Besha Rodell

Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best New Italian-American Restaurant

Besha Rodell
Chef Zach Pollack has already helped to define L.A.'s Italian food scene, first at Sotto and then at Alimento, his fantastic restaurant in Silver Lake. Now at Cosa Buona he's helping to define the new school of Italian-American food, serving pizzas and classic pizza-parlor fare with a cheffy spin. That......
Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best New Izakaya

Besha Rodell
It's only its tiny size that keeps Tsubaki from being a drinks-first izakaya, because if people used this place even remotely like a bar, the economics of the enterprise would fail spectacularly. The drinks, however, are what make Tsubaki so exciting, thanks to sommelier Courtney Kaplan, who co-owns the restaurant......
Credit: B. Rodell

Best Mall Food

Besha Rodell
A giant shiny upscale American mall is probably the last place you'd expect to find fantastic food, but in recent years the Americana at Brand has made a vigorous push to change that. You can still eat at the Cheesecake Factory if you want to, but you also can eat......
Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best Modern Indonesian

Besha Rodell
Upon its opening in February, Pasadena's Bone Kettle was touted as "a bone-broth concept." This description buried the lede significantly: The far more interesting thing about Bone Kettle is its chef, Erwin Tjahyadi, and his use of Indonesian flavors on this menu. Bone Kettle is not a purely Indonesian restaurant......
Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best Restaurant Atmosphere

Besha Rodell
What restaurant makes you feel fabulous and stylish and wonderful just because you were smart enough to walk in the door? Kismet does. The all-day restaurant from chefs Sarah Hymanson and Sara Kramer and restaurateurs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo has a way of charming you so much, you become......
Credit: B. Rodell

Best Late-Night Thai Food

Besha Rodell
Despite the fact that Hollywood Boulevard is a place where many people find themselves stumbling around drunk late at night, until now we would have been hard-pressed to heartily recommend late-night food to help with that drunkenness. But all of that changed earlier this year when Crying Tiger opened a......
Three-piece dark plate with coleslaw and baked beans; Credit: Anne Fishbein

Best Place to Get Crispy, Spicy, Golden Fried Goodness

Besha Rodell
Gus's Fried Chicken in Mid-City has joined the list of restaurants bringing Southern fried chicken to the West Coast. The short, succinct menu specializes in its namesake fried chicken, but it also offers a delicious appetizer seldom seen on L.A. menus: fried green tomatoes. As for the spicy fried chicken......
Credit: Samanta Helou

Best Wine Shop

Besha Rodell
Was there ever any doubt that Esters would be a boon for Santa Monica? When the team behind Rustic Canyon, Milo & Olive, Huckleberry and Cassia turned their attention to creating a neighborhood wine bar, it would have been foolish to bet against its greatness. Esters is a partnership between......
Credit: Janel G./Yelp

Best Old-School Burger

Besha Rodell
The owner of Hawkins House of Burgers, Cynthia Hawkins, knows a newbie when she sees one. "Your first time here?" she asks a couple of women, huddled facing the menu on the wall of this tiny burger shack. The women nod, and Hawkins says, "How did you hear about us?......