The Resy Hit List: Where In L.A. You’ll Want to Eat Right Now
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There’s no question we hear more often: Where should I go eat? And while we at Resy know it’s an honor to be the friend who everyone asks for restaurant advice, we also know it’s a complicated task. That’s where the Resy Hit List comes in.
Consider it your essential resource for dining in Los Angeles: a monthly-updated guide to the restaurants that you won’t want to miss — tonight or any night.
Four Things In Los Angeles Not to Miss This Month
- New Openings Galore: Sushi Nakazawa just landed in West Hollywood, where chef Daisuke Nakazawa (of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” fame) is serving up Edomae-style omakases built around precision, progression, and fish of extremely high quality. It’s joined this month by a handful of other notable new Resy additions: there’s Montauk in Redondo beach, where you’ll find elegant versions of classic seafood dishes (think baked oysters Rockefeller and saffron risotto dotted with charred octopus). Along the Cahuenga Pass in Studio City, retro-futuristic cocktail bar Night on Earth, from the team behind award-winning Thunderbolt, is introducing the Valley to “out of this world cocktails.” Head to New on Resy for more.
- Plan Now, Thank Yourself Later: Between Father’s Day on the 21st, Juneteenth (which falls on the 19th), an entire month of Pride festivities, June is a big month to celebrate. A month this important deserves some planning, no matter how Type B you are. Take your dad to Beverly Hills, where Crustacean is throwing a Father’s Day brunch, complete with Vietnamese caramelized short ribs, tomahawk steak, and surf and turf crispy rice. On June 8th, Mercado la Paloma turns 25 years old, and to celebrate, Holbox is hosting a 10-course tasting menu. Check out all of June’s events here.
- Eat Los Angeles in Three Days: Whether you have family coming in from out of town or are just craving an epic staycation, contributor Kelly Dobkin has you covered. She mapped out “How to Spend a Perfect 72 Hours Eating Your Way Through L.A.,” and it’s full of heavy hitters. There’s lunch at The Lobster, where you’ll enjoy Pacific Ocean views and wild Dungeness crab gumbo, a taco crawl in Boyle Heights, and endive salads paired with glasses of natural wine at Seco in Silver Lake. Bookmark that guide, then check out Resy’s full summer-ready travel collection.
- Check Your Weather App: Not to be that person, but Angelenos must prepare themselves for the possibility of June Gloom. Here are some ideas to get you through those gray times: Ka’Teen launched Jungle Disco, a summer-long series of dinner and dancing that takes place every Friday night in Hollywood. In Long Beach, neighborhood superstar Ellie’s introduced new small plates, like fried meatballs made with tomato conserva and pickled banana pepper. And raise a glass at Malama Pono in the Valley, where they’re working in five new tropical cocktails, including a margarita sporting a crimson-red li hing mui rim. Although, refreshing Resy’s data-driven collection of trending Los Angeles restaurants at an alarming rate sounds like a good idea, too.
New to the Hit List (June 2026)
Mitsi, Amiguita, Josephine, CouCou Manhattan Beach, Hayama by Watami, Jitlada.
1. Sqirl Virgil Village
If you’ve consumed restaurant food in Los Angeles within the past decade, you’ve encountered Jessica Koslow’s culinary influence. In 2012, she opened the quirky little jam shop in Virgil Village that went on to become one of the most consequential restaurants in L.A. history. It’s not hyperbolic to say that Sqirl forever altered the way Angelenos—and diners far beyond—considered breakfast and lunch. Now, Sqirl’s much-anticipated dinner service is here, and the vibe is decidedly grown-up. Koslow reminds us why we love her, with dishes like smoked beet agnolotti (“a distant memory of borscht”); cabbage stuffed with duxelles and drizzled with yuzu butter; and something called “sqimps”: bite-sized grilled squid stuffed with a creamy shrimp-chorizo emulsion. There’s also a full bar, including teensy, half-sized martinis served in equally teensy, half-sized glasses. If this is Jessica Koslow’s idea of a dinner party, we’re just happy to be invited.
2. Bar di Bello Silver Lake
Bar di Bello turns Silver Lake’s Milanese aperitivo daydreams into a meal you can actually book. Set in a snazzy new Sunset Blvd. strip mall, burgundy curtains part to reveal this stylish new Italian restaurant from the teams behind Gigi’s and Wexler’s Deli. In Milan, you’d start with a spritz or a Negroni, and Bar di Bello doesn’t care to argue: the Splendido Spritz is a bittersweet, slightly sharper cousin of the Aperol spritz, while the $44 Negroni di Basso arrives in an almost comically gigantic goblet that feels tailored for toasts. The kitchen’s putting in work, too, with briny Sicilian anchovy toast, ribbons of 24‑month prosciutto di Parma, and breaded chicken cutlets glossed in a shallot–guanciale–caper sauce. Eastsiders used to dream of restaurants like this; now they’re finally here.
3. Little Fish – Melrose Hill Melrose Hill
Once upon a time, Angelenos chased Anna Sonenshein and Niki Vahle’s coveted fried fish sandwich pop-up across the city like it was a rare celestial event, but with their second permanent outpost—this time, in trendy Melrose Hill—the duo proves Little Fish is not only here to stay, but that it has more to offer than just a really good lunch. Compared to its Echo Park counterpart, Little Fish’s Melrose Hill location is more grown up: locally sourced seafood is served in a stylish bistro, where warm wood glows in the daytime and marble tabletops shine at night. While you can—and should—order that panko-encrusted icon during the day, stay for dinner, when the kitchen flexes its fine dining muscles with rotating dishes like bay scallop crudo, lobster grilled with a persimmon glaze, and pan-fried skate wing with brown butter and sauerkraut.
4. Hermon’s Hermon
The latest restaurant from Last Word Hospitality, Hermon’s joins siblings Found Oyster, Barra Santos, Queen’s, and Rasarumah in a bid for East Side supremacy. Named after the tiny neighborhood it’s situated in, tucked between Highland Park and South Pasadena, Hermon’s is a rustic, 89-seat space that combines Art Deco vibes with the area’s prevalent Craftsman style. The menu is defined by chophouse-style dishes with modern twists, like loaded potato fritters, two-sheet lasagna vongole (inspired by the clam toast at Dudley Market, where chef DK Kolender previously worked), and mushroom Bourguignon with a dash of miso. The bar program, created by Eric Alperin and Angus McShane, centers on classic, ice-cold martinis served in freezer-stored glasses, available in both regular and “tiny” portions, proving that good things can indeed come in small packages.
5. Somni West Hollywood
“There’s nowhere else in the United States, never mind Los Angeles, like Aitor Zabala’s Somni,” writes Amber Gibson of the avant-garde Spanish tasting menu restaurant in West Hollywood. It’s hard to disagree. In Catalan, “Somni” means “dream,” a polysemous word that refers to the mythical realms our minds travel to while asleep. That’s where Somni, the restaurant, resides. An enchanting courtyard and magical canapés fade away as you enter the dining room: a small, symmetrical theater where 14 seats are arranged in a semi-circle. That’s the kitchen. There is no “front” or “back” of house, as courses are brought forth by the hands that prepared them. Monologues are performed before each of the 20 to 30 courses. The first thing you’ll eat could be a white feather quill made of Parmesan. A slice of pizza arrives on what is essentially air: meringue made from clarified tomato water. Have we mentioned that it only took Somni a mere six months to become L.A.’s first three-Michelin-starred restaurant?
6. Mitsi Los Angeles
At the edge of Chinatown, right before the L.A. River ushers you into Lincoln Heights, sits Mitsi, a new cocktail bar that’s returning the neighborhood to its former after-dark glory. (Cafe Triste, Café Tondo, Grand Star Jazz Club, and Evangeline Swamp Room also come to mind.) Backed by Mumford & Sons’ Ben Lovett, Mitsi somehow threads the needle between serene tea house and afterparty at the hotel bar. Cavernous ceilings soar overhead, and mismatched chandeliers cast a warm, gentle glow over the lime-washed walls. You’re here for both cocktails and sushi, with a tight counter of nigiri and crisp temaki hand rolls — bluefin tuna, hamachi, saba, sea bream, halibut — all built to be eaten with a drink in hand. The cocktails riff on the classics (there’s a 50/50 martini sharpened with tomato and cilantro), backed by a natural‑leaning wine list, sake, and thoughtful zero‑proof options, including a surprisingly elegant sparkling apple tea.
7. Azizam Silver Lake
This charming Persian spot in Silver Lake feels casual, but packs a powerful punch, quietly shaping the city’s conversation surrounding Iranian food, identity … and kebabs. In a little terrarium along Sunset, partners Cody Ma and Misha Sesar serve the kind of homestyle dishes their families made for gatherings, not restaurant menus. It’s a welcome deviation: there’s the soul-soothing barley-and-bean ash-e jo soup with kashk and mint oil, turmeric-braised Jidori chicken, and that giant kofteh Tabrizi, a softball-sized meatball stuffed with prunes, apricots, barberries, and walnuts in a dried‑lime tomato sauce. Order at the counter, then angle for a seat on the shaded patio. You’d be wise to add one of Azizam’s excellent sandwiches, like the beef tongue with tomatoes, pickles, and herbs. A sour cherry limeade or sekanjabin spritz in hand doesn’t hurt, either.
8. Josephine Silver Lake
Over in a rustic, charming Craftsman cottage in Silver Lake — Bowery Bungalow was its previous tenant — childhood friends Marco Gagliardi and Anthony Dragotto have built a European-style dining room to honor their two grandmothers, both named Josephine. Candles flicker as guests settle in for long, unhurried meals, served in green leather booths and at wooden bistro tables outfitted with white linen napkins. There are two ways to experience Josephine: In the dining room and front patio, you’re in for a six-course supper ($95) that starts with focaccia, crudités, and intensely savory anchoïade, then moves through whatever Gagliardi is digging that week; you might eat wild rabbit confit set against a smear of cool labneh, or a flaky buckwheat tart and a sweet pea velouté. At the bar and back patio, a daily à la carte chalkboard menu (reserved for walk-ins) keeps the entire affair loose and casual.
9. Henrietta Los Angeles
Inspired by the cured meat shops and kitchens of Italy, this is Echo Park’s newest shiny addition, a cozy all-day space that seamlessly transitions from a sun-drenched market-deli by day to a candlelit dinner destination at night. Owner Max Lesser, an alum of Chi Spacca, has crafted a menu that feels both deeply Californian and nostalgically Roman, where you might grab a chicken Milanese sandwich topped with radicchio and Caesar aioli for lunch, or settle in later for short rib rigatoni or ricotta dumplings stuffed with chanterelle mushrooms. The dining room is a fun, eclectic mishmash of mismatched art and banquette seating, the ideal backdrop for lingering over a glass of delicious wine, curated by Katie Vonderheide (previously of Silverlake Wine).
10. Sora Craft Kitchen Fashion District
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.
11. Wilde’s Los Feliz
Founded by lifelong friends Natasha Price and Tatiana Ettensberger, Wilde’s has quickly become the hottest place to eat in Los Feliz. This new restaurant blends rustic British heritage with fresh California ingredients, through classic dishes like bangers and mash, a flaky meat pie for two, and sticky toffee pudding. It’s elegant and charming, without a whiff of pretentiousness, and its cozy, warm wood interior evokes a British countryside pub. Beyond dinner service, the venue operates as a daytime bakery offering coffee, scones, and spiced carrot tea cake. And since demand has been sky-high since they opened late last year, the team recently announced they’re adding more Resys to cut down on wait times — a smart call, indeed.
12. Evil Cooks El Sereno
Evil Cooks is the rare restaurant where the Satanic branding somehow undersells how wild and wonderful the food gets. In a black‑walled space in El Sereno — fittingly, 3333 N Eastern, which doubles neatly into 6666 — Alex “Pobre Diablo” García and Elvia “La Bruja” Huerta have turned their front‑yard pop‑up and Smorgasburg hit into a metalhead taqueria and one of L.A.’s most inventive modern Mexican kitchens. Devils and “Hell Sereno” jokes mark the entrance; out back, a patio with angels crying jamaica‑red tears and skeletons watching over the tables sets the tone. The Devil’s Pack lets you mix and match tacos, including inky black al pastor on equally black tortillas. El Taco Arabe nods to Puebla and the Middle East at once, while the Prince of Darkness burrito and Megadeth torta go gloriously over the top with pastor, green chorizo, bacon, a fried egg, and even a hot dog. At Evil Cooks, being bad feels very, very right.
13. Amiguita Silver Lake
Silver Lake has a new strip-mall heartthrob on Sunset: an Afro-Caribbean restaurant where nearly everything tastes like it’s picked up a little smoke along the way. Amiguita is chef Alejandro Eusebio’s most personal project yet, looping back to a childhood in the Cibao region of the Dominican Republic and more than two decades in Los Angeles kitchens, with a detour through “Top Chef” fame along the way. Inside, a sweeping mural by L.A. artist Lara Apponyi anchors the compact room in countryside greens and warm, sunlit tones. Most dishes pass through a Mibrasa charcoal oven, like shrimp mofongo with green plantains, or guava grilled wings with habanero sauce. At the bar, longtime friend Mara Herbkersman (a Ruby Fruit alum) runs a sharp drinks program that leans into small‑production wines, Caribbean beers, and fizzy, fermented cocktails.
14. Hayama by WATAMI Culver City
Hayama by Watami is a new izakaya in Culver City, and a collaboration between Westside sushi legend Frank “Toshi” Sugiura (Hama Restaurant, Bar Hayama) his daughter Ichigo, and Watami, the Japanese restaurant juggernaut with over 500 locations in Asia. Located in a bright, airy space, this “izakaya” is much less smoky than its traditional counterparts, and incorporates enough Dodger bobbleheads to fill two bar-length shelves. In short, gather here for after-work drinks or dinners with friends with kids. The menu is ambitious but accessible, spanning familiar appetizers (think crispy rice and miso-slicked Brussels sprouts), yakitori served straight off the grill, and an impressive sushi spread. A deep sake list and a short run of Japanese sours make this the obvious choice for a post-Ikea trip, or a low-key Dodger game viewing when you’d rather eat flame-grilled kabayaki eel skewers than stadium food.
15. Coucou – Manhattan Beach Manhattan Beach
Mere steps away from the ocean and overlooking the Manhattan Beach pier, CouCou’s third location achieves something rare: it doesn’t feel like a franchise. Jesse and Hayley Feldman brought their stylish Cali-French bistro to the South Bay, where locals instantly claimed it as the new date-night default. Can you blame them? Leave your wetsuit at the door—the restaurant’s interior is decidedly soigné, featuring marble-topped tables, warm pendant lighting, eclectic framed wall art, and handsome red leather banquette seating. The menu takes cues from its Venice and West Hollywood siblings: you’ve got market crudités with olive tapenade, a Wagyu burger draped in Cognac sauce, and proper steak frites paired with sweet-savory black garlic jus, plus a nostalgic soft-serve sundae made with Strauss Organic Creamery dairy for dessert.
16. Joyce Los Angeles
What is Joyce, if not a love letter to the power of both family and coastal Southern cooking? It begins with the name: a touching tribute to owner Prince Riley’s mother and daughter, who share “Joyce” as their middle name. Riley co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Athena, and power couple Sammy Monsour and Kassady Wiggins, formerly of Preux & Proper, who head the kitchen and beverage department, respectively. The resulting menu is a deeply personal passageway through sustainable Southern cooking: pleasantly creamy oysters hail from Gulf waters off the coast of Alabama; while Edisto Island cornbread brings the Gullah Geechee and Lowcountry to the table along with whipped sorghum butter and hickory salt and pepper. From Nashville hot fried catfish to jerk-tinged duck confit, Joyce is all about smart, intentional, and delicious food that rewards curious eaters.
17. Two Hommés Inglewood
Two Hommés began as a pop-up from lifelong friends Marcus “Chef Mando” Yaw Johnson and Abdoulaye “Chef AB” Balde. Now, it’s an Inglewood date-night favorite, where West African cuisine meets California ingredients. On the corner of La Brea and Centinela, the dining room feels cozy yet tuned-in, with West African textiles, Ghanaian light fixtures, and comfy banquettes—and makes for an ideal pre‑SoFi (or Intuit Dome) dinner. Jollof rice functions as an anchor: a smoky, tomato-rich grain found beneath lamb chops, fried catfish, and chili garlic chicken, among other things. From there, the menu sprawls deliciously, covering sticky honey berbere chicken bites, root beer-braised short ribs, and wildly comforting garlic noodles. Order the Mezcalifornia—Espadín mezcal, cucumber juice, grapefruit syrup—which cools everything down just enough to make a second round feel like fate.
18. Bar Sinizki Atwater Village
When Bar Sinizki opened in 2024, the all-day café felt like a natural extension of Atwater Village, as if the hospitality gods had read everyone’s minds and zapped in exactly what they’d wished for. From the team behind Elf and Dune, the former Kaldi Coffee space now runs from 7 a.m. to midnight on a simple premise: that coffee, pierogi, and cocktails all belong under one roof. Royal blue checkered floors, a curved Calacatta marble bar, and a tiny, darling dining room spill out to the sidewalk patio. When chef Scott Zwiezen’s father died, his family unearthed notebooks of Ukrainian, Polish, and Slovak recipes from his great-grandfather Elias; those notebooks now guide much of the menu, from cardamom French toast in the morning to old-fashioned pierogi, halušky, kielbasa, steak frites, and a nearly perfect Bub & Grandma’s Bistro Burger at night.
19. Electric Bleu Los Angeles
Name a temple of haute cuisine, and chances are Craig Hopson has worked there (Le Cirque, Guy Savoy, and Picholine, to name a few). After spending decades mastering French fine dining, Hopson has settled in Mar Vista, where last summer he and his wife, Mai Sakai, opened Electric Bleu on buzzy Centinela Avenue. The ultramarine-hued modern bistro playfully reflects Hobson’s rock ‘n’ roll Perth roots and Sakai’s eye for design. Food, however, remains serious business. You’ll want the roasted chicken, a juicy classic with crispy skin, plus an order of “electric fries” dusted with chicken salt (a misnomer; the spice blend contains zero meat). Sakai curates a wine list heavy on esoteric French varietals, plus lots of sake. For the indecisive diner, Electric Bleu also offers a four-course tasting menu ($64).
20. Jitlada Thai Town
Sure, there are non-spicy options on Jitlada’s legendary 300-plus-item menu, but to come to Jitlada and not order from the wickedly hot southern Thai canon assembled by Sarintip “Jazz” Sinsanong and her late brother, Suthiporn “Tai” Sungkamee, is a bit like slipping out of a Twice concert before the group performs “What is Love?”: odd behavior that teeters on sacrilege. In East Hollywood, two wonderfully eccentric rooms bleed into each other, and every inch of wall space seems covered in framed reviews, celebrity snapshots, and Matt Groening doodles. It’s exactly the backdrop you want for plates of crispy catfish salad, ferocious jungle curries, and a vividly verdant and violently spicy green curry that tends to leave diners with a new outlook on what “medium spicy” means.
