LA doesn't have one vibe. You can eat street tacos every day, never leave the beach, go full Hollywood nightlife, or find something upscale. It's genuinely whatever you want it to be.
Everyone knows Bestia, and if you don’t… tl;dr it was the restaurant in LA in the mid 2010’s leading up to Covid (honorable mentions: Jon and Vinny’s, N/Naka, Republique). That said: of the Bestia group restaurants (went to each more than once), Saffy’s was the most consistent. Easier to get a seat than its sister restaurants, and the skewers, shawarma, and shish kebab are fire.
Middle Eastern skewers done better than they have any right to be
Platonic ideal of pasta. Evan Funke spent 10 years studying under traditional pasta makers across Italy, trained at a pasta school in Bologna, and it took him over a thousand attempts to nail his first perfect sfoglia sheet. His whole thing is no pasta machines. Craft!
Pasta
Get the tsukemen, which is the dipping ramen. You dunk noodles into a rich concentrated broth instead of having everything in one bowl. Also, it's better than Tsujita so don’t get the two confused. After you're done, walk down the street to B Sweet or Bacio di Latte for dessert. Wanderlust is nearby too if you want ice cream, but if we're comparing Asian-inspired ice creams, Stella Jean's wins that conversation.
Tsukemen Ramen.
Get Villa’s trio and then walk around grand central market for dessert.
Tacos.
If you want a taco-truck style taco, then El Chato is the play
Tacos.
I've been to Goldburger, For the Win, Apple Pan, Proudly Serving, and Standing Room. Haven't made it to Amboy's yet. Trophies is still my favorite of the bunch, and it's not particularly close except For the Win which is right behind it. Genuinely underrated and most people aren't talking about it
Burgers, onion rings, and curly fries (the apex predator of all french fries)
It’s basic because it’s the gold standard for korean bbq, full stop. There’s a reason Obama went there and it's the same reason you should too. It's expensive for Korean BBQ but the quality of the meat justifies it. Please, just go.
Beef quality. Get the ribeye with chimichurri
Self-proclaimed chill guy that’s overly pragmatic and likes to eat… a lot. Take all of my recommendations with a grain of salt cause I’m not an Angeleno.