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With sunny weather most of the year, lunch is appropriately a verb in Los Angeles. Midday meetups with friends and colleagues are always better when tables are full of salads, ceviche, burgers, and the occasional cocktail. From budget-friendly places with informal service to festive feasts perfect for people-watching, here are 16 stellar lunch spots in Los Angeles.
For this update, we added French bistro Petit Trois, popular Valley emporium Tel Aviv Grill, breezy Highland Park and West Adams cafes Highly Likely, Atwater Village’s aggressively spicy Holy Basil (which also has a Downtown location), the now-classic Joan’s on Third in West Third Street, and Culver City’s Helms Bakery. Matthew Kang is the lead editor of Eater’s Southern California/Southwest region. He has covered dining, restaurants, food culture, and nightlife in Los Angeles since 2008.
His work has been published in Angeleno Magazine, Taste Cooking, and Cigar Aficionado. He hosted a YouTube show called K-Town covering Korean food in America and has been featured on Netflix’s Street Food, Hulu’s Searching for Soul Food, and Cooking Channel’s Food: Fact or Fiction. Tel Aviv Grill Tarzana’s popular Tel Aviv Grill in Encino (with locations in Calabasas and Valley Village) serves dishes in portions meant for two or even three people.
The cafeteria-style layout makes it easy for anyone to customize their orders. First, pick a format like the smaller pita, burrito-like laffa, or a full-on plate. Approach the counter and pick a protein, like schnitzel, chicken breast, beef shawarma, or the most-popular chicken shawarma.
Load up with vegetables and spreads like cabbage salad, fries, roasted eggplant, or hummus. Plates will come with fresh house-baked pita and what looks like a pound of aggressively seasoned, cumin-tinted shawarma sliced into thin shreds. Don’t expect to be hungry for the rest of the day after a lunch here.
Sogno Toscano Cafe ́& Wine Bar Offering a breezy outdoor patio along Santa Monica’s Montana Avenue, Sogno Toscano hails from New York City and serves delightful Italian sandwiches crammed with quality imported ingredients on schiacciata bread. The sandwich with mortadella, arugula, and spreadable burrata is the one to order. Think of it as a coffee shop version of All’Antico Vinaio with a lot more seating.
Dante Beverly Hills Possibly the most stunning rooftop in Beverly Hills, this NYC import serves a reliable set of Italian American dishes that please a wide range of palates. Fennel and orange salad or wood-fired margherita pizzas give way to whole grilled branzino and steak frites. The outdoor tables with clear views of the Hollywood hills are the prime spots for lunch, though of course enjoying those seats depends on the weather.
Also featured in: The 22 Best Cocktail Bars in Los Angeles 16 Destination-Worthy Hotel Restaurants in Los Angeles The Grill on the Alley One of LA’s most storied power lunch spots that opened back in 1984, the Grill on the Alley feels like a member-only club in the middle of Beverly Hills’s Golden Triangle. Expect solid American steakhouse classics like wedge salads and grilled chops, all of which go with a little people-watching to see what deals are being made in the dining room. Be sure to get an order of the thick-sliced bacon for a deal-making appetizer.
Also featured in: 17 Bars to Sip Martinis in Los Angeles 14 Fantastic Signature Desserts in Los Angeles, 2018 Edition Avra Beverly Hills Estiatorio One of the few upscale Greek restaurants in Los Angeles, Avra takes a page from the standard that Milos set years ago, offering pristine grilled seafood and breezy starters like fried eggplant slices to a see-and-be-seen crowd in the heart of Beverly Hills. The servers will come around with offers of pricey whole fish, and while they are terrific when someone else is paying, the best reason to come here for lunch is for the reasonably-priced three-course lunch for $38 that comes with choices like spanakopita, Greek salad, and grilled swordfish. You should order the baklava for dessert.
Also featured in: The 18 Best Beverly Hills Restaurants 17 LA Restaurants Offering Healthy Foods With Plenty of Flavor Sign up for our newsletter. Check your inbox for a welcome email. Oops.
Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again. Joan's on Third This bustling cafe and prepared foods counter on West Third Street remains one of LA’s most enduring daytime experiences, with top-quality cheeses, sandwiches, and premade dishes served from early morning to the evening.
During the mornings, breakfast options like omelettes shine, but by lunch time, most people will get the steel bowls of tossed salad or sandwiches. The short rib sandwich is iconic, appearing on the front of Bon Appetit magazine many years ago and still excellent. It overflows with melty cheese and tender braised short rib between two slices of country bread.
After lunch, go to the pastry counter at the far end and pick up a slice of carrot cake to enjoy there or on the go. Joan’s on Third is one of the most versatile places to eat in LA, especially for lunch. Also featured in: The Best Soups in Los Angeles, According to Eater Editors 25 Epic Los Angeles Sandwiches, Spring 2017 Republique Walter and Margarita Manzke’s French Californian restaurant offers flavors from across Los Angeles for lunch.
The friendly lunch menu features Japanese-inflected mushroom rice bowls, kimchi fried rice, shakshuka, and pupusas. The place doesn’t take reservations, which could make larger groups or meetings tougher, but the bustling scene and stellar food make for great people-watching. By mid-day a lot of the pastries from the front bakery tend to be thinned out, but if there are any left, get a baguette and some croissants to take home.
Also featured in: The Best Exquisite, Buttery Croissants in Los Angeles The Best Brunch Destinations in Los Angeles Highly Likely Café Chef Kat Turner’s enduring all-day restaurant in West Adams and Highland Park have become neighborhood stalwarts. The approach is classic LA with lighter, more reasonable portions and more “pretty food to pick at” versus something over the top. The brown rice Kyoto bowl makes a sensible lunch while even the fried fish sandwich comes on a long skinny bun filled with fried pieces of snapper.
At both locations, the tasty food is amplified by pretty stellar vibes; in West Adams it’s more of an artsy warehouse feel while Highland Park has a stunning inside-outside feel. Also featured in: The 17 Best Dog-Friendly Restaurants in Los Angeles 15 Essential Food Destinations Along LA's Epic Expo Line Liu's Cafe This Taiwanese-style restaurant in Koreatown has a walk-up counter and vintage posters on its wall. Liu’s Cafe is beyond stylish with an excellent menu to boot.
The chiayi chicken rice or the tea egg sandwich with pickled cucumber always satisfies. The braised pork belly rice is even better for those with larger appetizers. Prices are very reasonable considering how expensive things have gotten in LA, with nothing over $14 in the savory section.
Order the pineapple buns, cream buns, egg tarts, and cookies for later. Also featured in: The Best Affordable Restaurants in Los Angeles Azizam Though Southern California has the country’s largest Persian population in the country, finding options outside of the San Fernando Valley, Westwood, or Glendale can be tricky. In Silver Lake, former pop-up Azizam prepares delicious dishes in a cozy space including the popular kuku sabzi sandwich and the turmeric braised Jidori chicken over fava bean rice.
Whatever you do, don’t skip the mezze plate with options of three different cold dishes served with house pickles and barbaric bread. Also featured in: The Best Persian Restaurants in Los Angeles, According to Eater’s Local Dining Expert The Best Restaurants in Silver Lake Botanica Botanica balances California-grown produce with Mediterranean flavors, served effortlessly with compelling wines in the heart of Silver Lake. The morning mezze meal gathers a slew of dips and salads with fresh laffa bread, while a diner plate fuses seed-and-nut dukkah and Calabrian chile harissa with eggs and Nueske’s bacon.
Shakshuka combines well-seasoned tomato-eggplant sauce with two sunny-side up eggs and a side of Bub & Grandma’s focaccia. Pro-tip: those with a sweet tooth should get the “cake for breakfast” because a slice of coconut cake with passionfruit cream is as nutritious as a pancake. A post shared by Botanica Restaurant & Market (@botanicafood) Holy Basil Atwater Village One of LA’s most exciting new Thai restaurants that first opened in Downtown during the pandemic, this second outpost in Holy Basil is more fully realized, with an open kitchen and smattering of tables inside and out that’s clearly insufficient for the demand.
Founded by Wedchayan “Deau” Arpapornnopparat and Tongkamal “Joy” Yuon, expect a calvacade of spicy, tangy, sweet, and savory flavors in crispy rice salad or crispy pork moo krob. Wagyu gra pow topped with a fried egg makes for a terrific lunch while pad see ew gets all the flavors of a searing hot wok with tossed Chinese broccoli and vermicelli noodles. If you can swing more rice in the meal, get the Dungness crab fried rice and thank us later.
Also featured in: The 24 Best Thai Restaurants in Los Angeles Pardis Of all the Persian spots in Glendale, perhaps none can compare to the excellence and ambience of Pardis. The house-made bread, a blistered naan-like flatbread, is the perfect way to start, built in small bites with slivers of onion, basil leaves, and softened butter. The kebabs and stews are solid and best paired with flavored and fluffy rice.
Expect juicy chicken barg and well-seasoned koobideh for something traditional, or order some lamb tenderloin for something less popular but more interesting. Dine with a good-sized group to maximize the variety of dishes on the table. The back breezy back patio is pretty enormous, working well for private parties and events.
Yang's Kitchen Head to Yang’s Kitchen’s cheery Alhambra dining room where chef Chris Yang serves up daytime hits like smoked salmon hash, cold sesame noodles, and fried chicken wings. Yang’s commitment to quality, well-sourced ingredients make all the difference with grass-fed beef, antibiotic-free pork, and whole-grain flours from Pasadena’s Grist & Toll. Those coming solo should order the set meal, which comes with a choice of protein like hangar steak and dry-aged barramundi alongside rice, vegetables, pickles, and soy egg.
Also featured in: The Best Chicken Wings in Los Angeles The 17 Best Cold Noodles in Los Angeles.
