LA’s New Restaurant Openings

If you tried to keep track of every brand-new restaurant in Los Angeles, you might go a little wild. So just read this list instead. These are the new restaurant openings that seem like they have the most potential—although keep in mind, for the ones we haven’t tried, we make no promises. Go forth and be a pioneer.

SEPTEMBER

Baroo is back, just not how you remember it. The experimental Korean restaurant known for fermenting things in a sparse strip mall space shut down in 2018 (with a stint inside a now-closed swap meet in 2019). Now the team is back in a larger, more upscale spot in the Arts District. The whole fermentation theme is still in play, except the new Baroo only serves a tasting menu for $110 per person (with optional wine and sool pairings). Expect fried fermented crab, soy-braised black cod, and chamoe panna cotta. Reservations required.

Parakeet Cafe is a matcha latte and fancy avocado toast kind of place. You know the vibe— it’s a whole genre by now. This pink, cutesy cafe comes from San Diego and they just opened the first LA location in Beverly Hills. Picture grilled chicken sandwiches, charcoal-activated waffles with nutella, and breakfast burritos filled with egg and cauliflower chorizo.

Sushi Note, the wine bar and sushi place in Sherman Oaks we think of fondly and often, now has a tiny omakase operation in Beverly Hills. It's inside Rodeo Collection, that luxury mall with Givenchy and various plastic surgeon offices. The entire restaurant consists of four counter seats and a few tables, and they're offering either a 12-item, $125 menu or a 20-item, $190 menu, with optional wine pairings. Reservations required. 

The Level 8 openings train continues. In addition to places like Lucky Mizu and Mr. Wanderlust (scroll for more details on those), the new nightlife development in DTLA now has a lush, all-green South American restaurant from the chef behind now-closed spots Broken Spanish and B.S. Taqueria. The focus here is Argentinian asado, where picanha and beef tenderloin are grilled over an open fire. You can pair your barbecue with wagyu beef empanadas, mushroom anticuchos, and grilled dorade over romesco sauce. 

Yet another Level 8 restaurant, this time an upscale teppanyaki spot from the chef behind Mírate. Maison Kasai offers a set teppanyaki dinner with four courses of things like fried rice, wagyu ribeye, and a few French-Japanese sauces to choose from (think soy beurre noisette). And if you want a little less structure to the meal, there’s an a la carte menu with wagyu dumplings, bluefin tartare, and cauliflower steaks with a spicy tomato compote.

Level 8 even has a rooftop lounge to drink champagne and toss back oysters. No, we’re not just making sh*t up now, this all somehow fits on a single floor. Like Maison Kasai, Mother of Pearl is also from the chef behind Mírate. Expect deluxe stuff like caviar-topped lobster and egg salad sandwiches, sliced abalone with nori crisps, and a miso creme brulee.  

Just so we’re clear, this new DTLA bar is not in Level 8. The theme at Bar CDMX seems to be "grungy Mexico City dive," complete with Spanish rock music, arcade games, and margaritas on tap. Having margaritas so readily accessible may be fun and all, but we're excited about the other cocktails like pineapple caipirinhas, agave old fashioneds, and carajillos to break up your espresso martini habit.

AUGUST

Lucky Mizu is an over-the-top shabu shabu spot in Level 8, DTLA's new nightlife development from the Houston Brothers (the people who brought us sweaty bars like La Descarga and No Vacancy). Think casino levels of gaudiness, with golden hotpots, infinity mirrors, and an army of 700 maneki neko watching you eat wagyu steak. Broth options include dashi, tom yum, and shiitake, and you can choose from seasonal vegetables, seafood, and various cuts of marbled Japanese beef.

And here’s another Level 8 opening. Mr. Wanderlust is a not-so-secret speakeasy that requires you to go through a hidden entrance. In this case, a bookcase passageway opens up to a library with blue velvet chairs, patterned wallpaper, and ornate rugs. But unlike fireside chats with your anthropology professor, this library has burlesque dancers, jazz bands, and top hat-wearing aerialists twirling above. We’re still waiting on more info about Wanderlust’s food and drinks. According to their PR team, the menus will take inspiration from Indian, Californian, and South American cuisines. Translation: all over the place.

Ggiata’s meatball parm subs are now available on the Westside at their new Venice location. The modern deli’s third shop serves the same delicious sandwiches that feel like Italian suppers slapped on bread. Expect chicken cutlet sandwiches drenched in spicy vodka sauce, "The Draper” with balsamic glaze and stracciatella, and rainbow cookies for something sweet.

Owa opened in the original Wabi-Sabi space on Abbot Kinney. This brick-walled sushi spot offers classic nigiri, like unagi and hotate, as well as cocktails, chirashi bowls, and Americanized rolls dressed with spicy mayo. There’s also a $71 sushi omakase option that includes seven pieces of nigiri and a roll if you’d rather eat more and think less.

The Found Oyster people sure like being busy. This pizza place in Cypress Park is the team's third opening this year, and it's located next to Barra Santos (another sibling restaurant). Expect thin-crusted pies and slices with toppings like Chinese sausage and sambal, mortadella, and shiitake mushrooms, as well as Italian ice and some interesting sides to snack on, including roasted Japanese eggplant with summer peppers and a salad with celery, pistachio, mint, and blue cheese.

Joyce is a new Charleston-inspired restaurant in DTLA that specializes in seafood towers decorated with lobster tails, oysters, and Cajun fried saltines. The place screams resort-core with plants, botanical print chairs, and a healthy dose of pastels. The menu, though, screams a little louder with Nashville hot catfish, crawfish hushpuppies, hickory-smoked pork chops on grits, and Cajun-style coppa with muffuletta relish.

Until Pixar makes a film called The Surfing Fox, we’ll know it as the name of this all-day spot inside Santa Monica’s Pierside Hotel. Mornings at this American restaurant look pretty standard, with ham and cheese croissant sandwiches and yogurt parfaits. Lunch and dinner options roll in starting at 11am, with a menu featuring koji-brined hot chicken sandwiches, cheeseburgers with a short rib-brisket patty, and roasted chicken that gets a kick from green sambal.

This warm, pink-colored wine bar and Italian restaurant in DTLA has a five-item pasta menu that includes casarecce with lamb sausage and pappardelle in a veal bolognese, as well as larger items like a whole branzino and veal chop milanese with a chicory salad. 

This semi-upscale Northern Italian restaurant in West LA has an entire menu dedicated to Venetian small bites, like grilled octopus on chickpea puree, ricotta-stuffed squash blossoms, and chicken liver mousse bruschetta that gets cut with plum compote. Pastas, salads, and grilled meat and fish are also available.

Santo is a party-time sushi spot in Mexico City that just opened a location on Sunset in Silver Lake. This casual-looking bar does a mix of nigiri, like hamachi with Oaxacan chocolate or yuzu-dressed salmon, as well as handrolls and some busy-sounding maki with mango-truffle (a first for us).

Juliana has the look of a sceney cocktail bar but it serves full brunch and dinner service. The menu at this Koreatown spot from Chris Oh, a chef who has been on Top Chef and Guy’s Grocery Games, mostly leans Italian. Expect dishes like truffle gnocchi, lobster risotto, and milanese steaks. And if gimmicky is your style, you should know the five-ounce beef tenderloin comes in a smoke-filled cloche.

Sobar in Culver City specializes in cold soba dipped into various sauces like spicy sesame and konbu-based dashi. This sleek, minimalist Japanese spot also offers plenty of sides, including sashimi, mixed tempura, and braised pork belly with soy-marinated egg.

Shirley Brassiere is the new French Californian restaurant that took over the Barish’s spot in the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. The menu is split between raw bar options and wood-fired meat and fish, like king crab legs, oyster platters, and a rotisserie chicken that feeds two to three people. But if sharing isn’t really your vibe, there are a few standalone entrees, including beef oxtail bourguignon.

This Echo Park ice cream parlor looks nostalgia-inducing, has a silly name, and also seems kind of amazing. There’s a glowing jukebox with bull horns, gumball machines full of Lactaid, and toy collectibles on display. Your scoops of Pistachiyoyoyoyo, Strawberry Swan, and Thelma Vanilla can come in a sundae, banana split, or float with your soda of choice. And if you’re hungry, ham and cheese sandwiches and frozen grapes are also on the menu.

At this new Grand Central Market vendor, you can grab a sushi set when you’re in, you guessed it, a rush. The sets range from $25 (an 8-piece nigiri set and salmon hand roll) to the $48 (12-piece omakase, complete with caviar-topped toro nigiri, albacore with crispy scallions, and salmon roe cup). There’s also matcha shaved ice with red beans for a quick sweet treat. 

Breakfast for dinner doesn’t have to mean soggy Eggo waffles at 11pm. You can now get a full diner breakfast at Denae’s until midnight. This sleek-looking diner inside DTLA’s new Delphi Hotel serves brisket hash, croissant french toast, and stacks of pancakes with strawberry butter. There are plenty of not-so-breakfast-y dishes available after 11am, including mushroom melts, chicken pot pie, and bacon-wrapped meatloaf.

It’s nice when neighboring restaurants get along. It’s even better when they join forces to make sandwiches with housemade cold cuts on freshly baked bread. Ocean Park’s Ghisallo and Jyan Isaac are doing just that at Tre Mani (which operates out of Ghisallo). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 12-4pm, Tre Mani serves Roman-style flatbread sandwiches on Jyan’s schiacciata with Ghisallo’s mortadella and salami. Its short six-item menu also includes a vegetarian eggplant, mint, and burrata sandwich for deli-meat avoidant types. We tried Tre Mani and added it to the Hit List. Read our thoughts here.

The Pez Cantina folks opened a concept in Montebello called LA Burrito Co. where each burrito is inspired by a different LA neighborhood. "The Mid-City" version, for example, is stuffed with chicken tenders and Valentina-drenched caesar slaw, "the Hollywood" has a Latin bend with Cuban pork with mojo, and "the Ktown" mixes carne asada with a kimchi pico de gallo. Expect bowls, chilaquiles, and frozen mangonadas, too. 

Grand Central Market has a new wave of vendors, including a second location for Maple Block Meat Co. This Culver City BBQ spot makes excellent brisket, as well as juicy, smoked chicken wings that are worth enduring traffic hell.

Atla, Manhattan's chic Mexican restaurant that serves $16 quesadillas and very good chicken soup, now has a West Coast location on Abbot Kinney. This all-day spot skews more casual than its famous siblings Damian and Pujol, with a menu that features pork al pastor gringas, suadero tacos topped with avocado salsa, and butter-poached lobster burritos. We tried Atla and added it to the Westside Hit List. Read our thoughts here.

In a city where West African food is largely underrepresented, Ubuntu's curried jollof arancini, charred okra, and plantain cardamom tart feel particularly exciting. This sleek-looking spot on Melrose in Beverly Grove serves plant-based dishes (plus wine from Black-owned companies and cocktails) inspired by a range of West African cuisines, including Nigerian, Ghanaian, and Senegalese.

Do you believe in ice cream after lunch? Yes, Cher. We do. Our Moonstruck queen co-owns a gelato truck that’s now roaming Los Feliz and Weho (check the website for updates). Naturally, these aren’t your average gelato scoops. There’s the coffee-flavored “Breakfast At Cher’s” with a donut on top and the lemony ”LA I Love You” hidden under a cotton candy cloud.

Justine's Instagram bio says it all: “sexy little wine bar behind a vegan bakery.” In this case, the vegan bakery is Just What I Kneaded in Frogtown (run by the same Justine). As far as "sexy" goes, there's a jungle mural on the wall, a bar draped in hanging plants, and fuchsia velvet stools. (You be the judge.) In addition to wine, Justine's Wine Bar serves beer, wine-based cocktails, and vegan comfort food like pizzas, fries, and lasagna. 

Linden wants to bring some more New York City to Hollywood. The menu reads like a bingo board of foods historically found in Brooklyn and Queens, including Jewish and Caribbean staples. Picture jerk duck risotto, oxtail matzo ball soup, and a bacon, egg, and cheese re-envisioned into carbonara. We're intrigued.

Jiou Chu is the dumpling spin-off of 85ºC, a popular Taiwanese bakery chain with pillowy custard buns we'd happily incorporate into an upcoming nap. This Rowland Heights opening marks the first U.S. location. They're still in soft-open mode, but you can still stop by for dim sum classics like xiaolongbao, as well as dishes like noodle soups, beef rolls, scallion pancakes, and dumplings filled with mozzarella.

Sushi Tomoki is a barebones sushi bar on Studio City’s Sushi Row that offers both omakase and a la carte options. Their omakase ranges from $80 to $200 per person, with the latter version including appetizers, sashimi, wagyu beef, and dessert. Meanwhile, the rest of the menu mixes simple rolls with busier dishes like seared snapper with daikon, eel with mascarpone, and scallops with little dollops of caviar.

JULY

The chef at Venice's The Rose now has his own "California-Italian" restaurant in Culver City. Located inside the old A-Frame space, Best Bet serves dishes like sweet corn raviolo with basil butter and blistered pizzas topped with nduja vodka sauce and tomato confit. 

We tried Best Bet and added it to the Westside Hit List. Read our thoughts here.

Gingergrass in Silver Lake has long been the solution for a quick dinner, especially if you have pho and bánh mì on the brain. The Vietnamese restaurant now has a cute mini mart in East Hollywood where you can stock up on chili mango and mung bean snacks, but there's also a short menu of rice-paper pizzas, as well as bun bo hue and coconut curry with crunchy shallots. We tried Gingergrass Mini Mart and added it to the Hit List. Read our thoughts here.

This Koreatown spot from the Rad Na Silom folks has three burgers on their menu, including the "Crazy Krapow" with a holy basil krakow patty made of either chicken, pork, or beef. And for sticky rice fans, there's a rice bun burger with a patty marinated in the sauce used to dress larb.

DTLA's Wake & Late is known for breakfast burritos loaded with carne asada, tater tots, and smoked pastrami, but its new Pasadena location throws bagels, sourdough bread, and pastries into the mix, too. The team is planning additional locations in Santa Monica and Hollywood later this year. 

Hanks makes some of the best bagel sandwiches in LA, and now you can eat them at a third location in Calabasas. If you've never been to a location before, get the number three (with house-cured lox) or the number one (an egg and cheese with aioli and maple glazed bacon).

Inside a so-called "open-air lifestyle center" in Long Beach (read: outdoor shopping mall) is A PCH, the second restaurant by an OC restaurant group. Apart from views of the bay, this Italian-leaning spot offers brunch, lunch, and dinner, along with some amusing dish names. There's the Standard Pizza with fennel sausage and sweet garlic—not to be confused with the Fancy Pizza featuring wagyu beef and curry. 

Sogno Toscano imports Tuscan goods like fancy olive oils and pasta, but they also operate a few "lifestyle cafes." Their newest Santa Monica location has plenty of charcuterie platters, paninis with prosciutto di parma and truffle paste, espresso, and wine.

Perhaps you too identify as a hungry turtle in the mornings. In which case, you can now visit this small daytime spot in Eagle Rock with approximately a thousand lattes on the menu. The food menu sticks to cafe standards like overnight oats and yogurt with mandarin jam and mango, as well as less expected stuff like milkfish confit and salmon roe over lemony labneh.

This French cafe and bakery in Pasadena makes six kinds of croissants (filled with things like nutella, ham and cheese, and scrambled eggs for a breakfast sandwich.) We're personally more intrigued by their pastries than the other menu options, but Oh La La is also serving omelets, breakfast burritos, and a short sandwich menu for lunch. 

ADKT calls itself a "culinary therapy speakeasy." (We also don't know what that means.) Said therapy session takes place on gaudy velvet booths with a kinda French kinda Japanese menu, and a hanging bubble chair presumably meant for influencer photo-ops. Dishes at this Beverly Grove spot include sweetbreads with lemon and capers, gratin-style sabayon oysters, and $18 truffle fries.

Meet Koreatown's newest pocha, where cheese corn and soju shots are plentiful. There are the classic skewers and dried filefish for a quick salty snack, plus bubbling cauldrons of army stew, bossam platters, fried chicken, and fried veggies.

It's 2am, you're on TikTok, and one of @Twaydabe's cooking tutorials floods your phone screen. You think, "Damn, that curried lobster looks good." Well, now you can eat said curried lobster in LA. This chef-turned-social-media-star now has her own Vietnamese restaurant in Weho restaurant called Đi Đi, where every fabric clashes and the walls are covered in floral patterns. The menu reads just as exciting as the space does, with bánh xèo tacos and a little gem caesar with crispy chicken skin, as well as traditional dishes like bò kho. 

In this town, "speakeasies" can mean a room full of dudes who work in sales at Oracle. The Georgian Room started as a real prohibition-era speakeasy, though. This historic (probably haunted) spot just reopened inside The Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica after closing 60 years ago. Expect black leather booths to slide into, dark-red walls, and a menu that mixes steakhouse classics with Italian American standards like veal parmesan and pappardelle bolognese.

After 50 years, this iconic Beverly Hills cheese shop is moving….a few blocks away. Its famous deli sandwiches on housemade baguettes are moving, too. This means you don't have to say goodbye to the Francesca sandwich with mortadella, provolone, and spicy peppers for a kick or the sexy tuna option with olive oil-poached fish and Spanish olives.

Attention UCLA students tired of eating turkey sandwiches from Bruin Cafe every day, you can now switch things up at Ixlb Dimsum. This counter-service spot in Hollywood just opened a second location in Westwood with crispy turnip cakes, translucent har gow with bouncy skin, and egg tarts, to name a few.

LA Wangbal's menu has pork, more pork, and a few Korean cabbage soups that would go nicely with a side of pork. This Koreatown restaurant specializes in bossam, as well as platters of irony soondae and hot pot with short rib and potato.

Just when we thought the wave of Spanish restaurants opening in Los Angeles would settle, Xuntos showed up to the party. This tapas-focused spot in Santa Monica offers what appear to be classic renditions of jamón croquettes and gambas al ajillo, plus regional specialties from across northern Spain like Galician empanadas stuffed with tuna, blistered padrón peppers, and grilled chipirones (little baby squids) to snack on. Beer, wine, and sweet kalimotxo are also available.

We tried Xuntos and added it to the Westside Hit List. Read our thoughts here.

This casual Chinese restaurant specializing in Hunan-style noodle soups is the newest spot to open up in Sawtelle’s Japantown. Thick noodles come either dry with chili crisp or in a spicy, dark-red broth, then topped with meats like soy-braised pork ribs, beef innards, and pork trotters, to name a few.

Good news if you want to eat steak on the Sunset Strip, you no longer have to endure TikTokers calling the paparazzi on themselves at Boa Steakhouse. There’s a new option in the area called Charcoal. This is the second location of the original Venice restaurant by the Citrin and Melisse people, and the menu covers a lot of steakhouse and steakhouse-adjacent grounds. Besides ribeyes and New York strips, expect 21-day aged duck, seafood towers, and even some small pasta.

Tommy & Atticus started as a Gjusta alum’s bakery operating out of a Brentwood apartment. After becoming a farmers market staple, Tommy & Atticus now has a brick-and-mortar in Redondo Beach where you can pick up sourdough bread, gluten-free loaves, and pastries like chocolate croissants and morning buns dusted in sugar.

Red-sauce Italian. It's hot right now. Don't know what we mean? See Donna's, an Echo Park spot owned by the same people behind neighboring Bar Flores and Lowboy. Kitschy touches abound: decorative plates, floral wallpaper, and plenty of hanging garlic to ward off martini-drinking vampires. As far as the food, Donna's menu shows off slightly upscale versions of classic Italian American dishes, like shrimp scampi with head-on prawns, a caesar salad made with tonnato, and bruschetta with figs.

We tried Donna's and added it to the Hit List. Read our thoughts here.

Queen Street comes from the people behind Found Oyster, so we'd be lying if we said we weren't excited about this opening. The team's new Eagle Rock raw bar is located inside a repurposed auto-service station from the 1940s, which means historical charm and stained glass are plentiful. The menu has some Charleston flair, with barbecued gulf shrimp, cheesy chargrilled oysters, as well as non-fishy items like grilled pork with mustardy cabbage. 

We tried Queen Street and added it to the Hit List. Read our thoughts here.

Perilla's beautiful banchan made the jump from pop-up to brick-and-mortar. Now this Korean spot has a tiny Echo Park shop where they serve seafood-heavy dishes like scallop chomochim as well as vegetarian options like tomato geotjeori. Aesthetically pleasing bento boxes packed with rice, marinated beef, and gimbap are also up for grabs.

Consider Dante's opening a siren call for the chronic spritz drinkers among us. This well-known New York bar opened a West Coast location at the Maybourne Beverly Hills rooftop. Expect velvet booths, views of the Hills, and a bird-themed mural to put you in touch with nature as you chug a bellini. The lengthy drinks menu has separate spritz, agave, and martini sections to explore. And if you're looking to eat, there are plenty of pastas, pizzas, and antipasti available.

The chef behind Chinatown's Katsu Sando and Weho's Kura (RIP) just opened this new sushi omakase bar in Gardena. Sushi Sonagi has a minimalist, blonde-wood space with ten seats and a menu that mixes Japanese and Korean flavors. The meal costs $175 per person.

Scoring Bakers Kneaded's baguettes and signature croissant buns previously required hitting various farmers markets around the city, but now the team has a daily counter in Grand Central Market called Bastion Bakery. Stop by for a box of pistachio-crusted croissant buns, apricot danishes, and shiny kouign amann.

Picture this: You're on the beach with a platter of barbecue. Squawking seagulls are trying to rip brisket off your fork. Dreamy, isn't it? This scene isn't so far-fetched now that Bludso's has a Santa Monica location. They're serving the same Texas-style BBQ menu as the La Brea location, including red hot links, pork ribs, and pulled pork sandwiches.  We tried Bludso's and added it to the Westside Hit List. Read our thoughts here.

If you want to grab dinner before a burlesque show at Bathtub Gin, there's officially a place to eat Peruvian-Italian food downstairs. Miraflores in Weho offers a mix of pastas, grilled meats, and snacky dishes like salmon tiraditos and ciabatta with aji amarillo butter. The bigger plates include a radiatore in an "a la pisco" sauce, peperonata-coated chicken thighs, anticuchos, and classic lomo saltado.

Rosemary and Thyme specializes in sandwiches and soft-serve, so what's not to like? This Mid-City shop serves sandwiches that come on baguettes, pressed paninis, brioche, sourdough, you name it. The fillings also show some range, from classic sliced turkey and prosciutto to housemade chorizo and the "perfect" egg salad. Grab a cup of Straus organic soft serve for dessert, too.