Ciudad. The design of Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken’s downtown restaurant is bold — those yellow chairs, those retro drinking glasses! The menu is a Pan-American pastiche, complete with Old World footnotes. Days see lunching office workers; at night, it’s conventioneers and an arty Silver Lake/Echo Park crowd. Live Latin music on patio Wed.–Sat. 445 S. Figueroa St., downtown, (213) 486-5171. Lunch and dinner daily. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entrées $17–$28. Pan-Latino. MH $$ ¨

Pattaya. This modest Thai restaurant on Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz, has a number of things going for it. First, it has a parking lot, a true boon in this bustling, ever-hippifying neighborhood. Second, it stays open nightly until 4 a.m. Finally, it has a kitchen full of good cooks. Live music 9:30 p.m.–2 a.m. 1727 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz, (323) 666-0880. Open seven days 11 a.m.–4 a.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Entrées $10 & up. Thai. MH $ ¨ H ¦

Alex. Chef-owner Alex Scrimgeouer is talented, careful and hard-working; his Cal-French cooking hits most of the right notes, and the service is attentive. Piano music Fri.–Sat. 7–11 p.m. 6703 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 933-5233. Dinner Mon.–Sat. starting at 6 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entrées $29, plus $58 prix-fixe dinner. California French. MH $$$

Palm Thai. Palm Thai may be the most famous Thai supper club in Hollywood. The food is first-rate. Bar snacks include crisp-skinned Thai sour sausages served with fried peanuts and raw cabbage and beef jerky. Bonus: Elvis impersonator performs live. 5273 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 462-5073. Lunch and dinner seven days 11 a.m.–mid. (until 1:30 a.m. Fri.–Sat.). Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $18–$40. Thai. JG $ ¨ H

White Lotus. A lavishly designed, Asian-themed Hollywood restaurant-club, White Lotus serves a fusion-inflected version of familiar club comfort fare. But food and dining are not necessarily the featured attraction; as the evening deepens and the throng thickens, the noise level rises, the martinis flow, sushi flies from the sushi bar — it’s a locus, a scene — and a pleasant one at that. A DJ plays hiphop and R&B from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. 1743 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 463-0060. Dinner Tues.–Sat. 6 p.m.–10:30 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. Entrées $14.50–$32. AE, D, MC, V. Asian fusion. MH $$ ¨ H

Mastro’s. One of a small chain of Scottsdale-based steakhouses, Mastro’s has the look — volcanic rock work, blackout curtains, black-leather banquettes — of desert resorts, supper clubs, casinos and other booze-filled refuges where the dreaded sun don’t shine. Meat dominates the menu; order the Kansas City bone-in, the porterhouse or the bone-in rib-eye. Live jazz from 7 p.m. until closing. 246 N. Cañon Dr., Beverly Hills, (310) 888-8782. Open for dinner weekdays 5–11 p.m., weekends 5 p.m.–mid. Entrées $20–$47. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. American. MH $$$ ¨ ÜH

Carousel Restaurant. There are two Carousels, and the Glendale branch may well be the best, most interesting Lebanese-Armenian restaurant in Los Angeles. The big, brash room, bedecked with scimitars and other Middle Eastern antiques, accommodates large parties and dating couples alike — but there’s also a more intimate patio. Live music Fri.–Sat. 9:30 p.m.–1:30 a.m. 304 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, (818) 246-7775. Tues.–Thurs. 11:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m., Fri.–Sat. 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m. 5112 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 660-8060. Tues.–Sun. 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. Full bar, Glendale; no alcohol, Hollywood. Lot parking. DC, MC, V. Entrées $7.50–$20. Middle Eastern/Lebanese-Armenian. MH $

Madre’s. Jennifer Lopez’s restaurant in Pasadena is old-fashioned and charming, with lots of ruffled shabby-chic linen, damask and crystal chandeliers. The service is terrific, the food similar to what you’d find at a fancy Cuban wedding: fufu, yuca, roasted pork, oxtails, mojo-drenched chicken and shrimp — all in great heaping portions. Strolling trio of musicians perform Tues.–Sun. 7:30–10 p.m. 897 Granite Dr., Pasadena, (626) 744-0900. Open Tues.–Sun. 11 a.m.–3 p.m.; dinner 5–10 p.m. Full bar. Bar open 11 a.m.–11 p.m. Valet parking. Dress code. Major credit cards. Entrées $10–$30. Cuban. MH ¤ ¨ Ü

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