Top L.A. Restaurants

This atmospheric neighborhood bistro serves hearty French and Italian classics like beef bourguignonne and sausage rigatoni paired with an excellent variety of imported wines (check the chalkboard). Take a seat at one of the sidewalk tables and you’ll feel like you’ve left Pico Boulevard for Paris or Pisa.

Celebrated chef David Myers opened this rustic-cum-modern spot in January 2013, and the food cognoscenti is still buzzing about the fusion fare, which reimagines California cuisine through an Asian lens in dishes like hinoki wood–scented black cod and green curry lobster roll. The lush indoor-outdoor patio is alluring on warm days.

A seat on the olive tree–shaded terrace at this time-tested Mediterranean restaurant is a quintessential L.A. pleasure. Chef Suzanne Goin changes her menu seasonally and according to the market, but certain classics like the acclaimed braised beef short ribs endure. Don’t miss the famous family-style Sunday suppers.

Given the name of this eclectic Culver City café, it’s not surprising that there’s lots of attention given to just-picked produce. But in addition to tempting veggies like French beans with almonds and mint, you’ll find indulgences like chicken fried bacon and lamb confit. Seats on the small back patio are coveted.

There’s a southern lilt to both the food and the hospitality at Govind Armstrong’s farm-to-table venture. The slatted-wood tables and herb/veggie garden on the patio make you feel like you’re in someone’s backyard; the kitchen turns out sophisticated takes on down-home dishes like buttermilk fried chicken and homemade cornbread.

This recently opened granita bar in the Farmers Market serves up the perfect cool-down for a hot day. The granitas’ chunky ice crystals give them more heft than ice cream, with considerably less guilt. Flavors like peach mango, vanilla yogurt, and nondairy coffee are sweetened with all-natural, no-calorie stevia.