Since its latest boom in the 2010s, Downtown has remained one of the most exciting neighborhoods in the city to grab a meal—a melting pot of newcomers, neighborhood staples, and French dip sandwich lore that’s scandalous enough to fill an entire HBO miniseries. Here are the spots we prioritize first when eating in DTLA.
THE SPOTS
In a perfect world, we’d eat at this all-day Taiwanese spot once a week. And if you regularly hang out near DTLA, please live out this dream for us. The beauty of this open-air hangout is that you can eat, drink, and peruse at your own pace. Starting at 8am, head to the counter for a thousand-layer pancake wrap with more flaky, buttery layers than a Kardashian-Jenner's makeup routine. After 11am, the brunch menu expands with more noodle dishes, dumplings, and cocktails you can enjoy on their massive covered patio. No dish costs more than $15, plus most of the items are easy to share. Keep DTLA’s Pine & Crane in mind for your lazy lunches, dates, and other meetups with ambiguous end times.
Located next door to The Novo theater, Fixins Soul Kitchen serves the best soul food in DTLA. The dining room feels like one big sports bar, but there’s also a side patio for anyone who prefers peace and quiet while eating deep-fried comfort food. Come to this massive corner restaurant for dishes like shrimp and grits, black-eyed peas, and pork chops smothered in roux brown gravy and pickled onions. Be sure to make a reservation for brunch if you don’t want to wait an hour for your table.
The original Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix makes some of our favorite pizzas anywhere in the country, and the restaurant's DTLA location follows suit. Despite the hype surrounding this place (and how impossible it is to get a dinner reservation here), the restaurant manages to still feel like a relaxed supper club serving wine and very good pizza. The 18-hour fermented dough works as a yeasty, chewy vehicle for Bianco’s tart marinara. Their best pie is the Rosa, with salty parmesan, rosemary, crushed pistachios, and sliced red onions that almost caramelize in the hot oven. If you can’t snag a table at dinner, head around the corner to their daytime-only spin-off Pane Bianco and eat the “green slice” with a salty spinach-cream sauce.
Although Damian has a few famous siblings (the chef also runs Pujol in Mexico City and Cosme in NYC), this upscale Mexican restaurant is a star in its own right. It’s located in a pristine half-jungle, half-futuristic concrete slab in the Arts District where you’ll down uni tostadas, quesadillas filled with Swiss cheese, and the creamiest guacamole we’ve ever had. Damian is the perfect place to come with a couple of friends, sip cocktails infused with dill and absinthe, and celebrate something over rockfish ceviche.
When it comes to Downtown tacos, the field is competitive. But Sonoratown has managed to take a tiny space on Los Angeles St. and turn it into an institution. Their house-made flour tortillas melt in your mouth, and their charred grilled steak is smoky, sweet, and the exact right level of salty. You can certainly order their regular tacos and be happy, but our move is to stick with the caramelo, which is about double the size and comes topped with salsa roja, avocado, and cabbage.
Welcome to one of LA’s great sushi institutions. This Little Tokyo strip mall spot has lines down the block every day before it even opens, and everybody’s generally waiting for one thing: the sashimi lunch special. With soup, salad, and over nine cuts of premium fish, this $23 plate is one of the best deals in the city. It's so popular you have to sit in a specific area of the restaurant to get it.
Located in a Downtown food court (the same one as Vegan Hooligans), the menu at this casual Thai takeout counter is filled with classics like pad kee mao, gra pow curry, and panang curry. You've likely eaten these dishes before, but Holy Basil prepares them with bright and bold flavors that make them taste like you're eating them again for the first time. If you're looking for a good place to start, get the tom yum soup. On weekend evenings, you'll also find street-food-esque seafood served with natural wine and sake in their outdoor dining area.
Everything about Vegan Hooligans, a tiny takeout window inside a Downtown food court, will remind you of some fast food joint you likely grew up on. There’s a “Filet No Fish Burger,” carne asada fries, and even a “crunchwrap” filled with ground soyrizo. All of the plant-based remakes rival their fast food originals, and we consistently leave here wanting to tell everyone we know about it. Drop by the next time you need a solid lunch spot downtown, or check their Instagram to find out where their food truck will be parking next.
Badmaash opened downtown over a decade ago and is still the most popular Indian restaurant in the neighborhood. And it’s no mystery why—the food is fantastic. With a menu that features dishes like chicken tikka poutine, chili cheese naan, and masala potato fries, this isn’t strictly traditional Indian food, but it’s also pretty different than anything else you can get around town. Plus, the Historic Core dining room is fun, breezy, and works well for a casual pre-show dinner.
Reservations at Sawa are rare and competitive, and finding the actual restaurant (which is more like a secret eight-seat sushi vault inside of a Little Tokyo parking structure) takes some serious problem-solving skills. But once seated, you’ll feel like a pampered poodle as you eat your way through the 18-piece omakase. And while the mostly traditional Edomae-style nigiri are very good, the real highlights are the cocktails, or rather, the cocktail pairing option. For $45 you can pick any three from the menu and let the experts behind the bar course them out alongside the omakase. Sawa is technically a more casual offshoot of its pricier sibling, Sushi Kaneyoshi, but with drinks you’ll still end up dropping close to $500 on dinner for two.
Ramen can be therapeutic on a cold winter day, but Afuri’s signature yuzu shio broth hits the spot year-round. This citrusy noodle soup isn’t going to knock you out like porky tonkotsu (which is also on the menu, if that’s your thing). The flavors here are more subtle, with hints of chicken fat, seafood, and seaweed clinging to thin noodles. And everything else about this industrial room feels just as light and refreshing, from the big windows pouring in light to the cocktail offerings, including a sparkling brandy highball with apricot liqueur. Small plates like gingery, perfectly crisp gyoza and donburi bowls topped with spicy karaage are worth ordering as hearty snacks for the table, or just something warm and delicious to go with a cold beer at the bar.
After one dinner at Camphor—a French and occasionally Southeast Asian restaurant in the Arts District—we texted a friend and described the restaurant as "shiny, expensive, and nice." Which about sums it up. You'll spend a lot of money, drink excellent cocktails, and eat pungent cheese and wonderful, creamy lamb and lentils. The Southeast Asian dishes, inspired by the two chefs' respective upbringings, are our favorites, like beef tartare and deep-fried tempura shiso leaves, or bright orange gunpowder shrimp coated in dried chilis. Don't miss the incredible duck fat burger served at the bar, either. If you want someone to know you're trying to impress them, this is the place to do it.
LA Guide
The Best Restaurants & Bars In The Arts District
Stop by Yangban on a Friday night, and it’ll probably be dark, blasting R&B, and full of people who look like they’re going to be out until last call. In other words, this semi-casual Korean restaurant—hidden in an alleyway just off of S. Santa Fe Ave—is the perfect place to kick off a night out in the Arts District. Yangban blends Korean flavors into dishes like bolognese, mole, duck confit and some incredible fried chicken wings. Start with the myulchi caesar salad and some gochujang tiger prawns, then order a few of the larger entrees that catch your eye.
Art galleries are intimidating. What is the appropriate amount of time to look at a painting? Is it fine to admit modern art confuses you? At Manuela, those existential questions disappear. Although the place is housed within the Hauser & Wirth gallery in the Arts District, this Southern-ish restaurant feels breezy and approachable—a cool place to sip negronis and chill, whether flooding your brain with culture or not. Dinner here is just OK (and expensive), but Manuela shines brightest for brunch when you can lounge in the courtyard with creamy shrimp and grits, barbecued oysters with smoky green chili butter, and as many fluffy biscuits as you can eat.
Blame it on the pleasant weather or the fact that everyone—and we mean everyone—looks good outside during golden hour, but this city has a ton of rooftop bars. Wondering where to start? Cabra. Located above the Hoxton Hotel in Downtown LA, this sprawling space checks every box: skyline views, a pool that someone will fall into, and a semi-rowdy crowd wearing tube tops and questionable hats. But unlike other rooftop bars, Cabra's food is notably good. Created by the chef from nearby Girl & The Goat, the menu is filled with tangerine salads, salmon ceviche topped with pistachio, and tuna tiradito. Expect light, shareable plates that are especially great for groups looking to eat something before a night out.
Dinner on Dama’s massive patio feels like you hopped on a plane, flew to the Caribbean, and are currently partaking in the beach vacation of your dreams. In reality, you’re in the middle of the Fashion District in Downtown, but Dama’s indoor/outdoor space is designed like a mansion in Havana, making it seem like you’re a thousand miles away. As far as the food, expect well-made Latin dishes that are perfect for sharing. Be sure to get the whipped beans, crispy pork shank, and the banana sundae for dessert.
Stepping onto the rooftop patio of this Arts District Mexican spot is not unlike ascending into an ethereal garden. You’ll find secret-looking booths in lush alcoves, a massive standalone bar decked out in shiny green marble, and unparalleled views of Downtown. That said, Cha Cha Cha is more than pretty aesthetics—the food and cocktails are great, too. We love the earthy hongos tacos, and the steak pa’taquear that essentially functions as a build-your-own taco station filled with NY strip steak, charred tomatoes, nopales, and blue jean-colored corn tortillas.
Your pizza dinner experience at De La Nonna in the Arts District will feel like it could turn into a full-blown dance party at any moment. Its string-lit patio fills with groups of people clinking glasses, and a DJ spinning house tracks if you care to dance in between rounds of pizza. The Sicilian-style pan pies come with a light, airy crust sprinkled with flaky salt. While they don’t overload their pizzas with toppings, you still get plenty of flavor from them. Some of our favorites include the white pie, with roasted fennel, mozzarella, and dabs of pesto, and the Market pie, with a super-herbaceous cream sauce and crispy parmesan. If you want to keep the night going, head next door to De La Nonna’s Italian disco club for some kitschy, retro debauchery.
Everson Royce Bar makes doing everything right look easy. The small interior of this Arts District spot is dark and intimate (ideal for date night extracurriculars), and the back patio is the setting for a party you'll never want to end. The food menu doesn't look too different from any other bar's menu around town, but don't let that fool you—it's excellent. And that burger is one of the best you'll find in LA. We’d live here if we could.
With vaulted ceilings, mismatched chairs, and old framed photos hanging on the walls, Wood Spoon looks like that Parisian flat we fantasize about while stuck in traffic on the 110. The Brazilian menu—made up of traditional dishes from the state of Minas Gerais like seafood stew in a coconut sauce and our favorite chicken pot pie in the entire world—eats like true home cooking. Whether you’re by yourself for a quick lunch or catching up with a friend on a Wednesday night, you might forget you’re at a restaurant altogether.
This Arts District pioneer opened in 2012 (practically a lifetime ago in this part of town) and it still gets just as busy as it did on day one. For the most part, things at Bestia haven't changed much, with crowd favorites like the spicy lamb sausage pizza and cavatelli still on the menu. Does Bestia have steeper competition today for great Italian than a decade ago? Absolutely. But odds are you'll still be at your table for a couple of fun hours, eating delicious Italian food and taking in one of the busiest dining rooms in the city.
Bavel is a broadly Middle Eastern spot in the Arts District from the same people who run Bestia, and if for some reason you thought that this younger sibling would be any less popular, then you probably don’t understand sibling dynamics. Between their idyllic outdoor patio shaded by a grove of trees, tables filled with duck ’nduja hummus, lamb neck shawarma, fresh pita, and the strong chance you’ll see someone sorta famous here, a meal at Bavel is one of the most consistently great dining experiences you can have in DTLA.
This Filipino rice bowl spot towards the Hill St. side of the market hails from the Republique people, and it’s the kind of place that'll get you excited about lunch. Sure, it’s 10:30am and you should be working on that finance report that’s due tomorrow, but instead you’ll be thinking about whether you should get the ribs or chicken. All the food at Sari Sari Store is fantastic, so you can’t really go wrong. Sit at the counter, order the lechon manok bowl with chicken and garlic rice, and whatever you do, save room for the buko pie, described on the menu as “coconut, coconut, coconut,” and by us as “freaking delicious.”
Azay in Little Tokyo serves one of the few Japanese breakfasts in the LA area. It'll arrive with nothing but a tray of broiled fish, tamago, tofu, miso soup, and a side of rice, plus a few pickles. The broiled fish comes with a flaky top and charred bottom, but completely moist in the middle. Bright yellow eggs taste slightly sweet and resemble the shape and size of an elementary school kid’s eraser. Plus, the portions are perfect—not too big, not too small, and you can walk away feeling full without needing to undo a button.
This omakase-only spot in the Arts District will cost you $350 per person (before tax and tip), which is a financial undertaking for just about anyone. But if you’re in the market for a splurgy evening (or celebrating a Powerball win), 715 Sushi is an exciting place to do it. For starters, the sushi is exceptional. Expect about ten meticulously assembled pieces of nigiri and ten small plates ranging from belt fish tempura to surf clams in a creamy miso sauce. Run by a young chef from Osaka, we appreciate that an upbeat meal at 715 feels less like you’re at a stern omakase temple and more like hanging out with a group of friends who happen to have a stunning sushi bar in their apartment.
