(Photo illustration by Martina Ibáñez-Baldor / Los Angeles Times; photographs by Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times; Silvia Razgova / For The Times; Klose Up Photography)
The ultimate Los Angeles restaurant delivery and takeout guide
The wondrous complexity of Los Angeles makes it America’s most compelling dining city. As with restaurant cultures around the world, our chefs, restaurateurs and their staffs have faced unprecedented challenges during the pandemic crisis. To sustain the industry, takeout has become the lifeline of restaurants — the necessary means into which our best culinary minds funnel their creativity and maintain a sense of community with diners.
Here are more than 100 restaurants where my colleagues Patricia Escárcega, Jenn Harris, Lucas Kwan Peterson, Garrett Snyder and I have savored takeout since the mid-March shutdown. The list encapsulates the foods that make eating in Southern California singular: kebabs and Iranian stews, smothered oxtails, Ethiopian vegetable platters, regional Mexican and Chinese specialties (including Oaxacan tlayudas, peerless Sonoran flour tortillas, Sichuan toothpick lamb and Macao-style pork buns, for starters), pizza and pasta, Syrian kibbeh. Our palates still travel the globe from our tables at home.
In uncertain times, a carne asada taco or jeweled chirashi bowl can shift a mood, calm a storm, recast the day. For more recommendations, visit latimes.com/food and sign up for our weekly Tasting Notes newsletter. Those who feed us from restaurant kitchens and serve us from takeout windows (or deliver our meals) are on the front lines; please remember to tip generously.
— Bill Addison, restaurant critic
Food Bowl Takeout and Give Back is making financial contributions to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Please show your support and donate now.
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Al & Bea’s Mexican Food
Boyle Heights Mexican $
The Carreon family’s 50-year-old burrito stand in Boyle Heights is a neighborhood institution and home to arguably the city’s most famous bean and cheese burrito. A hearty chile relleno burrito wrapped in yellow paper is fine takeout fare, though taquitos with guacamole and green chile cheese fries carry well too. Ask for extra oregano-kissed house hot sauce. Pickup or delivery.
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All Day Baby
Silver Lake American $$
| 2020
Chef Jonathan Whitener and business partner Lien Ta take a masterful grab-bag approach to big flavors: spicy wings, smoked whitefish melt, barbecued ribs, a carnitas burrito. The breakfast sandwich is glorious, layered with scrambled eggs, white American cheese, bacon or sausage (or both) and a spoonful of strawberry jam whose sweetness ends up making a strange kind of sense. Speaking of sweet: Look out for pastry chef Thessa Diadem’s strawberry and cream pie, which sells out fast when it’s available.
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Akasha
Culver City American $$
Featuring California and New American cuisine, Akasha’s menu is created with cultural influences taken from Chef Akasha Richmond’s many travels around the world and changes seasonally, reflecting local and sustainable ingredients.
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Antico
Larchmont Italian $$$
| 2020
Antico’s pivot strategy boils down to four happy-making words: pizza and ice cream. Chad Colby builds pies from billowing rectangles of focaccia. The pizzas can easily feed a small family, though cheese and pepperoni also are available as square slices, which makes an ideal midday snack for one. To disappear into one of pastry chef Brad Ray’s pints of ice cream is luxury escapism. His lavish Harry’s Berries strawberry ice cream, as tangy as it is sweet and rich, deserves a splurge. Pickup or delivery.
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A.O.C. Wine Bar
Beverly Grove French $$$
| 2019 | #41
| 2020
Inspired by the original A.O.C., the Wine Bar features a wide selection of Caroline Styne’s favorite new- and old-world wines paired with Suzanne Goin’s signature small-plates menu. Offering brunch and dinner.
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Apey Kade
Tarzana Sri Lankan $
| 2019 | #99
| 2020
Lalith Rodrigo and his wife, chef Niza Hashim, are natives of Colombo, the port-city capital of Sri Lanka. Hashim makes fantastic string hoppers — thin rice-flour noodles steamed into flat, pearly nests and served with a golden spiced coconut-milk gravy and other garnishes. Lamprais, a feast of chicken or beef curry with vegetables and other sides warmed in a banana leaf, was a takeout mainstay well before the current crisis, though it tastes especially soothing in these times.
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Apollonia’s Pizzeria
Mid-Wilshire Italian $$
Justin De Leon’s Mid-Wilshire pizzeria has become a magnet for his take on the Detroit-style square pie. The crust is ringed with cheese so caramelized and glassy it resembles spun sugar. He’ll baptize the surface in herb oil and splotch it with burrata after baking. Available fresh from the oven whole or by the slice, the square is an off-the-menu special once reserved for weekends but lately offered more frequently. Check Instagram or call ahead. De Leon also fashions lovely thin, round pizzas crowned with combinations like grape tomato, goat cheese, Kalamata olives, pesto and lamb sausage. Pickup or delivery.
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Attari Sandwich Shop
Westwood
Attari is a mainstay of Tehrangeles, as the Westwood-based Iranian community has long been designated, where customers linger over lunch under umbrellas in its sunny courtyard. Standouts include thinly sliced beef tongue with pickles on a soft French roll; and kuku sabzi, an herb-dense egg dish similar to a frittata that’s also a requisite at Nowruz.
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Banh Oui
Hollywood $$
Casey Felton and Armen Piskoulian introduced their modern riffs on banh mi at Smorgasburg L.A. before opening a permanent storefront. At Banh Oui, chicken liver pâté enriches a chicken meatball variation; mint among the usual cilantro and scallions adds piercing grace notes. The compact, ultra-cheesy khachapuri that Felton and Piskoulian make as a side business (it’s sold at the same location) is obsession-worthy.
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Bar Amá
Downtown L.A.
| 2019 | #7
Josef Centeno’s take on the Tex-Mex/Tejano cooking of his San Antonio childhood — chicken enchiladas with tomatillo salsa, breakfast burrito, arguably the best queso in California — is universal comfort. Nachos kit? Bring it on. Pickup and delivery.
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Bavel
Downtown L.A. Middle Eastern $$$
| 2019 | #11
| 2020
Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis’ Arts District blockbuster whirls together Israeli, Egyptian, Moroccan and Southern Californian flavors; there will be a variation on hummus and a sunny centerpiece like a chicken leg fragrant with saffron or short rib tagine over couscous. The full menu is available for takeout, as is a weekly changing multicourse menu. Pickup only.
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Beijing Pie House
Alhambra
The restaurant specializes in xian bing, savory meat pies filled with things like lamb and green onion or nappa cabbage and pork. They’re great reheated or at room temperature, eaten out of the container on the way home. The Alhambra location is also selling bags of frozen dumplings, so you can pan-fry or boil them whenever the craving hits. Pickup and delivery.
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Bestia
Downtown L.A.
| 2019 | #24
In takeout form, Bestia still goes full-blast Italian. The set menu might kick off with house-made salumi and segue to a Little Gem salad with walnut orange blossom vinaigrette, ricotta dumplings with sausage and black truffles, Wagyu short rib and vanilla bean panna cotta with berries. Pickup only.
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Bludso’s
Fairfax American $$
Texas native Kevin Bludso is a forefather of L.A.’s modern barbecue — and brisket — boom. Though his original restaurant in Compton closed in 2016, his much larger La Brea location maintains the straightforward splendor of his brisket, beef sausage and ribs, with porky greens and banana pudding framing the meal. Pickup or delivery.
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Boiling Crab
Koreatown $$
A meal at one of the Boiling Crab restaurants (there are several in Southern California) usually involves a gobsmacking amount of boiled-in-bag shrimp doused with Cajun spices and lemon-garlic butter and dumped ceremoniously onto a paper-lined table for feasting. It turns out the Boiling Crab experience translates well at home, provided you don’t feel the need to pour out crawfish and crab legs on your kitchen counter. Bulk out your order with corn on the cob, lemon pepper fries and some rice to soak up that flavorful sauce. Delivery or pickup.
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Bone Kettle
Pasadena Southeast Asian
The menu at chef Erwin Tjahyadi’s Pasadena restaurant is influenced by the Indonesian flavors of his youth. There’s Indonesian fried rice, rendang carbonara, and then there’s the bone broth. The stock is rich and milky — cooked down for 36 hours. It’s served with springy noodles and a hunk of protein of your choice. Pickup and delivery.
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Brodard Restaurant
Fountain Valley Vietnamese
| 2020
It’s difficult to exhaust the sweeping menu at this long-running Vietnamese restaurant, but it’s a mistake to avoid the signature nem nuong cuon, grilled pork spring rolls, each bite vivid with crunchy bits of meat, chives and bracing hints of mint. The crisp rice flour saucers called banh khot are excellent, and you can easily build a meal around the restaurant’s skewered filet mignon or grilled rack of lamb. Pickup and delivery.
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The Brothers Sushi
Woodland Hills Japanese $$
| 2020
Mark Okuda, a longtime chef at Studio City’s Asanebo, took over this Woodland Hills sushi staple in 2018, keeping the name but making the menu entirely his own. For a lunchtime splurge, opt for the $50 chirashi bowl, a piscine rainbow over sushi rice. It’s an equal pleasure, though, to order a yellowtail-scallion hand roll alongside a few pieces of nigiri (buttery nodoguro, silky hotate, mild kanpachi) or a sashimi plate like halibut and cucumber dressed in yuzu vinegar and shiso oil. Pickup only.
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Burritos La Palma
El Monte Mexican $
| 2019 | #15
| 2020
Long before the recent birria mania, the Bañuelos Lugo family perfected the birria burrito at its first taqueria in Jerez, Zacatecas, back in the early 1980s. The winning equation: spiced stewed beef (and nothing else) swaddled in a flour tortilla that’s crisped on the griddle to a golden sturdiness. Pickup only.
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Carnitas El Momo
Boyle Heights Mexican $
| 2019 | #65
If ever there were a food named appropriately for the times, it’s the “Aporkalypse,” a massive carnitas taco filled with a mix of maciza (chopped pork shoulder), cuerito (squiggly slivers of pork skin) and buche (delicate slices of pork stomach). It’s a specialty of the Acosta family, whose carnitas rate as a civic treasure. Carnitas by the pound, ordered for pickup in Boyle Heights, come with tortillas, salsa, limes and garnishes. Pickup only.
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Carousel
Glendale Lebanese-Armenian $$
This Middle Eastern restaurant is known for its excellent kebab plates and mezze. But during quarantine, owners Rosalie and Mike Tcholakian created a new rotating menu of specials that Mike’s mother, Rose, normally only cooks at home for the family. Rose, 73, who is the chef de cuisine at the restaurant, is making dishes such as chicken kabsa (cumin- and turmeric-marinated chicken thighs) and dawood basha (ground beef meatballs braised in tomato sauce) in addition to the regular menu. Delivery or pickup.
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Cassia
Santa Monica Vietnamese French $$$
| 2019 | #13
| 2020
Cassia’s singular mashup of cultures (Vietnamese, Malaysian, Singaporean and Southern Californian among them) is as honed as ever. Order standouts like kaya toast sandwiching coconut jam; wontons filled with shrimp, cod and country ham in chile oil; and the ever-wonderful seafood laksa. They’re available as individual meals or bundled into family meals with multiple choices. Delivery or pickup.
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The Chori-Man
San Pedro Mexican $
| 2020
Humberto “Chori-Man” Raygoza is something of a San Pedro celebrity. His neighborhood shop sells scratch-made artisan chorizo in a variety of flavors, from Zacatecas-style red chorizo stained with guajillo chiles to earthy Toucan-style green chorizo made with poblanos. But the reason regulars beat a path to Raygoza’s door each morning is the shop’s breakfast burritos: hulking things stuffed with tender chunks of potato and two fried eggs and served with a duet of blazing salsas. Delivery or pickup.
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Cluck2Go
Pasadena Singaporean $
| 2020
For their Singaporean-style Hainan chicken, owner Qi Yang and his daughter Jenny Yang use fresh, locally raised chickens poached with lemongrass and other spices. The essence of the bird chimes through the rice and broth served on the side. Pickup only.
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Coni’Seafood
Inglewood Mexican $$
If it’s been a while since you visited L.A.’s institution for Nayarit-style seafood dishes, its back patio at the Inglewood location beckons. With its terra cotta tiles and tongue-and-groove cathedral ceiling, it’s an easy place to lounge while the kitchen prepares its signatures — pescado zarandeado, snook marinated in chile-spiked citrus juices and grilled over low heat until its edges crisp and blister. If you’re with a group, round out the meal with lemony ceviche marinero with diced mango scattered over top; smoked marlin tacos lined with molten cheese; and camarones borrachos, a dish of shrimp flamed in tequila that’s a favorite of owner Connie Cossio.
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Connie & Ted’s
West Hollywood Seafood $$$
| 2019 | #71
| 2020
At Michael Cimarusti’s casual New England seafood spot, fried clam bellies and loaded lobster rolls pay homage to the breezy charm of beachside fish shacks. Supple peel-and-eat shrimp and a bowl of savory chowder make for dependable takeout, but the kitchen turns out a mean bacon burger with aged cheddar too. Pickup or delivery.
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Cosa Buona
Echo Park Italian $$
Zack Pollack amassed a following for revisionist Italian food at Silver Lake’s Alimento, but it’s his casual red-sauce joint in Echo Park that’s best suited for a pizza and movie night. Cosa Buona nails indulgent Italian American fare like smoked mozzarella sticks and oozy eggplant Parm. A legit Neapolitan pizza topped with barbecue sauce, chicken and cilantro? It works. Delivery or pickup.
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Craig’s
West Hollywood American $$$
At Craig’s, you’ll find something for every appetite, with Chef Kursten Kizer’s menu of classic American fare, from upscale comfort food to vegan specialties.
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DTLA Cheese
Downtown L.A. American $$
DTLA Cheese is not simply cheese — is it strange to say that? Yes, there is the eternal wisdom of cheesemonger Lydia Clarke, who is always happy to dole out dairy-related advice, but in the event you’re in the mood for more than just an A-plus chunk of Comté, there’s also killer tomato soup, mac and cheese, and a grilled cheese that spills satisfyingly for at least a couple of inches beyond the diameter of the bread. Enjoy with some very good pickles. Outdoor dining available at the Grand Central Market, as well as pickup.
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Dialogue
Santa Monica $$$$
| 2019 | #6
Dave Beran has been creating three-course dinners of comforts like tomato, strawberry and burrata salad; hangar steak with chimichurri and vegetables; and, for dessert, stone fruit cobbler. In early August Beran will reimagine the restaurant as an al fresco wine bar called Tidbits by Dialogue, serving small plates that will also be available for takeout. Beran’s famous take on Basque cheesecake, its crown burnt and its base oozing, will continue to be a mainstay. Pickup only.
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Dulan’s on Crenshaw
Hyde Park American $$
Oxtails should be simmered until the meat is somewhere between tensile and melting, barely cohering to the bone. Dulan’s does them right. For sides? Collard greens, mac and cheese, and black-eyed peas. If oxtails don’t appeal, the fried chicken is righteous — and it’s satisfying the next day, straight from the refrigerator. Pickup or delivery.
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El Ruso
Boyle Heights Mexican
| 2020
Walter Soto and Julia Silva make some of the most spectacular tacos in Los Angeles. Silva is a tortilla artist; Sonoran-style flour discs are her pliant canvases. Soto grills the meats and composes the tacos. Carne asada, beef birria and a wondrous, chin-staining chile colorado typically comprise the fillings: Get all three. Pickup only.
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Fat & Flour
Downtown L.A.
Nicole Rucker had already built a reputation as the brightest star in the L.A. pie universe, but her talent is on exceptional display these days. She closed her short-lived Fairfax restaurant Fiona last summer and regrouped this year with a stand in Grand Central Market, where she makes every pie herself. Order in advance for pickups on Fridays and Saturdays; pies made with the ripest seasonal fruits rightly sell out first.
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Felix
Venice Italian $$$
| 2019 | #49
Focaccia and pizzas from Evan Funke’s Venice trattoria reheat beautifully, and a lemony chicory salad jolts the palate out of hibernation. Pasta, though, is the center of Funke’s universe; he recently published a book on mastering it at home. Rather than preparing hot pasta to-go at Felix, the restaurant sells kits of freshly extruded rigatoni, pappardelle, spaghetti and other shapes with sauces — an easy boil-and-serve situation. Funke, resolutely and perhaps infamously, prefers his pasta molto al dente, and he serves it that way in his dining room. Now’s the opportunity to prepare his take on a classic like rigatoni all’Amatriciana to your own taste. It will be magnificent. Delivery or pickup.
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Forn Al Hara
Anaheim Middle Eastern $
| 2020
Mohammad Alam oversees the ovens of this exemplary Lebanese bakery, in the core of Anaheim’s Little Arabia district, that focuses on manakeesh — breakfast flatbreads topped with three dozen variations of ingredients. Za’atar with cheese or sujuk with eggs are two favorites. Eat the manakeesh outside immediately and take home spinach fatayer and ma’amoul (delicate cookies crowned with pistachios, walnuts or almonds) for later. Pickup only.
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Gish Bac
Arlington Heights Mexican $$
Need overt beauty in your life right now? Behold the tlayuda at Gish Bac — a circle of life layered with pureed black beans, lacy Oaxacan string cheese, grilled steak and chicken and chile-marinated pork, with slices of tomato, avocado and slivers of rajas arranged like spokes radiating from a wheel’s center. The crackle of the foundational oversize tortilla is key, as is your ability to consume it as quickly as possible. The other specialty at Maria Ramos and David Padilla’s restaurant is barbacoa, either goat long-simmered with chiles or a less saucy, cumin-scented variation with lamb. Both are wonderful. Weekends only. Pickup or delivery.
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Golden Deli
San Gabriel Valley Vietnamese $
Vietnamese food is all about the contrast of hot and cool: getting a perfect bite of chả giò, crispy fried spring rolls stuffed with pork, and the cool crunch of lettuce and sweet funk of fish sauce. Or slurping a hot bowl of anise-inflected beef pho and munching on bean sprouts and fresh herbs. There aren’t many places that do it better than Golden Deli, and we sincerely hope that never changes. Pickup only — get your food and enjoy it at one of the nearby parks.
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Guelaguetza
Harvard Heights Mexican $$
| 2019 | #98
| 2020
Moles are the crossword puzzles of Oaxacan cooking. Their complexities tease and challenge our brains; we need them more than ever. Bricia Lopez and her family have created family meals with one of four moles (negro, rojo, coloradito and the stewy variation, fortified with almonds and raisins, known as estofado) and either grilled chicken or pork carnitas. Scroll through the online menu to see other combination and solo meal options, including a platter of seven appetizers (guacamole, taquitos and fried guacamole among them) and herbed chicken soup to feed a crowd. Pickup or delivery.
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Guerrilla Tacos
Downtown L.A. Mexican $$
| 2020
If you remember Wes Avila’s singular tacos served from a scrappy Arts District stand nearly a decade ago, you know the chef’s mettle: He knows how to make a situation work. Tacos remain his palette on which to mix modern Angeleno flavors, including favorites like sweet potato with feta, almond salsa and fried corn. Pickup and delivery.
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Gwen
Hollywood
A butcher shop and fine-dining restaurant, Curtis Stone’s Gwen calls on fire-based cooking techniques and offers elegant and delicious meals and sides perfect for any occasion.
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Hail Mary Pizza
Atwater Village
| 2020
The pizzeria’s flavor combinations (lamb neck, with the texture of pot roast, strewn among nettles and Calabrian chiles; potato, chard, lemon and lemon zest) lean toward boldfaced without becoming too zany. The meatball pie brings the fundamental Italian American gusto: polpette with mozzarella and oregano under a dusting of Parmesan. Salads (avocado and seasonal citrus or grilled peach, ham and burrata) bring the senses back to California. Pickup or delivery.
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Harold & Belle’s
Jefferson Park Cajun Creole $$
This third-generation, family-run Creole restaurant in Jefferson Park has a local history that’s as colorful as its jambalaya. Go for the grilled catfish topped with a trinity of sautéed onions, celery and bell peppers, the shrimp scampi or a po’ boy stuffed with fried Gulf oysters. Rich okra gumbo — thickened with a midnight-dark roux and a dose of filé powder — is a must for vegetarians. Pickup or delivery.
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Hatchet Hall
Culver City Southern $$$
Brian Dunsmoor’s rustic Southern spot in Culver City delivers unfussy comfort food that feels at home in California. Roasted shishitos and cheddar add a pop of color to tangy cornbread, while grilled lamb chops come with salsa verde and smoky tonnato sauce. Don’t miss the Low Country-style shrimp boil on weekends. Pickup or delivery.
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Hawkins House of Burgers
Willowbrook
| 2020
The esteemed Watts burger restaurant is known best for its baroque Angus beef burgers, densely built with char-edged patties and generously layered with add-ons such as thick apple-smoked bacon. The restaurant has expanded its menu over the years to offer breakfast and lighter options, including veggie burgers and grilled chicken sandwiches, but the thing to try once is the Whipper Burger, a double-patty burger served with pastrami and a hot link.
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Hippo
Highland Park Italian $$$
| 2019 | #82
| 2020
Matt Molina’s fettuccine with pork ragu springs from its container like a dozen clowns climbing out of a compact car. Shake out the strands and the mass mystically expands to fill a bowl, precisely al dente and almost too hot to eat. But the food excels beyond pasta: Smoked ocean trout with lentils and mushrooms duly expresses lightness and heft; even the simplicity of lettuce with radish vinaigrette with dill and walnuts is uplifting. General manager David Rosoff is one of our wisest sommeliers — and it helps that the restaurant is connected to Highland Park Wine — so trust his suggestions for a Sicilian orange or California Pinot Noir. Pickup or delivery.
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Honeybird
University Park Southern $$
Inspired by the Southern table, Honeybird serves up handcrafted comfort food centered on golden fried chicken. The menu offers classic sides such as garlic mashed potatoes as well as homemade pies.
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Honey’s Kettle
Culver City Southern $$
Owner Vincent Williams uses a secret batter, peanut oil and kettle drums to get his chicken coating crispy without the grease. You could eat a basket on its own, but for the real Honey’s Kettle experience, dip it in some of the restaurant’s honey and hot sauce. It’s superb cold, eaten straight out of the fridge the next day. Delivery or pickup.
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Hotville
Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw American $$
| 2020
Kim Prince grew up behind Prince’s Hot Chicken in Nashville, the restaurant credited with inventing Nashville-style hot chicken. Her Baldwin Hills Crenshaw spot is an ideal Los Angeles ambassador for her family’s legacy. Hotville serves plain fried chicken and hot chicken in three intensities: mild, medium and (more fiery than plenty of West Coast palates can handle) hot.
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Huge Tree Pastry
Monterey Park
Taiwanese breakfast is the specialty at this popular Monterey Park diner, which offers curbside pickup for those on the go. Start with an order or two of you tiao — slender, deep-fried crullers — paired with sweet soybean milk for dipping. Something savory? Try the colorful version of fan tuan — made with purple-hued rice, wrapped burrito-style around an egg omelet, tangy mustard green pickles and fluffy stands of pork floss. Pickup or delivery.
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Hyesung Noodle House
Koreatown Korean $$
Hyesung Noodle House is getting creative with its little corner in a strip mall on Western Avenue, setting up a tent in the parking lot so patrons can dine al fresco. Whatever your comfort level, the kalguksu, chewy, freshly made noodles in a chicken or mild anchovy broth, is essential in any environment. The pajeon green onion pancake is one of the best you’ll encounter in Ktown, packed with vegetables and not just a bunch of doughy filler. Pro tip: If you’re not dining in, get the noodles uncooked and pop them into some boiling water at home for best results. Dine-in, pickup and delivery.
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Izakaya Hachi
Torrance Japanese $$$
A swank izakaya in the heart of Torrance, Hachi has stood out by offering omakase takeout dinners that manage to re-create the thrill of sitting front and center at the chef’s table. Seared skirt steak takati comes dressed with tangy ponzu, while artfully arranged sashimi platters are stocked with slabs of tuna and halibut. A robust selection of sake sweetens the deal. Delivery or pickup.
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Jame Enoteca
El Segundo Italian
Jame Enoteca was, back in the days we all used to go to the office (remember that?), a bright spot for many of us non-South Bay-ers on our forays into El Segundo, and a solid Italian option no matter where you live. Blanket-like sheets of mandilli covered in a kale-almond pesto and slightly piquant rigatoni tubes in vodka sauce are just a couple of the excellent pastas you can enjoy (there are sandwiches, too, but the pastas are where it’s at). Dine-in available, as well as pickup and delivery.
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Jane Q
Hollywood American $$
Jane Q offers LAMILL coffee, vegetable-driven dishes and house-baked focaccias and pizzas all day. With fresh ingredients prepared with care and served in a low-key neighborhood atmosphere, it’s an easy spot for a delightful, simple meal.
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Jar
Beverly Grove American $$$
A modern chophouse in the heart of Los Angeles, Jar dazzles Angelenos with the allure of chef Suzanne Tracht’s familiar retro dishes from the American culinary repertoire. It offers a signature pot roast, wild and sustainable seafood, lemongrass chicken, award-winning french fries, market-fresh sides and more.
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Jitlada
East Hollywood Thai $$
| 2019 | #75
| 2020
Sarantip “Jazz” Singsanong continues to preside over the legendary Thai Town restaurant, where the Southern Thai cooking is as nuanced as it is fiery. On the enormous menu, look for tiger prawns in curry laced with turmeric and pineapple, turmeric fish, and the infamous “Spicy Dynamite Challenge” stir-fry that delivers a full-body burn. Pickup or delivery.
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Joan’s On Third
Beverly Grove $$
Joan’s on Third offers gourmet soups, salads, sandwiches, cheeses, charcuterie and fresh-baked pastries in a cafe-style marketplace.
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Joan’s On Third
Studio City $$
Joan’s on Third offers gourmet soups, salads, sandwiches, cheeses, charcuterie and fresh-baked pastries in a cafe-style marketplace.
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Jon & Vinny’s
Mid-Wilshire Italian $$
| 2019 | #57
The L.A. Woman pizza; meatballs braised in marinara; Little Gem lettuces slapped with Calabrian chile dressing; pistachio wedding cookies — every Italian American triumph for which we crowded into Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo’s Fairfax and Brentwood restaurants (when we could score a reservation) also prevails as takeout. Breakfast has always been a low-key masterstroke: For a morning indulgence order soft scrambled eggs oozing burrata with grilled ciabatta or spaghetti carbonara generously flecked with pancetta. Pickup or delivery.
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Jus’ Poke
Redondo Beach
Poke is everywhere these days, which makes it all the more impressive that Redondo Beach shack Jus’ Poke stands out for its spot-on version of the Aloha State’s favorite beach snack. The original-style poke mixes cubes of high-grade tuna with scallion, onion and fresh ogo seaweed; richer, California Roll poke folds in avocado, cucumber and imitation crab. Order by the pound or as a combo, with furikake rice and a side of spicy edamame or crunchy seaweed salad. Delivery or pickup.
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Kang Kang Food Court
Alhambra Chinese $
This “food court” of sorts is known for its excellent sheng jian bao: The dumpling’s wrapper, which evokes both a fluffy bao and a chewy dumpling skin, is studded with black sesame seeds and seared to a crisp brown on the bottom. It surrounds a middle of juicy, simply seasoned ground pork that explodes with hot juice when you take a bite. Pickup only.
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Kato
Sawtelle Taiwanese $$$
| 2019 | #1
| 2020
Jon Yao, whose West L.A. restaurant took the top slot on The Times’ 101 Best Restaurants list last year, and his team offer two takeout meal options: the “Kato Box,” a gorgeous chirashi bento of seafood, vinegared rice and pickles, and a $180 family meal for four that might include dishes such as charsiu Wagyu short rib, Taiwanese-style cold noodles, miso slaw and other accompaniments. Pickup only.
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Kismet
East Hollywood Mediterranean $$$
| 2019 | #25
Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson’s bright, layered Middle Eastern-esque flavors shine through the takeout boxes that now contain them. The lemony chicken and pine nut pies are just as satisfying. The cucumbers are just as punchy with za’atar and rose water. And the rabbit for two, just as mesmerizing. You can also order a side of crispy rice, the one with a magical egg that oozes out the middle. Delivery or pickup.
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Kobawoo House
Koreatown Korean $$
Kobawoo’s reputation in Koreatown revolves around its bossam platter, an assemble-it-yourself combination of steamed pork belly spread out like a deck of playing cards, sweet and spicy kimchi, raw garlic and fermented shrimp paste, all ready to be wrapped up in cabbage leaves. It’s a slippery carnival of flavors and textures, one that will not lose any of its charm during the 30-minute car ride home. Delivery and pickup.
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Kobee Factory
Van Nuys Middle Eastern $
| 2020
This tiny Syrian restaurant in Van Nuys specializes in kibbeh, the combination of bulgur and spiced meat (typically lamb throughout the Middle East; beef here) that comes in several shapes and variations; best is the fried kibbeh formed into tapered croquettes and riddled with pine nuts. Also order the mujadara, a mix of lentils and bulgur made special by an overlay of golden fried onions. A swirl of hummus alongside lends creaminess. Pickup and delivery.
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Koko’s Med Cafe
Pasadena Mediterranean
If you’re craving a plate of shawarma, this is the place. The meat is marinated with lemon, garlic and spices and cooked until it’s wonderfully crisp around the edges. There’s chicken kebab and lule too. All of the plates come with rice, Greek salad, hummus and pita. Don’t forget to order extra garlic sauce. Delivery or pickup.
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Konbi
Echo Park Japanese $
| 2019 | #58
| 2020
Akira Akuto and Nick Montgomery’s 10-seat Echo Park cafe became an Instagram sensation for its strikingly sculpted egg salad. Hint: The new Jonah crab layered omelet sandwich is even better. The restaurant also makes excellent pastries (including canelé and croissants served hot); unlike sandwiches and seasonal vegetable dishes, they can’t be ordered online ahead of time, but ask what’s available at the takeout window. Pickup only.
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Kotohira
Gardena Japanese $$
If you’re craving noodles in the South Bay, head to Kotohira — the homey strip-mall joint has been serving thick, chewy handmade udon for nearly three decades. Bowls of warm slippery strands come garnished with ginger, green onion and wisps of freshly shaved bonito, alongside a tiny cup of soy for drizzling over the top. Order the bargain-priced combo set to pair your udon with Japanese comfort dishes such as crispy karaage or sweet-salty broiled unagi over rice. Delivery or pickup.
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Lalibela Ethiopian
Carthay Ethiopian
| 2020
One of the marquee restaurants in Little Ethiopia, Lalibela’s vegetarian platter presents a dozen colorful vegetables, among them spiced red lentils, gingered yellow split peas, cabbage stained with turmeric, gomen (onion-laced collards), chickpea stew and a dip made of sunflower seeds called suf. If you want meat, add special kitfo (chopped beef in spiced butter with fresh, crumbly cheese and puréed greens) or yebeg alicha wot, cardamom-tinged lamb. Delivery or pickup.
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Little Dom’s
Los Feliz Italian $$
Classic Los Feliz establishment Little Dom’s offers seasonal ingredients with Italian classics like homemade linguine carbonara and burrata agnolotti and meatballs. Offering breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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Lucques Catering
Beverly Hills
| 2019 | #48
Lucques Catering is brought to you by Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne. These legendary restaurateurs offer menus showcasing the best of seasonal produce from local farmers markets.
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Lunasia
Alhambra Chinese $$
| 2020
The translucent wrappers of har gow encasing pieces of shrimp with some actual snap to them; glossy baked pork buns; beautifully textured taro cakes with lap cheong; thin rice noodles rolled around crisp you tiao and greens — Lunasia’s reputation for dim sum has grown so outsized that the owners serve it for dinner too.
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Mama’s Chicken
Hyde Park American $
Chicken sausage is the thing to get at Mama’s Chicken on Slauson Avenue in South L.A. Proprietor Karen Whitman, who’s worked at Mama’s for 50 years, is the mastermind behind the success of this restaurant and neighborhood market. Juicy chicken sausage links, well-seasoned and with a pleasing snap, are possibly only outdone by the chicken sausage burger — oversized and twice as flavorful as a humdrum old beef burger. I’m only partly kidding: Try it yourself and judge. Takeout only.
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Mariscos Jalisco
Boyle Heights Mexican $
| 2019 | #61
| 2020
Raul Ortega’s shrimp tacos, blazing from the fryer with a cooling overlay of avocado and salsa, might be the most essential dish for visitors to eat to understand Los Angeles. It’s a critical time to support this culturally vital Boyle Heights food truck. Supplement the tacos with the Poseidon, a flavor-bomb mashup of shrimp ceviche and octopus aguachile. Pickup only.
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Mayura Indian Restaurant
Culver City Indian
| 2019 | #47
| 2020
Tucked into a Culver City strip mall, this long-running Indian restaurant specializes in dishes from Kerala, the slender coastal strip in southern India that meets the Arabian Sea. Highlights include the exquisitely crisp rice-flour pancakes called appam; a delicately spiced braised fish curry; and rice bowls of ven pongal infused with cumin and butter. Delivery or pickup.
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Ma’am Sir
East Hollywood Filipino $$
| 2019 | #39
Charles Olalia both celebrates and intensifies the Filipino foods he grew up with. The bento boxes, filled with chicken adobo, fried milkfish or vegetables, are an easy go-to lunch. The sandwiches, stacked with corn-nut-crusted eggplant, sweet and spicy chile-glazed fried chicken or house-made pork patties, are where Olalia really excels, with playful, craveable food that’s just plain fun. And for dessert, there’s halo halo. Pickup only.
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Meals by Genet
Carthay Ethiopian $$
| 2019 | #23
| 2020
Genet Agonafer, deservedly famed for her masterful Ethiopian cooking, is a vegan, so you know her vegetarian combination platter is tremendous. But many diners understandably order Agonafer’s doro wat, chicken in a sauce fueled by sweet-sharp berbere and cooked for two days until everything is profoundly interconnected. Agonafer cooks every dish herself, offering takeout from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. Pickup only.
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Mel’s Fish Shack
West Adams
A West Adams staple for nearly 40 years, Mel’s Fish Shack specializes in flaky cornmeal-crusted fried fish — choose from a dozen varieties, from snapper to sand dabs — paired with sides such as hush puppies, slaw, creamy potato salad or eggy potato salad. For a summery dessert, there’s peach cobbler or a slice of sweet potato pie. Pickup or delivery.
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Mini Kabob
Glendale
| 2020
The Martirosyan family’s meat-heavy restaurant is located on a small side street in Glendale, but don’t let the tiny, three-person operation lull you into thinking that you’re there purely for the aesthetic. Juicy skewers of marinated chicken served with blistered whole tomatoes and beef lule kebabs hand-shaped by the patriarch himself, Ovakim, will make you wish you had more Armenian food in your life. Takeout and delivery.
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Mizlala
West Adams Middle Eastern $$
The dining experience at the West Adams location of Mizlala (there’s another location in Sherman Oaks) is enough to make you remember the days of pre-corona. A beautiful outdoor dining space graced with, aptly enough, olive trees, makes this Middle Eastern spot ideal for a casual meal. A crispy-on-the-outside green falafel and tender pargiyot, grilled marinated chicken thighs, are exceptional — and, oh yeah, they have beer and wine too. Dine-in, pickup and delivery.
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Momed
Atwater Village Mediterranean
The cooking at Momed circumscribes the breadth of the Mediterranean, but focus eastward for the menu highlights: short-rib tagine, herb-roasted chicken with lemony Greek-style potatoes and hummus, garlicky prawns with ras el hanout and saffron, meatballs spiked with pomegranate and feta. Vegetarians have plenty of options here as well, including a gratifying seven-vegetable tagine variation spiced with harissa. Pickup and delivery.
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n/naka
Palms Japanese $$$$
| 2019 | #4
| 2020
Niki Nakayama’s kaiseki restaurant in Palms is one of the country’s hardest reservations to score. That remains true during the pandemic: Weekly bookings for her takeout options go live every Saturday at 10 a.m. and sell out in seconds. There are two options. A $38 bento combines several pieces of nigiri and a sushi roll with grilled miso black cod over sunchoke purée, a panko fried shrimp, koji-roasted sweet potato and matcha white chocolate cake. The $85 jūbako distills the crux of her kaiseki meals into a two-tiered box. Pickup only.
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Northern Thai Food Club
East Hollywood Thai $
| 2019 | #37
| 2020
The move at this tiny showcase for the cooking of Thailand’s Chiang Rai province was always to let chef-owner “Nancy” Amphai Dunne guide you through her steam table of fragrant curries. Now the restaurant’s website details her specialties. Start with gaeng hang lay, cubed pork belly kissed with tamarind and ginger. For a jubilant lunch or dinner, surround it with creamy khao soi (preferably doused with chile oil), bamboo shoots in crab paste, minty-musky pork larb, green papaya salad and the distinctly herbaceous sausage sai oua. We never particularly craved Thai iced tea with Dunne’s food before, but its taste now cheers us in unexplainable ways. Delivery or pickup.
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Sushi Nozomi
Torrance Japanese $$
There’s plenty to swoon over on the to-go menu at Nozomi, Torrance’s stalwart sushi bar. A $50 temaki set for two includes nori, rice and a fresser’s portion of pristine seafood (Hokkaido scallops, Scottish salmon, etc.) to assemble your own hand rolls. The briny-sweet uni bowl heaped with an obscene amount of Santa Barbara’s finest sea urchin? It’s a worthy splurge. Delivery or pickup.
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Orsa & Winston
Downtown L.A. Italian $$
| 2019 | #7
| 2020
| 2020
The Times’ 2020 Restaurant of the Year embodies excellence in the face of unprecedented challenges. Josef Centeno continues to create tasting menus that successfully bridge Japanese and Italian flavors; he also builds a righteous cheeseburger sando on milk bread and composes nourishing rice bowls rich in market vegetables. Pickup and delivery.
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Pablito’s Tacos
North Hollywood Peruvian
Traditional Peruvian flavors meet Tijuana-style tacos at Danny Rodriguez’s and chef Flor Oropeza’s popular Valley taquería, which has locations in Burbank and North Hollywood. The Peruvian marinated steak called lomo saltado is compulsively good over handmade corn tortillas, and tacos made with smoky pollo a la brasa are invigorated by the restaurant’s spicy fluorescent-green salsa. Pickup and delivery.
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Pasjoli
Santa Monica French
| 2020
Chef de cuisine Matthew Kim keeps the restaurant’s Gallic spirit intact for takeout: Indulge in the caramelized onion tart, steak au poivre, the ridiculously good riz au lait and Basque cheesecake. Kim, it turns out, is also a sandwich whisperer: Try his “croque Matthieu,” rich with grilled country ham and Gruyère. Pickup only.
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Pasta Sisters
Arlington Heights Italian $$
This family owned Italian restaurant and pasta shop serves gorgeous fresh pasta made year round, often using family recipes — some of which are more than a century old. Pasta Sisters’ signature ravioli is getting two heart-shaped spins this month: At the Culver City restaurant opt for a black truffle variety that’s filled with ricotta cheese and served in butter sauce and topped with shaved black truffle on Valentine’s Day only, while both Culver City and the more casual Arlighton Heights outpost will both offer spinach and ricotta ravioli for dine-in, takeout and delivery with choice of either butter-and-sage or cherry tomatoes-and-basil sauce. Hoping to impress someone with a home-cooked meal? The spinach and ricotta ravioli are also available uncooked and in a portion for two, complete with instructions.
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Pasta Sisters
Culver City Italian $$
This family-owned Italian restaurant and pasta shop serves gorgeous fresh pasta year-round, often made from family recipes — some of which are more than a century old. Pasta Sisters’ signature ravioli is getting two heart-shaped spins this month: At the Culver City restaurant, opt for a black truffle variety that’s filled with ricotta cheese and served in butter sauce, topped with shaved black truffle on Valentine’s Day only, while both Culver City and the more casual Arlington Heights outpost will offer both spinach and ricotta ravioli for dine-in, takeout and delivery with choice of either butter-and-sage or cherry tomatoes-and-basil sauce. Hoping to impress someone with a home-cooked meal? The spinach and ricotta ravioli also are available uncooked and in a portion for two, complete with instructions.
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Pearl River Deli
Chinatown Chinese $$
| 2020
In Chinatown’s Far East Plaza, Johnny Lee crafts a short, mercurial menu centered around classic Cantonese dishes. His Macao-style pork-chop bun is an instant hit; balance its richness with silky shrimp scramble or the Hainanese chicken, a frequent weekend special and one of Lee’s signatures. Pickup only.
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Pizzana
Brentwood Italian $$
| 2019 | #67
| 2020
Daniele Uditi’s declarative statement is the neo-Margherita, with its charred and tangy crust (Uditi grew up among bakers in Naples), concentrated San Marzano tomato sauce, dollops of fior di latte mozzarella and flourish of basil-infused bread crumbs. It is a sustaining pleasure, as are his pies inspired by classic pastas (Cacio e Pepe, Amatriciana) and the Pignatiello — braised short rib melting into Parmigiano crema. The original Pizzana in Brentwood and the newer West Hollywood satellite are open daily.
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Pollo a la Brasa
Koreatown Peruvian $$
The smoky wood-fired birds at Peruvian chicken joint Pollo a la Brasa have long been the stuff of legend. Wisely order the whole chicken and choose your sides: velvety stewed beans, tortillas and a salad tossed with a vinegary dressing are good bets. And whatever you do, don’t leave without an ample supply of the signature lime-green aji sauce, sharp and spicy enough to clear your nostrils and the perfect contrast to the chicken’s crisp garlicky skin. Delivery and pickup.
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Poncho’s Tlayudas
Historic South-Central Mexican $
The beloved South Los Angeles pop-up run by Alfonso Martinez and Odilia Romero continues to soldier on. Ask for Martinez’s crisp-edged, hubcap-size folded tlayudas filled with blood sausage (the favorite); the couple also sells sublime tamales. Takeout on Sundays. Pickup only.
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Poppy & Rose
Downtown L.A. American $$
Michael and Kwini Reed’s menu of modern California comfort classics has kept their daytime restaurant busy for takeout this year. Pulled pork hash, biscuits and gravy and a weighty breakfast burrito stand out for breakfast — though there’s no shame in ordering a patty melt (a favorite among the lunchtime sandwiches) for a morning meal, either. Pickup and delivery.
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Porridge + Puffs
Westside American Southeast Asian $
| 2019 | #29
It is a given that Minh Phan’s porridge — especially the one with mushrooms, ground turkey and strands of chicken — is balm at any time, and certainly for these times. That said, Phan is in improvisational mode these days; watch the restaurant’s Instagram for weekend, three-course, $25 “pinch meals” (as in a pinch of this and a pinch of that) as well as far more elaborate five-course meals anchored by dishes such as swordfish over kerchief noodles in tamarind-fennel broth. Pickup only.
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Porto’s Bakery
Burbank $
For Angelenos it’s hard to overstate the ubiquitous appeal of the Porto’s pastry box, an assortment of baked wonders that usually includes cookies and pastries, meat pies, potato balls, empanadas or the deservedly iconic guava-and-cheese strudels. Though the long lines at its stores have always moved with surprising efficiency, it’s easier to carb-load on Cuban treats now that Porto’s has implemented a contactless parking-lot carryout system at its handful of locations. Delivery or pickup.
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Post & Beam
Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw American $$
| 2020
| 2020
A sense of fellowship defines the experience at this neighborhood beacon in Baldwin Hills Crenshaw. Its current and founding team — Brad and Linda Johnson, Govind Armstrong and John and Roni Cleveland — are this year’s recipients of the Los Angeles Times Gold Award, and the spirit of community rings through even in carryout form: Fried chicken, shrimp and grits, short ribs and turkey meatball pizza taste best shared with friends and family. Pickup or delivery.
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Pupuseria El Cerro Verde
Hawthorne
The marvelous pupusas at El Cerro Verde include revueltas — dense, griddled-corn disks filled with an irresistible slurry of cheese, pork and beans. Pupusas flavored with the pungent Salvadoran vegetable called loroco are terrific; for purists, a crisp-edged pupusa oozing creamy cheese and beans paired with a spicy side salad of Salvadoran cabbage slaw is a feast. Traditional Salvadoran tamales, snacks and braised-meat combo plates round out the menu. Delivery or pickup.
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Ray’s BBQ
Huntington Park American $$
Ray Ramirez was an L.A.-area forerunner of the underground-sensation-to-bricks-and-mortar model. His Texas-style brisket, glossy and suffused with oak smoke, remains a standout. The massive, dense barbecue burrito — layered with mac and cheese, beans, brisket, pulled pork and sliced sausage — is basically a handheld combo platter. Pickup only.
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Redbird
Downtown L.A. American $$$
Featuring Modern American cuisine that is refined yet approachable and highlights the multicultural influences of Los Angeles, Redbird also offers an extensive cocktail menu with well-balanced, bespoke renditions of the classics.
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Republique
Hancock Park American French $$$
| 2019 | #2
| 2020
The template for the all-day modern American restaurant perfected by Walter and Margarita Manzke translates seamlessly to takeout: Order Margarita’s pastries a day ahead for treats like peach danish, barbecue chicken hand pie, sweet and savory croissants and raspberry-pistachio kouign amann. Bring home breakfast (kimchi fried rice, avocado toast gilded with market herbs and vegetables), lunch (grilled chicken salad, a smashing Cuban sandwich) or family-style weekend dinners.
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Ribtown BBQ
Jefferson Park
On Fridays and Saturdays, Lonnie Edwards serves barbecue in the parking lot of the Westside Loan Office in Jefferson Park. His specialty is smoked rib tips, a cut with glorious intersections of meat and cartilage that is a gratifying investment when cooked with precision. Coffee-spiked sauce stays compelling as you whittle down the pile of tips.
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Ronan
Fairfax Italian
Daniel Cutler’s calzone is an only-in-L.A. construct that channels Philippe’s French dip with its filling of rare roast beef and sides of jus and hot mustard. Pizzas and small plates show equal excellence and wit. Begin the meal with one of the restaurant’s dirty martinis, poured as a double. Pickup or delivery.
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Rossoblu
Downtown L.A. Italian $$$
| 2019 | #17
| 2020
Steve Samson’s menu isn’t dogmatic about serving only dishes from Bologna, the capital of Italy’s fertile northern Emilia-Romagna region, where he spent parts of his childhood, but they’re the terra firma upon which the restaurant builds its foundation. Pastas are masterful. For a curated meal he creates seven-course dinners Wednesdays through Sundays; expect dishes like lasagna with duck ragu and Amaretto ricotta cheesecake with house-made peach jam. Pickup and delivery.
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Saigon’s Bakery & Sandwiches
San Gabriel Valley Vietnamese $
This is an excellent benchmark for banh mi explorations in the San Gabriel Valley. Beyond standard options like grilled pork, grilled chicken and meatball, try the banh mi thit nuong bi — grilled pork combined with crackly pork skin. Each sandwich is precision-engineered: crisp bread, sharp pickles, just enough mayo, robust meats. Pickup only.
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Sanamluang
East Hollywood Thai
Hear us out: There’s a ton of great Thai food on Hollywood Boulevard east of the 101, but we’ve always had Sanamluang near the top of our list for its late hours and, for our money, one of the best pad kee maos in the city. “Medium spicy” will likely be enough to set your sinuses ablaze; we recommend it with ground chicken. Seaweed soup with tofu is a winner for the vegetal-ly inclined. The days of rolling in at 2 a.m. might be over for now, but it’s still open until 11 p.m. for takeout and delivery — later than most.
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Sichuan Impression
Alhambra Chinese $$
| 2019 | #60
| 2020
Kelly Xiao and Lynn Liu’s restaurants (there are locations in Alhambra, Tustin and West L.A.) each serve full menus of fiery, nuanced Sichuan specialties. Yes to toothpick lamb, wontons in red chile oil, boiled fish with rattan pepper, diced rabbit and pickled cucumbers. For a welcome jolt to the senses, try the mao cai — a stew of prawns, beef, tripe, Spam, lotus root and mushrooms roiling in a crimson broth. Delivery or pickup.
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Slab
Beverly Grove American $$
Before partnering with the Hwood Group for his West 3rd Street restaurant, pit master Burt Bakman spent nearly a decade refining his smoking technique on a Big Green Egg in his Studio City backyard. At Slab, focus on the peppery, deftly rendered brisket and the ribs. In a nod to Texas, Bakman builds his mac and cheese from a base of queso, which also anchors the chips and chili in a nostalgic riff on Frito pie. Pickup or delivery.
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Soban
Koreatown Korean $$
| 2019 | #76
| 2020
Ganjang gejang, raw blue crab marinated in an herb-infused soy sauce, is Soban’s signature dish for good reason: The salty-savory tangle of shells and marinated flesh is irresistibly flavorful. You may also want to try the terrific stir-fried baby octopus called nakji bokkeum, and a sumptuous braised black cod served with radish and potatoes. Banchan, the flotilla of tiny vegetable dishes that includes kimchi, are meticulously arranged in a takeout container. Pickup and delivery.
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Sonoratown
Downtown L.A. Mexican $
| 2019 | #5
| 2020
The Burrito 2.0 is both a delivery godsend and a superb encapsulation of what makes Jennifer Feltham and Teodoro Diaz-Rodriguez’s downtown taqueria so special. Carne asada is the meat of choice; guacamole, Monterey Jack, sharply spicy chiltepin salsa and pinto beans round out the tidy package. A meatless option includes grilled poblanos and spring onions with corn tortillas.
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Spago
Beverly Hills Italian Californian $$$
Icons from the menu of Wolfgang Puck’s flagship are available for takeout, including Wienerschnitzel, Hong Kong-style fish and, of course, the smoked salmon pizza. Look for pastry chef Della Gossett channeling Puck’s Austrian heritage into kardinal schnitte, a cathedral of a dessert (to be assembled at home) built of rich sponge cake beams, meringue and layers of strawberry-white chocolate crème, all glorified by the ripest Harry’s Berries strawberries.
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Spartina
Fairfax Italian $$
With a menu that floats mainly around the Mediterannean, you might not expect one of the most unforgettable fried chicken sandwiches in town. But there it is, the fried chicken doused in a mixture of honey and Calabrian chile, topped with prosciutto and fontina. That and the grilled avocado make for a satiating anytime meal. Delivery or pickup.
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Spoon & Pork
Silver Lake
| 2020
At their Silver Lake café, chefs Ray Yaptinchay and Jay Tugas cook a motley menu of what they call “modern Filipino comfort food.” It includes lechon kawali, deep-fried cubes of pork belly over jasmine rice; gloriously crisp chicken adobo; a playful and delicious adobo belly nigiri; and the sumptuous patita, braised pork shank glazed in a sweet chile sauce and dusted with crumbles of dried garlic. Delivery or pickup.
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Spoon by H
Fairfax Korean $$
| 2019 | #62
| 2020
The best way to order Yoonjin Hwang’s singular interpretations of Korean and American cuisines is through Instagram. Check her stories for the day’s menu and enticing shots of noodle, dumpling and rice dishes; the takeout presentations are as artful as the cooking. In the summer heat, try the spicy cold noodles with pork belly and iced green tea with passion fruit and lychee. Pickup or limited delivery.
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Sunnin
Westwood Lebanese $$
The menu at this bastion of Lebanese cooking lists dozens of dishes. For the truest, homiest dishes, though, zero in on the section called “Em Tony,” a nickname for Fayeza Chammaa, the matriarch of the family behind Sunnin. There you’ll find wonderful specials like koussa — a thin-skinned variety of zucchini stuffed with spiced ground beef and rice in tomato sauce. If you’re looking for standards like hummus, falafel and kebabs, the kitchen makes textbook renditions. Pickup or delivery.
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Taco Maria
Costa Mesa Mexican $$
| 2020
Carlos Salgado has rechanneled the braininess of his masa-driven tasting menus into Mexican American comfort foods: grilled fish tacos, quesadillas, pork chile verde for a crowd, burritos, bacon-wrapped Sonora dogs and a Wagyu burger with caramelized onions and blue cheese, aptly named Cortez the Killer.
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Taste of Tehran
West Los Angeles Iranian Persian $$
| 2019 | #34
| 2020
Saghar Fanisalek’s restaurant, hidden among Westwood’s throngs of Iranian American cafes and markets, dabbles in modernist concoctions such as spiced lentil-quinoa salad with raisins and dates, but the heart of her cooking lands squarely in tradition: kebabs, rice and dips, all prepared with exacting finesse. Koobideh kebabs display a master’s hand, the grated onion in the tender-singed beef added in just the right proportions, every bite precisely seasoned.
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Thunderbolt
Echo Park American
Thunderbolt, the vaguely Southern-themed cocktail bar next door to Park’s Finest BBQ, hasn’t let the pandemic put a damper on its creativity. Owner Mike Capoferri is offering a robust selection of canned cocktails (nitro-carbonated espresso martini?), and the food is both soulful and snacky: biscuits with white cheddar pimento cheese and jam, pickled shrimp with grits and a two-fisted fried green tomato sandwich spread with tangy goat cheese. Delivery or pickup.
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(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Tirsa’s Mexican Cafe
Chinatown Mexican
Chef Tirsa Nevarez’s cheerful downtown restaurant is known for its boldly flavored, unapologetically oversized Mexican and Mexican American dishes. The DTLA Torta is an enormous, flat, crusty telera roll plumped with crinkly strips of grilled steak, beans, rice and guacamole. Burritos are half-pound behemoths stuffed with things like French fries and carne asada, and the enchilada plate is a chile-stained quartet of rolled tortillas oozing with cheese and your choice of meat. Pickup and delivery.
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Vaca
Costa Mesa Spanish
Chef Amar Santana’s paella Valenciana, aromatic with saffron and shot through with chicken, chorizo, scallops and shrimp, is a menu highlight at his Spanish restaurant near Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza. It nabs the spotlight again among several options for takeout family meals. Portioned for two, four or six people, it comes with three filling vegetable sides and both flan and tres leches cake for dessert. For a solo dinner there is a monster burger with manchego and caramelized onions.
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(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Vespertine
Culver City American $$$$
| 2019 | #101
| 2020
Among restaurants serving takeout, unearthly Vespertine was perhaps the biggest surprise: How would chef Jordan Kahn, whose food can look like astronomical phenomena, express himself in the medium of to-go containers? Beautifully, it turns out. His family-style meals have been largely biographical, delving into (among frequently changing themes) his Cuban heritage, his coastal Georgia upbringing and his time in the kitchen at the French Laundry.
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Wax Paper
Elysian Valley American $$
Shipping container turned sandwich shop Wax Paper is a testament to the restorative power of a good veggie sandwich. As much we swoon over the creative specials that owners Peter and Lauren Lemos turn out weekly, it’s the flagship Ira Glass — sharp cheddar, avocado, sprouts, cucumber, pickled onions, garlic mayo and two soft slices of whole grain bread — that inspires regular lunchtime cravings. Are all the sandwiches still named for NPR hosts? You know it.
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(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
X’tiosu Kitchen
Boyle Heights Mexican Lebanese $
| 2019 | #87
| 2020
At their Boyle Heights restaurant, brothers Felipe and Ignacio Santiago merge the flavors of their native Oaxaca with classic Lebanese mezze to brilliant effect. “Oaxacan” hummus made with whipped black beans and a dusting of cayenne pepper is earthy and rich. Their take on tabbouleh salad cleverly swaps out bulgur in favor of nopales tossed with chopped onions, tomatoes and extravagant quantities of fresh parsley. The adaptation is so elegant, bright and refreshing, you wonder why you haven’t been eating it all your life. Falafel is bolstered by lavish quantities of garlic and cilantro, but the dish to try is the chicken shawarma taco: spice-rubbed, spit-roasted chicken shaved over a corn tortilla, anointed generously with the house-made “arabesque salsa,” a creamy blend of extra-garlicky tahini and salsa verde. The taco, in turn creamy and savory, succeeds by the steady accretion of flavors, its garlicky richness snapped into balance by the bright, vinegary smack of fuchsia-pink pickled turnips, a staple of the Lebanese table that is right at home at X’tiosu Kitchen.
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(Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)
Zam Zam Market
Hawthorne
Call ahead at this mom-and-pop Pakistani restaurant to see what’s cooking for the day. Chicken biryani, loaded with fragrant whole spices, is a must, along with tender beef kebabs served with cumin-laced yogurt and pillowy garlic naan. Stock up on fresh spices and other sundries at the adjacent grocery while you grab your takeout order.
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(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Zhengyalov Hatz
Glendale Armenian $
| 2020
The first American branch of a traditional Armenian bakery, Glendale’s Zhengyalov Hatz specializes in jingalov hatz, a football-shaped flatbread stuffed with a dozen herbs and tangy greens. Somewhere between a hearty snack and a light meal, each supple flatbread is patted out by hand and cooked on a hot griddle until leopard spots appear, then rolled in paper to keep it warm. The vibrant shock of greens packs so much flavor, no embellishment is required, except maybe a cool yogurt soda to wash it all down.
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