All the L.A. Restaurants Where We Want to be Regulars

When You’re Old-School L.A. at Heart

This Los Feliz institution shot to fame after appearing in the 1996 film Swingers, but the restaurant and live music venue has been a neighborhood staple since 1954, even weathering the recent passing of longtime singer Marty Roberts with aplomb. There are steakhouse-leaning dishes like an iceberg wedge, shrimp cocktail, and prime rib in the elegant restaurant, as well as more casual small bites in the retro-feeling lounge. All of that, coupled with regular jazz and soul nights, make The Dresden an enduringly charming destination for martini-soaked nights out.

Marked by its massive neon sign, family-owned Casa Vega has been serving heaping Mexican-American platters in the San Fernando Valley for more than 65 years. A favorite of celebrities, locals, families, and big groups alike, Casa Vega is the kind of catch-all restaurant that you’ll want to call your own. Celebratory dinner? Done. Reunion with an old friend over strong margaritas and freshly fried chips? Check. Appreciate the chopped taco salad and an order of lobster quesadillas, lean into the nostalgia, then come back and do it all over again.

For Those Perennial Pasta Cravings

Chef Antonia Lofaso offers everything from housemade pasta (think pappardelle with braised pork shoulder ragu, or rigatoni with spicy vodka sauce and a dollop of ricotta) to jazzed-up Italian appetizers like fried squash blossoms at this Venice mainstay. But what locals know is that while, yes, the food is always solid, this place really nails the vibe. The massive bar, which serves excellent cocktails like white negronis and palomas, is always bustling, and the dining room, with its exposed brick and tufted leather booths, buzzes with lively conversations. Plus, with its extensive menu, it’s the sort of place you can revisit time and again without repeating an order.

It’s hard to believe that Zach Pollack’s love letter to fresh pasta has been in Silver Lake for nearly a decade. A darker, more dramatic interior redesign last year has given it new life, while Pollack’s impossibly silky chicken liver mousse, radicchio Caesar, and handmade noodles like tortellini en brodo remain unparalleled. Alimento is the perfect spot for a standing catch-up dinner with friends, while the mostly Italian and French wine list, with plenty of fun skin-contact options, pushes it comfortably into Friday night date-night territory, too.

Hinge Date Destinations

The back garden at the Arts District’s Everson Royce Bar (or ERB) is sprawling and picnic table-laden — making it an ideal go-to to get to casually get know a complete stranger. Ask questions about their childhood while you split a dead-simple bar burger that’s consistently ranked as one of the top patties in Los Angeles. Care for a more intimate first (or second, or third) date? The bartenders at the more subdued marble bar up front turn out some of the best cocktails in the city.

Yes, wine bars are a somewhat obvious choice for online date meet-ups, but Beverly Grove’s Marvin is the sort of all-purpose neighborhood wine bar you’ll never tire of. Snacks like oysters and burrata toast break the ice, while a robust selection of larger plates ranging from pastas to a great burger to an indulgent Dover sole for two are there in case the date is progressing nicely. The extensive French and Italian wine list will keep conversation flowing in the lively, low-lit space.

When the Mood Calls for Mexican & Margs

This Oaxacan specialist, with locations in West Hollywood, Palms, and Torrance, is modern without being flashy, sitting pleasantly between the overly cutesy new-school taquerias and old-school sit-down Mexican joints. The margaritas are strong, the tortillas are homemade, the long-cooked moles are excellent, and the restaurant has an extensive mezcal selection (with the WeHo location boasting the largest collection in the country). With a great happy hour, including deals on those margs and snacks (like $6 beer-battered halibut and potato-and-chorizo tacos), Madre is just the ticket for after-work get togethers and more.

Frogtown’s indoor-outdoor taqueria serves all sorts of delicious things on house-made flour and corn tortillas, from classics like carne asada and al pastor to more newfangled fillings like a kale, goat cheese, and habanero pumpkin seed salsa number. With its breezy, casual outdoor setup dotted with SoCal cacti and greenery — and margarita and mezcal flights — Salazar should become your daytime destination for any and all weekend hangs.

Failsafe Spots for Weekly Group Hangs

Kris Yenbamroong’s 12 year-old Thai restaurant is one that’s founded on crowd-pleasing dishes. The signature fried and glazed “party wings.” Crab and cream cheese-stuffed wontons served over cucumber salad. Noodles, curries, a vibrant papaya salad, and (still) one of the best fried chicken sandwiches in town, topped with papaya slaw, Ranch, cilantro, and jalapenos. It’s the type of place that, much like the wings, always feels like a party, so you’ll want to bring your friends here for everything from birthdays to book clubs and Wednesday-night dinners.

The Tunisian- and Mediterranean-leaning menu at this festive Hermosa Beach restaurant (which has a sister wine shop in Manhattan Beach) is built for sharing. From starters like hummus platters and cheese and charcuterie boards to bigger bites like lamb meatballs and moussaka, these are the sorts of dishes you want to gather friends around. Add to that an ample selection of great wines on draft, and you’ve got an instant mood-lifting vibe that your crew will gravitate towards on the regular.