Not ranked. Not sponsored. Not a listicle. These are the ten places in Los Angeles that Mel would go back to on a Tuesday for no reason. That's the whole criteria.
"The al pastor is carved off a trompo at 2am and handed to you on a corn tortilla. This is what food is for."
Al pastor taco, double meat
"Loud, chaotic, the pasta is genuinely great and the charcuterie will make you question every deli you've ever been to."
Rigatoni with pork sugo, any of the cured meats
"Watching pasta get made through a glass wall while eating pasta made through that glass wall is a specific kind of LA absurdity I fully endorse."
Whatever handmade pasta the server tells you to order. Listen to them.
"The food is fine. The wine is good. The people-watching on Melrose is a full contact sport and the patio is the best seat in the house."
A glass of something French, the charcuterie board, and your sunglasses
"The bread alone justifies the existence of gluten. The rest is expensive and mostly worth it."
The bread. The bread. The bread.
"Tiny martinis, all-booth seating, a lasagna that is lying to you about being a lasagna. The best neighborhood restaurant in a city full of neighborhoods."
Lasagna vongole, tiny tini, skillet cookie
"Proof that fusion isn't a dirty word when the people doing it actually know what they're doing."
Cheesy corn agnolotti, doenjang caesar
"British food that doesn't make you apologize for ordering it. The meat pie will haunt you in the best possible way."
Meat pie, bangers and mash, whatever natural wine they're pouring
"A seafood stall inside a community market that serves food better than most restaurants charging four times the price. LA at its best."
Tostada de camarón, aguachile
"The line is real. The wait is annoying. The ricotta toast will make you forget both of those things immediately."
Sorrel pesto rice bowl, ricotta toast, whatever jam they made that week
"This list will change. Everything changes. That's the whole point of eating."
Read All Reviews