The À La Carte Guide to Los Angeles

A list of everything I love in this city

Feb 28, 2025

For two entire years I’ve been promising to make a master list of places I love and frequent in Los Angeles, so in celebration of my newsletter’s second anniversary this month, I’m finally following through.

The À La Carte Guide to Los Angeles will be an ever-evolving list—one I vow, hand over heart, to keep up to date. There is nothing worse than planning a trip to a city and getting all excited to visit a bunch of spots listed in a city guide just to find that they’ve since closed. I plan to regularly review this list and remove things that I no longer recommend, add new items to it, and be straight up with you about a place you saw on TikTok that is or isn’t worth standing in line for. Today, February 28th, 2025, I’m sending The À La Carte Guide to Los Angeles as an email, but it will live forever on my Substack, so you can come back and reference it whenever you want. (Also, it’s definitely going to be too long for email, so be sure to click “expand” to read the whole thing.)

Me, your resident LA tour guide, at Bucatini in Echo Park

And in case you need to know my qualifications, here they are:

I grew up and went to college in Orange County and moved up to LA immediately after I graduated (like, within days… I couldn’t wait). That was thirteen years ago, and since then I’ve lived just about as far west as you can go (Ocean and San Vicente in Santa Monica), smack dab in the middle of town (Beverly and La Brea), and now, way east in Pasadena. I love this city and I’ll probably never leave it. (Well, I can see myself moving to Montecito or something when I’m, like, 65, but for the foreseeable future I’m staying put.)

The one caveat to my credentials as they pertain to food: I’m a vegetarian and have been my whole adult life, so I’m not your best bet for oyster or birria recs. I recommend subscribing to

Bite Sized

The Angel

for a more comprehensive, well-rounded take on the food landscape of this city. Still, I have good taste and love to eat. Obviously, you can count on me for pasta.

Below are my favorite restaurants, vintage shops, hotels, museums, bars, bookstores, coffee shops, and more, sorted by category and listed from east to west.

I’ll start by reiterating that I really eat quite a bit of pasta, so there are a lot of Italian spots on this list…

Miya (Altadena): For lunch or dinner. Miya’s currently closed because of the fires, but it’s miraculously one of the only restaurants still standing in all of Altadena, so go for excellent Thai food when it reopens someday.
Perle (Pasadena): For dinner. A French restaurant in Old Town Pasadena that I feel has never quite made people’s radar. The food is excellent, and I especially love it for the French onion soup (which they can make vegetarian!)
Ferrazzani’s (Pasadena): For lunch. A great little market where they sell fresh pasta, sandwiches, and Italian ice.
Woon (Pasadena, Historic Filipinotown): For dinner. I am so, so happy that Woon finally opened a location on the east side. The noodles!

Houston’s (Pasadena): For dinner. If you live in a state blessed by the magic that is the Hillstone Group, you already know. But for the rest of you, Houston’s (or any Hillstone restaurant, really) is unparalleled when it comes to spinach artichoke dip and an ice cold martini.
HomeState (Pasadena, Highland Park, and just about everywhere else): All day. You will regularly find my friends and me on the patio of HomeState Highland Park with frozen margaritas in hand.
Belle’s (Highland Park): All day. Belle’s used to just do bagels but a few months ago it expanded into a full-on deli with a full bar. Best latkes in town.
Ggiata (Highland Park, Melrose Hill): For lunch. If you follow me on Instagram you know how low my friend Sarah and I ranked Ggiata’s sandwiches in our sandwich power rankings… I’ve since given it another chance and have had a change of heart. We will be re-ranking it soon.
Joy (Highland Park): Lunch or dinner. A neighborhood Taiwanese restaurant with great peanut noodles.
Bub and Grandma’s (Glassell Park): All day. I like Bub’s breakfast sandwiches above anything else they do, but you can’t go wrong here.

Dunsmoor (Glassell Park): For dinner. There’s not a lot I can eat at this place, but it remains one of my favorite restaurants in the city thanks to a stunning interior (designed by Lovers Unite), skillet cornbread, and a perfect little wine bar in the back.
Bavel (DTLA): For dinner. Bavel had its moment, but it remains one of my favorites. The best pita bread in LA, I think.
Bestia (DTLA): For dinner. The same people as Bavel, but Italian.
Sonoratown (DTLA, Mid-City): For lunch. The best tortillas.
Bacetti (Echo Park): For dinner. One of my most frequented spots. Get the focaccia.
Grá (Echo Park): For dinner. I think Grá’s pizza is some of the best in town. It’s just a great vibe, too.
Ceci’s (Silver Lake): For lunch. A great spot for a focaccia sandwich. Pick up takeout for dinner while you’re here.
Bar Sinizki (Atwater Village): All day. This little café feels like a little European bar inside. Great fries.
All Time (Los Feliz): All day. Some people love it, some people don’t get it. I think All Time is excellent, a true LA staple. You WILL see a celebrity.
Jitlada (East Hollywood): For dinner. A Thai classic that’s been in this city far longer than I have.
Courage Bagels (East Hollywood): For breakfast. Everyone on the planet has heard of Courage by now. It really is that good.
Sqirl (East Hollywood): For breakfast or lunch. I know, I know. Sqirl nearly got canceled in 2020 due to a moldy jam issue that had us on the edge of our seats. It’s still good though.
Antico Nuovo (Koreatown-ish): For dinner. The best Italian food in LA, I think. The gelato is insane.
Ètra (Melrose Hill): For dinner. Also great Italian food. I come here a lot.
Telegrama (Melrose Hill): For breakfast or lunch. One of my favorite daytime cafés from the same people as Ètra (and right next door). Great coffee, great food.
Lolo (Hollywood): For dinner. A lovely little wine bar/restaurant combo (with terrible parking, so beware).
Horses (Hollywood): For brunch or dinner. For all of the drama surrounding Horses, I’ve gotta say, it’s still one of my favorite spots for an extravagant night out. They just started doing brunch and it’s great—maybe even better than dinner?

Clark Street Diner (Hollywood): All day. Clark Street Diner took over Café 101 in the pandemic (I think?) and gave it new life. Best biscuit in LA.
Larchmont Wine and Cheese (Larchmont): For lunch. A sandwich institution! Proximity to Larchmont Wine and Cheese is one of the few things I miss about living in the center of town.
Angelini Osteria (Beverly Grove): For dinner. This place has been around forever. I dream about the tagliolini limone.
A.O.C. (Beverly Hills, Brentwood): For brunch or dinner. The Beverly Hills location has one of the most beautiful patios in LA, and the food never fails.
The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills): For lunch. My current highest-ranking sandwich is La Zucca from The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. I think of it fondly and often.
Gjusta (Venice): For breakfast or lunch. A great daytime spot from the Gjelina folks. Great food on a great patio.

On my list to check out: Rasarumah, Bar Etoile, Muse, Stella, Mustard’s Bagels

I’m going to skip the local chain options and just recommend the one-offs.

Mandarin Coffee Stand (Pasadena): My favorite neighborhood spot. It’s always crowded thanks to an LA Times article that made it go viral, but it deserves the attention. They’re opening their second location in Sierra Madre soon.
Artisanal Goods by CAR (Pasadena): I cannot stress enough how good the pain au chocolat from this place is. Best I’ve ever had, and I’ve been to France thrice.
How’s It Going To End? (Montrose): This place is worth trekking out to Montrose. It’s in an old midcentury building that used to be a dry cleaner and has a beautiful outdoor seating area.
Kumquat (Highland Park): I’m literally writing this sentence from their patio.
Stereoscope (Echo Park, Hollywood): Definitely a scene but the coffee is worth it.
Canyon Coffee (Echo Park): Even more of a scene. Even so, I love sitting at Canyon and people watching from the back corner.
Café Nido (Silver Lake): Definitely a little overhyped, and if you’ve been to Tenants of the Trees you might feel like you’re in the Upside Down, but it’s definitely one of the best outdoor seating situations in town.
Maru (Los Feliz, DTLA): Annoyingly, the Cream Top at Maru is worth standing in line for.
Sua Superette (Larchmont): Excellent matcha, and I hear the food is good too (but I haven't tried—Larchmont Wine and Cheese is across the street, after all).
Primo Passo (Santa Monica): I haven’t been to Primo Passo in years but it was my daily spot when I lived in Santa Monica. I hear it’s still good!

On my list to check out: Fondry, Camel Coffee

If I’m not eating pasta, I’m probably eating olives and some sort of a cheese plate at one of these spots.

Capri Club (Eagle Rock): You’ve seen her in your feed, no doubt. Capri Club is everyone’s favorite spot for a festive cocktail at Christmas or a frozen negroni in the summer.
Walt’s Bar (Eagle Rock): Just down the block from Capri Club is Walt’s, the perfect second stop for a beer, hot dog, and soft pretzel.
Sam’s Place (Highland Park): A gem of a wine bar with a small but mighty food menu and no online presence.
Little Ripper (Glassell Park): Technically this is an all-day café, but I think it’s at its best as a neighborhood wine bar.
Barra Santos (Cypress Park): A special little Portuguese spot with great snacks and an even better wine list.
Café Triste (Chinatown): I feel desperately uncool here but it’s great for people watching.
Seco (Silver Lake): The newest spot on my list, Seco is a cute little wine bar that also happens to have one excellent pasta dish on the menu.
La Pharmacie du Vin (Silver Lake): Snacks and wine on a patio that will transport you to France.
Stir Crazy (Melrose): Another great wine bar with great food. Just be careful—Bode is just down the block and I’ve been known to make an expensive purchase after happy hour here.

On my list to check out: Bar Siesta, Good Neighbor Bar, Baby Battista

There are so, so many great home stores, both new and vintage, in LA. Be warned that vintage in LA does not come cheap.

Elementi (Pasadena): A beautiful selection of vintage home decor and a little bit of furniture. (They sell vintage clothing too!)
Pasadena Antique Center & Annex (Pasadena): This place tends to skew pricey, but there are some good stalls to explore, including one for Counter Space’s clearance items.
Trinket (Highland Park): A private showroom in Highland Park full of antique decor items. They’re open on Sundays by appointment only, but it’s worth coordinating to see their collection.
Olive Ateliers (DTLA): This is not a place to grab a little souvenir, but it is fun if you have outdoor space at your home and are in the mood to shop for a stone fountain or giant pot.
Block Shop (Atwater Village): Block Shop’s store is beautifully designed and full of things you won’t find at every other shop in LA.
Bucatini (Echo Park): Obviously I talk about Bucatini all the time, but even if it weren’t owned by two of my good friends, I’d tell you to make it a priority on your trip to LA.
Counter Space (Silver Lake): I want to buy everything, yet I can afford nothing. One of my favorite places to window shop for fun, though!
Pierce and Ward (Los Feliz): A selection of curated vintage home decor items from the iconic interior design duo of the same name.

Grandpa (Los Feliz): A fun stop if you’re having lunch next door at All Time.
Kneeland Co. (West Adams): Unique and interesting art objects and home decor sourced from all over the world by woman with taste Joanna Williams.
Galerie Half (Melrose): This place is more like a gallery for home decor enthusiasts than a store (unless you’re rich), but it’s still very fun to visit!
Nickey Kehoe (Beverly Grove): My favorite store in LA, no surprise. Half of the items in my house are from Nickey Kehoe and I have no plans of stopping anytime soon. Be sure to stop into Household, the section of their shop dedicated to smaller home goods.
+COOP (Beverly Grove): Right next door to Nickey Kehoe and worth a peek into.
Tortoise General Store (West LA): A Japanese homewares store filled with items for the kitchen, dining room, and bath.
Heather Taylor Home (Westwood): I wish I lived closer to Heather Taylor Home, but it’s probably a good thing I don’t. A beautifully curated shop.
Turpan (Brentwood): A great spot to grab some fancy hand cream or a linen tea towel.
Gjusta Goods (Venice): Oh, you liked the granola you had at Gjusta Bakery? Or maybe the cup your cappuccino was served in, or the napkin that sat on your lap? Hop next door to buy it all for yourself.

On my list to check out: Danny D’s Mud Shop, Litt Concept House, Panoplie, Good Liver, Kado, Office Supplies, Somme

I don’t shop in person as much as I used to, but there are still a few places around town I love to pop into, here and there.

LOQ (Glassell Park): LOQ’s shoes are even more beautiful in person, but I love popping in here because the shop often hosts pop ups for like-minded brands, like Chelsea Mak and Shaina Mote.
Gift of Garb (Silver Lake): Every LA influencer is dropping her designer clothes off at this Silver Lake consignment shop. It’s sort of a pain to sort through but it’s worth it for the occasional secondhand treasure.
Mohawk General Store (Silver Lake): So many multi-brand boutiques have died off over the years, but Mohawk’s hung on by carrying brands with cult followings like Cecilie Bahnsen, Sophie Buhai, and Jamie Haller.
Aralda Vintage (Beachwood Canyon): I think this place might be by appointment only now but if you’re looking for a very special piece of vintage clothing, this is the spot.
RLT (Beverly Grove): A cute little shop with a curated vintage collection, a lot of vintage denim, and the brand’s own line of basics.
Bode (Melrose): The store itself is a work of art. It feels like you’re standing in the Natural History Museum… of clothes.
The Row (Melrose): Genuinely one of the most beautiful retail stores on the planet.
Rachel Comey (Melrose): Another beautiful store, this one with a pretty solid sale section.
Violet Grey (Melrose): A fancy little shop filled with skincare, makeup, and other beauty products.

On my list to check out: Mister Freedom, Noodle Stories, Lost and Found

Octavia’s Bookshelf (Pasadena): A tiny little shop with a focus on books by BIPOC authors.
Vroman’s (Pasadena): Honestly, I don’t know that Vroman’s is anything interesting to anyone outside of the area, but it’s my local independent bookstore and it feels wrong to leave it off the list.
Prospect (South Pasadena): A well-curated culinary bookstore filled with vintage treasures.
Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair: This annual fair used to be at MOCA downtown, but it looks like this year it’s going to be at ArtCenter in Pasadena. If you happen to be in town during one of these fairs it’s worth a visit!
A Good Used Book (Echo Park): A special little used bookstore with titles across a variety of genres.
The Untitled Love (Echo Park): Used books primarily on art and design.
Skylight Books (Los Feliz): Skylight is your typical local bookstore, but next door they have the Skylight Annex, a separate shop for art and design books and magazines that I always spend too much time and money in.
Chevalier’s (Larchmont): LA’s oldest independent bookstore.
Arcana (Culver City): If you’re into art books, make this your one stop. Trust me on this.
Sideshow Books (Mid-City): Go here with an open mind and a willingness to dig in, because it’s a little chaotic but filled with absolute gems.
DIESEL, A Bookstore (Brentwood): My neighborhood bookstore when I lived on the west side.

On my list to check out: Lost Books, Reparations Club

The Huntington Library, Art Museum & Botanical Gardens (San Marino): This is my number one rec for anyone visiting LA, and not just because it’s in my neighborhood. The Huntington has it all: a Japanese garden, a rose garden, a cactus garden, a tropical garden, an herb garden… Basically, every kind of garden you could imagine. And that’s on top of being home to one of the best art collections in LA County.
Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena): Embarrassingly I just visited the Norton Simon for the first time ever, but I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to make it a regular stop.
Descanso Gardens (La Cañada): Basically a mini version of The Huntington.
Bob Baker Marionette Theater (Highland Park): A magical, magical place. I was skeptical about this place before I went (puppets?!) but it’s truly so special, especially during the holidays.
Marta (Silver Lake): An art and design gallery you’ll want to keep on your radar.
Neutra VDL House (Silver Lake): A tour of the Neutra VDL House is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
The Future Perfect (Hollywood): A gallery currently occupying the Goldwyn House in the Hollywood Hills. You have to make an appointment but it’s worth it, if not for the art, to peek around the house itself.
Stahl House (Hollywood): The most stunning view of Los Angeles is from Case Study House #22, which is open for group tours. Book way, way, way ahead.
LACMA (Beverly Grove): LACMA has been undergoing renovations for the last couple of years and still has a long way to go, but there’s always, always something interesting going on here.
The Hammer Museum (Westwood): I think of the Hammer as LA’s most “local” museum—they heavily feature LA-based artists and do a lot of free public programming for the community. Also, their restaurant (Alice Waters’ LULU) and bookstore win for the best in the land.
The Getty (Brentwood): My personal favorite. There’s so much that makes the Getty so special—the architecture, the tram ride up the hill, the view… There’s no better museum experience in LA.
The Eames House (Pacific Palisades): The Eames House is currently closed thanks to the Palisades fire, but it survived! So keep your eyes peeled for tours in the future.
The Getty Villa (Pacific Palisades): Also temporarily closed from the fires. I don’t get too excited about antiquities, which is what makes up the majority of the Villa’s collection, but it really is a beautiful place to spend an afternoon by the ocean.

On my list to check out: Lobster Club, Virginia Robinson Gardens, Hollyhock House (I can’t believe I haven’t been here,) Schindler House

If you’re staying in LA for longer than a week, it might be worth going the rental route—that way you can really settle into a neighborhood, shop the farmers markets, and have a more authentic local experience. But if you’re doing the hotel thing, there are a few on my list.

Proper DTLA (DTLA): I stayed here when it first opened and it’s everything you’d expect from the mind of Kelly Wearstler. If you happen to track down the general manager, ask if he’ll give you a peek at the two giant suites; the building used to be a gym, so one of the suites has a half-court and the other has a lap pool.
Cara Hotel (Los Feliz): The more I think about it, the more I’m realizing how starved we are for nice hotels on the east side. I’ve heard the Cara Hotel is nice but I can’t attest to it myself. I’m just trying to help!!!
Sunset Tower (West Hollywood): This is your quintessential LA experience. It’s expensive, the food isn’t amazing, and the rooms are a little run down, but the hotel itself still has tons of that old Hollywood magic that makes up for it. You can’t beat a day by the pool and dinner at Tower Bar.
Palihouse Santa Monica (Santa Monica): I used to walk by this place all the time when I lived nearby and the grounds are beautiful. I haven’t been inside.
Gjelina Hotel (Venice): I haven’t stayed here but I really want to. It’s owned by the same people behind Gjelina (the restaurant) and Gjusta (which I’ve now mentioned twice), so I’m sure it’s absolutely lovely.

Lastly, a quick note on neighborhoods. I posted a story on Instagram asking if there was anything specific you all wanted to know about visiting LA, and overwhelmingly people were curious about how to hack their time in LA without a car—what areas were most walkable, how to visit without driving anywhere, where you could do the most shopping and the least amount of Ubering…

The truth is, LA is famously not a walkable city. It just isn’t. Our public transportation systems suck, the city is sprawling, and there isn’t really a central location that makes getting around easy. I just Google Mapped the drive between my house and Venice Beach and it would take me an hour and 10 minutes to get there (or a $108 Uber… each way, not including tip).

If you’re visiting, you really either have to rent a car, pay up for Ubers, or limit yourself to just one area. Unless your only plan is to sit on the beach for your entire visit, I promise you’ll get bored after about a day and a half in any neighborhood you choose. What makes LA special is that each neighborhood is completely different to the next, and you’re going to miss out on that experience by just holing up in West Hollywood or Silver Lake or Santa Monica. I know this isn’t the answer you want to hear, but it’s the truth. Plan to spend some time in the car, arrange your itinerary accordingly, and embrace the unfortunate fact that it simply is what it is. (Also, if going to the beach is your only plan, I’d honestly skip LA altogether and go down to Laguna Beach or up to Santa Barbara.)

There are so many more activities and neighborhoods and establishments I didn’t even get to that I’ll have to add as I think of, so watch this space. More soon, I promise!

Ali

The À La Carte Guide to Los Angeles

A list of everything I love in this city

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