65 of our favorite places to eat in the San Fernando Valley
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Los Angeles has many valleys, but only one is the Valley. You know it as soon as you crest over the 101, 405, 170 or 5 freeways, its bordering hills verdant or golden depending on the time of year. Pull off almost any exit and you’ll immediately be greeted by shopping centers, strip malls, mom-and-pop markets and fine-dining dens serving up some of the city’s most ambitious and heartfelt meals.
Bounded by mountains on all sides, the San Fernando Valley spans 260 square miles and is home to nearly half of L.A.’s population, around 1.8 million people. Across its expanse, it assumes many identities.
Our favorite places to eat and drink in the 818. From high-end sushi to burger shacks, tiki bars, dives and more.
Long before its peaks and basins were crisscrossed with highways and miles-long boulevards, the Tongva people lived along the water-rich and wooded areas of the Valley for more than 7,000 years. In the late 18th century, Spanish settlers by way of Mexico traversed over the Santa Monica Mountains into what is now known as Encino.
More than a century ago, the citrus orchards began to give way as Warner Bros., Walt Disney and Universal studios built out their filming lots. A tinge of Tinseltown and tourism followed, while room to grow brought a midcentury housing boom to the region. Themed restaurants and tiki haunts popped up to keep diners entertained. Now, it’s difficult to find a Valley establishment that hasn’t made a TV or film appearance.
As Valley dwellers began settling in — immigrants, suburban families, celebrities — its food scene flourished in step.
On Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, you’ll find Casa Vega, its dim interior practically untouched since Rafael “Ray” Vega first founded it in 1956. The son of Tijuana-born immigrants who ran popular Cafe Caliente on Olvera Street beginning in the 1930s, Vega introduced many Valley diners — including a flock of silver screen regulars — to Mexican-American staples such as fajitas and enchiladas.
The Valley is home to the state’s first materia, a Middle Eastern cafe brewing sand coffee and a dedicated margarita bar from an award-winning beverage team, with plenty of neighborhood dives in between.
Farther south in Studio City, take your pick from a parade of Japanese restaurants along Sushi Row. The stretch of Ventura Boulevard became a hub for high-end Japanese cuisine after pioneering chef Kazunori Nozawa opened his Edo-style sushi restaurant Nozawa in 1987. Though that location has since closed, Nozawa has spawned a global restaurant empire with his KazuNori, Nozawa Bar and Sugarfish chains.
Pull off the main drag and you’ll find hidden gem burger shacks, taquerias, hot dog joints, kebab shops and neighborhood delis. Meanwhile, Valley residents are spearheading new concepts.
“We’re born and bred Valley kids, so we had to do it in the Valley,” said Marissa Shammas on opening Yala Coffee, a Middle Eastern-inspired cafe, with her husband Zain Shammas in Studio City. “[People] commonly think [the Valley] is where things go to die — and we think that that’s where things go to be more.”
There’s more to discover than ever when it comes to dining in the 818 (or 747). Eight Times food writers spent months exploring the Valley in search of the best for this guide, reconnecting with old favorites and finding new surprises.
For me, it was also an exercise in nostalgia. Old shortcuts returned like muscle memory as I reacquainted myself with the Woodland Hills blocks where I navigated young adulthood. In North Hollywood, my home for several years into my early 30s, former standbys suddenly returned to the forefront of my mind: The tiki bar across the street from my old apartment, a hole-in-the-wall Puerto Rican restaurant where salsa music draws you in, a vibrant Jamaican bistro that now sits in Sherman Oaks. I found myself wishing I could linger in the Valley longer.
Here are our favorites, spanning Filipino-Mexican fusion in a Northridge car wash-turned-restaurant, a DMV-adjacent street-stand for lamb barbacoa in Arleta and a fast-growing mini chain of Sephardic pastries. It’s time to dig into the Valley.
— Danielle Dorsey
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Chatsworth
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Les Sisters' Southern Kitchen
Chatsworth Soul Food Southern $
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )
Jessica Huling, whose grandmother Clara opened the original Les Sisters’ in Chatsworth nearly 40 years ago, runs the remaining, newer location in Winnetka. It’s a casual, comfortable space with counter service and walls adorned with the restaurant’s various accolades. And there are many, with Huling’s fried chicken worthy of all the awards. The chicken is seasoned well with a mixture of herbs and spices that bring to mind Thanksgiving dinner, and the skin is golden and craggy. There’s also meatloaf, smothered pork chops, catfish, hush puppies, po’boys, gumbo and jambalaya. The collard greens are some of the best in town, tender and submerged in pot liquor you’ll want to sip.
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Canoga Park
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Go's Mart
Canoga Park Japanese $$$$
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Go’s Mart — the eight-seat sushi counter that started as an addendum to a market and video store in a classic Canoga Park strip mall — is nearing its 30th anniversary. The shelves of snacks and video tapes are long gone, but Tsuyoshi and Chiemi Kawano are the bedrock spirit of the place, a beloved and quintessential Valley charmer decorated with various refrigerators, frenetic-orange paint and the occasional spray of lilies or tuberose. On the back wall is a dry-erase board of the day’s fish, usually 20 to 30 varieties. Recently that included young amberjack, butterfish, kohada, seki aji, live sweet shrimp, Japanese scallop and uni, snow crab, hairy crab, baby abalone and spear squid.
Tsuyoshi is known for his particular brand of sushi chef flair, fillips of punchy flavors such as shiso, yuzu kosho, lemon peel and a sliver of tsukudani (preserved kelp) for tai snapper or one tiny, crunchy ingot of white onion and a top hat of caviar for his kawagishi toro. But the fundamentals of Edomae sushi — harmonious neta (toppings) and shari (seasoned rice) — aren’t overlooked, which is why he has so many devout regulars.
Tsuyoshi is known for his particular brand of sushi chef flair, fillips of punchy flavors such as shiso, yuzu kosho, lemon peel and a sliver of tsukudani (preserved kelp) for tai snapper or one tiny, crunchy ingot of white onion and a top hat of caviar for his kawagishi toro. But the fundamentals of Edomae sushi — harmonious neta (toppings) and shari (seasoned rice) — aren’t overlooked, which is why he has so many devout regulars.
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Winnetka
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Cupid's Hot Dogs
Winnetka American restaurant $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Few things feel more quintessentially San Fernando Valley than a Cupid dog on a hot day. Maybe it’s the large “The VALLEY” mural in the Winnetka location’s parking lot — where carhop service and car shows can occasionally be found — or perhaps it’s that iconic heart-shaped signage that’s stood over low-slung buildings and strip malls for nearly 80 years. It’s probably the fact that the Walsh family’s been slinging hot dogs across the Valley since 1946, with sisters Morgan and Kelly Walsh serving as third-generation stewards. Whatever the case, their thin dogs still snap with each bite. The signature Cupid dog — a creation of their father’s in the 1980s — is punchy with mustard and onions, and the chili is so thick it’s practically a paste. The flavors and generational influence collide here, a sort of trip through decades of family and Valley history in a single hot dog stand.
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Woodland Hills
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Brothers Sushi
Woodland Hills Sushi Restaurant $$$
(Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)
The composed plates are some of the most creative of L.A.’s omakases, and the sushi menu runs the gamut from traditional nigiri and hand rolls to dry-aged fish that’s dripping with ponzu jelly, wakame and chive blossoms. Opt for the omakase or the sushi omakase to let owner and sushi chef Mark Okuda lead you through a procession of dishes, or go the a la carte route to build a meal of sushi and small plates such as agedashi black sesame tofu topped with uni; fried dry-aged fish bones that make for a perfect drinking snack; and seared dry-aged toro with ice plants and tomato, a dish that should be (and usually is) on every table.
Okuda, a child of the Valley and an Asanebo vet, has built a small sushi empire beginning with Woodland Hills, then Santa Monica and Culver City. The original location feels the most quintessential, with Okuda’s own collectibles on display along with his favorite knives. Stroll to the back to peek at the dry-aging fish refrigerator, but take a seat at the sushi counter for the best view of the night: Okuda and his team carefully preparing each morsel.
Okuda, a child of the Valley and an Asanebo vet, has built a small sushi empire beginning with Woodland Hills, then Santa Monica and Culver City. The original location feels the most quintessential, with Okuda’s own collectibles on display along with his favorite knives. Stroll to the back to peek at the dry-aging fish refrigerator, but take a seat at the sushi counter for the best view of the night: Okuda and his team carefully preparing each morsel.
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LaaLaaPan
Woodland Hills Indonesian $
(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
With so many of the world’s cuisines available in Southern California restaurants, it’s surprising that Indonesian food is underrepresented here. A few great places — Agung on Beverly Blvd., Indo Cafe in Palms, Merry’s House of Chicken in West Covina and more — have appeared and then disappeared. But as columnist Jenn Harris wrote recently, a smattering of new Indonesian restaurants have emerged. One of the best is LaaLaaPan, opened two years ago by Lili Winahyu in a Woodland Hills mini-mall. You will want the Indonesian fried chicken, which comes with three different sambals, including one amped with shrimp paste and another with green chiles that is hard to stop eating. In-the-know regulars go for Winahyu’s nasi goreng pete, which, inspired by her grandmother’s cooking, turns the familiar Indonesian fried rice dish intriguingly pungent with pete or sator beans — also known as stinky beans for their bitter aftertaste. Think funky asparagus. Nasi tumpeng mini is a good sampler of the restaurant’s dishes, with beef rendang, chicken sate, omelet strips, stir-fried noodles and the fried fermented soybean cake called orek tempeh around a cone of coconut-turmeric rice. For dessert or, my preference, to sip with the food, try LaaLaaPan’s es teler with jackfruit, avocado, shredded coconut, condensed milk and coconut water served in a milkshake glass. It’s not only refreshing, but it helps tame the stinky bean funk.
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Prose Kitchen & Bar
Woodland Hills Italian Mediterranean American Californian $$
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )
Partners David and Molly Gussin took over the former Gasolina Cafe space in Woodland Hills and opened Prose Kitchen and Bar in February. It’s a cozy neighborhood restaurant with forest green walls and plush leather booths designed for lounging and lingering. David’s culinary background includes stints at Fig & Olive, Cleo and STK, and the restaurant has a menu that’s as diverse as his resume with dishes you’ll want to pass around the table. Cheddar and chive biscuits both flake and crumble. Order enough for the entire table and ask for extra honey butter. Lasagna rolls are filled with a mixture of smooth mascarpone, ricotta and braised short rib. Tender, roasted beets are arranged over a smear of spiced labneh with crispy lentils and a pomegranate vinaigrette. Without a full liquor license, there’s wine, zero-proof cocktails and espresso drinks for now. The dessert on every table is a sticky toffee pudding growing in a butterscotch toffee sauce with vanilla crème anglaise and candied pecans. It’s as excellent and decadent as you’re imagining.
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Northridge
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Brent's Deli
Northridge Deli $$
(Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)
I have been frequenting Brent’s Deli in Northridge since I was in diapers, and I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t a wait for a table. The booths are filled with big families and groups of friends. The dining room is always warm and buzzing. The mini potato pancakes manage to be all crush on the outside and fluff in the middle. The cherry apple sauce is the color of a sunset. If I’m at Langer’s, the only bread is the double-baked rye bread. At Brent’s, the long onion roll is the preferred vessel for the grilled pastrami, slathered with Thousand Island dressing. Maybe it’s the state of the world, but recently, my tastes at Brent’s have veered towards someone twice my age. It may never be sexy, but I crave the stuffed cabbage doused in a sweet and sour tomato sauce at least once a week.
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Humble Bee Bakery & Cafe
Lake Balboa Breakfast/Lunch $$
(Lauren Ng / Los Angeles Times)
Since 2012, the Bonanno family’s Humble Bee Bakery & Cafe has cemented its status as one of Northridge’s favorite breakfast spots. The farmhouse-like restaurant’s long wooden tables are filled with families for brunch on weekends, when a rotating list of specials — recent offerings include a Wagyu tri-tip hash and a pesto quiche with roasted blue oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms — are available alongside menu mainstays like the English butty: a fried egg and turkey sausage sandwich served on homemade brioche with pickled onions and arugula (tip: put those inside the sandwich) and pan-fried potatoes. On the left side of the restaurant, you’ll find long shelves of local-ish food and home products for sale, and on the right, next to a large wooden barn door, a display of freshly-baked pastries from lemon cheese danishes to whole cherry pies.
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Lum-Ka-Naad
Northridge Thai $$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The spices practically radiate off the curries, stir-frys and salads at Lum-Ka-Naad, Ratri Sonbalee’s Thai restaurant where flavor profiles range from tart to sweet to citrusy to earthy all in a single bite. After the Krabi native moved to Los Angeles she opened her first restaurant along a quaint stretch of shops in Northridge in 2004, then expanded to Encino and Woodland Hills. In Lum-Ka-Naad’s original location, you can often see her stirring and slicing from the large window that peers into the kitchen.
There are satays, sour-pork salads, sun-dried jerkies, curries, stuffed chicken wings and beyond. With a menu of more than 150 items, close your eyes and point and you’ll land on something worthwhile, but direct your attention to the Northern- and Southern-Thai sections of the menu, where Sonbalee really shines. Don’t skip the Kuah Gling Krah Dook Moo, a spicy Southern-style curry of pork spare ribs made using a recipe so secret that Sonbalee won’t teach any of her staff how to make it.
There are satays, sour-pork salads, sun-dried jerkies, curries, stuffed chicken wings and beyond. With a menu of more than 150 items, close your eyes and point and you’ll land on something worthwhile, but direct your attention to the Northern- and Southern-Thai sections of the menu, where Sonbalee really shines. Don’t skip the Kuah Gling Krah Dook Moo, a spicy Southern-style curry of pork spare ribs made using a recipe so secret that Sonbalee won’t teach any of her staff how to make it.
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Mo Nina's Filipino Restaurant
Northridge Filipino Mexican $
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times )
Tucked into a corner of the Cruisers Car Wash in Northridge, next to the Costco gas station, sits Mo Nina’s Filipino restaurant. It’s opposite the small store where customers pay for their car wash and peruse a small selection of greeting cards and air fresheners. Mo Nina’s serves a menu that’s half Filipino and half Mexican, with a menu of lechon kawali and pork sisig alongside plates of chile relleno and carne asada. Whichever style of food you choose, lunch starts with a bowl of chips and salsa along with a bowl of what tastes like bone broth studded with green onions. The pork belly adobo is salty and sweet, swimming in the familiar brown sauce spiked with soy and vinegar. If there’s fried chicken when you visit, order it. The skin is crisp and delicate, with two pieces draped over a savory coleslaw. With a straw umbrella for decor and synthetic grass separating the dining room from the car wash tunnel, it’s almost like you’re having lunch at a restaurant that’s not inside of a car wash. Almost.
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Reseda
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Firehouse Taverna
Tarzana Greek $
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
The Reseda restaurant feels like you’re eating in the downstairs living room of a friend’s home. The room smells of warm spices, and the staff greets you like you’re family. Owner Antonis C. Konnaris started cooking at his family’s home in Cyprus when he was 12 years old. His portions are generous, with each of the main entrees accompanied by a side of fluffy rice pilaf and a Greek salad. I’m partial to the Greek salad with a pile of gyros over the top for a quick weekday lunch. The grilled halloumi is perfectly squeaky. Spanakopita is filled with lemony spinach and cheese. Konnaris is making avgolemono soup and moussaka, too. If you’re in the mood for the recognizable Greek-American classics, this is the place.
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Las Fuentes
Reseda Mexican American $
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Las Fuentes started as a Reseda food truck operation with Alejandro and Norma Morales in 1980. The couple opened the restaurant in 1982, and it’s been a family-run business ever since. With a line that typically stretches out the front door, it’s easy to make friends and compare favorites while you wait to order. The plates of food are brimming with rice, refried beans covered in globs of melted cheese and dishes like Chile Colorado in a rust-red sauce, chile relleno and carne asada. The chips are always hot, and the salsa bar is self-serve. It’s the neighborhood Mexican-American restaurant everyone wants around the corner.
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Vinh Loi Tofu
Reseda Vietnamese
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
This completely vegan Vietnamese restaurant, located in a Reseda strip mall, is perfect for indecisive patrons. “I pick, you eat” is the catchphrase of owner Kevin Tran, totally California cool, striding through the restaurant in shorts and Crocs and calling out to regulars (most of the customers are), “You good?” He and wife Lynne Phan infuse a homeyness into the white-and-orange-walled establishment: Origami hearts from their children alongside Kevin’s numerous marathon medals decorate the walls; if you have a question about the food Kevin or Lynne will sit down, without asking, at the table with you; and when they inevitably choose your main dishes for you, they do so with precision and care.
In the eyes of Kevin, a chef who is constantly refining and reinventing the menu, there is no most popular dish, just what’s uniquely suited to each customer. Here, though, are some guardrails: If you come with a group, come hungry and order a spring roll, soup and stir fry dish to share. Whatever you do, be sure not to miss the teriyaki duck fried rice. With a base of chopped ramen noodles amongst the rice, the mock duck (available as a springy protein in most other mains) truly shines cooked hard, resulting in a crunch with sweet glaze.
In the eyes of Kevin, a chef who is constantly refining and reinventing the menu, there is no most popular dish, just what’s uniquely suited to each customer. Here, though, are some guardrails: If you come with a group, come hungry and order a spring roll, soup and stir fry dish to share. Whatever you do, be sure not to miss the teriyaki duck fried rice. With a base of chopped ramen noodles amongst the rice, the mock duck (available as a springy protein in most other mains) truly shines cooked hard, resulting in a crunch with sweet glaze.
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Lake Balboa
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Koko's Middle Eastern Restaurant
Lake Balboa Middle Eastern $$
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
“The dish takes about 20 minutes to bake,” said the server about manti, the tiny, tapered, open-faced meat dumplings often served at Armenian celebration meals. During the short wait, our orders for mezze arrived: a classic trio of creamy-dense hummus, moutabal (silky pepper spread with walnuts for crunch) and labne; a tomato-stained bulgur salad called eech; and shanklish, a crumbly aged cheese coated in dried herbs and spices. There would be kebabs later in the meal, but the manti proved to be the center of attention: crisped just enough, with the heady trill of allspice ringing through the filling of ground lamb and beef. Sides of yogurt and tomato sauce are meant to be poured over together for satisfying contrast. Elias Janesian, whose grandfather fled to Syria after the Armenian genocide, and his family has been preparing and serving the Syrian Lebanese repertoire of the Armenian diaspora with unusual care for 16 years. I’ve been to Koko’s several times over the years, and the crowd is always a little different. On a recent night, it was all large tables of men speaking in animated Armenian, many of whom held unlit cigarettes in one hand, poised for a smoke break, while they ate with the other hand.
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Encino
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Pasta|Bar
Encino Californian $$$$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Before “Top Chef’s” Phillip Frankland Lee and his wife and business partner, Margarita Kallas-Lee, built a country-spanning empire of restaurants and pop-ups, they began in an Encino strip mall. Their concepts there have rotated throughout the years, but it’s still where you can find their first location of Sushi Bar, as well as one of their most ambitious projects to date: the Michelin-starred Pasta|Bar, where fresh pasta, California produce and cross-cultural nods play out across a dozen or so constantly changing courses that extend far beyond pasta.
From an intimate, low-lit room and a counter that overlooks the open kitchen, watch the entirety of the evening’s meal: There’s precision but also whimsy and ample creativity, with courses such as tai crudo in calamansi and pistachio, the sauce entirely in black-and-white design; cavatelli with mole, secreto and poblano; and Kallas-Lee’s showstopping desserts such as bone marrow with raspberries and currants or a brown-butter brioche and smoked-banana ice cream sandwich garnished with caviar. This is a memorable meal and a great place to celebrate an occasion.
From an intimate, low-lit room and a counter that overlooks the open kitchen, watch the entirety of the evening’s meal: There’s precision but also whimsy and ample creativity, with courses such as tai crudo in calamansi and pistachio, the sauce entirely in black-and-white design; cavatelli with mole, secreto and poblano; and Kallas-Lee’s showstopping desserts such as bone marrow with raspberries and currants or a brown-butter brioche and smoked-banana ice cream sandwich garnished with caviar. This is a memorable meal and a great place to celebrate an occasion.
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Posto 896
Encino Hungarian Italian $$
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Hungarian is one cuisine rarely found among the plenitudes of Los Angeles. Peter Fabian-Zomora aimed to represent when he opened Posto 896 in a cozy, sunny space in an Encino strip mall at the end of 2022. He divides the menu between Italian and Hungarian dishes; it’s the latter that makes the restaurant worth seeking out. Start, as is traditional, with soup. In summer, choose a cooling sour cherry variation scented with cinnamon and cloves and thickened with sour cream. Hearty, beefy goulash will warm, and for evergreen comfort there is chicken soup smoothed with the merest amount of cream and scented with the licorice nip of tarragon. Home in on three entrees: chicken paprikash in a velvety sauce properly rouged with paprika and served over nokedi, the Hungarian equivalent of spaetzle; cubed pork sauteed with a homey jumble of bacon, potatoes, onion and garlic; and excellent stuffed cabbage, the leaves pickled to offset the richness of the ground beef and rice filling, and a finishing slick of sour cream. Yes, a lot of sour cream appears in the food, but it never registers on the palate as overkill in the context of the cooking.
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Sabzee Mediterranean Market
Encino Persian cuisine Middle Eastern cuisine $$
(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
There are many fine Persian restaurants in the San Fernando Valley — Sadaf in Encino, Shirin in Woodland Hills and Shamshiri in Northridge among them. Two of the more interesting places to get Persian kebabs, stews and soups (including ash reshteh, the always-satisfying greens-and-noodles soup) are next door to each other in Woodland Hills — Denj and Asal Bakery & Kebab, which is known for its sangak. (That’s the pebbly Persian flatbread that, as Times contributor Margy Rochlin once wrote, is “sold in sheets so long they could be used as sesame-seed encrusted table runners.”) But it’s through a neighborhood’s supermarkets that you get a sense of what residents want to eat, and one spot that shows the depth of the Valley’s love of Persian food is the always-busy Sabzee Mediterranean Market. (Finding a parking spot there is a challenge with many rewards — try for a street spot instead of the lot.) In addition to marinated meats for cooking at home, fresh produce, plus good French and Bulgarian feta cheese, Sabzee’s prepared food section makes dinner at home easy and delicious. There are not only kebabs, soup and stews (such as a deeply flavored fesenjoon), but an impressive array of rice dishes, from herb-packed polos to burnished tahdig-crusted rice casseroles, including the layered chicken tahchin. Most in demand, however, are Sabzee’s flatbreads — sangak as well as taftoon — made in a rotating oven. “Ten more minutes!” a baker tells one customer, who ignores the already-packaged sheets of sangak made earlier. “I’ll wait,” she tells him. “I want mine hot.”
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Shin Sushi
Encino Japanese $$$
(Yasara Gunawardena / For The Tim)
Among the abundance of sushi across the Valley, for a reasonable omakase (around $200 per person) I particularly admire Shin Sushi in Encino, an experience of the genre stripped to its essence. Chef-owner Taketoshi Azumi doesn’t pad an evening at his counter with farmers market finds, vegan derivations, A5 Wagyu or truffle salt. Dinner will start with an appetizer plate of rotating seafood and a vegetable (say, blanched fresh bamboo shoot) that frequently includes one sawagani — a tiny fried crab that is entirely crunch. Then Azumi, who has mastered the art of concentrating while smilingly chatting with customers, channels his energies solely into nigiri. His unions of seasonal fish and rice are riveting, no maximalist embellishments needed. Pray that he receives his shipment of menegi, needle-thin Japanese chives. He binds a bundle of them to rice with a band of nori and a finishing sprinkle of bonito flakes. This is often a finale piece, and its resonant sharpness doesn’t dim until after a spoonful or two of tofu mousse with black sugar syrup for dessert.
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Van Nuys
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Bill's Burgers
Van Nuys American restaurant $
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles is a burger-loving region with countless patties to pick from, but few left their mark on the iconic item as much as Bill Elwell. The sardonic and occasionally cantankerous restaurateur purchased his small roadside stand in 1965 and continued manning the antique flat-top grill there until earlier this year. Though he died in late July at the age of 98, his legacy lives on at Bill’s Burgers, where his double cheeseburger remains the platonic ideal: perfectly crusted, not-too-thin patties draped in melty American cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion, all wrapped together in paper. The shack — which opens early for breakfast — also offers chili dogs, burger-patty breakfast burritos and egg sandwiches. A few of Elwell’s less meaty signatures can still be found here, too: It’s still cash-only, and there are no substitutions. You can almost hear his voice when you read the warning at the top and bottom of the menu: “You can’t have it your way, this is not Burger King.”
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Cemitas Don Adrian
Van Nuys Mexican $
(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
“Number 8 or 11,” the cashier told me through the walk-up window at Cemitas Don Adrian when I asked for her favorites on the long menu of cemitas, a sandwich that originated in Puebla, Mexico. No. 8 comes with cured steak, but I opted for no. 11 with milanesa de pollo. A breaded, pounded-thin slab of dark meat chicken is tucked inside a toasted, plate-sized cemita bun crusted with sesame seeds and with lettuce, white onion, avocado, tomato, crumbly queso fresco, stringy quesillo and your choice of chipotle or jalapeño peppers spilling out. I took the cashier’s recommendation and ordered mine with jalapeños, which are just-pickled, slightly crunchy and acidic with a mild heat. Papalo is added when it’s in season. Cilantro and radishes are served on the side. Ranging from $15 for no. 11 to up to $23 for the “L.A. 100%” that’s loaded with five meats, it’s easy to see why local workers line up for the cemitas every weekday around lunchtime. Outside of the cashier’s picks, the sandwiches can come stuffed with breaded steak, lamb barbacoa or marinated chicken with head cheese, plus eggs, tofu and additional vegetarian options. A second location with seating is just a couple minutes away on Van Nuys Boulevard.
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El Cocinero Restaurant
Van Nuys Vegan
(Betty Hallock/Los Angeles Times)
Sometimes with vegan restaurants you wish the chef prioritized vegetables rather than meat substitutes. Not so at El Cocinero, which perfectly mimics the sabroso of a street-side taqueria for those who don’t eat meat. Burritos, nachos and tacos are the most popular dishes at this casual strip mall joint lodged between a nail spa and drug testing establishment. Of the proteins — exceptionally seasoned soy saves the jackfruit carnitas — the crunch and flavor of the chicaron, served with chipotle mayo, tomato, onion and cilantro, stand out. But the side dishes shine here too: The just-salty-enough refried beans, not overly thick with the consistency of a split pea soup, are a must. If you’re in a rush or want to stock your fridge, pozole, ceviche de palmitos and almond-based flan are sold to-go.
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Kobee Factory
Van Nuys Syrian Mediterranean $
(Mariah Tauger/Los Angeles Times)
Kibbeh, in its essence, is a combination of spiced ground meat and fine bulgur wheat; how a cook shapes and prepares the recipe varies regionally between eastern Mediterranean countries. At Waha Ghreir’s restaurant in Van Nuys, the shape and texture of her tapered fried kibbeh are superior, the crunch of the ground bulgur shell properly crisp and the spiced filling generous with pine nuts. Look for variations less common in local dining rooms, including a slightly bouncier grilled version of kibbeh, a specialty of Ghreir’s native Syria, and a beautiful layered variation baked in a pan. The rest of the menu has gradually expanded since she opened Kobee Factory in 2014. One can order a feast of smooth baba ghanoush and lemony stuffed grape leaves; plates of singed chicken and beef kebabs or beautifully collapsing lamb shank over rice with chopped salad and a swirl of hummus on the side; and wraps filled with garlicky chicken shawarma or doughnut-shaped falafel. The dining room, with half a dozen tables and spare decor, is unassuming, but the cooking — precise, soulful — is anything but.
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Mariscos Corona
Van Nuys Mexican
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
At this no-frills Mexican seafood restaurant, the service is as quick as the plates are big. The ceviche, to start, is served with avocado and features a bright lime flavor that tastes just like a bag of Limón flavored chips. The dish is happily outdone by the aguachile ostiones, oysters set in an ice bath of tangy verde marinade. Though the oysters admittedly lack that fresh-from-the-sea brine, when topped with shrimp, cucumber, avocado, red onion and jalapeño, you can’t deny a perfectly balanced bite.
If you’re really hungry, a whole red snapper can be grilled or fried and served al la diabla, al mojo de ajo, rancheros, al ajillo or a la veracruzana, with killer fries on the side. Aside from food, the original Mariscos Corona location serves jamaica and pineapple juices and horchata, but if you want to enjoy a margarita with your seafood, a second location on Victory Boulevard serves beer and liquor.
If you’re really hungry, a whole red snapper can be grilled or fried and served al la diabla, al mojo de ajo, rancheros, al ajillo or a la veracruzana, with killer fries on the side. Aside from food, the original Mariscos Corona location serves jamaica and pineapple juices and horchata, but if you want to enjoy a margarita with your seafood, a second location on Victory Boulevard serves beer and liquor.
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Mercado Buenos Aires
Van Nuys Argentinian $
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Owner Paul Rodriguez air-dries his provoleta with dried herbs for 48 hours. The method helps prepare the cheese for the extreme heat of the grill, giving it a bitter, pronounced sharpness that mellows once it’s melted. Rodriguez says the skillets of hot cheese are a common way to start a meal back home in Argentina. The asador at the Van Nuys restaurant cooks the cheese until it approaches molten but doesn’t collapse completely. Follow the cheese with a parrilla Argentina, served on a tabletop grill meant to bring a taste of Rodriguez’s weekend barbecues to your table. Skirt steak, short ribs and links of chorizo sizzle on the small grills filled with hot charcoal. You dunk them in a chunky salsa criollo or green chimichurri. And because the restaurant is also a market and deli, you can grab a jar of the chimichurri, a bottle of Malbec and some empanadas to take home.
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Sweet Bakery & Kabob Factory
Valley Glen kabob shop $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Throw a stone and find great kebabs all over the San Fernando Valley, but duck into one particular Van Nuys strip mall to find one of the best triple threats: a combination kebab shop, Armenian bakery and market. The grocery shelves are a kaleidoscope of colorful labels: Armenian specialty goods, Eastern European jarred vegetables, Middle Eastern dips and spreads, dried beans and grains, tubs of spices stacked high. The butcher case stretches the length of the kitchen with marinated meats that can come home with you or find their way onto mighty sword-like skewers that get grilled to order over the coals. Portions are generous and prices are competitive at Sweet Bakery & Kabob Factory, where most kebab plates run $12.99.
Attached is Sweet Bakery, where the daily-baked bounty includes tarts, cakes, leavened breads and savory pastries. Spicy mushrooms or ground beef top crispy-edged lahmajoon; fresh perashki, the dough just-crisp from a deep fry, comes stuffed with ground beef, sauteed cabbage or dilly mashed potatoes; and the ring-like loaves of matnaqash are a golden brown. Be sure to pick something from all three — the the bakery, the market and the grill — and don’t overlook the cases of fresh baba ghanoush and chicken soup or the freezer of handmade dumplings.
Attached is Sweet Bakery, where the daily-baked bounty includes tarts, cakes, leavened breads and savory pastries. Spicy mushrooms or ground beef top crispy-edged lahmajoon; fresh perashki, the dough just-crisp from a deep fry, comes stuffed with ground beef, sauteed cabbage or dilly mashed potatoes; and the ring-like loaves of matnaqash are a golden brown. Be sure to pick something from all three — the the bakery, the market and the grill — and don’t overlook the cases of fresh baba ghanoush and chicken soup or the freezer of handmade dumplings.
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Tun Lahmajo
Burbank Armenian $$
(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)
The signature at the Valley’s finest Armenian restaurant is right there in the name: lahmajo, a mottled, golden-edged flatbread smeared with a silky-rough mixture of seasoned beef and tomato paste right to the brim. A squeeze of lemon is the only embellishment it needs. There’s one lahmajo variation covered with cheese, though for the pleasures of molten dairy I’d steer you more toward the restaurant’s selection of khachapuris, especially the puffed Megrelakan enriched with eggs and butter and the salty, stretchy cheese called sulguni. Savory breads, flat or otherwise, are Tun Lahmajo’s calling cards. If you’re curious, though, the menu reaches far deeper, into categories of homestyle Armenian dishes rarely seen in Los Angeles restaurants: cold salads, roasted meats, a range of soups and herbed stews. Order a starter of strained yogurt, its density somewhere between mascarpone and cream cheese, to dollop over ripped hunks of lahmajo and bring silkiness to meats like lamb ribs roasted in the oven. I love the way qrchick, a ruddy soup jolted with pickled cabbage, slashes through the richness of the khachapuris. Fish khashlama, one among a class of brothy stews, is a summery joy, brought out in a pot with hunks of trout, peeled potatoes and whole peppers and heaped with dill, parsley and other feathery herbs.
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Pacoima
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Pupusería Cuzcatlán
Pacoima Salvadoran $
(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
There’s no shortage of valley restaurants serving Salvadoran food, but the pupusas at Pupusería Cuzcatlán are at least 38% better than the rest, the chicken pastelitos fuller, the salsa more electric. The loroco and cheese ooze out from the pockets of masa harina, each one mottled with crisp golden patches across the surface. The pasatelitos are delicate with a rich corn flavor, nearly bursting with stewed shredded chicken, potato and carrots. One is a snack. With a pupusa it’s a meal. There’s a small dining room and a storefront near the register with a comprehensive selection of packaged Salvadoran snacks. The beverage cooler is stocked with bottles of Cuzcatlán, a drink that shares a name with the restaurant, and refers to a precolonial El Salvador. It’s an orange-hued carbonated beverage that tastes a little like cream soda and pairs nicely with just about anything on the menu.
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Arleta
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Barbacoa Ramirez
Arleta Mexican $
(Andrea D’Agosto / For The Times)
Lamb barbacoa — when cooked properly for hours to buttery-ropy tenderness — is such a painstaking art that most practitioners sell it only on the weekends. In the Los Angeles area, conversations around sublime lamb barbacoa should start at the stand that Gonzalo Ramirez sets up on Saturday and Sunday mornings near the Arleta DMV. You’ll see him and his family wearing red T-shirts that say “Atotonilco El Grande Hidalgo” to honor their hometown in central-eastern Mexico. Ramirez tends and butchers lambs in the Central Valley. He and his crew slow-cook the meat in a pit overnight. Cradled in plush made-to-order tortillas, tacos come filled with three options: smoky, molten-textured barbacoa barely hinting of garlic; a pancita variation stained with chiles that has many, many fans and goes fast; and singular moronga, a nubbly, herbaceous sausage made with lamb’s blood. Join the line (if it’s long, someone usually hands out samples of meat to encourage patience) and then find a place at the communal outdoor table. Worried that options might run out, I tend to arrive before 9 a.m., a time when Ramirez’s rare craftsmanship often inspires a mood where people sit quietly. The official hours are 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., though the day’s supply can run out far before early afternoon.
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Sherman Oaks
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Anajak Thai
Sherman Oaks Thai $$
(Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
What is this critic’s vote for the best restaurant across the entirety of the San Fernando Valley? The answer begins in Sherman Oaks in 1981, with the restaurant founded by Ricky Pichetrungsi, whose recipes merge his Thai upbringing and Cantonese heritage, and his wife Rattikorn. In 2019, when Ricky suffered a stroke, the couple’s son Justin left a thriving career as an art director at Walt Disney Imagineering and take over the restaurant. It changed his life, and it changed Los Angeles. The creative individualism that Justin has asserted — specifically his Thai Taco Tuesday phenomenon, when the menu crisscrosses fish tacos lit up by chili crisp and limey nam jim with wok-fragrant drunken noodles and Dungeness crab fried rice, and also building what has become one of L.A.’s great wine lists — catapulted the restaurant into one of the decade’s great dining sensations.
As of publication, Anajak Thai is currently closed as Justin oversees the restaurant’s first major renovation, inside and out, in 30 years. He’s been generous about posting progress via Instagram stories; the dining room, always a tight warren of tables, looks brighter and significantly resituated. A reopening date of August 22 is “99 percent locked in,” according to Justin. Some surprises may be in store, but expect fried chicken sheathed in rice flour batter and scattered with fried shallots, the star of the Justin-era menu, and the sublime mango sticky rice that Rattikorn makes when she can find fragrant fruit in season and at its ripest.
As of publication, Anajak Thai is currently closed as Justin oversees the restaurant’s first major renovation, inside and out, in 30 years. He’s been generous about posting progress via Instagram stories; the dining room, always a tight warren of tables, looks brighter and significantly resituated. A reopening date of August 22 is “99 percent locked in,” according to Justin. Some surprises may be in store, but expect fried chicken sheathed in rice flour batter and scattered with fried shallots, the star of the Justin-era menu, and the sublime mango sticky rice that Rattikorn makes when she can find fragrant fruit in season and at its ripest.
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Borekas Sephardic Pastries
Sherman Oaks Israeli $
(Betty Hallock / Los Angeles Times)
Early morning sunlight streams into the strip mall parking lot on Ventura Boulevard where Borekas Sephardic Pastries opens at 7 a.m. Customers who line up at the window for the takeout shop’s flaky cheese-stuffed wonders know that it’s best to arrive with the rising sun to avoid a wait (or they order in advance). Here the namesake borekas — layers of filo and clarified butter stuffed with fillings such as fresh cheese and baked to golden delight — are large oblong pies cut crosswise into several pieces as soon as they exit the oven. The menu includes both sweet and savory borekas: potato and brown butter; cultured cheese and za’atar; spinach and cheese; mushrooms, onion and truffle; and chocolate. These iconic snacks are a version of Turkish böreks, adopted by Spanish Jews who settled in the Ottoman Empire, and a counterpart to Yemenite jachnun, which are rolled into cylinders, slow-baked with whole eggs, and served with grated tomato and zhug. Medium-boiled eggs, tomato pulp, zhug and pickles are the standard trimmings at B.S.P., which now has three locations in the Valley.
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Gino's East of Chicago
Sherman Oaks Italian Restaurant
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
A fluorescent-green “Pizza” sign welcomes you to Gino’s East of Chicago. First opened by two cab drivers in Chicago’s Magnificent Mile neighborhood in 1966, the brewpub expanded to its first West Coast location in Sherman Oaks in 2020. Head to the neighborhood pizzeria for Windy City specialties such as deep-dish pies, Italian beef sandwiches loaded with giardiniera and all-beef hot dogs tucked between steamed poppy seed buns, perfect for pairing with a long list of draft and bottled beers that favor California breweries. The interior is narrow and dim with mounted TVs screening live sports, with a handful of bar seats, high-top tables and booths for getting comfortable. A full bar menu is available with appropriate bites, including cheesy mozzarella sticks, chicken wings, tavern-style pies, salads, pastas and a gooey deep-dish brownie for dessert.
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Malama Pono
Sherman Oaks Hawaiian $$
(Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times)
The spicy garlic crispy chicken at Malama Pono is the sort of dish you marvel at while you’re eating then contemplate for weeks after, craving intensely until you return for another plate. The flats and drumettes are encased in an ultra crisp coating that miraculously remains impenetrable under a deluge of red sauce that smacks of vinegar, chile and garlic. It has the tang of Buffalo but with a flavor profile all its own, the wings showered with curls of shaved Parmesan cheese. I’m not sure where these land on the culinary spectrum, but it’s one of a dozen or so dishes the Sherman Oaks restaurant describes as having a Pacific influence. There’s a version of loco moco in a rich porcini gravy. The kalua pork is served with lettuce wraps. And instead of Spam musubi, there’s Spam crispy rice.
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Natas Pastries
Sherman Oaks Portuguese Bakery $$
(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
Fatima Marques opened Natas, devoted to Portuguese specialties, back in 2005. But thanks to a pivotal baked-goods moment — call it furious munching — during Emma Stone’s Oscar-winning performance in “Poor Things,” the Sherman Oaks cafe and bakery has only grown in popularity. We wouldn’t recommend devouring as many pasteis de nata, or Portuguese custard tarts, as Stone’s character, Bella Baxter, does in the film, but it may be hard to limit yourself to just one of Marques’ many versions of the treat. (Her chocolate and coconut tarts are tempting, but the plain egg custard tarts, authentically burnished with caramelized spots from the oven, are the ones you can’t miss.)
Beyond the natas, the cafe, which is open only Friday through Sunday, serves savory Portuguese dishes in a dining room that extends from the bakery adorned with blue-and-white tile. Soups include caldo verde and sopa de pedra, and at dinner there are bacalhau or salt cod dishes, plus the seafood stew caldeirada and piri-piri chicken.
Then there is the wild and extravagant Francesinha sandwich, a baroque take on a croque madame, dripping with melted cheese, ham and Portuguese sausage and topped with an egg and molho de francesinha sauce made with tomato and beer. Fit for the appetite of Bella Baxter.
Beyond the natas, the cafe, which is open only Friday through Sunday, serves savory Portuguese dishes in a dining room that extends from the bakery adorned with blue-and-white tile. Soups include caldo verde and sopa de pedra, and at dinner there are bacalhau or salt cod dishes, plus the seafood stew caldeirada and piri-piri chicken.
Then there is the wild and extravagant Francesinha sandwich, a baroque take on a croque madame, dripping with melted cheese, ham and Portuguese sausage and topped with an egg and molho de francesinha sauce made with tomato and beer. Fit for the appetite of Bella Baxter.
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The Original Coley's
Sherman Oaks Jamaican $
(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
Don Coley opened his eponymous Jamaican restaurant in Leimert Park in 1982, where it quickly became a celebrity hot spot — serving the likes of Muhammad Ali and Barry White and even making an appearance in John Singleton’s “Boyz n the Hood” — for flavorful jerk chicken, pillowy patties bursting with curry chicken and tender ground beef and staples such as ackee and saltfish. Coley’s later relocated to Inglewood and then to a sunny yellow-and-green outpost in North Hollywood, where I was introduced to its legacy about a decade ago.
After closing and pivoting to catering during the pandemic, Coley’s reopened with a cozy dining room and patio in a Sherman Oaks strip mall in 2023, with Don’s daughter Candice Coley-Thompson and son-in-law Neil Thompson at the helm, though you’ll occasionally see the patriarch in the kitchen simmering oxtails or sauteing peppers for Rasta Pasta. The lunch specials are a great deal, offering jerk, curry or brown-stew chicken (with vegan options available) with rice and peas, one plantain and festival for $11.90 until 3 p.m. Pair your food with one of the house-made juices, including soursop, pineapple ginger, sorrel or passion punch. Imported Jamaican sodas are also available.
After closing and pivoting to catering during the pandemic, Coley’s reopened with a cozy dining room and patio in a Sherman Oaks strip mall in 2023, with Don’s daughter Candice Coley-Thompson and son-in-law Neil Thompson at the helm, though you’ll occasionally see the patriarch in the kitchen simmering oxtails or sauteing peppers for Rasta Pasta. The lunch specials are a great deal, offering jerk, curry or brown-stew chicken (with vegan options available) with rice and peas, one plantain and festival for $11.90 until 3 p.m. Pair your food with one of the house-made juices, including soursop, pineapple ginger, sorrel or passion punch. Imported Jamaican sodas are also available.
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Petit Trois Le Valley
Sherman Oaks French $$
(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)
The Sherman Oaks location of Ludo Lefebvre’s Hollywood French restaurant has all the charm of the original, in more spacious digs — a bustling French bistro on Ventura Boulevard with a patio. The French onion soup is sheathed in a blanket of melted Gruyere and Emmental cheese. The steak frites is served with a mountain of good fries and Béarnaise butter. All the French and Lefebvre classics are here, including the Big Mec, a colossal double cheeseburger drowning in a luxurious bordelaise.
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Sincerely Syria
Sherman Oaks Syrian $
(Mariah Tauger/Los Angeles Times)
Adham Kamal, raised in As-Suwayda (sometimes also spelled Sweida) in southwestern Syria, brings to Los Angeles the surprisingly delicate, deep-down-marinated shawarma he learned to make as a teenager. He operates locations in Pasadena, Anaheim and the first local stand he ran near the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street, then called Hollywood Shawarma, but the first dedicated Sincerely Syria outpost was in Sherman Oaks. It remains a favorite. Choices at this casual restaurant come down to two options: spiced lamb and beef, referred to as lahme (meat) in Arabic, or lemony chicken, called djej. Each has a traditional sauce: tahini-based tarator for lahme, toum (whipped garlic paste) for djej. The hardest decisions concern size and form. Do you want a handheld stuffed pita, or a 12- and 24-inch version, made using extra-thin flour tortillas, that come with fries? Think small is my suggestion, and ask for the wrap to be rolled using only one round side of a pita, a common request among regulars. It’s about proportions. A shawarma wrap is not a burrito. It is meant to be compact and intense. A crowning touch: Kamal and his staff finish them on the griddle, searing every angle until they’re browned and crackling.
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Sushi Note
Sherman Oaks Japanese $$$
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Since opening in Sherman Oaks in 2018, Sushi Note has mastered the art of pleasing many palates in one dining room. Two dozen options for appetizers, rolls and sashimi fill out the a la carte menu: Assemble a self-directed meal that might begin with cucumber salad dressed in sweet vinegar, a bowl of lightly seasoned shishito peppers and braised cod with aromatics of ginger and lemon. As a variation on rolls, Kiminobu Saito and his team serve spiced tuna or yellowtail over blocks of crisped rice they playfully call “biscotti.” Sashimi plates lean to the school of Nobu Matsuhisa, pooled in ponzu with bursts of yuzu or pepper paste or pink peppercorn. All that said, I have a hack for my happiest meal: I make a reservation for the counter and then request an all-nigiri omakase based around the day’s list of super-seasonal seafood. I’ve had silvery, pungent and prized kohada; delicate isaki whose name wonderfully translates in English as “chicken grunt;” houbou, or sea robin, a buttery winter fish I don’t see often on L.A. menus; and bonito marinated in brandy. Speaking of alcohol: The spectacular wine program has always been the competitive advantage that set the restaurant (and its newer sister location in Beverly Hills) apart. Ask for a pairing, or scan the serious, sometimes-pricey bottle list for geeky Chenin Blancs or 90s-era Chardonnays. Sushi Note sits across the street from Augustine Wine Bar, another wine nerd destination, which is no coincidence; oenophile David Gibbs co-owns both places.
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Uoichiba
Sherman Oaks Seafood $$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
“Fresh is boring,” reads a message on the wall at Liwei Liao’s Sherman Oaks fish market Joint Seafood, where his second location of hand roll bar Uoichiba resides. By specializing in dry-aging, the fishmonger challenges diners’ perceptions of fresh fish as the only, and best, way to eat raw fish. The rows of climate-controlled refrigerators that dominate the space at Joint serve to extend the shelf life, concentrate the flavor and create a creamy texture for Liao’s fish, which has previously been used at high-end restaurants like the Brothers Sushi and now-three Michelin-starred Providence, both of which currently dry-age their own seafood. Those looking for a taste can try hand rolls, or temaki, at Uoichiba, where everything except the prawn and crunchy crab are dry-aged.
To best appreciate the process, opt for the more traditional temaki — standouts include the whitefish with yuzu — which are offered both a la carte and in predetermined sets up to six. Other a la carte temaki err on the side of experimental, like the toasted lox bagel hand roll, served with lox schmear, steelhead trout and pickled onions. In between hand rolls, which are served one at a time, take sips of the soothing, umami fish bone stock miso soup.
To best appreciate the process, opt for the more traditional temaki — standouts include the whitefish with yuzu — which are offered both a la carte and in predetermined sets up to six. Other a la carte temaki err on the side of experimental, like the toasted lox bagel hand roll, served with lox schmear, steelhead trout and pickled onions. In between hand rolls, which are served one at a time, take sips of the soothing, umami fish bone stock miso soup.
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Studio City
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Asanebo
Studio City Japanese Sushi $$$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Tetsuya Nakao may have garnered millions of fans on social media through his wild and fanciful cooking videos, but his decades-old sushi stalwart still leans classic and deliberate, still serving technique-driven nigiri, hand rolls and composed plates at an intimate sushi bar in a Studio City strip mall. The Nobu Matsuhisa protégé offers an omakase and a sushi omakase, plus a la carte options that include charcoal-grilled vegetables, seafood and meats; signatures such as the halibut sashimi under shaved fresh truffle; and the delectable sweet-savory grilled sea bass with peaches. His online persona tends toward the outlandish and even the absurd, but at Asanebo, the beauty is in the delicate and the details: The rice is tender but still toothsome and perfectly seasoned, the fish lightly dressed. This is the real “Asanebo style.”
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Avi Cue
Studio City Middle Eastern $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The meat is mesmerizing both in taste and movement. Behind the counter the Wagyu and chicken shawarma spin on their respective spits, twirling to a golden-brown hue and a succulent, juicy texture. They’re shaved and stuffed into fluffy pita, then adorned with parsley, tahini, tomatoes, onions and a bright-tart amba. While the shawarma are the main attraction at Aviad “Avi” Yalin’s pop-up gone permanent, Avi Cue, there’s much more to love here: the freshly made fries, the gorgeously griddled arayes, the vegan cauliflower sandwich that packs just as much punch as its meatier counterparts, the silken hummus, the free cups of potent coffee — the list goes on. This is an all-hits menu from the Israeli chef.
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Casa Vega
Sherman Oaks Mexican Cuisine
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Walking into this landmark cantina off Ventura Boulevard feels like traveling back in time with Christmas lights, tinsel and papel picado strung from the ceilings and burgundy leather booths with vintage portraits perched above them — you get the sense that you might tumble into a bygone era just by staring at one too long.
Opened by Rafael “Ray” Vega in 1956 and now run by his daughter Christy Vega, Casa Vega helped popularize now-ubiquitous Mexican-American plates such as sizzling fajitas, enchiladas and hard-shell tacos, eventually earning a celebrity clientele thanks to its convenient location near Universal Studios. Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino became a regular while making his feature film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” at the restaurant, and now you can order a margarita named in his honor (with añejo tequila, fresh lemon, lime and orange slices and lemon stevia) and request to sit in his favorite booth that’s designated with an honorary plaque.
The margaritas are the true star of the menu, with a spicy version featuring a family recipe, cucumber mint, grilled pineapple and guava representing some of the options.
Opened by Rafael “Ray” Vega in 1956 and now run by his daughter Christy Vega, Casa Vega helped popularize now-ubiquitous Mexican-American plates such as sizzling fajitas, enchiladas and hard-shell tacos, eventually earning a celebrity clientele thanks to its convenient location near Universal Studios. Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino became a regular while making his feature film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” at the restaurant, and now you can order a margarita named in his honor (with añejo tequila, fresh lemon, lime and orange slices and lemon stevia) and request to sit in his favorite booth that’s designated with an honorary plaque.
The margaritas are the true star of the menu, with a spicy version featuring a family recipe, cucumber mint, grilled pineapple and guava representing some of the options.
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Daichan
Studio City Japanese
(Jessie Schiewe / For The Times)
Be prepared to wait when visiting this cozy restaurant that specializes in self-described “Japanese soul food.” Daichan has been serving Studio City since 1991; the walls, packed with Japanese scrolls, masks and chimes, make you feel like you’ve stepped into a museum of a home – the perfect backdrop for what will undoubtedly be a joyous meal.
Daichan is known for serving fresh poke before it was trendy, but the menu is vast, covering everything from sushi to katsu to soba to hot pot. Before diving into your main, savor the tender baby squid, bathed in a warm sweet sauce, that puts other restaurants’ calamari to shame. Draped in a lighter broth, the agedashi, or fried tofu, is literally melt-in-your-mouth good. One of the women working front of house will recommend that the pork katsu or seafood poke bowl are the most popular dishes, but don’t overlook the noodle section. The udon has the perfect bouncy consistency, and you’ll be tipping back your bowl to finish the broth.
Daichan is known for serving fresh poke before it was trendy, but the menu is vast, covering everything from sushi to katsu to soba to hot pot. Before diving into your main, savor the tender baby squid, bathed in a warm sweet sauce, that puts other restaurants’ calamari to shame. Draped in a lighter broth, the agedashi, or fried tofu, is literally melt-in-your-mouth good. One of the women working front of house will recommend that the pork katsu or seafood poke bowl are the most popular dishes, but don’t overlook the noodle section. The udon has the perfect bouncy consistency, and you’ll be tipping back your bowl to finish the broth.
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Joan’s on Third
Studio City American
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Even at 9:30 a.m. there are massive silver mixing bowls of Chinese chicken salad on nearly every table at this buzzing market and restaurant, and the line for the likes of cappuccinos and dragon fruit smoothies flows in a constant stream. Entrepreneur Joan McNamara built a small empire from her catering business, which evolved into Beverly Grove market Joan’s on Third in the 1990s. Then she expanded her reach in 2014 with an outpost in Studio City, where A-listers, locals and studio heads can be found ordering salads, meatloaf sandwiches, buttermilk pancakes (the hefty signature) decadent wedges of mac and cheese and more from the restaurant side. They’re also grabbing pantry items, gifts and wine off the shelves, or take-and-bake dinners from the freezer, or an array of cheese, spreads and crackers from the cheese case. Now running the business with her daughters, McNamara built a multi-generational one-stop shop for all meals and hours of the day and for any occasion.
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Joe’s Falafel
Studio City Mediterranean
(Jennifer Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Hidden in a cramped strip mall off Ventura Boulevard, this unassuming Mediterranean restaurant is where to go for your falafel fix. Owner Joe Mattar will likely spear one for you to sample fresh from the fryer, shaped like mini-muffins with a crunchy exterior that gives way to a fluffy, herb-speckled middle. Order them on their own or wrapped in fresh pita or thin laffa bread. Two spits behind the register rotate pillars of gyro and chicken shawarma that get shaved into wraps or plates with rice, fries, hummus, baba ghanoush, cabbage and tabbouleh. My go-to order is to the chicken shawarma plate (with extra pickled turnips) that I always add a few falafel to for 99 cents each. The unfussy bistro was a reliable standby when I lived nearby in North Hollywood — I’d regularly incentivize myself to take a power yoga class at the neighboring studio so that I could reward myself with Joe’s afterwards. There’s also coffee brewed in hot sand by the register if you need a caffeine boost.
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Mardi Gras Tuesday
Sherman Oaks Creole Southern $$
(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
Mardi Gras Tuesday brings a dose of New Orleans-inspired Southern hospitality to Ventura Boulevard with live jazz and $10 bottomless mimosas during weekend brunch. The menu takes similar cues with dishes including New Orleans hash with sauteed shrimp and andouille sausage, shrimp and grits and Benedicts topped with your choice of fried oysters, shrimp or crawfish and featuring crab cakes instead of the usual English muffin. The Southern-fried half-chicken with two waffles is big enough to share and proved so similar to versions I’ve had in the Big Easy that, for a moment, I swore I was dining on Bourbon Street (the mimosas might have contributed to that fantasy). The lunch menu with po’boys and jambalaya is also available — get the buttery, char-grilled oysters bubbling with a Parmesan cheese blend to complete the experience. The restaurant has only a beer and wine license; cocktails, including a French 75 and a Hurricane, are made with soju-based spirits.
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Talésai
Studio City Thai Restaurant $$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
It’s a little like a time warp to 1992, in the most chic way possible. The plush booths are still jet-black leather, the modernist white dining room still graced with Thai artist Kamol Tassananchalee’s work after all of these decades. Before Night + Market and Si Laa, the Yenbamroong family changed L.A.’s Thai-food landscape with Talésai, which lit up the Sunset Strip with matriarch Vilai’s recipes presented in haute formats. They expanded Talésai to Studio City in ’92, where the family is continuing all of her signature recipes: delicate curries with freshly made pastes; pan-fried noodles with just the right sweet-smoky char; and signature dishes like the excellent Hidden Treasures appetizer, where single spoonfuls of plump shrimp, crab-laced coconut curry and fresh basil wait in divots under small silver cloches.
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North Hollywood
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El Bacano
North Hollywood Dominican $
(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)
Siblings Deany and Jonathan Santana run the Valley’s only Dominican restaurant, a 16-seat storefront in a North Hollywood strip mall where they serve Deany’s versions of their mother’s and grandmother’s recipes. Among herb-flecked fried chicken, burgers and hot dogs crowned with shredded lettuce and empanadas oozing yellow cheese and diced salami, the star dish is arguably “Santana’s chicken,” a rechristening of classic pollo guisado. The bird — marinated in lime juice, onions, garlic, oregano and other spices — browns and then simmers with sliced red and green peppers in a bit of liquid to form a thin, rich gravy that also seasons the white rice on the side. El Bacano doesn’t open until noon, but mangú (mashed plantains) is an any-time-of-day Dominican breakfast when matched with los tres golpes, or “the three hits:” two fried eggs, slices of griddled salami and thin rectangles of queso frito. Ask for avocado to lighten the heft of sancocho, another Dominican signature. Cuts of pork, beef and chicken meld in a stew with plantains, rounds of corn on the cob, winter squash and yautia, a root vegetable sometimes called malanga. Laborious, the sancocho is available only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and it’s worth planning around.
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Hayat's Kitchen
North Hollywood Lebanese $
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Hassan Shatila has been serving the feasts of Beirut, his hometown, to Angelenos since the 1980s, when he operated Cafe Mediterranean in Toluca Lake for nearly two decades. He closed it in 2000 to focus on catering before jumping back into the melee with the first Hayat’s Kitchen (opened with his ex-wife, Hayat Fahed) in 2009. Decisions require wading through dozens of dishes. Some guidance: Among familiar mezze options, look for kibbeh nayyeh, sometimes called “Lebanese steak tartare,” made with immaculately fresh beef kneaded to silkiness with bulgur, pureed onion and a restrained dose of sweet spices. Douse the nayeh with olive oil from the cruet on your table. It adds pepperiness and accentuates the meat’s texture. Loubieh bil zeit, green beans cooked in olive oil with tomato, counterbalances with its lightness. Among the hot and cold appetizers, salads and platters of grilled meats, the restaurant lends itself to group dining. Should you find yourself solo at 9 a.m., when the restaurant opens, find a place on the covered patio to enjoy fatteh bi laban, a quintessential savory breakfast of toasted pita squares, soft chickpeas and yogurt.
The selection of sweets also distinguishes Hayat’s Kitchen. It’s a family tradition. Shatila’s brother, Riad (who died in 2013), founded Shatila Bakery in Dearborn, Mich., a massive operation that sells retail online. The pastry case at Hayat’s Kitchen displays pans full of cookies, k’nafeh and baklava, layered with cashews or pistachios or walnuts, with phyllo that crackles wonderfully against the honey-rich nut pastes.
The selection of sweets also distinguishes Hayat’s Kitchen. It’s a family tradition. Shatila’s brother, Riad (who died in 2013), founded Shatila Bakery in Dearborn, Mich., a massive operation that sells retail online. The pastry case at Hayat’s Kitchen displays pans full of cookies, k’nafeh and baklava, layered with cashews or pistachios or walnuts, with phyllo that crackles wonderfully against the honey-rich nut pastes.
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Hy Mart Sandwiches
Sandwich Shop
(Karla Marie Sanford / Los Angeles Times)
The smell of herbs assaults you as soon as you enter this North Hollywood sandwich shop. Ben’s Pastrami — a spin on the traditional with lettuce, tomato pickles, spicy aioli and jalapeños — is the most popular dish, but the menu is packed with in-house specials and deli staples. Made on Armenian rolls, the sandwiches here don’t crumble; the ratio of the wet and dry ingredients are to a science.
The garlic chicken sandwich is exceptionally memorable, with the mild smoky flavor from the garlic matched by the bite of peppercorn. The menu is also vegetarian friendly with a falafel wrap that features fresh vegetables and the perfect amount of tzatziki. Or you can just get a super Greek salad — the traditional salad plus avocado — and buy your choice of chips — Zapps, Salsitas, Guacachip, you name it — from the large assortment along the counter.
The garlic chicken sandwich is exceptionally memorable, with the mild smoky flavor from the garlic matched by the bite of peppercorn. The menu is also vegetarian friendly with a falafel wrap that features fresh vegetables and the perfect amount of tzatziki. Or you can just get a super Greek salad — the traditional salad plus avocado — and buy your choice of chips — Zapps, Salsitas, Guacachip, you name it — from the large assortment along the counter.
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The Memphis Grill
North Hollywood Barbecue $$
(Lauren Ng / Los Angeles Times)
When chef Manu Aka opened the Memphis Grill at the start of the pandemic, the menu contained a few smoked meats, eight sides and a handful of desserts and drinks. Five years later, the Lankershim Boulevard joint still is takeout-only with a pretty identical menu — mind the addition of tri-tip and the sandwich format — and has since become one of The Times’ favorite barbecue spots in L.A. Order the ribs for the truest Memphis experience, served either wet in a tomato-based sauce or dry-rubbed, exuding the smoky aromas and paprika and finished with a tangy vinegar sauce. The rib racks come bundled up in layers of plastic wrap and foil like a neatly-wrapped present; all meats are served with a side of Aka’s punchy, not-too-sweet barbecue sauce.
Open Thursday through Sunday, the Memphis Grill has no shortage of sides, from the meaty, slow-cooked collard greens that impressively retain their structural integrity to the dill-filled potato salad and sweet smoked beans. Don’t forget to order dessert — especially a few of the freshly baked sweet potato whoopies with cream cheese filling, which are as tender as they are reminiscent of Thanksgiving dinner.
Open Thursday through Sunday, the Memphis Grill has no shortage of sides, from the meaty, slow-cooked collard greens that impressively retain their structural integrity to the dill-filled potato salad and sweet smoked beans. Don’t forget to order dessert — especially a few of the freshly baked sweet potato whoopies with cream cheese filling, which are as tender as they are reminiscent of Thanksgiving dinner.
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Mi Ranchito Veracruz
North Hollywood Mexican $
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
For nearly a decade, Veracruz-style tamales have been the primary draw to the North Hollywood restaurant, located in an otherwise subdued industrial neighborhood, by Pedro Barrientos, Roberto Gamboa and Marcos Ramirez. For years, they kept a chalkboard board near the counter, playfully tallying how many rectangles of masa they’d wrapped in banana leaves. They stopped counting after 100,000. Variations can include chicken or pork in tomatillo or tomato-based salsa and chicken in mole negro. The crowd favorite is rajas con queso, with molten blotches of mozzarella and strips of jalapeño visible in the plush, pale tamal. Even among such big flavors you can detect the leaves’ sweet, herbaceous aroma permeating the masa. To stay with the Veracruzana focus, try masa empanadas formed around fillings such as potato and chorizo; they’re served blanketed with shredded lettuce, crema and a hailstorm of queso fresco. In the morning, go for a breakfast burrito swelling with three scrambled eggs and, for an unusual spin that works, mashed potatoes. Birria de res is among the meat options and pairs winningly with the spuds. Carnitas would be a close second.
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Salsa & Beer
Sun Valley Mexican Cuisine
$$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The sizzle and scent of fajitas is electrifying, each cast-iron plate popping and crackling as it makes its way through the dining room. Whether it’s the families, dates, birthdays or other groups and celebrations dotted around, everyone is digging straight into the signature, gratis bean dip — as well as the bountiful salsa bar — and swiveling their heads as the fajitas and showstopping molcajetes pass by. Salsa & Beer, a Valley institution since 1998, specializes in Zacatecas’ Jerez cuisine but all the familiar Mexican-American combo-plate specials are there as well, and with generous portions. The founding Huerta family serves their recipes and frosty margaritas to three locations in North Hollywood and one in Lake Balboa, all of which can draw lengthy lines and wait times, so plan accordingly.
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Sri Siam Cafe
Valley Glen Thai $$
(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
Customers drive from all over Los Angeles to eat Sri Siam’s crispy rice salad. It’s spicy, lashed with lime and studded with cubes of sour pork sausage, slivers of ginger and plenty of toasted peanuts. The rice is fried in a way that makes it not only crisp but puffed. Fresh mint leaves, likely from the family’s organic garden, top the salad and its multiple levels of crunch, sweet, sour and spice.
But there are many more dishes here to explore, including stir-fried radish cake, spicy pork spareribs, the crispy mussel pancake called o-lou and an exemplary khao soi with the egg noodles sauced in a mellow yellow curry brightened with pickled mustard greens, red onion and chile.
The restaurant, a Thai cuisine pioneer when it opened in 1984, feels as sharp as ever, especially when you are presented with one of Sri Siam’s whole fish platters. I’m a fan of the crisp, fried trout, which comes two ways — with a tart, chile-flecked green apple salad tossed with red and green onions, or with an herb sauce packed with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, dried shrimp, fried onions and a tamarind chile paste. Both are delicious. If you go for the herb sauce, you can try the apple slaw with softshell crab (when it’s in season), as well as in a salad of minced, fried catfish and peanuts. And if you want something more pungent, there is a terrific green papaya salad too.
But there are many more dishes here to explore, including stir-fried radish cake, spicy pork spareribs, the crispy mussel pancake called o-lou and an exemplary khao soi with the egg noodles sauced in a mellow yellow curry brightened with pickled mustard greens, red onion and chile.
The restaurant, a Thai cuisine pioneer when it opened in 1984, feels as sharp as ever, especially when you are presented with one of Sri Siam’s whole fish platters. I’m a fan of the crisp, fried trout, which comes two ways — with a tart, chile-flecked green apple salad tossed with red and green onions, or with an herb sauce packed with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, dried shrimp, fried onions and a tamarind chile paste. Both are delicious. If you go for the herb sauce, you can try the apple slaw with softshell crab (when it’s in season), as well as in a salad of minced, fried catfish and peanuts. And if you want something more pungent, there is a terrific green papaya salad too.
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Mofongos
North Hollywood Puerto Rican $$
(Astrid Kayembe / Los Angeles Times)
A Puerto Rican flag beckons you into this North Hollywood hole-in-the-wall that has been a bastion for the Caribbean island’s cuisine for more than 15 years. Named after Puerto Rico’s national dish, mofongos are delivered to practically every table, the only variant being which protein — shrimp, pork, beef or chicken — crowns the mound of mashed plantains. On the walls hang vejigante masks, an array of drums and a mural depicting Old San Juan, with a gated street-side patio if the cozy dining room gets too cramped. The restaurant hosts a plena drum and dance class every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in celebration of the Afro-Puerto Rican genre. During the holiday season, a glass of coquito, similar to eggnog but with rum and coconut milk, is a must.
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Toluca Lake
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Verse
Toluca Lake Jazz venue
(Danielle Dorsey / Los Angeles Times)
One of my favorite things about the Valley is the ability to dine or drink on a whim with a relatively short wait. Verse, hidden behind a nodescript black door in Toluca Lake, is the rare exception that’s worth planning for. Inside, the moody dining room is equipped with 58 strategically placed speakers that pipe in clear, even sound regardless of where you’re seated. All tables face a stage, backlit with built-in bookshelves, where live bands play every night, including residencies from notable names such as Terrace Martin and Ozomatli.
Riffing on the concept of Angeleno cuisine, the menu from chef Oscar Torres blends Mexican, Japanese and Mediterranean influences in sesame seed Hokkaido milk buns, tiger prawns drizzled with salsa macha aioli and caviar-crowned cheesecake. The music theme carries into the cocktails, including Raspberry Beret with gin, mango-infused St. Germain, raspberry and egg white, with updated takes on the classics like a negroni blanco with lemongrass-infused mezcal. Two sommeliers are on hand to help you choose from the lengthy wine list curated by wine director Matias Marroquin that spans Californian and European bottles.
Riffing on the concept of Angeleno cuisine, the menu from chef Oscar Torres blends Mexican, Japanese and Mediterranean influences in sesame seed Hokkaido milk buns, tiger prawns drizzled with salsa macha aioli and caviar-crowned cheesecake. The music theme carries into the cocktails, including Raspberry Beret with gin, mango-infused St. Germain, raspberry and egg white, with updated takes on the classics like a negroni blanco with lemongrass-infused mezcal. Two sommeliers are on hand to help you choose from the lengthy wine list curated by wine director Matias Marroquin that spans Californian and European bottles.
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Burbank
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Bob's Big Boy
Burbank American $
(Laurie Ochoa / Los Angeles Times)
The cherubic mascot of Burbank, swoop-haired Bob, stands guard at this temple of early Googie architecture, holding aloft a double-deck cheeseburger beneath a 70-foot neon sign. Is there a more inviting welcome to any iconic Valley restaurant than this larger-than-life-size, hollow-cast fiberglass statue wearing checkered overalls? Bob might as well be Saint Peter, because I’m pretty much in diner heaven. I know it as soon as I glide into the shaded parking area that’s a semi-vestige of the restaurant’s carhop service (still available on some nights). Slide into one of the booths at the oldest remaining Bob’s Big Boy in America, designed by Wayne McAllister and built 75 years ago, conveniently located near Warner Bros. Studio. Couples or multi-generational configurations of people occupy the other tables that line the Streamline Moderne windows and fill the sprawling dining room. Some stranger’s kid who isn’t anywhere near as tall as the back of your seat is probably going to wander by and say hi. Tuna melt, onion rings, chocolate malt, fudge cake, done. I actually dream about the fudge cake; it is a cafeteria confection that has chocolaty layers sandwiching a scoop of vanilla ice cream, all of it covered in gloopy dark-cocoa syrup with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
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Chili John's
Burbank American cuisine Diner Food $$
(Miguel Vasconcellos / For The Times)
There may be no better place to capture the sunshine noir mood of the San Fernando Valley than a counter seat at Chili John’s, one of our most endangered classic L.A. restaurants.
When the late afternoon light casts long shadows across a seemingly incongruous mountain lake mural — a totem of the restaurant’s Wisconsin origins painted by Ernie Isaac, who opened the Burbank restaurant in 1946 as an outpost of his father John Isaac’s original Green Bay Chili John’s — the orange Naugahyde swivel seats practically glow. It’s easy to see why the restaurant has appeared in countless movies and TV shows, from “Twin Peaks” to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
And to eat? My call is a bowl of spicy beef chili over spaghetti and beans. You can get the chili (which also comes in chicken, turkey or vegetarian versions) by itself, but I like the play of textures and always ask for sour cream, grated cheese and oyster crackers to add even more layers to the spicy beef. Former Times critic Jonathan Gold once likened it to “Tex-Mex pasta fazool.”
It’s true that there is a certain amount of chili grease that will appear in your bowl — how much depends on your server. And I will admit that while some customers ask for extra, I sometimes spoon off a good portion of that grease. But I love the smoky flavors of the chili; it’s one of those time travel foods to an earlier era of American cooking. Which is why many were alarmed when current owners Steve and Claudine Hager set up a GoFundMe campaign earlier this year to help save the business, which was flailing after the pandemic and Hollywood strikes. They opened a taproom next door in part to attract a new generation of customers with craft beer, a smashburger and wings. For myself, I’ll stick to the old-school chili as long as they offer it — with a cooling piece of pineapple cream pie for dessert.
When the late afternoon light casts long shadows across a seemingly incongruous mountain lake mural — a totem of the restaurant’s Wisconsin origins painted by Ernie Isaac, who opened the Burbank restaurant in 1946 as an outpost of his father John Isaac’s original Green Bay Chili John’s — the orange Naugahyde swivel seats practically glow. It’s easy to see why the restaurant has appeared in countless movies and TV shows, from “Twin Peaks” to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
And to eat? My call is a bowl of spicy beef chili over spaghetti and beans. You can get the chili (which also comes in chicken, turkey or vegetarian versions) by itself, but I like the play of textures and always ask for sour cream, grated cheese and oyster crackers to add even more layers to the spicy beef. Former Times critic Jonathan Gold once likened it to “Tex-Mex pasta fazool.”
It’s true that there is a certain amount of chili grease that will appear in your bowl — how much depends on your server. And I will admit that while some customers ask for extra, I sometimes spoon off a good portion of that grease. But I love the smoky flavors of the chili; it’s one of those time travel foods to an earlier era of American cooking. Which is why many were alarmed when current owners Steve and Claudine Hager set up a GoFundMe campaign earlier this year to help save the business, which was flailing after the pandemic and Hollywood strikes. They opened a taproom next door in part to attract a new generation of customers with craft beer, a smashburger and wings. For myself, I’ll stick to the old-school chili as long as they offer it — with a cooling piece of pineapple cream pie for dessert.
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Corner Cottage
Burbank Breakfast/Lunch
(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times)
This cash-only local favorite, aptly named for its location at the corner of S. Victoria Blvd and W. Verdugo Avenue in Burbank, is known for their perfectly sized and irresistibly soft breakfast burritos. Line cooks have perfected a system of throwing down eggs, cheese, then meats — bacon, sausage, ham, steak — while thinly sliced potatoes brown on the side. Afterwards, a burrito maker rolls without hesitation to deliver your order piping hot in a brown paper bag.
Though the menu is simple, don’t be afraid to ask for customizations: the most popular meat combinations are bacon and sausage, followed by steak and bacon, according to the crew. You can also ask for double cheese or extra crispy potatoes, or for your salsa to come both inside and out of the roll.
The wait during the 9 a.m. morning rush hour is worth it once you bite in, rich and salty potato perfectly complementing the gooey American cheese, with egg and meat folded in. If you prefer texture, this may not be your favorite breakfast burrito, as everything is melt-in-your-mouth soft. But the house salsa — which adds freshness and a kick without being overly spicy — comes in with a splash to tie everything together just so.
Though the menu is simple, don’t be afraid to ask for customizations: the most popular meat combinations are bacon and sausage, followed by steak and bacon, according to the crew. You can also ask for double cheese or extra crispy potatoes, or for your salsa to come both inside and out of the roll.
The wait during the 9 a.m. morning rush hour is worth it once you bite in, rich and salty potato perfectly complementing the gooey American cheese, with egg and meat folded in. If you prefer texture, this may not be your favorite breakfast burrito, as everything is melt-in-your-mouth soft. But the house salsa — which adds freshness and a kick without being overly spicy — comes in with a splash to tie everything together just so.
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Handy Market
Burbank Barbecue Restaurant $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
From Sunday to Friday, the 1970-founded Handy Market serves as one of Burbank’s favorite independent grocers and butchers, with heaped-high sandwiches, filled-to-bursting burritos and more. But on Saturdays, Santa Maria-style grills take up residence in the parking lot, the smoke billowing down the block, and the deli counter flips to a barbecue stand. It’s a neighborhood stalwart every day, but Handy Market’s Saturday-only barbecue features some of the best and most affordable grilled meats in the region, with tri-tip and ribs both must-order items. Load up on meat, cornbread, mac and cheese and side salads, grab drinks from the bevy of refrigerated beverages, then head to one of Burbank’s nearby parks for a picnic; there are four within roughly one mile of the market.
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Hank's Bagels
Burbank Bagels Deli
(Andrea Chang / Los Angeles Times)
With locations in Burbank and Sherman Oaks, head to Hank’s Bagels for firm and crusty handmade rings. Towering bagel sandwiches lean — literally — maximalist and might come layered with a fried egg, maple-glazed bacon, sharp cheddar and tomato or soppressata, fontina, leafy greens and pickled peppers. Billing itself as “a deli of sorts,” Hank’s also offers grab-and-go spreads and salads and daily-rotating bagel specials, like garlic Parmesan on Thursdays and vegan pizza bialys on the weekends. Place your order in the tiny shop and then wait outside for your name to be called. A handful of tables lining the sidewalk and a shaded adjacent patio are available for enjoying your selections on-site.
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Lou the French on the Block
Burbank Coffee Pastries Sandwich Shop
(Astrid Kayembe / Los Angeles Times)
There’s always a scene at this tiny patisserie in Burbank that overflows with a handful of bistro tables and chairs and umbrellas. The aroma of rising bread wallops you as soon as you walk inside former French basketball player Laurent “Lou” Correa’s bakery, with a selection of tarts and cream puffs displayed in the refrigerated case and an open kitchen behind the register. Croissants are the primary draw here — flaky and buttery, with an airy interior — but all of the French specialties are artfully done, including quiche, chouqettes, financiers and baguette sandwiches. Classic coffee, tea and espresso drinks are also available.
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Monte Carlo Italian Market and Deli & Pinocchio's
Burbank Italian Deli $
(Miguel Vasconcellos / For The Times)
Enter under the red roof and the vintage neon signage and you’ll be facing a real conundrum: Do you begin with the old-school Italian deli and market to your right, or the cafeteria-style red-sauce joint, Pinocchio’s, to your left? It all depends on how hungry you might be upon entering, but at this dual-concept Italian American haven, there’s no wrong choice. In the market, find house-made fresh Italian sausage alongside deli meats and cheese, and peruse the shelves of imported olive oils, anchovies, olives and dried pastas in every shape and size. At Pinocchio’s, grab a baby-pink tray and load up on wedges of eggplant parm, mountains of marinated mushrooms and $4.95 glasses of wine. Finish with a rainbow of gelati or some fresh biscotti, rainbow cookies, tiramisu and cannoli from the bakery case, ideally saving a cookie or two for some loved ones (or at least the drive home).
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Smoke House Restaurant
Burbank American restaurant $$
(Miguel Vasconcellos / For The Times)
For a hit of red leather booths, crisp martinis and Hollywood’s Golden Age, few spots do it better than Smoke House, a Burbank institution since 1946. Sitting between the lots of Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal, this classic steakhouse has proved a gathering place for actors, agents and prime rib-loving locals for generations. Headshots of the decades’ visiting stars hang throughout the myriad and moody wood-paneled dining rooms, as do movie posters and black-and-white photos of a bygone Los Angeles.
The menu features plenty of throwbacks to past eras, too, including barbecue, freshly cut steaks, fan-favorite garlic cheese bread, chicken piccata and generous portions. The restaurant’s motto isn’t “fine food at a fair price” for nothing, especially when it comes to lunch, the daily specials or the Sunday brunch buffet with tri-tip, ribs, shrimp cocktail, crêpe and omelet stations, bottomless mimosas and more for $52. This is where to find history — and fair prices — on a plate.
The menu features plenty of throwbacks to past eras, too, including barbecue, freshly cut steaks, fan-favorite garlic cheese bread, chicken piccata and generous portions. The restaurant’s motto isn’t “fine food at a fair price” for nothing, especially when it comes to lunch, the daily specials or the Sunday brunch buffet with tri-tip, ribs, shrimp cocktail, crêpe and omelet stations, bottomless mimosas and more for $52. This is where to find history — and fair prices — on a plate.
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Tarzana
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Apey Kade
Tarzana Sri Lankan $
(Silvia Razgova / For the Times)
Among several restaurants in the Valley that serve Sri Lankan food — on the whole a remarkable and complex cuisine that’s underrepresented in Los Angeles — the menu composed by chef Niza Hashim and her husband, Lalith Rodrigo, is the most comprehensive and the most consistently delicious. The couple are from Colombo, Sri Lanka’s port-city capital, and the name of their Tarzana restaurant translates from the Sinhalese language as “our store.” For dining in the narrow, two-floor or takeout, call ahead an hour or two to request lamprais, pronounced “lump-rice,” a feast of chicken or beef curry with vegetables (or ask for it entirely vegetarian) and other sides warmed in a banana leaf. The steam when you unwrap the parcel carries the scents of sweet spice, coconut palms and floral rice. For a taste of incendiary cooking, also order ahead “deviled” chicken or shrimp. String hoppers, a signature, are made of thin rice flour noodles steamed into pearly nests and served with kiri hodi, a golden spiced coconut-milk gravy; a salad of finely chopped greens; sambol; and chutney. You have a choice of curry: I recommend the fish. Its secret ingredient is a dried fruit that goes by many names: goraka, kudampuli, Malabar tamarind. It imparts a sour, smoky tanginess to seafood for which the palate has no other reference.
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Various locations
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CVT Soft Serve
San Fernando Valley Soft serve $
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(Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
Though you can now find Joe Nicchi’s soft serve ice cream in cute, squeeze pouches at a store near you, there’s something about ordering a cone from one of his ice cream trucks. He posts the locations daily in the CVT Instagram stories, but you can often find a truck parked on a stretch of Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. There are only ever three choices: vanilla, chocolate and a twist. It is the gold standard of soft serve — the right temperature, perfectly creamy and just sweet enough, with a pronounced chocolate or vanilla flavor. No sprinkles, toppings or fuss required.
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