After living in LA for around 3.5 years, I am fortunate enough to have experienced a sizeable slice of the wonderful food scene of this city. Here are my 15 favorite dishes in (and technically around) LA – from arepas to noodles to fried goodness to tacos, I miss each and every one of these so dearly.
🍚 Dish Description: Stewed chicken breast in a honey-tomato marinara, imported Gouda Cheese, fresh cilantro and our house-made sweet pickled red onions. Choose your favorite side of sauce. Served with slaw or beets.
📍 Location: 55 S Raymond Ave, Pasadena, CA 91105
📆 Date of Last Visit: Sep 25, 2022
🤑 Price: $15.90
🚌 Number of Visits: 7
I’m pretty sure I’ve had at least a third of Amara’s menu. I’m pretty bummed that my last visit was in 2022, but there’s no doubt about it: Amara would land at the very top of my 2022 eats wrapped by far! I ordered from this restaurant at least 3 times during my university-sponsored COVID housing era, where I was gifted $70 in DoorDash credit a day. Their catira arepa is so simple, but hits all the right notes with its sweet honey-tomato marinara and pickled red onion combo. You have your pick between slaw and beets, but unless you’re a beet lover, I think the slaw is a must.
I’ve also had the pabellon arepa, cachapa llanera, spicy Cubano sandwich, Amara’s sandwich (no longer available I believe 🥲), churros with guava sauce, the Hot Venezuelan (hot chocolate), and Ginger On (I also don’t see it on the menu anymore, but it was just a ginger juice). Considering my ample consumption of the menu, I feel qualified to say everything is divine on the Amara menu. My next visit to Pasadena will simply have to include this great establishment!
🍚 Dish Description: Finely chopped prime lean beef seasoned with herb clarified butter sauce and spices served with Cottage cheese and collard greens. Prepared rare, medium or well done.
📍 Location: 1025 S Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90019 (Little Ethiopia)
📆 Date of Last Visit: May 20, 2025
🤑 Price: $26.95 – meant to be shared though!
🚌 Number of Visits: 1
I’ve only had Ethiopian food one other time (also with Hannah, who I had this meal with), but this meal was so very memorable. It was actually my last meal in LA with Hannah, and given that we had enjoyed Ethiopian food together once, I knew we would a second time! As only two people, we were pretty limited in terms of getting to try a bunch of things, which is probably the ideal case at an Ethiopian restaurant. But we finally landed on the kitfo after our server suggested a few items. The portion was super filling – much more than it looks, because you’re constantly eating injera to scoop up your next portion. I have a mild-medium spice tolerance, so I’ll be honest in saying that this was a little spicier than I usually eat, but when you have that cottage cheese, injera, and a dream, you’re all set. The setting is so lovely too – it feels like you could be eating in a home, and the server was super friendly and helpful. What a way to end me and my bestie’s foodie journey in LA together!
🍚 Dish Description: Roasted Candied Honey Walnuts, Wafu Cabbage Slaw, Katsu Sauce, Honey Milk Bread
📍 Location: 736 North Broadway, Unit 105, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (Chinatown)
📆 Date of Last Visit: November 23, 2025
🤑 Price: $16.95
🚌 Number of Visits: 5
To me, honey walnut shrimp is the emblem of Chinese American food to me. Even as a Chinese American myself, I ate this dish way more than any sesame or orange chicken – it was a fixture on many group dinners with the other Chinese American kids, like a guilty pleasure amongst actual Chinese food. While a katsu sandwich restaurant was already exciting, imagine my enthusiasm skyrocketing when I saw this delectable item on the menu. There’s real chunks of shrimp inside that form a patty, and it’s breaded like all the other katsu items on the menu. Add those candied walnuts – which we always fought over as kids – with the slaw and creamy honey aioli, and you have a sandwich that both feels new and stirs up the best memories of childhood dinners. I love this sandwich so much, that when I got sent to university-sponsored COVID housing, this was the first thing I ordered using the delivery credit I was gifted ☺️
🍚 Dish Description: The Midnight Sandwich / A Cuban classic! House-made, slow-roasted pork, sweet roasted ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and Cuban dressing (mustard, mayonnaise, and house seasonings). Served on a Medianoche roll (a rich, sweet bread with a soft crust) and pressed.
📍 Location: 3614 Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA 91505 (multiple locations though)
📆 Date of Last Visit: July 13, 2025
🤑 Price: $7.79
🚌 Number of Visits: 1 in-person visit, but probably about 10 times that Porto’s has been brought to me!
Porto’s, my love! Luckily, living in Florida now, there isn’t necessarily a shortage of Cuban bakeries. However, Porto’s is HER. Through every bake sale on Trousdale and every incentive to get me to attend a club meeting, I have only grown to love Porto’s more and more. And it’s so easy to see why everyone loves it. Even after 40 years, Porto’s remains affordable – many of their baked goods run under $2 each, and their sandwiches still remain in single digit prices. The medianoche is my perfect sandwich – Cubanos are already great for me, but when you replace the crusty Cuban bread with a slightly sweet, eggy, ultra soft bread (that’s toasted!), it’s the perfect savory sandwich which a lovely kick of mustard and sour note from the pickles.
🍚 Dish Description: Knife-cut noodles loaded with clams, mussels, shrimps and 1/2 crab in anchovy broth.
📍 Location: 3470 W 6th St, Suite #9-10, Los Angeles CA 90020 (Koreatown)
📆 Date of Last Visit: March 12, 2025
🤑 Price: $23.99 (large size, which serves 3-4, is $83.99 if you’re looking to save a little bit)
🚌 Number of Visits: 3
Hangari is certainly not the only place to do kalguksu, but they’re masters at it and making sure you don’t leave hungry. They start you off with a lovely assortment of banchan – I always love to see the ultra thin pickled pink radishes – and a small bowl of brown rice and gochujang. And then they bust out with a huge bowl of noodle soup that can happily feed 2, especially if you account for the unlimited banchan. The broth is so rich in umami from the anchovies (maturing is realizing anchovies are flavor bombs without being fishy), coating the noodles perfectly in each bite.
I’ve never walked out of here with anything less than a very hearty afternoon snack for the next day – and it brings the same joy even a day later.
🍚 Dish Description: Popular dish. Gluten free. (During busy hour could take at least 30 mins). The most famous Thai street food, grilled marinated pork on skewers.
📍 Location: 6660 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028 (Hollywood)
📆 Date of Last Visit: July 13, 2023
🤑 Price: $22
🚌 Number of Visits: 1
It’s been over 2 years since I’ve had these skewers (which is probably why it’s only number 10 on my list), and I still think about how perfect they are. First of all, the price for 3 skewers is definitely not cheap, but these are not your average mini kabobs – there are huge chunks of pork on each skewer. These beauties are charred excellently, which brings out the best of the sugar in the marinade. Also, I know Thai food has a reputation for being on the sweet side, but the sweetness on these is golden with the punch of umami from the marinade sauces. Also, pair these with some sticky rice for a texturally divine palate cleanser between bites.
🍚 Dish Description: Garlic butter shrimp (6pc shell on) served with purple rice and Korean greens (tossed green salad, green onion, chili sesame vinaigrette) – everything at this restaurant is GF (except items explicitly with bread/buns/mac)
📍 Location: 718 S Los Angeles St, Los Angeles, CA 90014 (DTLA)
📆 Date of Last Visit: July 8, 2023
🤑 Price: $21.99
🚌 Number of Visits: 1
Shocked I only went here once, considering that I spread the (loving) gospel about this place all the time. Their hours aren’t great, only being open from 12-6 a few days a week, which makes it hard to slot in for a dinner. But this shrimp is so juicy and buttery that even at 6 pieces, you will leave feeling like you got a massive bang for your buck. I know mac salad is perhaps more traditional, but their Korean greens in my opinion are almost a necessity to cut the richness of the shrimp. Also, Lee (the namesake and owner) is so friendly, and he even offered me and my friend (a regular there) free ALOHA Maid POG juices.
🍚 Dish Description: Braised and fried gulf of Mexico octopus, calamari ink sofrito
📍 Location: 3655 S Grand Ave #C9, Los Angeles, CA 90007 (South Central LA – inside Mercado la Paloma)
📆 Date of Last Visit: May 20, 2025
🤑 Price: $7
🚌 Number of Visits: 5
Holbox is just about an LA legend – there’s nothing quite like the ultra fresh seafood tacos, ceviches, aguachiles, cocteles, tostadas, and entrees that they make. The restaurant is named from the island off Mexico’s northern Yucatán Peninsula, pronounced “hole-bosh.” This is one of the restaurants on this list that I’ve visited the most, and for that, I am so grateful. I’ve gotten kanpachi tacos and tostadas, as well as their shrimp entree, but the one dish I almost always get is their octopus taco. I love a grilled octopus, and it just works so well with the citrus, scallions, and squid ink sofrito it’s paired with.
At Holbox, you can really take your pick between seafood that’s fresh off the grill, lightly fried, or literally fresh from the sea (usually “flash-cooked” with citrus, like through preparations of ceviche and aguachile). Arguably the most famous restaurants on this list (with the exception of Porto’s maybe), Holbox is the hard-earned recipient of many accolades, including 1 Michelin Star. USC students are the luckiest to be a mere Fryft ride away from this establishment, and it’s surely one of the best treat-yourself-meals you can find as a college student.
Also, I’ve had food from a majority of the stalls in Mercado La Paloma, and they’ve all been wonderful – would highly recommend checking this food hall out!
🍚 Dish Description: Fried pork egg rolls served with vegetables
📍 Location: 815 W Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel, CA 91776 (626/SGV Area)
📆 Date of Last Visit: July 6, 2025
🤑 Price: $15.50
🚌 Number of Visits: 4
Thanking my sister for bringing these life-changing egg rolls into my life. Unlike many other egg rolls I’ve had, these egg rolls are wrapped in rice paper, which brings about the characteristic puffy and bubbly skin that arises from frying rice paper. It’s significantly better than egg roll wrappers, in my opinion! Their pork filling is also generously seasoned, which makes the filling a more prominent player in this egg roll than maybe others I’ve had. At $15.50, they aren’t cheap, but they are much bigger than your average chả giò, and this would be a nutritious (with the plentiful greens) and hearty meal for one person.
🍚 Dish Description: Jidori Chicken Karaage (Mild or Spicy): Ginger and garlic marinated fried chicken thigh served with peppers, Asian style yuzu kosho mayo and house-made shichimi over aonori furikake topped rice , miso cured egg yolk, and fukujinzuke. Our convenient bento also comes with a separate box containing a variety of vegetables that include: Tokyo diner potato salad, yuzu pickled purple cabbage, tare glazed lotus root, daigaku imo (sweet potato), kinpira gobo & carrots (root vegetable), broccoli namulru, braised friend miso tofu, and grilled zucchini.
📍 Location: 1102 Lawrence St, Los Angeles, CA 90021 (DTLA/Arts District)
📆 Date of Last Visit: May 14, 2025
🤑 Price: $22
🚌 Number of Visits: 2
I love a bento box, because sometimes I find myself getting bored of eating if I’m just eating, let’s say, a bowl of pasta with no sides. A bento box incorporates diversity in the eating experience, because every bite will be something different. Guzzu Bento-Ya offers a delicious mix of fresh and roasted vegetables, a delightful protein of your choice, and a hefty bed of rice to cleanse your palate in between bites. While the portion size is not huge, I would say it’ll leave you satiated (especially with the rice) and the karaage pieces are quite big. An exceptional treat yourself lunch!
🍚 Dish Description: Deep fried morning glory topped with fresh shrimp and a spicy house dressing
📍 Location: 5233 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027 (Hollywood/Thai Town)
📆 Date of Last Visit: January 19, 2025
🤑 Price: $20.95
🚌 Number of Visits: 1
One of my friends had been telling me about the gospel of Jitlada for several years – and I’m so glad in the beginning of this year, she decided to accompany me on my first visit to her favorite restaurant. Specifically, this crispy morning glory salad was a legend. I can’t even explain what made it so good. The fried morning glory was light and tossed in a sweet, sour, and spicy dressing that was accentuated by some sharp sliced red onions. The fresh shrimp was a delightful surprise – they were so slightly poached so that the texture was perfectly tender and succulent.
I will say that the wait on a Sunday night was still close to an hour – which primed my stomach for an intense desire to eat – but I still believe this salad would’ve changed my life even on a full stomach.
One of my deep regrets is not returning to Jitlada by myself before I left just to eat this salad (and maybe an order of sticky rice). But as I always say, that might just mean another reason to return.
🍚 Dish Description: Smoked Goat Shoulder, Peanut Sauce, Crispy Weiser Potatoes, Turmeric Spiced Slaw, Cilantro, and Scallions
📍 Location: 858 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029 (East Hollywood)
📆 Date of Last Visit: October 25, 2024
🤑 Price: $19
🚌 Number of Visits: 1 (+ pop-ups)
Oh to have the glorious goat roti of Bridgetown Roti once again ❤️ I actually already wrote an entire love letter to this amazing establishment, so you can read all about what earns this dish (and many others) a spot on this list.
🍚 Dish Description: Two juicy skewers of perfectly seasoned ground beef and lamb
📍 Location: 414 S Western Ave # D, Los Angeles, CA 90020 (Koreatown)
📆 Date of Last Visit: April 2, 2024
🤑 Price: $22.99 for entree
🚌 Number of Visits: 1
I’m not sure that I will ever have a ground meat dish as good as this ever again. The meat is delectably seasoned, and the char from their preparation brings out the best of the spices they use. Pairing it with their specialty cherry rice also just adds the perfect sweet balance to the ultra-savory meat they serve (plus I’m a sucker for sweet and salty). At $22.99, it’s one of the pricier dishes on the list, but each koobideh is quite lengthy – and I could definitely see this being split into two meals depending on your capacity that day.
🍚 Dish Description: Black bean noodles and Korean-style fried chicken wings with fries and salad
📍 Location: 4050 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90020 (Koreatown)
📆 Date of Last Visit: July 24, 2025
🤑 Price: $4.99 for jajangmyeon + $8.99 for 6pc chicken wing special (as of 8/11/2025 via Yelp)
🚌 Number of Visits: 2
A member of the community center I worked at had been recommending Zombie Chicken to me for months. He lives just a 5 minute walk from it and kept telling me it was a hidden gem. He was absolutely right – the inside is no frills, has just four tables, and there’s minimal separation between the kitchen and seating area – but they deliver a fantastic meal at an extremely great price.
Zombie Chicken earned my #2 spot, because the price is unbeatable, the offerings are two of my favorite foods (jajangmyeon and Korean fried chicken), and the service is quick and kind. The $4.99 jajangmyeon was advertised as an opening special, but even the regular price is only $7.99. Add that to the $8.99 wing special, and you have yourself a perfect amount of food for 2 people at less than $10 per person. Zombie Chicken deserves all the love – serving food of this quality at this price point in this economy is heartwarming.
🍚 Dish Description: Tacos with pastor, asada, suadero, buche, pollo, chorizo, cabeza, lengua
📍 Location: 353 S Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (Little Tokyo & DTLA)
📆 Date of Last Visit: July 14, 2024
🤑 Price: $2.25 per taco + $0.50 for potato (as of 10/10/2025 via Yelp)
🚌 Number of Visits: 3
Formerly known as Avenue 26, this taco stand is a religious experience.
Amongst all the options on this list, I gave them my top spot, because if someone asked me to give them one recommendation, Avenue 26 is affordable, filling, fresh, and is simply emblematic of the taco stands I miss so dearly about Los Angeles.
To be honest, I couldn’t even tell you which meats I got. I usually just ask them for 5-6 tacos and tell them to pick the meats for me. Chef’s choice has never failed me! And plus, once these tacos hit the plate, I just keep picking them up until there’s none left on the plate.
But what distinguishes Avenue 26 from other taco stands I’ve been to is two things: 1) the unlimited (at least previously) grilled onions you can top your tacos with and 2) the most glorious boiled potato you might ever have. Yelp reviewers say the potato costs an extra 50 cents, but to me, it’s an essential. It’s soaked in the juices of one of the meats they cook, and I think it’s the perfect palate cleanser in between your tacos. But as someone who loves grilled onions especially, I simply have the utmost adoration for their generosity. They also have a self-serve salsa and topping (your typical onions, cilantro, lime, pico de gallo, etc.) stand, so you can load up as you see fit.
If you’ve never had a taco in Southern California (or of course, Mexico), Avenue 26 might just rock your whole taco world.
See you soon,
Carissa 😊