Clockwise from top left: Poke from Ohana Superette, black cod from Sogo Roll Bar, Fish Khashlama at Tun Lahmajo, a selection of dishes from Jikoni and a sandwich from Bread Head.
(Collage: Brandon Ly, Photos: Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times, Ron de Angelis / For The Times, Alessandra Griffin)
The best places to eat and drink this month, according to our food writers
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After a rocky start to summer, L.A.’s food scene is finding its footing.
Downtown restaurants are bouncing back after suffering significant loss of business due to temporary curfews put in place following protests against ICE raids. After announcing its permanent closure, Cole’s French Dip — L.A.’s oldest saloon and restaurant, which opened in 1908 — experienced a swell of support and extended its run until mid-September. In Little Tokyo, a cafe themed after a popular anime series is bringing renewed interest to the neighborhood.
As temperatures continue to rise, there are plenty of ways to get out and enjoy the season while staying cool. Embrace the dog days of summer with pup-friendly patios (and homemade recipes), grab a couple scoops of vegan ice cream, fuel up with over-the-top iced matcha and coffee drinks or taste the resurgent trend of chicken Caesar wraps while exploring the city’s summer offerings.
And if you’re looking for additional dining ideas this month, bookmark this list with new openings and long-standing restaurants that need support, including a destination for inventive chicken tenders from a Michelin-star chef, a Hawaiian poke shop in Echo Park and a Korean-inspired burger stand in USC Village.
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Bread Head
Manhattan Beach Sandwich Shop $$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
The purveyor of one of the Food team’s favorite sandwiches in L.A. expanded to a new outpost in Manhattan Beach with indoor and outdoor seating and a seven-seat bar where founders and longtime friends Jordan Snyder and Alex Williams hope to eventually serve wine and beer. The beach-inspired space also features TVs for watching live sports, and the expanded kitchen means breakfast items and hot sandwiches may soon be joining the lineup of fresh-baked focaccia sandwiches.
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Cole’s French Dip
Downtown L.A. Restaurant
(Con Keyes / Los Angeles Times)
The oldest restaurant and saloon in L.A. — founded in 1908 — announced its impending permanent closure. Brian Lenzo, the senior vice president of operations for Pouring With Heart, the ownership group which took over the restaurant in 2008, cited rising costs and rents, as well as the prolonged deterioration of downtown L.A. However, Lenzo is hopeful that the closure will encourage locals to rally behind other historic restaurants. Originally slated to close its doors on Aug 3., Cole’s French Dip was granted a 45-day extension by its landlord and is now scheduled to close in mid-September.
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Happies Hand Made
Downtown L.A. Chicken $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
An inventive comfort food concept has landed in the Arts District courtesy of Joshua Skenes — former chef of San Francisco’s Saison and now-closed Angler in the Beverly Center. Chicken anchors the menu, including fried chicken tenders that get thrown on the grill before topping waffles and filling sandwiches. Plus: tallow fries, soft serve and house-made sodas. Limited items are announced via Instagram — recently it was cherry wood wings.
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Jikoni
Culver City African Californian $
(Alessandra Griffin)
Recipe developer and author Kiano Moju’s Jikoni pop-up at Culver City’s Citizen Public Market was extended through the summer, featuring Swahili-style skewers, rosemary lamb suya, peri peri garlic butter shrimp and other rotating dishes that draw from Moju’s Kenyan and Nigerian heritage and Bay Area upbringing. Beverages include house-made hibiscus tea with pineapple and ginger and Kenyan beer.
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Ohana Superette
Silver Lake Hawaiian $
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
After operating out of Black Hogg for five years, Ohana Superette closed, along with the Echo Park sandwich shop, in 2020. Now, the poke shop from husband-and-wife team Eric and Miriam Park is back, next door to the couple’s Bodega Park cafe, with Spam musubi, banchan such as kimchi cucumbers and crab macaroni salad and bowls brimming with spicy tuna or soy-ginger beets. Beverages include Vietnamese iced coffee and a watermelon-mint agua fresca.
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One Piece Cafe
Downtown L.A. Japanese $$
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
A new themed cafe in Little Tokyo is bringing the long-running “One Piece” anime series to life and attracting new business to a neighborhood that has struggled since ICE raids led to temporary curfews in early June. Officially open on Aug. 2 after soft opening during the Los Angeles Anime Convention, the menu riffs on “One Piece” characters with dishes such as Sanji’s “Diable Jambe” Chicken Katsu Sando and Zoro’s Onigiri. Branded merchandise is sold at the cafe, which sports a nautical interior with a designated station where guests can take photos with a life-size cutout of Monkey D. Luffy, the show’s aspiring Pirate King.
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Smokey Chance BBQ
Culver City Barbecue $$
(Athena Riley)
A new destination for barbecue has put down permanent roots in Citizen Public Market with Smokey Chance BBQ. The menu that blends Taiwanese, Chinese and Southern culinary traditions features platters loaded with brisket, smokey beans and potato salad; cornbread infused with beef tallow and topped with Calabrian chile honey butter; and new items such as brisket sliders.
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Softies Burger
University Park Burgers $
(David Rho)
The popular Smorgasburg vendor has opened its first brick-and-mortar in USC Village, serving up nostalgic burgers inspired by co-founders Josh Kim and Sam Hong’s Korean American childhoods, including a smashburger patty topped with tempura-fried enoki mushrooms, yuzu mayonnaise and pickled red onions and a take on the classic In-N-Out burger with roasted garlic and caramelized onions. An expanded kitchen translates to new menu items, including a Caesar salad and a diner-inspired lime pie with yuzu, and the space is likely to become a popular outpost for USC students with plenty of seating throughout the 2,600-square-foot space.
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Sogo Roll Bar
Highland Park Japanese $$
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
A temaki specialist has expanded to a second location in the former Holcomb space in Highland Park, with beer, wine and sake served alongside an identical food menu that features warm hand rolls stuffed with albacore kari kari and yellowtail, starters spanning baked crab crispy rice and black cod and a selection of donburi.
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Tun Lahmajo
Burbank Armenian $$
(Ron De Angelis / For The Times)
Though it would be easy to focus your order on the puffy breads bubbling with cheese and cracker-thin meat pies at Tun Lahmajo, restaurant critic Bill Addison encourages you to explore the long list of homestyle Armenian dishes at Tun Lahmajo in Burbank. The comforting decor features photos of famous Armenians, woven rugs and a diorama of owner Eduard Janibekyan’s family home in Armenia, with a shaded patio threaded with grape vines. If you have any room after sampling the menu, Addison recommends gata for dessert.
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Updates:
12:46 p.m. Aug. 1, 2025: A former version of this guide listed Lasita Kapé, a Filipino breakfast pop-up. Operators have since announced that they are pausing service.
