Clockwise from top left: Dishes from Maléna in Maydan Market, fried chicken from Chimmelier, dishes from Genghis Cohen, pasta from Funke and a plate with pork belly from Darling.
(Photos by Juliana Yamada, Stephanie Breijo, Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times. Collage by Brandon Ly / Los Angeles Times)
The best places to eat and drink in L.A. this month, according to our Food writers
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The calendar has flipped from spooky to the holiday season, with plenty of local coffee shops embracing the shift with limited autumnal beverages spiked with comforting pumpkin, maple and cinnamon flavors.
As of press time, the Dodgers are keeping hope alive for back-to-back World Series wins, and there are plenty of bars and restaurants to watch the game live, as well as those offering blue doughnuts, horchata and other specialty food items that celebrate our home team.
As Thanksgiving draws near and essential benefits programs like SNAP remain on pause amid the federal shutdown, local restaurants and nonprofits are launching grocery giveaways, mobile farmers markets and free meals to help those in need.
Despite the tumultuous economic climate, new restaurants and bars continue to open across the city, including a global food hall in West Adams, a Korean fried chicken outpost on Melrose Avenue and Hollywood’s first legal distillery. Here are 10 to add to your dining agenda this month:
Showing Place Places
Casa Leo
Los Feliz Spanish $$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
After years of cooking at the Spanish restaurants of humanitarian-chef José Andrés in L.A. and D.C., including Minibar, the Bazaar, Café Atlántico and Zaytinya, chef-owner Joshua Whigham has opened Casa Leo, a sun-drenched restaurant in Los Feliz dedicated to celebrating Iberian cuisine with gambas al ajillo, seasonal gazpacho, boquerones with potato chips and pan con manchego. Weekend brunch brings Catalan flatbreads topped with tuna conserva and fire-roasted eggplant, along with scones and a Spanish tortilla.
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Chimmelier
Westside Korean Fried Chicken $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The Korean fried chicken specialist that first launched at Smorgasburg in 2020 has opened a new Melrose Avenue location with indoor dining and street-art-inspired decor, with plans to introduce a beverage program inspired by Korean drinking culture with soju, makgeolli and natural wine. Find small plates and sides, including shrimp toast bites and tteokbokki in rosé sauce, alongside the signature Korean fried chicken offered in wings and sandwich form.
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Darling
West Hollywood Wood fired $$$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Sean Brock, the Southern chef who introduced his native Appalachian cuisine to global audiences at his Nashville restaurants Husk and Audrey, has landed in a spacious new West Hollywood location where he’s committed to leaning into L.A.’s influences and cuisines. Order items such as a limited cheeseburger — with just 24 made each night — grilled artichokes with yuzu creamed corn and Santa Barbara uni before Brock and chef de cuisine Ben Norton swap in new plates on the menu that rotates monthly. The beverage program led by Jason Lee, formerly of Baroo and Bar Benjamin, takes similar cues and changes by the month, with cocktails intended for slow sipping in the hi-fi listening lounge where you’ll sometimes spy Brock spinning records in the DJ booth.
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Funke
Beverly Hills Italian $$$
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Chef Evan Funke’s eponymous Beverly Hills restaurant has reopened after a small fire in August caused damage to the ventilation duct system and forced it to temporarily close. Reservations are now available at the celebrated Italian restaurant as well as the rooftop bar.
Genghis Cohen
Fairfax Chinese American $$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The raucous Chinese American haunt on Fairfax Avenue boasted a 40-year legacy and once hosted music acts such as Bonnie Raitt and Tom Morello, but was forced to close in May as developers prepared to demolish it along with the rest of its strip mall. Now, owners Marc Rose and Med Abrous have reopened the restaurant in a new location on the same block, with music programming in partnership with Canter’s Deli and its adjacent bar Kibitz Room. Tropical drinks and Chinese American staples are still on the menu, including five-spice volcano chicken that’s set aflame tableside and orange peel chicken.
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Hollywood Distillery
Hollywood Cocktails $$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Imbibers can now visit the first legal distillery in Hollywood, where owners Jeff Zarrinnam, Ferris Wehbe and Larry Neuberg source Coachella Valley dates for “not your typical vodka” and prickly pears for gin. Located in a former mortuary across from Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the roughly 5,500-square-foot space offers tasting flights, cocktails, a private barrel club, food pop-ups and experiential programming such as murder mystery nights.
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Jade Rabbit
Santa Monica Chinese American $
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
After closing his celebrated Rustic Canyon Family restaurant Cassia earlier this year, chef-owner Bryant Ng and his wife Kim Luu-Ng have opened Jade Rabbit, a counter service restaurant in Santa Monica that celebrates nostalgic Chinese American flavors in dishes such as lomo saltado-inspired beef and broccoli, spicy Sichuan chicken and scallion garlic cheese toast inspired by the slices at Sizzler.
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Maydan Market
West Adams Global $$
(Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times)
A new dining hall with heavy-hitter and emerging chefs has emerged as the new place to show off to out-of-town friends. Maydan Market opened at the edge of West Adams and Jefferson Park courtesy of Rose Previte, who runs another location in D.C. The sprawling market features Maydan, a Mediterranean-inspired table-service concept; Lugya’h, with tlayudas and specialties hailing from Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte; Afro-Mexican Guerrerense cooking at Maléna from Tamales Elena founder Maria Elena Lorenzo; Yhing Yhang BBQ from Holy Basil chef Wedchayan “Deau” Arpapornnopparat, serving charcoal-grilled Thai chicken, seafood and duck; and a space for emerging chefs that is currently occupied by Melnificent Wingz from chef Melissa Cottingham, plus Compass Rose, an all-day concept with patio seating.
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Mírate
Los Feliz Mexican $$$
(Matt Egan)
The lush treehouse restaurant and bar in Los Feliz was recently placed on World’s 50 Best list of the top 100 bars across the globe, as well as earning the No. 12 spot on the same publication’s guide to the top 50 bars in North America. With a commitment to celebrating ancestral Mexican distillates, Mírate has risen as a global destination for agave spirits.
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Santa Canela
Highland Park Bakery $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
If you’re looking for a delicious Dodger-themed item to celebrate the team’s back-to-back World Series runs, look no further than Santa Canela, an artisanal panadería in Highland Park from pastry chef Ellen Ramos, where piping-hot churros are fashioned into the classic interlocking “L” and “A” shape that you’ll see on various Dodgers merchandise. For Day of the Dead, Ramos has two pan de muerto offerings, including one dusted with hibiscus sugar and one filled with hazelnut cream and dusted with hazelnut marzipan.
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