- Share via
“Hey, 1.8 million people can’t be wrong, right?” This is how Evan Lovett, the social-media pop historian of all things L.A., said we should frame our thinking about the dining culture of the San Fernando Valley, where he lives.
And yep, he’s right. If half the population of Los Angeles is here, they must be eating well. Could it be that the other half of us in city limits south of the ridges just might be ... missing out?
Take a look at the stories below and we all might end up agreeing. Use our guides and the map pins inside to eat and drink your way through a core engine of Southern California culture: the San Fernando Valley, proud, historic and ready for its culinary close-up. — Daniel Hernandez
Eight Times food writers spent months crisscrossing the Valley in search of the best, reconnecting with old favorites and finding new surprises along the way.
The Valley is home to the state’s first materia, a Middle Eastern cafe brewing sand coffee and a dedicated margarita bar from an award-winning beverage team, with plenty of neighborhood dives in between.
Every Angeleno has a reliable Valley standby. What are yours?
If four generations of my family love shopping and dining at Monte Carlo Deli and Pinocchio’s, you probably will too.
How Studio City’s 62-year-old sushi master became a social media superstar, and how it’s changed him as a chef — for the better.
We talked to some of your favorite Valley celebrities and chefs about the best places to eat and drink in their neighborhoods.
In Burbank, family-run Tun Lahmajo delves into Armenian homestyle dishes, including flatbreads, cold salads, roasted meats, a range of soups and herbed stews.
The sardonic San Fernando Valley figure served his food unapologetically and with no modifications, and often teased his guests.
There’s an actual food competition to snag a vending spot at the weekly Wat Thai Buddhist temple food court.
Q Market, which opened in Lake Balboa in 1993, has been a grocery store, community center and one of the Valley’s only links back home for many Iranian immigrants.
A behind-the-scenes peek of a multi-month renovation at the 2022 L.A. Times Restaurant of the Year, and what to expect when Anajak reopens.
