The Resy Hit List: Where In L.A. You’ll Want to Eat in Sept. 2025

Perched on the edge of Chinatown, Baby Bistro joins its Alpine Street neighbors Perilla, Baker’s Bench, Cassell’s, and Heavy Water Coffee in what is quickly becoming one of the city’s quirkiest courtyards, and a must-visit destination for in-the-know diners. A self-described “bistro of sorts,” the former roving pop-up is the brainchild of chef Miles Thompson (formerly of Michael’s and Konbi) and co-owner Andy Schwartz, a seasoned wine pro from Lolo in East Hollywood. Set in a restored 100-year-old Victorian bungalow, the intimate 35-seat dining room feels plucked from a different era (or maybe just Europe), with its warm-wood interior, built-in wine shelves, and rustic outdoor seating. The menu is focused and tight, with eight-ish dishes that rotate with the seasons. Currently, there’s a warm weather turnip-and-tofu number, and a refreshing cucumber and squid combo. Or you could just ask them to fire the whole menu. Yeah, maybe do that.

It’s been nearly three years since Evan Funke launched Mother Wolf, the Hollywood celebrity magnet where A-listers tuck in to tonnarelli cacio e pepe and Roman-style pizzas. Trying to score a prime-time reservation here is still daunting, but at least now we have Bar Avoja. Located at the back of the 8,600-square-foot restaurant, Mother Wolf’s semi-secret cocktail lounge is a collaboration between Funke and managing partner Giancarlo Pagani, who sought to “create a hidden Roman escape.” The menu here is considerably shorter than Mother Wolf’s, but packed with plenty of Funke favorites, including his famed Sicilian focaccia sfincione. Everything on the menu pairs nicely with a wine from their modest selection, or try one of their next-level spritzes, made with a hint of bergamot and the correct amount of Prosecco.

Two years (and many hours of construction) later, Beethoven Market has undergone a stunning transformation from beloved neighborhood grocery into a Mar Vista hotspot with a rustic-chic vibe that Nancy Meyers would approve of. The California-Italian menu has everything you need for a mellow summer hang, including handmade pizzas and pastas; focaccia smeared with whipped ricotta and avocado tree honey; and suppli al telefono, crispy little fried rice ball stuffed with fior di latte cheese — plus a stunning patio space. Knowing how much this space meant to the neighborhood, owner Jeremy Adler also ensured the protection and preservation of the building’s bones. Luckily, they’re quite beautiful, particularly the original wooden ceiling and its gorgeous soaring beams, which remain intact today.

In a Westchester strip mall just two miles from LAX, you’ll find this three-floor farm-to-table restaurant that redefines airport-adjacent dining. Led by husband-and-wife team Harry Posner and Natalie Dial, Tomat is uncompromising in its use of high-quality, hyper-local ingredients sourced exclusively from farmers’ markets, local fishers, and regional dairy producers. The menu, a unique fusion of Persian, Japanese, and British flavors, is a testament to the couple’s diverse culinary heritage: think saffron-scented tahdig, a Persian rice dish adorned with pickled raisins, pumpkin seeds, and dill, cooked in a Japanese donabe. Try the Future 75, a refreshing cocktail made with gin, sparkling wine, and a hint of lemon  — a collaboration with Future, a queer and women-owned distillery in L.A., with 100% of the proceeds being donated to World Central Kitchen.

Chef Alan Sanz (previously of Maizano and Pujol), award-winning beverage director Max Reis, and owner Matt Egan, the dynamic trio behind Mírate, No. 12 on North America’s 50 Best Bars 2025 list and the prettiest place in Los Feliz to enjoy mezcal cocktails, have officially landed in the Valley. Their newest restaurant pays homage to traditional Norteño cantinas, while also infusing the trio’s signature playful, and, at times, mystical spirit. “A vortex through time and space has opened in Sherman Oaks, and otherworldly cocktails await those who dare to step inside,” Daisy’s website reads. Vintage Mexican artwork adorns the walls, alongside taxidermy bison heads. Vaquero, or cowboy, energy pulses throughout the multi-level space, finding its way onto the menu through dishes like the crab-topped tostada de cangrejo with smoked chile aioli. Oh, and there will be Tequila. Lots of it.

Unlike Labubus or overpriced matcha lattes, Sri Lankan food isn’t easy to find in L.A. But Shaheen Ghazaly, the chef-owner of Kurrypinch, is out to change that, with a mission to introduce people to Sri Lankan food—as he knows it, the way he cooks it. After Covid forced the shuttering of his previous Valley location, Ghazaly is branching out to East Hollywood, taking over a former vegan pizza shop on Hollywood Blvd with a sleek, warm and stylish sit-down restaurant with a six-seat chef’s counter. The menu is eclectic, heartfelt, and loathes to bore, ping-ponging between “Sri Lankan Signatures,” (think string hopper rice noodles) and boundary-busting “Chef’s Signatures.” Don’t miss the coconut milk rice risotto with mahi-mahi, topped with fistfuls of pandan leaves and lashed with a hefty scoop of housemade chili oil.

Buvons sits quietly in Long Beach’s Zaferia district. It’s a women-owned natural wine bar, shop, and French-Mediterranean restaurant, and each part of that operation is imbued with a true sense of care — you get the sense that you’ve stumbled upon something really special here. The enchanting garden patio, open for lunch and dinner, is ideal for snacking on freshly shucked oysters, house-made pâté, or pasta alla norma, a traditional Sicilian dish with silky-tender fried eggplant. Buvon’s thoughtful selection of small-production, low-intervention wines is handpicked by the staff, so you’ll want to take your time with it — check out the rare bottles from Jura, Burgundy, and Champagne that are seldom found elsewhere in Long Beach.

Housed in the former Jewel space in Virgil Village, Doto is a breezy all-day café serving four eclectic menus (morning, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch). Dishes here run the gamut between traditional Japanese fare and what you would expect from a third wave coffee shop, which might be a bit jarring. Yes, bee pollen-dusted yogurt and bento boxes sit together on the same menu, but don’t think about it too hard. Chef Jared Dowling, who also runs Edgemar in Santa Monica, is obviously having a blast. Here, he treats Doto’s many influences — California ingredients, his affinity for Japanese food, and the plant-based café that previously inhabited the building — like puzzle pieces, cheerfully arranging them as he sees fit.

Chef Okay Inak cut his teeth at fine dining juggernauts Per Se, Eleven Madison Park, and Mélisse,  before launching his first solo restaurant — a labor of love that Inak and his wife, Sezen Vatansever, made possible with self-financing and most of their life savings. Here, Inak performs an extraordinary one-man show: as the restaurant’s sole staff member, he operates the entire 16-seat dining room himself — prepping, cooking, food running, serving, and cleaning — which suffuses the restaurant with an aura of genuine, one-of-a-kind hospitality. Regional Turkish specialties and recipes passed down from the Turkey-born chef’s family are on display here, like içli köfte, a luxurious satchel stuffed with spiced beef and laced with Aleppo pepper-infused butter. Save room for something sweet, such as the peynir helvasi, or cheese halva, which uses housemade cheese and arrives atop a gossamer bed of pistachios.

The talent at this new South Pasadena bistro does the talking while you dive in.  Helmed by Matt Molina and Joe Capella, two titans of the L.A. dining scene, Cannonball is the latest addition to their already impressive portfolio, which also includes Hippo, Triple Beam Pizza, and Everson Royce Bar. Their latest is moody and sophisticated: walls are painted in a heavy dark blue and Art Deco lighting fixtures twinkle overhead. The globally-influenced menu (think fideos alongside potstickers) pays homage to Molina’s previous hits, including a burger outfitted with a four-inch thick patty made of prime chuck, and golden, flaky biscuits slathered in honey butter. At the bar, Capella flexes his beverage expertise, with a wide-ranging selection of international wines and crafted cocktails.

Like chef-owner Travis Lett’s previous ventures (Gjelina, Gjusta, that impossibly tasteful apartment on the Westside the restaurant group casually rents out, etc.), RVR is a certified hit. Sure, the stylish Japanese izakaya (pronounced “river”) feels light-years away from the smoke-filled dens of Tokyo. (Between its dreamy Abbot Kinney digs and the floor-to-ceiling vinyl collection, RVR shares more DNA with Japanese listening bars than the country’s drinking taverns.) But fussy details like that tend to fade away while you’re eating roasted mushrooms draped in miso butter, or gyoza stuffed with Peads & Barnetts pork belly. At the helm at RVR are executive chef Ian Robinson and wine director Maggie Glasheen (previously of Anajak Thai), who’ve teamed up for a robust menu of hand rolls, binchōtan charcoal-grilled meats and seafood, and ramen served with house-made noodles.

Bar 109 is the kind of moody, intimate hangout that makes you want to cancel your real plans, text your best friend, and settle in for the night. Tucked into Brian Baik’s much-anticipated Corridor 109, this Melrose Hill gem is the cocktail bar this neighborhood has been waiting for. The marble bar glows under dim lighting; elliptical communal tables somehow make strangers feel like friends. Superstar bartender Kayla Garcia (previously of Beard award-winning Kumiko in Chicago and Echo Park’s Thunderbolt) is doing remarkable things with cocktails — the Mikan Old Fashioned is a dreamy, bright take on the classic, while the Sanshito brings together citrus and rum to create tropical bliss. Baik’s debut bar bites are a lot of fun, too, including a velvety smoked salmon dip, crispy fish sandwich, and Wagyu hot dog.

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Not every restaurant is tied to a place, but Rustic Canyon certainly is. There is no Rustic Canyon without Santa Monica, name aside. Imagine this: Rustic Canyon in the Arts District. Not buying it. West Hollywood? Not now, not ever. The food here is always good, and often exceptional — don’t miss the locally caught sea bass—delicately fried and placed on a crème fraîche cushion—that’s on the menu right now. At some point in either May or June, Rustic Canyon becomes nearly telepathic in its ability to anticipate exactly what we want for summer eating, (grilled Jimmy Nardello peppers, courtesy of Weiser Farms, anyone?), and changes the menu as often as they hit the nearby farmers market, which is to say, all the time.

Café Tondo is proof that it is, in fact, possible to romanticize an all-day café situated beneath the metro. On the outskirts of Chinatown next to the A Line station (in the former Oriel space), this Mexico-City inspired café charms by day with freshly baked conchas and café de olla spiced with piloncillo and cinnamon. As the sun sets, Café Tondo morphs into one of the coolest bars in the city. Weekly jazz, bolero, and DJ sets invite guests to linger long into the night. Beverage-wise, there are meticulously selected wines by the glass, beers, and micheladas, complemented by small, shareable plates like empanadas and gildas. Thanks to stunning design work by Aunt Studio, Café Tondo’s ambience is equally inviting; its intimate space filled with hand-crafted wooden tables, exposed ceilings, and warm, earthy tones.

This snazzy New York import wears its sophistication on its sleeve. Artfully blurring the line between fine dining and red sauce, Alba’s style is  its own, a glamorous vibe  they’re calling “vacation Italian.” Indeed, a meal here feels like a deleted scene from “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” complete with a dreamy indoor-outdoor space beneath a retractable roof and an impressive 4,000-bottle wine list with  selections that range anywhere from $60 to $18,000. Don’t miss the large-format orecchiette arrabbiata, a rosemary-scented lamb scottadito, or the focaccia della casa, chef (and noted bread baker) Adam Leonti’s specialty: a golden, crusty loaf that demands to be torn into the moment it hits the table. 

Soban serves some of the most extraordinary Korean food, not just in Koreatown, but arguably anywhere west of Seoul. Great for a casual lunch, one could conceivably fill up on the banchan alone, which is excellent—a compendium of farmers market produce that’s been fermented, pickled, or seasoned perfectly. But modernity ends there, as owner Jennifer Pak and her daughter, Deborah, aim to cook as traditionally as possible—preserving and protecting the country’s classic dishes, meticulous preparation methods, and community rituals. The result is spectacular. You’ll need to order the ganjang gejang, a luxurious and labor-intensive dish where blue crabs are marinated for days in an aromatic soy sauce-based brine, which slowly seeps into the crab shell, imbuing it with flavor without actually cooking it.