The 8 best new LA restaurants of 2023

A sprawling—and stunning—8,000 square-foot indoor and outdoor space made Casaléna an immediate hotspot when it opened in June. There are five dining areas to choose from, including an atrium with skylights and a glass window-wrapped terrace. The sibling-run Mediterranean restaurant draws crowds for a prolific coastal menu featuring crudos, seafood spaghetti with uni butter, and other crowd faves like short ribs with whipped potatoes. Pair that vacation-like menu with one seriously breathtaking space, and you’ll see why Casaléna is an important part of the Valley’s overdue restaurant renaissance.

Some of LA’s most exciting Californian cooking is unfolding on its riverfront. Lingua Franca opened in February from the team behind hit neighborhood sandwich shop Wax Paper and takes its mantra—“good food for good people”—very seriously. Dishes like clam frites and root beer-braised beef cheek are just a couple of examples of how the restaurant is cranking out comfort food 2.0., which made it a fast favorite for local media and the restaurant industry crowd.

Mexico City-based restaurant group Grupo Palmares (also behind downtown favorite LA Cha Cha Chá) launched another stylish Mexican hit in March. Since opening, Loreto has earned a glowing review from the Los Angeles Times’s Bill Addison, who described its phenomenal seafood lineup as being “threaded with pan-regional inspiration.” That translates to lesser-seen dishes like shrimp and serrano aguachile and wood-fired branzino served in warehouse-like digs with pretty design touches like golden shelves and exposed brick for days.

The second act from chef Sammy Monsour of acclaimed New Orleans-inspired spot Preux & Proper puts a Southern spin on sustainable seafood. Joyce opened its doors in August and is a force to be reckoned with among LA’s other fish spots, as confirmed by enthusiastic shoutouts from the Los Angeles Times and others. Expect excellent Lowcountry-style dishes like trout caviar deviled eggs and black tiger prawn and oyster perloo. Not to mention zero-waste cocktails—extensions of the restaurant’s super sustainable ethos—by beverage director Kassady Wiggins, including the tequila-forward Hootie Hoo, made with blue algae and salt foam.

Not only did this eclectic French restaurant get a rave Los Angeles Times review, it was also named one of Eater’s best new restaurants of 2023. Bar Chelou comes from Trois Mec alum chef Douglas Rankin and sits next to the Pasadena Playhouse, making it a sought-after pre-show dinner spot. Its sexy interiors and pitch-perfect cocktails brought a burst of energy to the somewhat sleepy neighborhood when it opened in January. And then there’s the food: Bistro classics get Spanish and Asian twists resulting in some of the most spectacular dishes in the city, including a perfectly executed rainbow trout with garlic chive pil-pil.

Red-sauce joints are having a moment in LA this year, judging from buzzy newcomers like La Dolce Vita and Donna’s. But Jemma Hollywood, an October opening by Top Chef alum Jackson Kalb, wins the Italian comfort food game with next-level linguine alla vodka and wood-fired pizzas. The warm and casual spot is the latest in Kalb’s rapidly expanding LA empire (Ospi, Jame, Jemma di Mare), proving he’s in serious expansion mode and one of the city’s most exciting chefs right now.

Level 8 deserves a spot on this list for its sheer ambition: The luxe food hall opened in October at the Moxy + AC hotel and brings together eight cocktail bars and restaurants from some of LA’s culinary heavyweights. Go first for Que Barbaro, lauded chef Ray Garcia’s triumphant return to the kitchen. The former Broken Spanish chef is a pro at smoke-kissed South American dishes like chicken thighs with roasted shallots and aji verde, and his wood-fired showstoppers are just some of the compelling reasons to visit this splashy restaurant playground.

The Rose’s Jason Neroni opened a Cali-Italian neighborhood star in July. At Best Bet, Neroni slings three types of pizza (wood-fired, pan-baked focaccia-style, and “crispy mountain style”) topped with ingredients that go far beyond cheese and pepperoni, like shrimp scampi and ’nduja vodka sauce. The stylish spot is set in an iconic A-frame building (once home to one of the country’s first IHOP locations) and decked out with vintage ads, pop culture relics, and art from Neroni’s collection, making it just the kind of cool and funky gem that Culver City needed.