The 10 hottest restaurants in LA right now that Mel hasn't eaten yet. Vote for what you want reviewed first. Suggest something she's missing. Highest votes get eaten first.
"Two women opened a British countryside pub in Los Feliz and it immediately became the hottest reservation in the neighborhood. Bangers and mash, flaky meat pie, sticky toffee pudding. Also a daytime bakery. The audacity to be this charming."
"The Osteria Mozza people opened a marble pasta bar in Koreatown where you eat cheese corn agnolotti and doenjang caesar sitting elbow-to-elbow with strangers. Either genius or a cry for help. Michelin just added it to the guide. Probably genius."
"Sqirl — the ricotta toast temple of LA — just launched dinner service. Reservations are a bloodbath. The menu is produce-obsessed and allegedly includes a roast chicken that is making people emotional. I need to see this with my own eyes."
"Four courses in what feels like the Parisian catacombs. Nordic hip-hop in the bathroom. Golden scissors to cut a rum-soaked sticky bun. The sea urchin spaghetti costs $54 as an add-on and people are ordering it anyway. I need to understand this place."
"A massive, chaotic Chinese restaurant inside The Row where the Yunnan grilled branzino is allegedly transcendent and the Sichuan fried chicken gives Din Tai Fung a run for its money. The wait is long, the vibe is unhinged, and everyone keeps going back."
"DIY handrolls on little wooden planks, gochujang-marinated eel, a caviar potato pancake that belongs at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Also Korean small plates that have no business being this good. The kind of place that shouldn't work and absolutely does."
"The cult fried fish sandwich pop-up grew up and got a proper restaurant. Dinner service features beef carpaccio in uni cream and steelhead trout in roe relish. Resy and Infatuation both have it in their top 3 right now. The hype appears to be real."
"An 11-seat counter restaurant that just got added to the Michelin Guide California. Eleven seats. The intimacy is either romantic or anxiety-inducing depending on your personality. I'm going to find out which."
"The wagyu cheesesteak at the original Matū bar has had a cult following for years. Now it has its own fast-casual spinoff in Pasadena and people are lining up down the block for a $24 sandwich. I will be the judge of whether this is justified."
"The Holbox counter at Mercado La Paloma is already one of the best things in LA. A full tasting menu version from the same kitchen is on Resy's top 5 right now. I don't know what I did to deserve this but I accept it."
Know somewhere that should be on this list?