Discover the Best New Restaurants in Los Angeles

The sprawling, culturally diverse Los Angeles has one of the country's most celebrated food scenes, making it quite a challenge for a new restaurant to stand out. Long-established eateries seem to have every appetite covered, from classic California cuisine to authentic regional specialties and every imaginable fusion idea. Want to try Mongolian-Mexican? Russian-Ethiopian? Brazilian-Bhutanese? It's surely just a freeway or two away. The best new restaurants in Los Angeles embrace local ingredients, lovely indoor/outdoor venues and the limitless creativity of their world-class chefs. But where do the savviest foodies eat out in LA when they want something new? Welcome to the Tastemaker 20. We gathered data covering thousands of restaurants to determine the top spots according to OpenTable's smartest, most experienced eaters. From the surrounding beach cities to Beverly Hills, the Valley to DTLA, book a table ASAP and become one of the first to dine at the best new restaurants in Los Angeles.

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Updated January 22, 2021

Le Grand

Price: Expensive

American

Downtown

4.1

771 reviews

Mediterranean flavors and California ingredients come together at Le Grand, an upscale seafood restaurant that opened in April 2019. Behind the scenes of the almost 200-seat venue are brothers Alex and Chris Manos, whose Greek heritage is prominent throughout Le Grand’s menus. Iconic Greek creations given a contemporary California makeover include the house-made pita flecked with oregano, a Mediterranean mezze platter, spanakopita and Santorini-inspired octopus. House-made pastas are a specialty, as are whole-fish preparations for the table including a decadent Dover sole meuniere with roasted crushed hazelnuts. Note unexpected accents like cocoa nibs along with verbena, fava beans, peas and turnips for the scallop entrée, and passion fruit as a sweet contrast to the espresso, sunchokes and broccolini with the Aspen Ridge rib-eye cap.

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Bar Clara

Price: Moderate

Bar / Lounge / Bottle Service

Downtown

4.5

26 reviews

The NoMad Rooftop, an indoor-outdoor café and poolside bar atop the NoMad Los Angeles hotel, opened to the public in the spring of 2018. With its unrivaled views across downtown and focus on creative cocktails, it quickly gained a reputation as a delightful spot for day drinking. However, don’t overlook it as a dining destination. Chef Chris Flint’s seasonally changing all-day menu, available daily from 11:30 a.m., is short but sweet, with something to tempt every appetite. Highlights might include a whipped fava bean and herbed ricotta hummus, kanpachi ceviche and oysters on the half-shell. Heartier fare typically includes three burgers (falafel, chicken and dry-aged beef), and fried chicken with chile-lime yogurt. Sundaes and frozen tiki drinks complement the poolside setting, but know that the pool is reserved for hotel guests only.

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Zinqué - DTLA

Price: Moderate

French

Downtown

4.5

411 reviews

As a brand, Zinqué is not strictly new, as there are older locations in Venice and West Hollywood as well as Newport Beach. But this shouldn’t exclude its recently opened downtown venue from consideration among the best new restaurants in Los Angeles. Few in the city do classic French fare as well as Zinqué, which also specializes in craft cocktails, breads and pastries. Tartines are a signature, among them tomato avocado, tuna tartare and smoked salmon versions. More substantial plates include steak frites, grilled whole branzino and a grass-fed beef burger. The new downtown venue features sidewalk seating in front and hosts brunch on weekends.

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Bacari W. 3rd

Price: Expensive

Italian

West Hollywood

4.7

2059 reviews

Bacari W. 3rd is the latest addition to a small local chain, but it stands out as one of the best new restaurants in Los Angeles due largely to the glorious garden patio in the back. With shady trees strung with hanging lights, gold accents and white adobe walls secluding the space from one of the busiest stretches of West Third Street, dining on the patio is a delight. So is chef Lior Hillel’s Mediterranean-influenced cuisine, a comprehensive selection of hot and cold small plates plus pizzas and custom cheese and salumi platters. Exemplary dishes include crispy polenta with roasted market eggplant salad, handmade pasta with Oaxacan cream and romesco, caramelized Brussels sprouts with pomegranate molasses and beets, and pistachio lamb kebab with kale, turmeric and beet tahini.

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Atrium

Price: Expensive

Contemporary American

Los Feliz

4.4

810 reviews

Immediately following its late 2018 opening, Atrium enjoyed glowing reviews from critics and growing adoration among the local foodie crowd. The buzz remains many months later, landing Atrium a top spot among the best new restaurants in Los Angeles. The accolades are in no small part due to the venue – an expansive brick building filled with greenery and velvet and flooded with sunshine. The food is inspired by the diverse neighborhoods of LA, which means modern interpretations of flavors from around the globe prepared with the finest California-sourced ingredients. Don’t miss the grilled focaccia with buckwheat honey and kimchi butter to start. Other tempting creations include crispy oyster mushrooms with an eel sauce glaze, octopus al pastor tostada, and for dessert a lemongrass custard with passion fruit gelee.

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L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele

Price: Expensive

Unspecified

Hollywood

4.7

3092 reviews

L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele might be a newcomer to the Los Angeles dining scene (it opened in spring of 2019), but the restaurant claims a long and storied heritage. The original in Naples, Italy, opened in 1870 and became internationally famous when it was featured in the hit novel and later the movie “Eat Pray Love.” The LA spin-off is notable for its lush garden patio and lovely minimalist interior, with many seats offering views into the open kitchen and all the action around the stone oven. And of course there are the pizzas – six classics – all made strictly following the original recipe, ingredients and techniques. Rounding out the menu are coastal Italian-style salads, pastas, seafood and steak dishes.

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Cantina Frida

Price: Expensive

Mexican

Beverly Hills

4.5

469 reviews

Cantina Frida opened in Beverly Hills in 2019, the latest in a small Southern California chain of remarkable Mexican restaurants. The new venue is notable for its size, seating more than 180 with lofty ceilings and minimalist décor with hints of glitz. Signatures of the Cantina Frida brand include a mezcal-focused cocktail program and from-scratch kitchen that embraces authentic Mexican gastronomy. The lengthy lunch and dinner menus feature plenty of familiar favorites including burritos, chile relleno, fajitas and a dozen different tacos. Another highlight is the mole tasting plate with green, poblano, black and red pipian moles over chicken with rice, beans, plantains and handmade corn tortillas.

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Fia

Price: Very Expensive

Italian

Santa Monica

4.6

2161 reviews

Fia is a new restaurant in an old familiar space, having taken over from the long-running Wilshire Restaurant. Not only has Fia retained its predecessor’s glorious back patio with its pines, palms and fireplaces (and even a bocce ball court), it also claims the same celebrated chef, UK native Brendan Collins. In designing the dinner and brunch menus for one of the best new restaurants in Los Angeles, Collins draws upon his European heritage while embracing Italian culinary traditions and the best of California ingredients. His dinner menu includes raw items, handmade pastas and a section of main dishes “from the big bad Montague.” These charcoal-fired selections include a seven-day beef shank with pomegranate molasses, Baja-style whole dorade royale, and stuffed Manchester quail.

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