Ethnic and Regional Cuisines

Tacos in L.A.: Your Ultimate Guide

If you're living life correctly, every day is National Taco Day. We know that. But hey, why not take another opportunity to celebrate something awesome, and something we do better than anyone else (ha, ha, New York Times, that was a very funny joke). In order to help you celebrate properly, we've ... More >>

Jobless Seniors to Get a Hand from Mexicano

You'll feel good when you eat at Mexicano, the new restaurant planned by Jaime Martín del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu of La Casita Mexicana. Not just because you've had a delicious meal, but because you'll be eating food prepared by jobless older Latinos who've been given a place to work and eat. The ... More >>

Marcella Hazan, 1924 - 2013: A Letter From Italy

When I moved to Florence to work on my dissertation, I knew that it would be a learning experience. While I knew that I would be delving into sixteenth century archives to search for clues about the Medici's shopping habits, I didn't realize that it would be my own shopping habits -- for parmigiano, ... More >>

6 Great L.A. Restaurants for Dolmades, or Stuffed Grape Leaves

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (due out Oct. 3), we'll be bringing you periodic lists of some of the best things we've found to eat and drink around town. Ice cream sandwiches and bowls of tsukemen, fish tacos and dan dan mien, cups of boba and glasses of booze. Read on. The semantic ... More >>

Phorage in Palms: No on Banh Mi, Yes on Pho

Bánh mì is one of those sandwiches for which ratios are very important. At its best, a kind of alchemy happens -- a sandwich that is greater than the sum of its parts. But when those ratios are off, when the magic doesn't occur, the sandwich actually becomes less than the sum of its parts. At Pho ... More >>

Bucato Review: Evan Funke's Helms Bakery Restaurant Triumphs

All the Thai Food You Can Eat: Restaurant Discounts A Festival

You can't have too much of a good thing -- that is, if you like Thai food. Next week you'll be able to prove this at two events that will provide all the curries, noodles, grilled meats and spicy salads that you could dream of. The first ever National Thai Restaurant Week kicks off Monday, Sept. 2 ... More >>

5 Cool Spots for a Grab-and-Go Mango Lassi

The lassi, a chilled yogurt drink born in the Punjab region of India, has been dubbed the world's oldest smoothie. Though it originated as a savory beverage -- a salted yogurt-milk with a few spices such as cumin -- its sweet counterparts have gained more popularity here in the West, and the mango ... More >>

4 Great Quesadillas in Los Angeles

Leading up to this year's Best of L.A. issue (coming out Oct. 3), we'll be bringing you periodic lists of some of the best things we've found to eat and drink around town. Ice cream sandwiches and bowls of tsukemen, fish tacos and dan dan mian, cups of boba and glasses of booze. Read on. What's not ... More >>

Now Open: Bucato, Evan Funke's Ode to Pigs and Pasta

Bucato, Evan Funke's long-awaited temple to pigs, porchetta, pasta and rustic Italian cuisine, opened last night in the Helms Bakery complex. For those of you with Los Angeles food board games, that would be right across the walkway from Lukshon, a few doors down from both Father's Office and the fu ... More >>

Casa Oaxaca Bringing Casual Oaxacan Food to Downtown Culver City

There's some Mexican food on the move in Culver City today. Santa Ana's Casa Oaxaca, which has rather quietly been serving up moles, xochitl soup, tlayudas and other Oaxacan specialties for a few years now, is set to expand to Los Angeles. And best of all -- their new digs are slated to open today. ... More >>

10 Best Indian Restaurants in the West San Fernando Valley

Any discussion of Indian food is complicated by the fact that there are so many varieties. In his massive tome, India Cookbook, author Pushpesh Pant identifies ten key culinary regions, each with "its own gastronomic traditions, but the regions have blurred boundaries and there are many shared techn ... More >>

L.A.'s Idea of Spanish Food vs. What Spaniards Really Eat

In this rendition of LA Weekly's Venn Food Diagram, we are investigating the increasingly popular Mediterranean Spanish cuisine to compare what Angelinos think make up a Spaniard's diet versus what our flamenco-dancing friends actually eat.

Yama Seafood L.A. Fish Market is a Godsend for the Sushi Addict

A sushi addiction can be tough on the wallet, to say the least. It's one of those meals that you kind of want to spend a lot on, to guarantee quality, freshness and skill, but that makes the craving-to-satiation ratio fairly unbalanced for most of us. But I've recently discovered one way to bridge t ... More >>

Half Off Bibigo's Psy Menu for Lunch Today

For today only, you can try Bibigo selections approved by Korean crossover pop star Psy for 50% off during lunch hours, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. What does the performer prefer at the Bevery Hills restaurant by way of South Korea? There's a hot stone bibimbap with spicy pork over black rice topped with ... More >>

Where The Chefs Eat: Three Picks from Jet Tila

Where the Chefs Eat is an ongoing series in which we ask a local chef to give us his or her favorite dining options. This week, we check in with Jet Tila, chef at The Charleston and Culinary Ambassador of Thai Cuisine. Chef Jet Tila has made quite a name for himself introducing people to the cuisin ... More >>

Marugame Monzo Review: Udon Meets Italian Makes Delicious

Udon The Japanese Obsession With Italian Food: This Week's Review Of Marugame Monzo

This week we venture to Little Tokyo for a look at the new hand-made udon house, Marugame Monzo. Head over to our food section to read the full review, or check out some briefer thoughts below. The Noodles: Americans may obsess more over ramen and soba, but this udon is not to be ignored. Handmade ... More >>

Fountain and Vine: Bento Boxes, Romanian Cuisine, Empanadas (Decorative) Puffer Fish

Not all strip malls are created equal. Some, squat and lifeless with little more than a coin-op laundromat as their anchor, are destined to be invisible from the ordinary eater's eye. Others, like the looming two-story monster on the corner of Fountain and Vine in Hollywood, are the subject of heart ... More >>

First Look: Badmaash Indian Gastropub

In the '80s and '90s there was fusion, often done by American chefs in high-end places, often for no discernible reason, often with suspect results. Then, partly as fusion backlash, partly as an honest curiosity about other cultures, came the obsession with authenticity. Now we've come full circle, ... More >>

This Weekend: 5th Annual Korean BBQ Festival CicLAvia

A Korean barbecue dinner can be an event -- copious helpings of bulgogi matched with ice cold soju. So it stands that a gathering of Korean BBQ restaurants would make it a full-blown party, which is what'll take place at the 5th Annual Korean BBQ Festival on Sunday, June 23. Organized by the Korea ... More >>

Eat Psy's Favorite Foods at Bibigo Korean Restaurant

This summer at all three Los Angeles locations of the Korean restaurant Bibigo, Korean pop megastar Psy, also known as the King of YouTube -- or his actual name Park Jae-sang -- is everywhere. On the front windows, the servers' T-shirts and even on the menu. Millions of people dance like him, and no ... More >>

3 Great Koreatown Restaurants for Kimchi Jigae

If you ask an Angeleno of Korean heritage where you can find good kimchi jigae, or kimchi stew, more often than not you'll hear "my mom's." It's not out of any unwillingness to provide a tip, or maybe two. It's just one of those dishes that appear in a home cook's repertoire so often and in so many ... More >>

Top 3 Events: Sushi With the Chef, Korean BBQ Big Daddy's Summer BBQ

Sushi With the Chef Eric Lechasseur will offer a prix-fixe vegetarian menu that includes a vegetarian sushi roll, salad and beverage for one night only at Seed Kitchen. The chef has studied in Japan and France in addition to completing a program in Canada. The menu shows a Japanese influence with di ... More >>

Marugame Monzo and Tsurumaru: Two Handmade Udon Shops Now Open in Little Tokyo

While Japanese noodle fanatics have been gawking over artisanal ramen joints, another type of noodle business has been growing, albeit at a much quieter pace, within Los Angeles. The noodle of choice? Handmade udon. According to Yoko Isassi, a Japanese cooking instructor in Los Angeles, the compos ... More >>

Morihiro Onodera: The Chef Throws Pots

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here. For the first decade of the 21st century, people who loved sushi in Los Angeles made a pilgrimage to Mori Sushi, a minimalist restaurant on Pico Boulevard. There, owner and sus ... More >>

Now Open: Indian Gastropub Badmaash in Downtown L.A.

To get a sense of what new Indian gastropub Badmaash is all about, look no further than the three samosa options at the top of the menu -- each one encapsulating a characteristic of the restaurant. Owners and brothers Nakul and Arjun Mahendro, along with their father (and executive chef) Pawan, work ... More >>

5 Best Dosas in Los Angeles

There are as many kinds of dosas as there are moms in South India -- which is to say, a lot. This Indian breakfast and snack food is a thin, crispy crepe made from a lightly fermented batter of ground rice and lentils. The batter is ladled onto a hot griddle and then quickly spread to paper thinness ... More >>

Now Open: Osawa Brings Otsumami, Shabu Shabu and Sushi To Old Town Pasadena

At 11 a.m. yesterday, Osawa opened to the public in Pasadena. The restaurant is owned by Sayuri Tachibe, who is the wife of corporate executive chef Shigefumi Tachibe of the Chaya Restaurant Group, though he isn't involved in this project, nor is Chaya. The chef at Osawa is Norio Yoshikawa.

A Dim Sum Crawl in Chinatown

Chinatown was a main hub for dim sum before San Gabriel Valley earned its destination status. Now, the Chinese Business Improvement District is about to reintroduce the neighborhood's eats with a crawl designed strictly for grownups. This Thursday, April 18, the non-profit organization will host a ... More >>

Jet Tila Appointed Thai Cuisine Ambassador

Jet Tila has been appointed the first Culinary Ambassador of Thai Cuisine by the Royal Thai Consul-General in Los Angeles, tasked with spreading awareness nationwide and making official his unofficial -- and longstanding -- role as a guide to the cuisine. Tila was tapped for the position after a m ... More >>

Q & A With Soul of a Banquet's Wayne Wang: Cecilia Chiang Why the Best Chinese Food in the World is in the SGV

Back in 2011, when it seemed like the entire Bay Area was seized with Chez Panisse 40th anniversary fever, Hong Kong-born, San Francisco-based filmmaker Wayne Wang (Chan Is Missing, Joy Luck Club, Smoke) asked Chez Panisse's founder, Alice Waters, if there was a role he could play. Waters suggested ... More >>

Happy Hour: Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori & Shabu Shabu in Monterey Park

Place: Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori & Shabu Shabu, 111 N. Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park; (626) 943-7956. Hours: Beer special runs from Mon.-Thu., 6 p.m.-7 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. For the rest of March, yakitori specials are available Mon.-Thu., 6 p.m.-11 p.m. In April, the specials will only b ... More >>

The Korean Restaurant Guide: Los Angeles 40 Restaurants and Bilingual Text

If you love Korean food but aren't as conversant in the intricasies of either L.A.'s Koreatown neighborhood or, well, Korean, the folks at The Korean Food Foundation have engineered a terrific guidebook for you. Just published in a handy square cornflower blue paperback, the Korean Restaurant Guide: ... More >>

5 Essential Japanese Restaurants in Los Angeles

Our 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants issue came out recently, and we're highlighting a few categories drawing from the list. Today: Japanese restaurants. This is not a definitive list of the best Japanese restaurants in L.A., but it is a sampling of five that we think are each essential in their own w ... More >>

5 Essential Italian Restaurants in Los Angeles

Our 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants issue came out last week, and we're highlighting a few categories drawing from the list. Today: Italian restaurants. This isn't every single Italian or Italian-influenced spot on the list, so make sure you check out the whole thing, but here are five of our favorit ... More >>

Kiyokawa: 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

Golden Deli: 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

Tacos Punta Cabras Now Open in Santa Monica: More Fun with the Supper Liberation Front

If you live or work on the Westside and are tired of the long haul across town -- or a few hundred miles south -- every time you want a good, I mean really good, fish taco, you're in luck. This past weekend, Josh Gil and Daniel Snukal opened Tacos Punta Cabras in Santa Monica. You can spend all that ... More >>

Where The Chef's Eat: Rustic Canyon's Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan

Where the Chefs Eat is an ongoing series in which we ask a local chef to give us his or her favorite dining options. This week, we talk to Josh Loeb, co-chef/owner with his wife Zoe Nathan of Rustic Canyon, Huckleberry and Milo & Olive, about where the two eat out when they're not cooking, at home, ... More >>

10 Best Halal Dishes in Los Angeles

Los Angeles can, yet again, boast about having the most variety, if not depth, of something. Home to the most diverse Muslim population in the United States, Los Angeles County is full of halal restaurants. Halal means permitted or lawful according to Sharia (Islamic) laws. In the realm of dining ou ... More >>

Sperm is in Season: Hamasaku Has it Three Ways

There it sits on a plate, shiny and quivery and not unlike a pile of raw sweetbreads. Intertwining sacks, bound by sinew, filled with creamy sperm. Cod sperm, to be more exact. And I'm going to eat a lot of it. Without gagging. In fact, I'm going to enjoy it. Hamasaku, a Japanese restaurant tuc ... More >>

Now Open: RivaBella in West Hollywoood, From Chef Gino Angelini

RivaBella, a collaboration between Gino Angelini and Innovative Dining Group, opens its doors today for dinner in West Hollywood in the former Hamburger Hamlet location on Sunset. Angelini is the chef behind the celebrated and fairly intimate Italian restaurant Angelini Osteria, and Innovative Dinin ... More >>

BierBeisl Brings Something Different to Beverly Hills

Austrian chef Bernhard Mairinger has brilliantly old-school technique

10 Best Eats in Thai Town: Neighborhood Grub Crawl

Some call it East Hollywood, but many more know it as Thai Town, a glowing, neon causeway of great late-night restaurants, karaoke bars and slingers of Chang beer towers. It's an area of town that not only welcomes after-hours consumption, but glorifes it --- filled with brimming bowls of pungent no ... More >>

Ha Tien Quan: Vietnamese Gumbo in the SGV

It begins innocently enough: You have your first taste of pho somewhere like Golden Deli, the noodle shop on the outer reaches of San Gabriel, where the fragrant, stunningly clear broth is as famous as the crunchy egg rolls. Like any proper gateway drug, you soon begin to run the gamut of chintzy p ... More >>

5 Places in L.A. to Get Your Poutine Fix

There was once a time, perhaps, when poutine was consumed mostly by Quebecois with a penchant for late-night drunk food. But ever since it made its way into the playbooks of hip chefs a few years ago, poutine has become a gastropub staple, up there with beet salad and blue-cheesed burgers. In its ... More >>

Nobu Malibu Review

The oceanfront sushi restaurant has a beautiful new home – and the same classics that made Nobu Matsuhisa famous

18: Matsuhisa's Yellowtail Scallion Donburi

Celebrating this year's Best of L.A. issue -- now out in print and online -- we're counting down, in no particular order, 100 of our favorite dishes. 18: Matsuhisa's Yellowtail Scallion Donburi. You may be able to eat chef Nobu Matsuhisa's stunning Peruvian-influenced Japanese cuisine at one of hi ... More >>

Southern Cooking, Animal-Style

Animal, Son of a Gun and the real takeaway of the Southern food trend