MICHELIN Guide Inspectors spend all year on the road uncovering the best restaurants to recommend—and what they've found is too good to keep a secret. Whet your appetite with a sneak peek of the 2022 MICHELIN Guide California; Bib Gourmands and Stars will be announced this winter. Bon appétit!
All Day Baby (Northeast)
Cuisine: AmericanAnybody can throw together a breakfast sandwich, but few compare to the one served here. A tower of softly scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and American cheese arrives under a cloak of strawberry jam stacked between a fluffy cathead biscuit.
All Day Baby © Albert Ocampo/All Day Baby
Antico Nuovo (Hollywood)
Cuisine: ItalianA hand-cranked rotisserie grill is the centerpiece of this handsome kitchen, which turns out hearty pastas and big proteins. Focaccia with whipped ricotta and hazelnut pesto is a must, while pasta stuffed with rabbit is a signature.
Antico Nuovo © Chad Colby/Antico Nuovo
Chiang Rai (Long Beach)
Cuisine: ThaiThere is a lengthy Thai menu spotlighting Northern specialties and street food, but skip straight to the Chiang Rai Local Food portion and order away. The kitchen caters to the American palate, so if you're a heat seeker don't be shy about speaking up.
Chiang Rai © Chiang Rai
Fia Steak (Santa Monica)
Cuisine: SteakhouseIt has the classic masculine steakhouse look down pat, complete with dry-aged steaks on full display. The menu is a classic paean to meat with opulent touches (spy the separate sections for caviar and Champagne). Seafood-focused starters kick things off.
Fia Steak © Wonho Frank Lee/Fia Steak
Flavors From Afar (Hollywood)
Cuisine: InternationalA kitchen on a mission, Flavors from Afar works with refugees and asylum seekers to highlight recipes from their native countries over the course of a month. Eritrean, Lebanese, Navajo, Guatemalan, Haitian – the rotation is constant, and the culinary reach of the effort is vast.
Flavors from Afar © Marisa Vitale/Flavors from Afar
Girl & The Goat LA (DTLA)
Cuisine: ContemporaryChef Stephanie Izard's West Coast offshoot of her wildly popular Chicago original has made its home in downtown LA's Arts District. Perpetually full and lively, everyone comes here for a good time. Patrons at the bar sip colorful drinks while perusing the eclectic menu with the chef's trademark style (read: free-roaming with global inspiration and gutsy flavors)
Girl & The Goat LA © Stan Lee/Girl & The Goat LA
Horses (Hollywood)
Cuisine: ContemporaryOnce home to a storied pub, this veritable hit exudes a members-only charm in a vintage space where banquettes, side rooms and a long bar up front hum with energy. The food offers broad appeal. Endive dressed in a creamy Caesar is one of the best salads in the city, while blood sausage with fried hen’s egg offers heartier satisfaction.
Horses © Lucky Tennyson/Horses
Ipoh Kopitiam (San Gabriel)
Cuisine: MalaysianChef Kenji Tang fills a void with a fairly succinct menu of well-known Malaysian favorites that stand out in a region known more for its Chinese restaurants. Everybody orders the tender Hainanese chicken, served with a trio of dipping sauces and a dome of seasoned rice.
Ipoh Kopitiam © Ipoh Kopitiam
Lalibela (Hollywood)
Cuisine: EthiopianChef-owner Tenagne Belachew and her daughters are congenial fixtures in this simply adorned setting. They are content to let the food do the talking and offer a dazzling selection of vibrant, colorful Ethiopian classics with vegetables and meat alike arriving on oversized silver platters lined with thin, spongy injera.
Lalibela © Dago R/Lalibela
Lulu (Westside)
Cuisine: CalifornianThis charming restaurant is nestled within a courtyard at the Hammer Museum and is helmed by David Tanis with a little help from none other than Alice Waters. Fresh produce on display is more than just a design element; it's a hint at the philosophy of this spot, where the three-course and à la carte menus shift daily.
Lulu © WONHO LEE/Lulu
Lumière (Westside)
Cuisine: FrenchNestled inside the Fairmont Century Plaza, Lumière is a relaxed brasserie-styled spot for French-inspired cooking. Friendly staff are on hand to offer guidance and share their favorite selections, but you'll certainly want to indulge in a variety of classics like fruits de mer and steak frites.
Lumière © Jakob Layman/Lumière
Manzke (Westside)
Cuisine: ContemporaryThis eponymous fine dining concept from Margarita and Walter Manzke is in the same building as their more casual Bicyclette Bistro. Here, you'll settle in for a ten-course tasting menu boasting a contemporary style that blends French techniques with Californian influences and Asian notes.
Manzke © Kristin Teig/Manzke
Mes Amis (Hollywood)
Cuisine: FrenchOne of the Thompson Hollywood's coterie of dining options, this spacious, swanky brasserie happily marks the return of celebrated chef Lincoln Carson to the LA dining scene. Indeed, a group might be needed to do full justice to the assortment of carefully sourced fruits de mer, and some of the French-meets-Californian offerings.
Mes Amis © John Troxell/Mes Amis
Moo's Craft Barbecue (San Gabriel)
Cuisine: BarbecueHigh school sweethearts Michelle and Andrew Muñoz are living a dream come true at their restaurant in Lincoln Heights. Smoky, salt-and-pepper-crusted brisket and snappy, spicy sausages packed with cheddar and jalapeños pay homage to the barbecue traditions of Austin, Texas. Sides like Mexican street corn are a nod to their heritage.
Moo's Craft Barbecue © John Troxell/Moo's Craft Barbecue
RYLA (Hermosa Beach)
Cuisine: ContemporaryWife and husband chefs Cynthia Hetlinger and Ray Hayashi run the show at this splashy and sophisticated spot in Hermosa Beach. Expect contemporary cooking with a Japanese focus and broad Asian elements. The menu offers a panoply of small plates—ideal for sharing.
RYLA © Dylan J. Ho/RYLA
Shunji (Santa Monica)
Cuisine: Japanese/SushiFreshly relocated, Shunji lives on as a notable Japanese counter manned by a chef whose experience runs deep. The space features two sections—one is run by chef Miki Takahiro, while the second, smaller counter is in the hands of chef Shunji Nakao. Both offer an excellent omakase.
Shunji © Eric Chang/Shunji
Sushi Nikkei (Long Beach)
Cuisine: Japanese/SushiPeruvian-born, Long Beach local Daiwa Wong and her husband Eduardo Chang are behind this Bixby Knolls spot starring Nikkei-style sushi, which incorporates Peruvian influences.
Sushi Nikkei © Sushi Nikkei
Sushi Takeda (DTLA)
Cuisine: Sushi/JapaneseThe fans are here for chef Hide Takeda, who has worked at some of the city's top sushi dens. There are two nightly seatings for omakase (one helmed by chef Takeda), or skip the splurge-worthy dinner and opt for the reasonably priced lunch omakase.
Sushi Takeda © Rozette Rago for The New York Times/Sushi Takeda
Hero image: Chiang Rai © Chiang Rai
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