The Zuma Team's New Inko Nito Proves the Arts District Is All Grown Up

Farley Elliott is the Senior Editor at Eater LA and the author of Los Angeles Street Food: A History From Tamaleros to Taco Trucks. He covers restaurants in every form, from breaking news to the culture, people, and history that surrounds LA's dining landscape.

The ever-changing Arts District is once again remaking itself with Inko Nito, a big new opening just off E. 3rd Street. The project is backed by the folks from Zuma, with worldwide properties from London, Las Vegas, and Miami to Dubai, Hong Kong, Istanbul, and beyond.

With Inko Nito, the focus has shifted some from large-scale dining with an energetic crowd to something more low key, although there’s still plenty of square footage to fill up. The space was designed by Studio Mai with communal seating in mind, including several long stretches of white oak tabletops and casual barstools. The rest of the 124-seat room is filled with two- and four-tops, plus bar seating, while an outdoor patio area offers greenery galore, including a living green wall.

On the food and drink front, expect a variety of Japanese fare from chef Hamish Brown. The restaurant will act like a large-scale robatayaki, with charcoal cooking as the main feature. There’s everything from salmon tataki to crab tartare available, as well as tempura, pork ribs in a whiskey glaze, and shishito peppers with yuzu. Beer, wine, and sake dominate the bar offerings. The wide-ranging opening menu is below.

Inko Nito opens to the public tomorrow for dinner. During their first few days of service the restaurant will be doing half-off food as a way to ramp up its introduction to the neighborhood, with the deal running through December 30.

Inko Nito
225-227 S. Garey St.
Los Angeles, CA