Best Restaurants in Los Angeles 2026
Los Angeles is the most culinarily diverse city in America. Here are the best restaurants in Los Angeles for 2026.
Best Tacos and Mexican Food
Los Angeles has the finest Mexican food outside Mexico — shaped by the largest Mexican-origin community in the United States outside the border region and a century of Mexican culinary tradition. Mariscos Jalisco on Olympic Blvd (East LA) is the definitive LA taco truck experience: the tostada de camarones (crispy fried corn tortilla with shrimp, avocado, and salsa) has been the subject of international food journalism for 20 years. Guelaguetza in Koreatown is the finest Oaxacan restaurant in the United States, serving complex mole negro, tlayudas, and mezcal in a family-run restaurant that is a genuine LA institution. For birria tacos (braised beef tacos with consommé dipping broth), Teddy's Red Tacos in Culver City is the LA benchmark.
Best Sushi and Japanese
LA's Japanese food scene is extraordinary, built on a large Japanese-American community in the Little Tokyo area of Downtown. Sushi Gen in Little Tokyo (lunch queue-only, no reservations) has served exceptional nigiri and sashimi at extremely fair prices since 1980 — the market fish set lunch is one of the best food deals in LA. Nobu in West Hollywood is the most famous LA sushi restaurant internationally (the original Nobu, founded in 1994 with Robert De Niro and Meir Teper, launched the global chain). For omakase, Shunji (West LA) and Mori Sushi (West LA) are consistently considered the finest in the city.
Best Contemporary LA Fine Dining
Osteria Mozza (Hollywood) by chef Nancy Silverton is the most beloved contemporary Italian restaurant in LA. Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica is the most acclaimed sustainable California cuisine restaurant in the city. Dialogue in Santa Monica (chef Dave Beran) is LA's most ambitious contemporary fine dining restaurant — a 10-seat counter-only tasting menu experience that is the closest LA has to a genuinely world-class contemporary dining destination. Providence in Hollywood (chef Michael Cimarusti) is LA's finest seafood fine dining restaurant, with two Michelin stars.
Practical Dining Tips for LA
LA's restaurant geography is sprawling — use Google Maps or Yelp to confirm hours, since LA restaurants have highly variable hours and many close early by international standards (kitchen closes at 10pm is common). Parking at LA restaurants: valet parking is standard at most mid-to-upscale restaurants (USD 8-15); street parking meters run in many areas until 10pm. Resy and Yelp Reservations are the dominant LA booking platforms. The LA taco truck scene operates largely cash-only; ATMs are usually nearby. LA tap water is safe to drink but tastes of chlorine; most LA residents use filtration.
This article was compiled by AI and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.
