Best of The Hit List Los Angeles
The 10 Restaurants That Defined Los Angeles Dining in 2024
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We asked our contributors to the Resy Hit List to share their top dining experiences in their cities this year — to choose 10 restaurants that define the state of great dining right now. Welcome back our Best of The Hit List for 2024.
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As 2024 comes to a close, it’s worth noting that it was an impressive year for Los Angeles’ dining scene, in spite of a slew of challenges. Nearly everyone had to contend with rising food and labor costs. Still, chefs and restaurateurs persisted.
Japanese fusion took center stage, with Budonoki and RVR capturing L.A.’s current dining zeitgeist. Our pizza scene continued to evolve, with exacting techniques from newcomers Leopardo and Wildcrust, and Pizzeria Sei’s novel introduction of a pizza omakase. And more pop-ups became permanent, with Bridgetown Roti and Azizam opening brick-and-mortar locations, and Holy Basil expanding its footprint with its first sit-down restaurant in Atwater Village.
That all underscored a push toward innovation; underdogs and upstarts could express themselves through the lens of personal experience, rather than strict notions of “authenticity.” The city took notice of chefs who seamlessly melded multiple cultures, while honoring traditional techniques and ingredients.
With that, here are 10 of our most memorable Los Angeles restaurants, all of which are launching us into the city’s next chapter of culinary excellence.
1. Budonoki Silver Lake
Budonoki’s concept was a recipe for success: thrilling Japanese fusion in an electric, fun-inducing atmosphere. Thai chef Dan Rabilwongse (formerly of Bouchon, Hayato and Tsubaki) sprinkles Southeast Asian and French flavors into creative izakaya fare, like a fermented Thai sausage, that, when paired with arancini-like rice balls and a fish-sauce slaw, make for a singularly perfect bite. The tight menu, which includes sushi and grilled meats, also shines with an Asian take on creamy gnocchi made with rice cakes, shimeji mushrooms, and grated truffles. Food here was best paired with a cold glass of beer or a shochu-forward cocktail (with those adorable animal mugs!) amidst lively conversations in a space that gave off throwback nightclub vibes.
2. Holbox Historic South Central
When out-of-towner asked for a restaurant recommendation, the answer was simple. A singular L.A. experience, this marisquería serves some of the best Mexican seafood in the city, out of a food stall inside the bustling Mercado La Paloma. And the praise (deservedly) rolled in for chef Gilberto Cetina, whose restaurant earned a Michelin star this year, and Los Angeles Times’ 2023 Restaurant of the Year. Everything at Holbox remains a labor of love, from the seafood sourcing to the in-house dry aging. Fresh Santa Barbara uni and Baja bay scallops are plated like works of art in aguachiles and ceviches, and inventive tacos (like the fried octopus with a calamari-inked sofrito on a Mexican heirloom corn tortilla made in-house by Fatima Juarez of Komal) run the show. While walk-ins dine at the countertop, Holbox also offers a coveted reservation-only tasting menu that, yes, everyone is scrambling to access.
3. Leopardo Mid-Wilshire
Taking risks and getting a little wild made Leopardo stand out in a sea of new openings. Acclaimed chef Joshua Skenes (Saison, Angler) turned his eye toward pizza made with what he calls a “neo-mochito” crust, made meticulously from nine flours over the course of three days. But Leopardo also contained multitudes, like an excellent deer tartare and wild boar meatballs. Skenes’ penchant for cheeky naming was in full effect, including a “Hello Satan” pie kicked up with spicy salumi and wildflower honey. Then there were the extravagant toppings, including sea urchin and Perigord black truffles, and the option to add caviar to just about anything. Cocktails were equally original, including the pink-hued Rhubarb Like A Negroni, in a sprawling dining room framed with pictures of Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan, and race cars.
4. Azizam Silver Lake
Azizam’s ascension from pop-up to brick-and-mortar (with Los Angeles Times food critic Bill Addison calling it the city’s “best new Persian restaurant in years”) was a special kind of L.A. success story. When owners Cody Ma and Misha Sesar opened their Silver Lake location earlier this year, they created a casual gathering space (complete with a cheery sage green patio) that put their highly personalized style of Iranian cooking on the map. Their signature kofteh Tabrizi — a baseball-sized beef and rice meatball centered around dried stone fruit and walnuts — not only blends their families’ techniques and recipes, but also tells a story about their heritages. With its short and sweet menu, everything is on point, including a fluffy barbari flatbread, that, when coupled with an herb and leek frittata in the kuku sandevich, makes for one of the best vegetarian meals in town.
No reservations. Find more info here.
5. RVR Venice
This nouveau izakaya is chef-owner Travis Lett’s (Gjelina, Gjusta) much-awaited return to the food scene after a years-long hiatus, taking over the exact same Venice space as his previous restaurant, MTN. Some things stayed the same, such as a DJ station with a wall full of records; others changed. Lett now has executive chef Ian Robinson (formerly of Skippa in Toronto) producing a sensational menu of hyper-seasonal Japanese Californian dishes. While hand rolls filled with bluefin tuna and natto, and charcoal-grilled meats and seafood hit the mark, the farmers market vegetables — like grilled Japanese sweet potato in miso butter — absolutely sing. The food is in great company with a wine list from Maggie Glasheen (formerly of Anajak Thai), a winning combination that explained the packed house every night.
6. Kuya Lord Melrose Hill
It was a big year for Kuya Lord’s chef-owner Lord Maynard Llera (formerly of Bestia), whose tiny 28-seat Filipino restaurant earned him a James Beard award for Best Chef in California. The concept’s humble beginnings as a pandemic-era pop-up materialized into a brick-and-mortar in 2022 and became a hub for Southern Tagalog-style dishes, including riffs on his favorite foods growing up in the Philippines port town of Lucena City. Every bite here pops with flavor and color. The marquee dish is the lucenachon, a Duroc pork belly that’s incredibly crisp on the outside and succulent within. But grilled New Caledonia blue prawns swimming in a garlic-crab sauce were equally memorable, as was calamansi pie topped with a swirl of whipped pandan cream.
No reservations. Find more info here.
7. danbi Koreatown
There’s no other place in L.A. at the moment like Danbi. The jubilant modern restaurant, which buzzes with loud conversations and Korean pop music, is home to executive chef Lareine Ko’s (previously at Sushi Yuen) imaginative take on shareable Korean food, best enjoyed with a drink in hand. Ko collaborated with the team behind popular Chinese American diner Liu’s Cafe, and her dishes run the gamut from crispy scallop pancake accompanied with a creamy mentaiko dipping sauce to an unusual bibimbap topped with uni and raw sweet shrimp. Pastry chef Isabell Manibusan’s desserts could be equally enthralling, like a marshmallow and Korean sweet potato pie number matched with a crunchy phyllo, as could bar director John Yi’s creative spin on soju-based cocktails, including a pear and ginger-forward kimchi mule.
8. Ètra Melrose Hill
When Ètra landed on Melrose Hill just a couple of months after its owners launched its buzzy daytime counterpart Cafe Telegrama, everyone took notice. The moody Italian restaurant was an instant hit, emanating sleek and sultry vibes in an unfussy, minimalist space with white ceramic tiles and walls entirely paneled in light birch wood. Even waiting for a table outside felt cool, with knowledgeable staff guiding you to just the right naturalish European and Californian wines. The menu from chef Evan Algorri (formerly of New York’s Lupa, Marea, and Bouley) has been expertly executed, with an array of crowd-pleasing pastas like a creamy parmigiano rigatoni dotted with cubes of guanciale, a charred pork chop rubbed in porchetta spice, and a tonnato-laced beef tartare.
9. Bridgetown Roti East Hollywood
One of the most highly anticipated openings of the year, for good reason. Chef Rashida Holmes (previously of Botanica) built an ardent fan base for Caribbean pop-ups that paid homage to her mother and aunt’s Barbadian cooking. Her first brick-and-mortar, a joyful counter-service restaurant with pops of color that nod to the palette of Barbados and an upbeat playlist of soul and hip hop streaming all day long, became a wonderful addition to a busy section of East Hollywood. Holmes has become known for her buttery rotis wrapped around curry shrimp aloo and flaky patties stuffed with curry-braised oxtail. Behind the scenes, she painstakingly laminates and rolls out dough, and makes spice pastes from scratch — little details that add to incomparable flavors.
More info here.
10. Holy Basil – Atwater Village Atwater Village
With the largest Thai population outside of Thailand calling L.A. home, it makes sense that we have some of the most exciting Thai food in the country. Case in point: Holy Basil, where chef Wedchayan “Deau” Arpapornnopparat, who owns the restaurant with his wife Tongkamal “Joy” Yuon, has been turning out exceptionally creative, genre-defying Thai cooking. Each bite of their Bangkok-style dishes remains complex and intriguing. A garlic-rich shrimp aguachile is coated with a tomatillo and makrut lime sauce, while a wok-flamed pad see ew is made with vermicelli noodles. Holy Basil itself has grown, from a pop-up takeout window in a Downtown food hall, to their newly opened 20-seat spot with alleyway dining in Awater Village. We’re looking forward to accolades continuing to roll in.
