The Best Los Angeles Restaurant Newcomers of 2015

Joshua Lurie, FoodGPS

2015 has been another great year for L.A. openings, but the five places that stand out most are Cassia, Hatchet Hall, Odys + Penelope, B.S. Taqueria, and Broken Spanish. Chefs at these restaurants all have unique culinary perspectives and deserve steady crowds.

Bill Esparza, Streetgourmet LA

Cassia, Broken Spanish, Otium, La Carreta, and Hanjip

Crystal Coser, Associate Editor, Eater LA

Cassia, Pok Pok, Jon & Vinny's, The Arthur J

Hadley Tomicki, UrbanDaddy LA

Mare, Broken Spanish, Moruno, Maple Block, Leona, Tabachines Cocina, Jon & Vinny’s, Bombo, Baltaire, Odys & Penelope, Local Kitchen & Wine Bar, Otium, and Aestus.

Eddie Lin, Deep End Dining

I love how Culver City's restaurant mix is constantly evolving. Chloe Tran's East Borough brought a fresh take on Vietnamese in 2014. Now, in 2015, Akasha Richmond's Sambar and Chris Oh and Stephane Bombet's Hanjip further alter the area's foodscape. Richmond's interpretation of Indian cuisine is refreshing yet respectful. Oh and Bombet bring French flair to a hearty Korean standby.

Montana Ave. is home to Forma restaurant, a pasta house and cheese bar that takes its cheese very seriously. Prepared dalla forma style, steaming fresh pasta is rushed over to hollowed out wheels of cheese like Pecorino Romano and mixed. The hot pasta melts the formaggio, fusing the two together creating a creamy, dreamy, and cheesy plate of pasta.

Wonho Frank Lee

Farley Elliott, Senior Editor, Eater LA

Jon & Vinny's, B.S. Taqueria, E.R.B., Simbal

The Offalo

Cassia, Broken Spanish (already had them in mind already before all the other year-end lists named them--they deserve it)

Nicole Iizuka, PopSugar

Easily my two new favorites that are sure to become faithful standbys for next year are Hanjip & Estrella! I'd also add Baroo, Vivienne, Button Mash, Moby's Little Pine, The District, The Arthur J & Maré to the mix.

Garrett Snyder, Food Editor, LA Weekly

Cassia, Broken Spanish, Luv2Eat Thai, Dune, Ricebar, Hatchet Hall

Kat Odell, Eater Drinks Editor

Gjusta, Jon & Vinny's, Cassia, Esters, Broken Spanish, Leona, Hatchet Hall, Raku.

Stan Lee, Eater LA

Baroo, Trois Familia, B.S. Taqueria

Esther Tseng, EstarLA

Redbird, Simbal, SMYC, Cassia, Broken Spanish/B.S. Taqueria, Little Sister

Tony Chen, Eater LA Contributor

Belcampo

Wonho Frank Lee

Matthew Kang, Eater LA

Baroo, Hanjip, Ledlow, Hatchet Hall, Lodge Bread Co., Gjusta, Cassia, Button Mash, Broken Spanish, B.S. Taqueria, Trois Familia

Caroline Pardilla, LA Magazine, Eater Drinks

Hanjip, Trois Familia, Otium, Rose Cafe.

Zach Brooks, Midtown Lunch, Food is the New Rock

Baroo. Cassia. Little Sister DTLA. Raku (not Roku). Halal Guys (!!!)

Jeff Miller, Editor, Thrillist LA

Baroo really blew me away. Everything about it -- the flavors, the setup, the location -- make it a restaurant that could not work the way it does in any other city in the US. I'm such a fan.

Lesley Balla, LA Magazine, Angeleno, Zagat

This has been such a great year. In Santa Monica, Bryant Ng and Cassia completely bowled me over, as did Santa Monica Yacht Club. The boys are KILLING it at Hatchet Hall (the chicken liver toast was definitely one of my favorite bites of the year). Ray Garcia's Broken Spanish and BS Taqueria; so happy he's found his own spots. Shook and Dotolo doing Jon & Vinny's and Trois Familia, both great for different reasons. It was a big year for chefs opening second or third restaurants in general, like The Arthur J, David LeFevre's Manhattan Beach steakhouse; Redbird for Neal Fraser and wife Amy Knoll Fraser; the Hatfield's Odys + Penelope; and Rose Cafe-Restaurant for Jason Neroni. Otium is going to be a heavy-hotter in 2016, for sure.

Euno Lee, Eater LA Contributor

Jon & Vinny's, Broken Spanish/B.S. Taqueria, Night + Market Song, Barrel & Ashes

Stacey Sun, dineLA

Cassia, Hatchet Hall, and Odys+Penelope

Lucas Peterson, Eater LA Contributor

Baroo, Dune, Jon & Vinny's, B.S. Taqueria

Lesley Barger Suter, Food Editor, LA Magazine

Cassia, obviously. We put them as #1 on our Best New Restaurants List. I really do love Gjusta, not just for its porchetta melt, but for what it's done for the food scene. Jon & Vinny might just be the perfect neighborhood restaurant. Baroo is awfully darling and interesting. All'Acqua and Dune both made Atwater Village a complete dining neighborhood. And I had a momentous meal at Broken Spanish. Nobody is pushing the future of Mexican-American cuisine quite like Ray Garcia.