The Biggest Los Angeles Restaurant Openings in December 2024

Los Angeles is no stranger to restaurant openings, whether a splashy opening in iconic buildings helmed by big-name chefs, a humble neighborhood spot, or a pop-up leaping into a permanent space. Consider this monthly rundown a go-to guide for the newest and boldest debuts across the Southland. For more under-the-radar restaurant openings, check out this companion list .

Somni - West Hollywood Somni chef Aitor Zabala opened the latest iteration of his former Michelin-starred tasting menu on November 26. It’s been quite the journey from Somni’s original SLS Beverly Hills into a stunning West Hollywood space. It closed in 2020 but now emerged in a stylish, modern 14-seat room facing an open kitchen.



Architect Juli Capella completed the design. Zabala’s $495 Spanish modernist menu utilizes seasonal Southern California ingredients like the Mejillones (mussels) displayed in a cloud of escabeche emulsion with borage flowers. American Beauty — the Grove One of the Westside’s most popular steakhouses , American Beauty , opened its second location on November 30 at the Grove.

The new location in the outdoor shopping mall owned by real estate magnate Rick Caruso resides in the former Wood Ranch restaurant offering lunch to dinner with a sizeable dining room, horseshoe-shaped bar, and patio. Co-chefs Elisha Ben-Haim and Evan Hickey take rustic California Central Coast restaurant to new heights with grilled prawns with herb butter or chicken liver mousse with persimmon lead into glazed sweet-and-spicy baby back ribs with kohlrabi slaw. Seline - Santa Monica Pasjoli chef Dave Beran’s Seline debuted in Santa Monica on December 3.

Similar to Zabala’s Somni, Beran closed the Michelin-starred Dialogue in 2020 with every intention of reopening it. While Seline departs from Dialogue’s format and space, Beran brings a renewed focus on reimagining the fine dining dinner. A meal at Seline might consist of 15 to 18 separate dishes presented in nine or 10 courses and will change with the seasons.

December’s opening menu features squash, black cod, squab, chestnut, sorrel, and hazelnut. “Seline” is derived from the Latin word for moon or heaven and inspired by his daughter’s name, Harvest Moon. The 38-seat interior was designed by Rugo/Raff .

Florence Osteria and Piano Bar - Beverly Grove On December 5, the U.S. operator of the famed L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele in Hollywood opens his first non-pizza-oriented restaurant in Los Angeles, Florence Osteria and Piano Bar .

Francesco Zimone partnered with former Pizzeria il Fico chef Giuseppe Gentile to focus on traditional Tuscan dishes with wood-fired meats, pasta, and seafood. There’s a piano in the center of the main dining room and beautiful touches to the patio, which formerly housed a slew of notable restaurants like Terrine, Nic’s on Beverly, and Sirene. Fitoor - Santa Monica A Bay Area restaurant group (AVB Hospitality) responsible for some of Northern California’s most notable Indian cuisine ventured into Southern California for the first time on December 9.

Fitoor , which translates to “passion” in Hindi, debuted one block away from the Viceroy Santa Monica in a modern space specializing in traditional wood-fired Indian cuisine. Lead chef Surya Kumar and executive chef Vaibhav Sawant take coastal cues on the menu, including pan-seared Hokkaido scallops with a peanut butter salad and the Maryland soft shell crab over bok choy. Zaytinya - Culver City Chef José Andrés’s restaurant empire expanded into a second LA location with Zaytinya on December 17.

He took over the former Etta space on the ground floor of the boutique Shay hotel in Culver City , his fourth outlet serving his Eastern Mediterranean restaurant where Lebanese, Greek, and Turkish flavors collide. Zaytinya’s brightened dining room makes excellent use of that long wraparound patio. Those familiar with the other locations will see some favorites: a heavy vegetable mezze section, hot pita bread from the wood-fired oven, charred octopus, and a whole dry-aged branzino sourced from Sherman Oaks’ Joint Seafood .

Neighborly - Westlake Village On December 19, some of Los Angeles’s most successful food businesses — including Mini Kabob and the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills — joined forces in a reimagined food hall-esque space in Westlake Village. Neighborly setup offers multiple menus from different restaurants from one multi-faceted kitchen by a single team of chefs. Founded by a collective of restaurant industry veterans, Neighborly serves food by Mini Kabob , the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills , food by cookbook author and recipe blogger Gaby Dalkin, pre-made meals by Joan’s on Third , and more.

Related Sign up for our newsletter. Check your inbox for a welcome email. Oops.

Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again..