pasadena on the outskirts of eastern Los Angeles, the Langham is steeped in history and surrounded by native California landscape. The property includes two jasmine-flanked pools, a taproom with live jazz three nights a week, a Japanese garden, tennis courts, bike rentals, a spa, and two early-1900s ballrooms. Its 379 rooms and eight cottages are currently being renovated, and the refreshed ones balance present-day luxury with old-school charm. Also, The Parent Trap (starring Lindsay Lohan) was filmed here.
Visited by Emily Wilson
Downtown LA
Downtown LA is not only a hub for arts and architecture, from the Museum of Contemporary Art to the Bradbury Building, but it’s also positioned directly adjacent to some of the city’s most vibrant culinary neighborhoods. First off, Chinatown, home to essential cookbook shop Now Serving, the always-lively Filipino rotisserie Lasita, and chic wine bars Café Triste and Café Tondo. The buzzy new Baby Bistro from chef Miles Thompson sits beside Perilla, Jihee Kim’s gem of a banchan and dosirak shop, in the microneighborhood of Victor Heights. A little farther afield in Echo Park, you'll find pizza-and-cake sensation Quarter Sheets and the izakaya favorite Tsubaki.
In Downtown proper is the iconic Grand Central Market, where vendors like Tacos Tumbras a Tomas and pastry chef Nicole Rucker’s Fat and Flour sell their goods. And just south of Downtown in Historic South Central, you’ll find Holbox, where chef Gilberto Cetina is rightfully revered for ceviches and tostadas made with locally caught, dry-aged fish. Across the way, Fátima Juárez’s Komal—a Best New Restaurant of 2025!—turns out heirloom tortillas, pork-filled chuchitos, and richly fragrant mole.
East of Downtown in the Arts District, two newcomers stand out: Camélia, serving French-Japanese plates with sake and wine from Charles Namba and Courtney Kaplan, and Café 2001, offering katsu sandos and brûléed lemon tarts in a quirky, jazz-filled space. Just southwest is Little Tokyo—hit Sushi Takeda for omakase, Fugetsu-Do for mochi, and Torigoya for yakitori.
Set against architectural landmarks like Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, the U.S. Courthouse, and the Broad museum, the Conrad opened in 2022 and offers a sleek home base in Downtown LA. Rooms are equipped with plush rugs, Byredo products, rainfall showers, and, in certain cases, views of the hotel’s spacious, stunning infinity pool. The food and beverage program comes from none other than José Andrés, minibars are stocked with Tony’s Chocolonely, and the fitness center is outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment.
Visited by Emily Wilson
The Hoxton sits in the heart of Downtown LA, close to several Metro stations and surrounded by reflective buildings and shimmery asphalt. The hotel combines a playful personality with laid-back service (guests can text the front desk for quick replies to their questions or concerns), and offers complimentary bikes. The rooms are simple yet stylish, featuring burl-wood furnishings and handmade bathroom tiles. Upstairs, the rooftop features a pool and the recently opened Inanna Bar. Downstairs, Moonlark’s Dinette channels classic diner vibes for breakfast and all-day fare.
Visited by Emily Wilson
West LA / Santa Monica
The Westside is often dismissed for its lack of a robust dining scene, but a wave of new openings has brought plenty to be excited about. Chief among them is RVR, the solo debut of legendary Venice chef Travis Lett (formerly of Gjelina and Gjusta, both still worth visiting). The menu blends California cooking, hyper-seasonal produce, and Japanese technique into dishes of remarkable depth. In Mar Vista, Beethoven Market is a gorgeous neighborhood spot serving straightforward Cal-Italian fare.
As for Santa Monica: Not No Bar has quickly become a go-to hangout for cocktails and pizza, while Petitgrain Boulangerie has cemented itself as the city’s most spectacular French-American bakery, and the world-famous Santa Monica Farmers’ Market (Wednesdays and Saturdays) remains a see-and-be-seen stomping ground for the restaurant industry. Santa Monica institution Shutters on the Beach also recently revamped the menu at 1 Pico, where guests can dine on Napoletana seafood classics like grilled branzino or linguine vongole with a view of the ocean.
Designed by the renowned Kelly Wearstler, the Santa Monica Proper is a study in coastal sophistication. There’s a heated pool on the roof, alongside two roomy bars and ocean vistas. Guest rooms are clad in a calming beige palette, with travertine bathrooms and curated minibars stocked with beloved LA-based brands like Canyon Coffee and Skyduster Beer. Best of all, the common spaces are big and bright, adorned with enviable furniture and inviting nooks. The breakfast is worth staying on-site for: healthful and made with high-quality local ingredients like Chino Farm eggs, Santa Barbara Smokehouse salmon, and Harry’s Berries.
Visited by Emily Wilson
K-Town
No city outside Korea has more Koreans than Los Angeles, a fact made deliciously clear in the endless restaurants of Koreatown. Within just a few of its 100-plus blocks, you can grill your own galbi, slurp icy buckwheat noodles, dig into sweet-and-spicy fried chicken, warm up with bubbling tofu stew, or crack into raw marinated crab.
Standouts include Borit Gogae for a wholesome, country-style set meal; Mapo Dak Galbi for its assertive namesake stir-fry; MDK Noodles for deeply comforting kalguksu; Park’s BBQ for top-tier Korean barbecue; and Western Doma Noodles for japchae and kimchi jjigae. For drinks, the vintage charm of the Prince or HMS Bounty never misses. And for a newer-school Koreatown experience (albeit not Korean), Liu’s Cafe delivers Taiwanese-leaning chicken rice and a Hong Kong-style bakery case.
If you want easy access to bars and restaurants on the east side, your best-bet hotel is the Line LA. The rooftop pool and open-late bars draw a youngish crowd—lots of millennials with stick-and-pokes—of couples and friends, and absolutely zero kids (though the property is dog- and cat- friendly).
The industrial-style rooms (think unfinished concrete walls, minimalist blonde wood furniture) are small, and can be loud. Nobody is turning in early here, but that’s kind of the point: The people who stay at the Line are just looking for a cool place to crash—and it doesn’t hurt that you can count on a decent nightcap at the lobby bar or a few more rounds at Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Break Room 86. In the morning, brunch is served at the restaurant, Openaire.—Megan Spurrell, BA contributor
Visited by Megan Spurrell
More travel tips for food lovers:
- Discover the 8 best bars in LA
- Add all the Best New Restaurants of 2025 to your to-try list now
- Where to stay in Chicago (if you love to eat)