For more than 15 years, twice annually, DineLA has given Angelenos the chance to explore restaurants all over the city with some of the best prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus. This summer’s installment, which runs from July 12 to 26, has restaurants that cover every cuisine in each corner of this city. Translation: There’s no better time to book a restaurant you’ve been meaning to try, and we’ve rounded up 13 must-visit spots.
Whether you’re craving a Mediterranean feast, some of the city’s best housemade pasta, or brunch overlooking the marina, here are the restaurants worth checking out for DineLA this summer.
Carousel (Glendale and Hollywood)
Longstanding Middle Eastern restaurant Carousel is pulling out all the stops with its family-style feasts for DineLA. Go for lunch ($25 to $35) or dinner ($35 to $45)—you can choose from vegan and non-vegan menus—and get a host of cold and hot mezze (think: tabbouleh, muhammara, and falafel); entrees like beef lula kebabs and eggplant moussaka; and desserts like baklava.
Chinois on Main (Santa Monica)
Wolfgang Puck’s Santa Monica restaurant has been wowing diners with Chinese flavors melded with French technique for more than four decades. Head on over for chef Rene Mata’s $65 tasting menu, a four-course explosion of classics like Chinois chicken salad, Maine lobster spring rolls, wonton-wrapped sea bass, and warm chocolate fondant.
Citrin (Santa Monica)
Famed chef Josiah Citrin’s MICHELIN-Starred Santa Monica gem has one of the best tasting menus in town, and the restaurant is doing a four-course, $99 dinner (it’s usually $165) for DineLA. Choose from dishes like kombu-cured kampachi, braised beef cheek, and lobster bolognese that will show you why Citrin remains one of the hottest reservations to score in LA.
Da Barbara (Hollywood)
Rome-born chef Barbara Pollastrini’s intimate Hollywood restaurant serves her singular take on modern Italian food. A $35 lunch starts with a seasonal appetizer based on farmers market finds before moving on to pasta and dessert. For dinner ($45), you’ll have a three-course feast with options like tuna tartare, Tuscan tomato and bread soup pappa al pomodoro, and strawberry semifreddo to finish.
Dear Jane’s (Marina Del Rey)
The west side’s resident seafood stunner—complete with sweeping marina views—is putting the fruits of the sea on full display during DineLA. A $35 brunch has shrimp cocktail before a choice of mains like fried fish sandwich or huevos rancheros. Dinner ($65) is a more extravagant three-course affair with yellowtail carpaccio, trout amandine, and more.
Girl & the Goat L.A. (Arts District)
The Los Angeles outpost of Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard’s Chicago-based restaurant is known for its creative New American dishes. Izard is showcasing favorites like wood-fired broccoli with shrimp and blue cheese labne, king salmon poke with chile crunch, and butter-steamed sea bass with preserved lemon. The family-style $65 dinner finishes with a decadent brownie sundae.
HATCH (Downtown)
Modern Japanese food is the name of the game at HATCH. A $25 lunch menu kicks off with seaweed salad before moving into bite-size tuna avocado toast, squid ink-marinated karaage, and more. The $55 dinner ups the ante with all of that plus playful dishes like a burger-and-fry skewer.
The Hideaway (Beverly Hills)
The 90210 zip code’s glamorous Mexican restaurant is all about choices: After starting with an amuse bouche of guacamole or guacasabi (a guacamole wasabi hybrid), the $25 three-course lunch lets you choose from several options, including chicken empanadas, fish tacos, and churros. Same goes for the $55 dinner, where mains like A5 steak tacos and duck a la naranja stand out.
Jame (El Segundo)
Chef Jackson Kalb’s slick indoor-outdoor Italian spot is known for its housemade pastas and ultra-fresh veggies, so it’s no surprise that both are highlights on the restaurant’s DineLA lunch ($25) and dinner ($45). Kale salad, Brussels sprouts, and meatballs make appearances on both menus, as does the uber-popular spicy rigatoni. Dinnertime also has heartier entrees like chicken parm and tagliatelle al ragu.
Joseon (Silver Lake)
The Next Food Network Star’s Debbie Lee leans on her North Korean roots at this one-of-a-kind Silver Lake restaurant that takes inspiration from Korean royal court cuisine. The four-course dinner ($65) will let you experience Lee’s takes on the food in dishes like wagyu tartare with salted egg yolk and galbee jjim on cauliflower puree infused with wasabi.
RYLA (Hermosa Beach)
Head to this Californian Asian spot just blocks from the beach for a playful brunch ($35) that starts with a strawberry pop tart and a choice of drink (coffee, tea, or a mimosa). Mains include a Japanese egg salad avocado toast or the fried rice for breakfast dish with Chinese sausage and a sunny-side-up egg. Go for dinner ($55) for slightly more traditional options like spicy tuna roll and shoyu ramen with pork belly.
Simonette (Culver City)
This chic little French bistro inside the Palihotel, with wicker chairs and a beautiful central bar, does classics like moules frites, steak tartare crostone, and a top-notch burger. All are part of the three-course $35 lunch or $55 dinner, along with other options. Both menus end with a crackly crème brûlée for dessert.
Yangban (Arts District)
Chefs Katianna and John Hong have combined their personal takes on Korean and Jewish flavors to national acclaim at Yangban. Their $75 dinner tasting menu is an extension of that philosophy with dishes like golden tomato toast with brown butter, honey-glazed carrots with walnut oil, and tteok (Korean rice cakes) with king trumpet and shimeji mushrooms. If you want to get really fancy, add an order of grilled king’s cut short rib to your meal ($20 extra).
Karen Palmer is a pizza- and pasta-obsessed food writer based in Los Angeles. She is the former editorial director of Tasting Table, and her work has appeared in Eater, Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, and many other publications. Follow her on Instagram at @karenlpalmer.
