When L&E Oyster Bar opened last year, it gave the cutest retail strip of Silver Lake a focal point — and it gave the east side of town a place for oysters and crisp wine. A year later, L&E just keeps getting better. The cooking is better: The menu features a seafood boudin noir made with spiny lobster, shrimp and cuttlefish ink that will knock your socks off, and the salads and nibbles continue to impress. The space is better, too: The new upstairs bar gives the restaurant its much-needed hangout spot. The original restaurant is lovely in its tininess, but it could be a bit of a mob scene. And the oysters are just as good as ever, so much so that last year we named it the best oyster bar in town, and we stick by that assertion as well. 1637 Silver Lake Blvd., Silver Lake. (323) 660-2255, leoysterbar.com. —Besha Rodell

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