Where to Eat Now: New to the List

Chili My SoulOut of a storefront near a Smart & Final outlet in a dingy Encino mini-mall, Chili My Soul offers more than 30 kinds of chili, if only a dozen or so at a time. Chili My Soul has been around since the mid-'80s and is the creation of Randy Hoffman, a jovial, thickset guy who, if he happens to be standing around when you wander in, will probably insist that you try a spoonful of at least half a dozen of his chilis, deeply spiced creations called things like Hickory Beef and Vegetarian Carnivale, rated from 1 to 10 by intensity of heat. If this is your first time at Chili My Soul, you will inevitably linger by the takeout counter for 10 minutes before you finally choose a chili — and then take another few to choose the appropriate garnishes: Cheddar cheese, sliced jalapeños, toasted pumpkin seeds, chopped onions, capers, Guittard chocolate chips, whatever. There are chili fries here, of course: your choice of Mr. Hoffman's concoctions ladled onto a complicated spiral construction. 4928 Balboa Blvd., Encino, (818) 981-7685 or www.chilimysoul.com. Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. American.

La MariaA smallish Colombian restaurant, La Maria is a cheerful place, all earth-tone tiles and travel posters. The locals stop in for batidos, Colombian milk shakes made with guanabana, passion fruit or the purple Andean berry called mora; for avocado omelets in the mornings, and for bowls of mondongo, a nourishing tripe soup, on the mornings after. What you probably come to a Colombian restaurant for is grilled steak, and La Maria has it in various guises — the relatively simple carne asada served with fried bananas and arepas; the bistek a caballo, served underneath a runny fried egg; or the classic bandeja, Colombia's national combination plate. The beer is cold, the constant salsa music hot. When you look out of the picture window, over the auto-body shops and out to the low, bare foothills of the Verdugos, it can seem as if you are in another place altogether, if not in Medellí­n then at least in Tucson. Recommended dishes: arepa con queso, picada, flan. 10516 Victory Blvd., N. Hlywd., (818) 755-8811. Open daily 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Beer and wine. Limited lot parking. MC, V. Colombian.

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Orochon Ramen

123 S. Onizuka St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Category: Restaurant > Japanese

Region: Downtown

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Pitfire Pizza Company

108 W. Second St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Category: Restaurant > Pizza

Region: Downtown

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More About

• Culver City
• Christiano Bollini
• Santa Monica
• Thai Food and Cooking
• Meat

Lenchita'sThis place is always mentioned when people talk about L.A.'s best tamales, and its owner, Angelita Alvarez Renteria, has been a community fixture since Lenchita's opened in the late 1970s. You should probably consider Lenchita's combination platters, not just tacos and chiles rellenos and tamales, but also grandmother-style stews plopped onto a plate with rice and beans, informal tastes of plain, second-generation Mexican home cooking served with big stacks of freshly made tortillas. You will find most of the usual antojitos at Lenchita's, snacks based on the kitchen's handmade masa — dryish gorditas, vaguely similar to rounds of Mexican pita, split and filled; rudimentary tacos so big you can barely get them into your mouth; and simple quesadillas stuffed with melted cheese. The sopes are especially nice, and soups are good too, also quite plain but among the best of their kind in Los Angeles: rich chicken soup, a chile-laced beef soup called picadillo, and a minty broth barely concealing a lode of enormous albondigas — loose, delicious meatballs flavored with onions and herbs that dissolve in a gush of liquid in your mouth. 13612 Van Nuys Blvd., Pacoima, (818) 899-2623. Open daily 6 a.m.-8 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Mexican.

Sri SiamA mile south of the more glamorous precincts of North Hollywood's Thai Town, in a mini-mall populated by tattooed young men with shaved heads and 16-inch biceps, Sri Siam may be one of the least promising restaurants on the planet — a dingy storefront that looks every one of its 23 years. The menu is dense with banal stir-fries and curries. You have to bring in your own beer. But connoisseurs of Thai cooking have always revered Sri Siam, which served dishes from northern and northeastern Thailand at a time when regional Thai cooking was all but unknown in Los Angeles, and where it was possible for non-Thais to order, say, green-papaya salad or boat noodles amped up to Bangkok levels of spiciness without having to grovel for more than a minute or two. Listed on the menu as o-lou is a sort of crunchy, fried rice-batter pancake stuffed with shrimp and layered over a bed of sautéed bean sprouts — a wonderful dish. Also, the golden, crunchy fried trout served with spicy slivered-apple salad is legendary. 12843 Vanowen St., N. Hlywd., (818) 982-6262. Open daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m. No alcohol. Delivery. Lot parking. MC, V. $5.95 lunch specials. Dinner for two, food only, $14-$28. Thai.

Burbank/Glendale/Eagle Rock

Larkin'sChef Larkin Mackey, a reclusive, slender African-American man who rarely leaves the kitchen, sometimes calls his restaurant a modern juke joint. There is Fats Waller on the stereo and faded Southern commercial art on the walls, tables made out of old doors in the dining room and picnic benches in the garden out back. Every dish on the menu is probably somebody's best recipe: The tart, creamy potato salad is credited to Aunt Carolyn; the ground-beef-intensive chile verde to chef Mackey's grandpa; the caramelly-tasting banana pudding to Mama. Still, Larkin's is a controversial place, distrusted by both people expecting a cheap, unreconstructed soul-food restaurant and snobs looking for refined haute cuisine, both hungry boys upset that the portions are less gargantuan than Roscoe's and Southerners skeptical of the trace of fresh mint in the jelly jars of sweet tea. But one thing is beyond argument: Larkin's fried chicken, tender-crusted and juicy, golden and singing with the taste of clean oil, is about as good as it gets in Los Angeles restaurants. 1496 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, (323) 254-0934 or www.larkinsjoint.com. Tues.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. & 5:30-9:30 p.m.; brunch Sun. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. No alcohol. Limited lot parking. AE, MC, V. Southern.