Knotted is one of Seoul’s most famous cream donut shops, and now it’s taken over a corner of the Century City mall (and a good chunk of the mall’s walkway, thanks to their line). They’re known for their strawberry donut, but the pastry case is also filled with other flavors like kaya butter, coconut, and matcha. There are also a few croissants and coffee drinks topped with chestnut tiramisu foam or corn cream.

With a dozen variations on the menu, this cocktail bar in Sherman Oaks takes margaritas seriously. The “mercado” section features fruit flavors such as green apple and tangerine, while the “salsa bar” mixes in things like avocado, purple cabbage, and tomatillo. Daisy comes from the team behind Mirate, where the cocktails are excellent, so we trust them to get a little wild. You’ll also find aguachiles and tacos to eat, and weekend brunch is coming soon.

After a three-month closure, queer bar The Ruby Fruit is back open in their original strip mall space in Silver Lake. What started as a wine bar is now branded as a “neighborhood bar and grill,” but most of the old menu has stuck around: fried gigante beans, popcorn chicken, a hot dog, and a grilled chicken sandwich. There’s wine, cocktails, and N/A options, with a very simple Happy Hour: $1 off everything from 3-6pm daily.

Sadaf has been serving big Persian spreads in Encino and Thousand Oaks for years, and now they’ve opened a third location in Beverly Hills. You’ll find familiar koobideh platters, kabobs, and stew combos that are designed for sharing, plus a dressed-up interior with arched mirrors on the walls and little bouquets of red roses on each table.

After years of catering gigs and feeding family parties out of aluminum trays, Manila Inasal now has a stylish dine-in spot serving “modern Filipino cuisine” in Silver Lake. Look for fusion-y family-style dishes like macadamia nut kare kare, laing with focaccia, roe-topped tortang talong with crab, and ube mochi brownies.

Ippudo, the ramen chain from Japan known for tonkotsu broth, has moved its LA location from West Hollywood to Downtown Culver. The new Culver shop will be business as usual with their signature pork-based ramen, plus spicy versions with miso paste or rayu oil, while the WeHo one will transition to a fully vegan outpost called Ippudo V with a plant-based spin on tonkotsu.

The newest addition to DTLA’s Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Casa Ipanema comes from a Brazilian restaurateur and channels the look of a Rio pool party. The menu bounces between things like truffle fondue, Brazilian-style sushi, shrimp empanadas, and pineapple pork chops. Happy Hour runs from 4-7pm on Wednesday to Sunday, with deals on appetizers and wine. 

Short for Retalhuleu (a city in Guatemala), this daytime spot in Hawthorne is lined with photos of Guatemalan scenery and serves Central American staples like tostadas, chuchitos, garnachas, and even a Guatemalan-style hot dog with guac and cabbage slaw. There’s also matcha lattes and espresso drinks, like the house “Reu” latte with cinnamon and condensed milk.

Great White is now in Brentwood, which means there are four locations of this beachy all-day mini-chain across LA. The new space has green walls, marble-like table tops, woven chairs, and umbrellas on the patio, plus the usual brunch dishes and pizzas. There’s also crispy gyoza wings on the menu: boneless chicken glazed in yuzu kosho and topped with chili crunch.

Named after the luckiest number in Chinese culture, 88 Club is a new project from the Nightshade (RIP) and Daybird chef. It’s not a nightclub, though the space looks dark and moody with tiled floors, olive green walls, and an intense tiger painting. The menu leans classic Chinese, with nam yu roasted chicken, bamboo shoot wontons, sesame prawn toast, and desserts like milk tea custard buns.

Aside from the three additional letters in its name, Matu Kai looks pretty much identical to the original Matu in Beverly Hills. The Brentwood steakhouse serves the same all-New-Zealand wagyu and steak dinner sets, but there are some small additions to the menu, like tenderloin satay, wagyu meatballs in pomodoro, and maltagliati pasta from Uovo. Matu’s not-so-secret wagyu cheesesteak is also available at the bar.

This pork soup specialist from Seoul and NYC is operating as a pop-up for nine months at the STILE Hotel in DTLA (walk-ins only). The menu is extremely to-the-point: clear, slow-simmered dweji gomtang, a seafood pancake, and chilled slices of pork. Everything is served in shiny gold bowls and cups, including the barley soju. They’re also teaming up with fellow pop-up Lefty Gelateria, which means you won’t have to go far for dessert.

In case you were wondering, yes, this place is named after the 10-minute Taylor Swift song. This Chicago sandwich shop’s first West Coast location is across from the Platform in Culver City. There’s an LA-specific menu with sandwiches named Shaq and Kobe, but some Chicago bestsellers made the trip, too, like the Niff Jen with turkey, stracciatella, and fig jam, and the Bombay Chulet, with turkey, prosciutto, and chili crunch.

After building a mini-empire of Italian restaurants (Jame Enoteca, Ospi, Jemma Hollywood), the chef behind them is jumping from pasta to tacos. Jaime Taqueria in El Segundo has a patio full of pink chairs and a lineup of tacos, burritos, guac, ceviches, and margaritas. The time you show up can work in your favor—there’s a daily Happy Hour from 3-5:30pm with $12 margs, and a daily lunch special that includes two tacos and a marg for $25.

A Chinese restaurant in Chinatown might not seem like a novel concept, but the slick-looking Firstborn in the old Pok Pok space looks to be doing something unique. Expect inventive dishes from a Destroyer alum, such as mapo tofu steak tartare, cumin lamb saddle, and a twist on Chongqing fried chicken. The cocktail list, with a pu-erh negroni and fermented rice sour, has our attention, too.

We recently visited Firstborn and added it to the Hit List.

The chef behind Alimento and Cosa Buona has a new Italian spot in Santa Monica that blends dishes from both of those now-closed restaurants (we spy the chicken liver mousse and smoked mozzarella sticks), plus a few curveballs like an Italian dumpling salad and chicken milanese with Thai-style tomato salad. And while Cosetta's name means “little thing” in Italian, it seems to have plenty of space, with 50 seats inside and about double that on the fire pit patio.

We recently visited Cosetta and added it to the Westside Hit List.

Mar Vista is a fairly quiet residential area with lots of big-name restaurants around it, but now there’s a new spot right in the heart of the neighborhood. A converted corner grocery, Beethoven Market has a light and airy look with lots of windows and an outdoor space that looks pulled from a Nancy Meyers film (e.g., big striped umbrellas and lemon trees). Brunch is coming, but for now, the Cal-Ital menu has a familiar line-up of wood-fired pizzas, pasta, and small plates like crispy artichokes and citrus salad.

We’ve got another cafe joining the very competitive Koreatown cafe scene. But along with einspanners you’ve probably seen before, Rok offers a more unique “mugwort duo,” with thick, mugwort-infused cream on top of a mugwort latte. The small space is mostly a grab-and-go situation, with just a single bench and a white blossom tree in the center, but it sure does look pretty.

DTLA doesn’t have as many aesthetic cafes as Koreatown, but this new one is run by an apparel brand, so naturally, it looks like a monochrome furniture showroom. A screen plays waterfall videos on loop, and the pastry case has just one item—canelés spaced apart like they’re part of an exhibit. There’s also a couple of matcha drinks made with their own powder and coffee from a Korean roaster based in Brooklyn.

The giant samurai mural on the wall is hard to miss at this 25-seat hand roll spot in Culver City. Saijo comes from the group behind Jinya and Robata and specializes in temaki and kushiyaki. They have set menus that mix and match both categories, called the 3x3 and 4x4 (not a secret In-N-Out order, just the number of skewers and rolls you’ll get).

The former Jewel space in Silver Lake is now Doto, a daytime cafe with a globe-spanning menu from the chef behind Edgemar that includes avocado toast, a full-on bento box, a lamb pita, and an off-menu breakfast sandwich you have to ask for, as well as coffee and wine. A full dinner program is set to launch soon, which should be a nice excuse to take advantage of the chill-looking backyard patio.

The name means “two flowers,” but this spot in Long Beach is as much about carbs as anything floral. From the team behind Baby Gee, the moody, red-lit restaurant has thick square pizzas, ricotta gnocchi with duck ragu, and salads with things like charred snap peas, ricotta, and dill. There’s a blue frog sculpture at the bar and a couple of eyebrow-raising, pop art nude paintings hanging on the walls inside, plus a patio with rainbow string lights.

The line at the original Villa's Tacos in Highland Park often stretches across the parking lot, so we're not surprised they’ve expanded with a new mariscos-focused concept down the street from Figueroa. The Dodger-themed signage, signature blue corn tortillas, and a full lineup of colorful salsas are the same, but the new menu stars seafood like beer-battered mahi tacos, mesquite-grilled octopus, and shrimp a la diabla.

This old-school strip mall spot in Inglewood has been taken over by one of the former owners of Tacos Punta Cabras, and it’s now a joint taco-and-mongolian-barbecue concept. You’ll still find stir-fried noodles, but also, fried fish tacos, cauliflower ceviche, and a shrimp patty burger. There’s also an off-menu “mongolito” taco with karaage, crispy noodles, and buttermilk-tomatillo sauce.

The bagels arms race continues with another shop opening in Highland Park. C&H does breakfast sandwiches and sourdough bagels with toppings like lox and blueberry sauce, plus other brunchy dishes like waffles, omelets, and breakfast burritos. It looks like a quiet space, and they have wifi, so you can probably camp out with your laptop while sipping an olla latte with housemade cinnamon-orange syrup.

We’re not sure if the “red” in Sweet Red Peach is a nod to red velvet cake, but it’s one of the Southern-style desserts that put this Inglewood bakery on the map. They’ve now got a second location in Pasadena, where you’ll find their famous ruby-colored cake with cream cheese frosting, as well as other treats like blue velvet, german chocolate cake, and banana pudding.

Heavy Handed’s third location just took over the All Day Baby space (RIP) in Silver Lake, adding to the neighborhood’s lineup of other smashburger heavy-hitters: For The Win, The Win-Dow, and Burgers Never Say Die. At Heavy Handed, expect the same bold orange-and-red signage, along with beefy burgers, tallow fries, and dipped soft-serve cones.

An Australian dessert influencer runs this new dessert shop in Koreatown, which might explain why all the pastries look as photogenic as they do. They’ve got raspberry mousse cubes, fruit-shaped creations made with chocolate shells, and matcha pistachio heart cakes, plus fun boba drinks like camellia milk tea with jasmine silk jelly.

We recently visited Tu Cha. Read our thoughts.

Yep, there’s another handroll spot—this time in the Arts District. They do rolls with truffle toro, salmon skin, or vegetarian fillings like sesame tofu, along with fusion-y dishes like bluefin burrata and lobster dashi pasta. But the most intriguing thing on the menu are the sake cocktails infused with lychee and mint or three kinds of melon.

This Highland Park bakery from the Loreto team has a tall pastry case designed to show off leveled-up pan dulce, like a concha-croissant hybrid and a champurrado-flavored maple donut, plus savory options such as potato soyrizo croissants and beef chimichurri focaccia sandwiches. They’ve also got cafe de olla, horchata, and other traditional Mexican drinks on the menu.

We recently visited Santa Canela and added it to Best Bakeries.

Tre Lune, a longtime Italian restaurant from Montecito, has opened a new location in Hollywood. The monochrome dining room has white brick walls and a bunch of black-and-white artwork, while the menu features classic staples, like a margherita pizza, fettuccine alfredo, and chicken marsala.

Sonora-style taqueria Perro Exquisite Taco has expanded to Inglewood right across from SoFi Stadium, which means you can now grab some tacos on flour tortillas imported from TJ before or after a game. But before you casually order four or five, know that one taco here is roughly the size of a burrito, loaded with carne asada, beans, and guacamole.

Midnight Oil is a late-night dim sum and cocktail bar in Downtown Long Beach that’s decked out in traditional Chinese lanterns and pottery. The decor sets the mood for pork buns, har gow, shumai, and popcorn shrimp, and although a fried rice-inspired cocktail wasn’t on our bingo card, here it is—made with Baijiu, gin, rice syrup, and served in a snake cup.

This daytime Persian cafe in West LA is named after the Farsi word for “party” or alternatively, “you’re a monkey.” The space has a bright blue mural featuring flowers, and of course, a monkey. The menu has unique-sounding wraps and sandwiches, like one with beef mortadella or a chicken caesar lavash wrap, plus drinks like a pistachio latte, lavashak smoothie, and tahini protein shake.

This omakase counter in Culver City has no reservation system yet, but you can send an Instagram DM to snag a seat at $165 per person. The sushi chef behind it started hosting private omakases during the pandemic, and his new space still looks like an intimate sushi chef experience with just five seats.

We recently visited Sushi Masuyoshi and added it to the Hit List.

The team behind Fishing With Dynamite and Ryla has debuted their new Mediterranean-ish concept in Hermosa Beach, housed in a bright coral-colored building a block from the pier. Attagirl's menu covers a lot of ground with pitas and dips, mezze like cauliflower falafel and seafood tartines, wood-grilled skewers, and larger plates like chicken tagine. The cocktail list—featuring jokey names like Shark Repellant” and “Oh You Fancy Huh”—looks intriguing, too.

We recently visited Attagirl and added it to the Hit List.

Kettl is a minimalist tea shop from New York that’s serious about all things steeped, specifically high-quality matcha, plus hot and iced tea blends. You won’t find any cream-topped drinks here, but you can sit at the counter and watch the staff whisk matcha, or browse matcha powder, kettles, and ceramics on the shelves.

We recently visited Kettl Tea and added it to Best Matcha.

Din Tai Fung has officially arrived on the Westside. The popular soup dumpling chain’s newest location is on the third floor of Santa Monica Place, which means you can now enjoy their xiao long bao with an ocean view. Along with their usual menu, look for booths shaped like steamer baskets, a huge outdoor patio, and of course, their signature window into the dumpling-making room.

We recently visited Din Tai Fung Santa Monica and added it to the Hit List.

After closing due to a kitchen fire in 2023, Augustine is officially back in Sherman Oaks with a deep collection of vintage wines available by the bottle or glass. The speakeasy-esque space is full of old-timey touches including an antique record player, and they also serve a short food menu with tater tots, hummus toast, caesar salad, and steak.

Kurrypinch served Sri Lankan food in the Valley for years, but their new East Hollywood location is a major expansion into a more upscale space. They’ve also expanded the menu with fancy twists on street food like kottu roti (housemade roti with stir-fried veggies, curry seasoning, and scrambled eggs) and a kiribath-inspired coconut milk risotto.

We recently visited Kurrypinch and added it to the Hit List.

If you also miss Paris—or at least Emily in Paris—this West Adams cocktail bar might help. The space looks has a vintage Parisian lounge feel with chandeliers and candlelit booths, and it’s already a burgeoning celeb hot spot that’s hosted an Oscars afterparty. On a normal night, you’ll find fruity cocktails like the Embraser with persimmon liqueur and plum, plus not-so-French snacks like grilled cheese and chicken tenders.

We recently visited Damn, I Miss Paris. Read our thoughts.

We know the struggle of finding seats at The Original Farmers Market during peak lunch hours, but Savta seems like a less stressful choice. This full-service restaurant has a spacious patio with red umbrellas and string lights, a charcoal grill, and a menu of pizzas, pasta, and steaks. There’s also a separate concept upstairs that takes things in a completely different direction: a handroll bar called Sora.

Prose has taken over the former Gasolina Cafe in Woodland Hills and the new interior reminds us of a cozy cabin, complete with deer heads on the wall. The menu filled with “global influences" is a bit hard to categorize, but includes  “Tokyo-style” beef carpaccio, sweet potato gnocchi, and a wild mushroom and sunchoke pot pie.

This Middle Eastern daytime cafe in DTLA's South Park looks a bit like an office breakroom, but the food sounds more interesting than anything we’ve seen come out of a communal microwave. The morning menu features various breakfast sandwiches, including one with soujouk, eggs, and cheese, plus pastries like boreks and bagels. At lunch, there’s a crispy falafel sandwich or a Banh Pi(ta) with pork belly and pickled veggies.

It’s unclear if you need to bring your own friends, but this white-walled Greek spot on Abbot Kinney will definitely supply the wine. The interior looks like a stylish summer home on Santorini that’s decorated with tiny ceramic vases, seashells, and rows of wine bottles, and the short food menu includes traditional-leaning dishes like spanakopita, monkfish orzo, and lamb chops.

With cameos on Sex and the City and Seinfeld, H&H Bagels has had its share of New York screen time. Now, this NYC bagel chain has made the move to LA. The new shop in Santa Monica will have all the usual bagel shop staples, including BEC and lox sandwiches, along with flavored cream cheeses like scallion, walnut raisin, strawberry, and jalapeño.

We recently visited H&H Bagels. Read our thoughts.

The people behind the frisbee-sized donkatsu spot Lasung House just opened another restaurant specializing in tofu stew and pot rice. Soondubu isn’t rare in Koreatown, but here it’s available with premium add-ons like crab, lobster, and short rib. They also have interesting pot rice dishes with minari and clams or salted pollack roe.

We recently visited Lasung Tofu & Pot Rice. Read our thoughts.

Flour Pizzeria was on its way to opening a second location in Brentwood when they lost their Palisades location in the LA fires. We’re excited to see they're back in action at their new home, where they’ll serve the same New York-style pies, from the classic pepperoni to the house special topped with burrata and house honey.

San Pedro is now home to second Colossus Bakery outpost, which means more naturally leavened bread and sticky buns near the harbor. The new space is on the ground floor of an apartment complex, with their full food menu of breakfast sandwiches, scrambled eggs on toast, and pizza in the evenings.

This fancy perfume brand from NYC just opened an LA location with a cafe attached, where you can sip on coffee and tea while shopping for your signature scent. The rooftop seating looks like a peaceful spot to admire palm trees and get a little fresh air in between fragrance testing, and the drink menu is themed around the four elements, which means this is the closest to bending we’ll ever get.

We recently visited Elorea. Read our thoughts.

Almaya is a fast-casual, all-day spot in Lincoln Heights that mashes up Mexican and Mediterranean dishes while keeping it halal-friendly. The menu covers everything from machaca and chilaquiles for breakfast, and birria and salmon kebabs for lunch. On Tuesdays, they have specials for tacos filled with falafel and chicken shawarma.

Boiler specializes in meat-heavy Korean comfort foods. Along with seollongtang that comes with a prehistoric-looking beef rib sticking out of the bowl, you’ll find dishes like grilled short rib patties and spicy baby back ribs covered in melted cheese. They even sell their house bone broth in sealed to-go pouches if you want to take some home.

Bay Area bagel icon Boichik just rolled into Los Feliz, with a second location expected to open in DTLA shortly. The New York-style bagels here are baked daily and come in many forms—pumpernickle, garlic, cinnamon-raisin, egg, and, naturally, everything—plus you can build your own bagel sandwich, or opt for their classic with nova lox and cream cheese. The shop has a small patio if you want to stay and eat, or you can just grab a dozen to-go.

We recently visited Boichik Bagels. Read our thoughts.

At this Japanese-Italian fusion spot in Sawtelle, you can watch fresh pasta being made behind a glass window. The menu has bolognese, alfredo, and carbonara, but the more interesting-sounding pastas mix in Japanese ingredients like uni, curry, or cod roe. You can also top your noodles with a runny poached egg.

Stara Pierogi and Sausage is open at The Original Farmers Market, and like its name suggests, Polish comfort food is the focus here, like pierogies stuffed with potato and cheese or sauerkraut and mushroom, along with schnitzels and croquettes. Also, keep an eye out for their small bronze gnome statue, which is a nod to [checks notes] the street dwarves of Wroclaw, Poland.

We recently visited Stara Pierogi and Sausage and added it to the Grove Survival Guide.

Highland Park bar and music venue The Goldfish just reopened after a big revamp, which fortunately left the most important stuff—the checkered dance floor and neon signs—intact. Snack options come from Sticky Rice next door, plus there’s pool tables and vintage arcade games to play while sipping a thai chili margarita. Expect live music acts almost every night of the week, but head to the bar’s website first to see whether or not there’s a cover charge.

Kyuramen is a ramen chain with tons of locations across Asian and in the U.S., but Arcadia is their first destination in California. The menu covers the essentials with tonkotsu, miso and curry ramens, along with other dishes like omurice, kamameshi, and rice burgers. The restaurant also looks cozy, with booths that kind of resemble cubbyholes.

Despite the name, Takagi Coffee has a lot more going on than just caffeine. This minimalist Japanese cafe serves fluffy pancakes, omurice, Japanese-style pastas, and burgers with ginger and wasabi. There’s a display of coffee beans from around the world, and by the end of the month, they’ll also be rolling out Japanese beers.

We recently visited Takagi Coffee and added it to Best Matcha.

Torikizoku, an izakaya chain that has over 600 locations in Japan, has opened their first U.S. location, and judging by the lines already, it looks like Torrance was ready. Skewers of every chicken part imaginable are grilled over binchotan at the central “Yakibar,” and they also have smaller plates like agedashi tofu and karaage.

The original location of Gish Bac is slated to close soon, but the good news their new spot on Pico-Union is bigger and brighter (it used to be a banquet hall). Casa Gish Bac will also have the added upgrade of Mexican wine and beer, but they’ll still serve Gish Bac’s famous barbacoa, along with an entire menu of moles, antojitos, and guisados.

This popular bakery and coffee chain from Japan has landed in Redondo Beach, with a stacked display of their signature mou, a cube-shaped milk bread that looks like it was carved by a woodworker. It’s available by the loaf, or as sandwiches stuffed with savory fillings like tuna and cheese, edamame and bacon, and curry.

We recently visited Bread, Espresso &. Read our thoughts.

It’s always nice to see a pop-up find a permanent home, and this Filipino bakery now has one in Long Beach. Their vegan pandesal is baked fresh every hour, alongside treats like pan de coco filled with coconut, pandan cinnamon rolls, and ube crumb cups—all made without dairy or eggs. They’re also pouring coffee with beans sourced from Filipino farmers.

Cucina Alba, a sceney NYC celeb hot spot, has opened its second location, Alba, in West Hollywood, filled with pastel booths and abstract murals. There’s a yellow vintage-style car parked in front of the restaurant, and the food also looks brightly colored: a pink chicories salad with tuna tartare, branzino with yellow pepper crema, and a radicchio and walnut pizza.

We recently visited Alba and added it to the Hit List.

This once-roaming pop-up has settled down in Westlake, with a drink lineup that’s just as cheeky as the painting of a roller-skating mug on the wall. Expect banana in a lot of menu items, including a mocha topped with banana cream and banana chips, bananas n’ cream matcha, and banana bread chai. There are lots of other fun drinks, too, like the Coke n’ Cream Spro, which mixes Coke, espresso, and vanilla cream.

We recently visited Couplet Coffee and added it to Best Matcha.

Palms N’ Patties is a minimalist burger spot in Santa Monica that has serves just three things: cheeseburgers, grilled smashburgers with inside-out buns, and fries cooked in beef tallow. And fans of “clean ingredients” will be glad that learn it’s all made with grass-fed beef and zero seed oils.

Yama Sushi Marketplace has been an SGV go-to for grab-and-go sushi for decades, and after expanding to West LA a few years ago, they now have a third location in Koreatown. Like the others, it’s packed with quick lunch options, like rolls, sashimi, spam musubi, and rice bowls, as well as shelves stocked with Japanese snacks.

The team behind Hancock Park fine-dining restaurant Kali—currently closed for renovations—have opened a slightly more casual seafood spot a short drive away called Koast. The menu spotlights West Coast seafood with East Coast flavors, including oysters, crudo, scallop cakes, and lobster manicotti, plus some caviar for good measure. There’s also a giant fridge of dry-aging fish on display, plus a wine rack that takes up a whole wall.

We recently visited Koast. Read our thoughts.

This new Italian spot in DTLA—located in Maguire Gardens next door to the LA Central Library—looks as much like a museum as it does a restaurant. The book-lined dining room is decorated with violins and trumpets that hang from the ceilings, and the outdoor patio gives off Bridgerton-themed wedding venue energy. The menu is a lot more typical, though, with pasta, pizzas, sandwiches, and steaks.

We recently visited Settecento. Read our thoughts.

Chamberlain Coffee, the coffee brand by the internet-famous Gen-Z influencer Emma Chamberlain, has opened its first location in Westfield Century City, a blue-painted storefront with a few tables and umbrellas outside for seating. The signature drink here is called Emma’s Way, a mix of espresso, almond milk, and dairy-free creamer, and you’ll also find specials like a salted pistachio matcha.

We recently visited Chamberlain Coffee and added it to TikTok Viral Spots.

Fans of the Bang Bang Noodles stand at Citizen Public Market will be excited to learn that the former pop-up's thick and chewy hand-pulled noodles are now available in DTLA. You’ll find the same expert noodle-makers rolling and whipping dough on the counter, and the larger, standalone space means they have more room to stretch (literally).

Marathon, the clothing brand of late LA rapper Nipsey Hussle, now has a burger arm in the old Johnny Rockets space on Melrose. The namesake Marathon Burger is a double smashburger with wagyu beef patties, grilled onions, fresno peppers, and house sauce. Last time that we checked, the menu also includes a chicken sandwich, a mushroom burger, and baskets of fried shrimp and wings.

We recently visited Marathon Burger. Read our thoughts.

One of Koreatown’s most popular cafes has expanded to the South Bay, with cream-topped Vienna lattes (which look like fancy milkshakes) and a new bright-purple ube buttercream latte. This location looks to have more tables than the original, but if the lines are anything similar, it’d probably still work best as a pick-up spot.

This pint-sized pasta shop in Cheviot Hills specializes in freshly made pasta dishes, like tagliatelle with wagyu bolognese, bucatini carbonara, and braised lamb pappardelle, all served in a takeout-friendly space—think similar to the original Pasta Sisters. Along with al dente noodles, you’ll also find a deli case with Sicilian pizzas by the slice and sweet Italian pastries.