9 Best Restaurants in Downtown Los Angeles

Bavel anchors the Arts District as one of Downtown LA's most decorated tables, the wood-fired Middle Eastern project from chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis, who also run Bestia next door. The menu leans on slow-cooked, smoke-forward Levantine cooking, fresh-baked flatbreads, cured meats, and family-style mains built for sharing. It won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant and still draws a nightly crowd for walk-in seats at the bar.

Dahlia is the reservations-only cocktail lounge inside the Downtown LA Proper Hotel, a Kelly Wearstler-designed room in pinks and ambers that seats just 18 guests. The drink list leans on elevated classics, and the small-plates menu runs from olives and salt cod fritters to wagyu skewers. Its weekend afternoon tea, finger sandwiches, scones, and pastries with loose-leaf teas or champagne, has become as big a draw as dinner.

Villa's original storefront is in Highland Park, but the Grand Central Market outpost puts its blue-corn tacos within easy reach of anyone exploring Downtown LA. Order like you would at a fast-casual counter: pick a base (taco, queso taco, or mulita), then a filling like skirt steak, chicken thigh, or pork chorizo. The griddled queso taco, topped with melted Monterey Jack, is the one regulars order first, and it's earned the stand a Michelin Bib Gourmand nod.

Qué Bárbaro occupies the eighth floor of Level 8, a multi-concept nightlife venue on Figueroa Street, where chef Ray Garcia runs a live open-fire grill turning out South American-inspired steak and seafood. It's built for groups: the "para compartir" shareable menu and the El Asado family-style spread put whole cuts of meat and sides on the table at once. The room goes adults-only after 9pm and leans into its nightlife setting with a full bar and lounge.

BadMaash brings Indian street food with a modern twist to a two-story space near Pershing Square, the kind of place that treats a Chicken Tikka Poutine and a Spiced Lamb Burger as equally serious menu items. The owners split their roots between India and Canada, and that mashup shows up across the menu alongside a rotating list of Indian beers. It's one of the more affordable stops on this list without skimping on flavor.

Girl & The Goat's Los Angeles outpost, an offshoot of chef Stephanie Izard's Chicago original, leans into California produce inside a plant-filled Arts District space with a patio built for warm nights. The menu's goat-centric dishes, goat liver mousse, goat curry, goat fashioned ice cream, are still the running joke and the reason people order them anyway. Weekend brunch adds a shorter, lighter menu alongside the usual shareable plates.

Redbird occupies the former rectory of Vibiana, the deconsecrated cathedral next door, pairing that dramatic architecture with chef Neal Fraser's modern American cooking. Shareable large-format options like a bone-in ribeye or porterhouse anchor the menu alongside seasonal plates such as shrimp and grits or bucatini with clams and guanciale. The restaurant landed in the 2026 Michelin Guide and picked up OpenTable's 2026 Diners' Choice award.

Drago Centro has been a Financial District fixture for Sicilian-Italian cooking, with executive chef Celestino Drago's house-made pastas and steaks served in a contemporary dining room built for a client lunch or a date-night dinner. Pastas run from about $26 to $34, and mains climb toward $44 for the bigger seafood and steak plates. A live pianist occasionally plays for the dining room, a detail regulars still bring up.

Perch sits on the 15th and 16th floors of the Pershing Square Building, a French rooftop bistro with some of the widest skyline views Downtown LA has to offer, indoors and out. The French-leaning menu covers small plates and mains, and the room shifts from lunch to happy hour to a livelier dinner-and-DJs scene as the night goes on. Its sister restaurant, Mrs. Fish, runs a Japanese sushi and cocktail bar in the same building's basement.