Love or hate Beverly Hills, the reality of existing in LA is that at some point you will end up in the 90210—and you will be hungry. Though you can find a few spots where a sandwich won’t cost you $20, you’re more likely to be coming here for classic LA restaurants that lean towards the fancier side of things. Luckily, Beverly Hills might occasionally feel like the worst, but eating here doesn’t have to be.
THE SPOTS
The reopened—and completely revitalized—La Dolce Vita is a maximalist Old Hollywood fever dream set in a tiny, windowless room that feels like a winners-only Oscars’ afterparty. Studio execs crowd the gold-tinted bar sipping tequila gimlets and the best-made martinis our livers have ever processed. Other people with disposable incomes crowd into big leather booths surrounded by tableside caesars and plates of juicy bone-in veal parm. There’s leopard print carpet, illuminated horse busts, and lilac-hued brick walls that are straight out of 1966—the year this classic spot first opened. If you’re looking for a glamorous dinner in Beverly Hills filled with old-school red-sauce escapism, this is the place to be.
After surviving a quick brush with closing in March 2020, Nate N Al remains an all-out classic and one of the few places in this part of town that actually feels authentic. Is this the best deli in LA? No. But come here a little hungover on a Saturday morning, order the bagel and lox and stuffed cabbage, gaze upon the most eclectic crowd in the neighborhood, and you’ll want to camp out here for the day.
There is no denying that Lawry’s Prime Rib is a chain. But this 70-year-old steak house is a Beverly Hills original and eating a dinner here is a major right-of-passage in this town. Though the menu has expanded over the years, the move is still the standing prime rib and that famous spinning salad (yes, they actually spin it while they make it). If your parents are in town and you want to show them how far you’ve come in life, Lawry’s is your move. Save room for the Yorkshire pudding.
This fancy Mexican restaurant is everything you want for a celebration - huge portions, gorgeous interiors, and lots of fun. The food here is made with an inventive flare, think short rib quesadillas covered in fresh herbs and crispy salmon skin chicharrónes, plus some of the best cocktails in the neighborhood. This is a great pick for birthdays, anniversaries, and whenever you pay your car registration on time and are feeling, like, really proud of it.
Sur Le Vert is a casual wine bar on Canon that provides downtown Beverly Hills with something it sorely lacks—a cool pre-dinner hang out spot. Reservations are available, but we like using this sleek, green-hued bar from the Tabula Rasa people as a place to kill time before heading somewhere else in the area. The wine list is vast and filled with mostly natural wines (a novelty in BH) and if you get hungry, there’s a full food menu with solid snacky dishes like smoked tuna crudo in chili oil, curated cheese boards, and a particularly excellent—and cheesy—bibb lettuce salad. Sure Le Vert is also open daily from 11am, making it a great lunch decompression spot when it’s been one of those days.
This upscale soba shop likes to call itself the “pinnacle of noodle”—which, to be quite honest, we’re not really opposed to. At $30 a pop, they’re certainly not the cheapest bowl of noodles in town, but then again, you’re in Beverly Hills, baby. Our favorite is the #1, filled with chewy, house-made noodles, chashu pork, wontons, and a clear, umami-rich broth made with truffle and soy-based sauce that we’d happily drink out of a pint glass any day of the week.
Heard of Nobu? In a plain-looking building in the middle of La Cienega’s Restaurant Row, Matsuhisa is where the whole yellowtail with jalapeño empire began. The menu is huge, with everything from a big tempura section, to sushi, to all those signature Nobu dishes, but it’s all served in a setting that has none of the scene or pretension that you often find in Malibu. If you’re feeling rich, do the sushi or dinner (which includes hot dishes as well as sushi) omakase for a greatest hits parade.
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This dimly lit steakhouse specializes in prix-fixe menus consisting of various wagyu dishes. It's an indulgence of the highest variety, and yet, the actual experience inside is remarkably sensible. The five-course menu is $85 per person. Sure, that’s a lot of money and no one should mistake Matū for a Tuesday night dinner spot, but to be eating five courses of premium beef on S. Beverly Blvd. for under $100 is a good value. Secondly, the food is excellent and coursed out in a way that doesn’t feel like a grotesque meat parade. You’ll sip clear, earthy beef broth, sample thin-sliced pieces of NY strip steak, and finish with a wood-fired ribeye and perfectly cooked broccolini. Matū is the kind of place where celebrating something feels grand—whether it’s a promotion, anniversary, or simply surviving the previous month—without having to constantly check prices.
Some people go to Sweetgreen twice a week, and others go to Dr. Sandwich twice a week. We’re in the latter camp, if that riddle was tricky. This kosher Mediterranean spot has two locations in the same vicinity, and while the newer one is more spacious and even a little glitzy, the original counter-service spot in a strip mall on Olympic is where you’ll find us on many a lunch hour. Choose between shawarma, kebab, schnitzel, sabich, or falafel, and retrofit it however you please on a pita, laffa, baguette, or as a plate. We mix it up, but the best deal is the plate—for under $20 you’ll have enough food for three full meals (and we’re known for finishing our food). The hummus here is creamy and unctuous, and you can top it with fresh roasted garlic cloves. Dunk your pita in there, top with carrot, beet, and/or cucumber salad, finish it off with your protein, and you’ve got a healthy, flavor-packed bite capable of turning your whole day around.
So much about Spago should make you hate it: it feels like a hotel restaurant, is insanely expensive, and has a crowd that’s a mix of visiting businessmen, important Hollywood people, and people who’ve lived in Beverly Hills since the ’50s. And yet, even in 2021, going to Spago is still one of the ultimate LA eating experiences. The menu manages to be half-Italian, half-Asian fusion, but what you’re really here for are the smoked salmon pizza and the spicy tuna hand rolls. The service also makes you feel like the king of the world, which you might actually have to be in order to pick up the check.
If you’re stuck in back-to-back meetings all day and don’t have time to drive over to the San Gabriel Valley, then Capital Seafood is the next best thing. This place is fancy without being stuffy, plus the service is super quick - and you’ll find every dim sum classic under the sun. Load up your lazy Susan with glistening shrimp har gow, turnip cakes, and steamed BBQ pork buns wrapped in a foam-like rice flour.
Crustacean is one of those old, legacy restaurants that would be easy to write off, if the food weren’t so good. Their website is packed with photos of celebrities like Viola Davis and Margot Robbie, the dining room feels like a Las Vegas nightclub, and half of the menu is trademarked. However, they have a surprisingly killer lunch special, a three-course set meal for just $35 that includes truffle Wagyu burgers, turmeric glass noodles, and a heavenly coconut cake. Plus, those garlic noodles—super thick and coated in “Chef An’s secret sauce,” much like Cher’s performance in Moonstruck, they’re just as wonderful as everyone says.
This neighborhood Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills is certainly a scene, but not in the way you’d expect from a restaurant on N. Canon Drive. Generations of families gather around the same bowls of pasta they’ve been eating for decades, and large groups of friends who are all back in town for the holidays chug wine so they can actually fall asleep in their childhood beds. Being in Il Pastaio’s string-lit dining room is like being in that hometown restaurant where no matter when you look, you’ll see someone you know.
Getting brunch on Rodeo Drive usually means you’re in for an expensive (and pretty mediocre) dining experience, but Nua actually knows how to do it right. The Israeli spot inside the Crescent Hotel looks very, well, Beverly Hills: pop art portraits, plenty of chandeliers, and some gaudy wallpaper you’d find on a Real Housewives spin-off. Nothing about this place is subtle, but the simple, delicious shakshuka is why we come here. The tomato sauce is garlicky and not too spicy, the egg yolks are runny, and it comes with a chewy Jerusalem bagel for tearing and dipping. Nua also serves as a safe haven from the tourist hordes with a quiet outdoor patio and solid espresso martinis.
Located in a particularly glitzy part of Beverly Hills (right across the street from the Chanel store on Robertson), Sushi Tama serves high-quality sushi at somewhat reasonable prices, with nigiri hovering just under the $4 mark. Sadly, their chic, minimalist dining room is closed for the time being but, on the plus side, their patio has plenty of room for you to scarf down oyster shooters and accidentally spill soy sauce on yourself. Our go-to order here is the omakase sashimi - on our latest visit, that included buttery cuts of otoro, bright-orange ikura, and uni so creamy, we thought we might need to bust out a Lactaid.
Just like most parts of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills has a Sugarfish. But because this is Beverly Hills, this Sugarfish one-ups the rest with Nozawa Bar out the back of the restaurant. Once you’ve walked past everyone eating their Trust Me’s, you’ll find a separate omakase-only spot with only two ten-person seatings a night, where you’ll be served 22 courses of sushi (they run the gamut from expected to adventurous). Don’t be late or ask for any changes to the menu.
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It’s slightly wild that Si Laa is still relatively unknown outside of the local crowd, because this small family-run spot on S. Robertson is one of the better Thai restaurants in Los Angeles. The atmosphere inside is calm and somewhat romantic—your late night pad thai throwdown spot this is not. But if you’re looking for excellent (and authentic) Thai food in a slightly upscale environment, Si Laa is your spot.
We used to hesitate whenever a friend would suggest a Hillstone restaurant, because, well, there are multiple locations across 14 states, and all of them are kind of the same. But Honor Bar feels a bit different. Attached to South Beverly Grill (another Hillstone restaurant), this dimly lit bar was cleverly built out to serve to-go sandwiches to all the normal people who can’t spend two hours at lunch. Snag a perfectly made martini at the bar, then order the chicken sandwich or classic burger - you won’t find a better one in Beverly Hills.
If you’re really into grilling but live in an apartment, Yazawa is for you. The only North American location of a global chain, Yazawa is yet another Beverly Hills Japanese restaurant, this time specializing in yakiniku, which means you’ll be cooking a whole lot of beef at your dinner table. You’ll probably be pressured into doing their set omakase option, but feel free to go rogue and order a la carte to get the cuts you actually want to eat.
Mulberry is an under-the-radar Beverly Hills classic. If you grew up in LA, you definitely came here with your soccer team after you won the championship to order a whole bunch of garlic knots and NY-style pizzas that were four times the size of your head. When you’re over the high-end restaurants that will cost you half a paycheck, Mulberry is a good bet for a solo slice at the bar, or spread out at a table for the soccer team reunion.
