Hotel restaurants often have a reputation for being throwaway concepts meant to appeal to unadventurous travelers who are too scared to leave the property. Fortunately, plenty of Los Angeles hotels offer culinary experiences, cuisines, and price points that go against the grain. From sunny dining near the sandy shoreline to high-end eating on the Sunset Strip, here are LA’s best hotel restaurants for visitors and locals alike.
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The Georgian
With ocean views, the restaurant at the Georgian may be one of the best spots to settle in for a bite along the beach. The main restaurant, led by Mozza alum David Almany, serves an Italian-influenced dinner menu with dishes including pappardelle Bolognese, branzino, and aged prosciutto di Parma. During the daytime, the restaurant offers an all-day brunch menu. For those looking for a more upscale dinner affair, the Georgian also offers a reservation-only spot called the Georgian Room.
1 Pico
1 Pico is standard hotel dining at its LA best. Located as close as one can get to the sand without actually being on it, this is the spot for kid-friendly brunch with a Benedict and omelet bar, or a casual patio dinner with lobster spaghetti, an Iberico pork chop, and an extensive cocktail menu.
Dante Restaurant
A New York import, Dante serves a Mediterranean-leaning menu at the Maybourne in Beverly Hills. On the menu find Dante’s burrata with semi-dried tomatoes, basil, and sourdough, several pizzas, and mains including Australian lamb chops and a signature burger. The best part of the restaurant though may be the view that stretches past the hotel pool and over Hollywood.
Lumière
For upscale French food, head to Lumière at the Fairmont Century Plaza. The menu leans mainly on classics including steak or salmon tartare, raclette, mushroom gratin, and steak frites. Reflective of its hotel surroundings, the dining room is classy without being overstated and provides a perfect backdrop for a fine French meal at any time of the day.
Cut
Cut isn’t just a hotel restaurant, it’s one of the best steakhouses in Los Angeles from celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. Opulent dishes abound on the high-end menu, including a seriously rich bone marrow flan and lots of wagyu. The restaurant also serves up options from the sea including Santa Barbara uni toast and caviar.
Ardor
Chef John Fraser is no stranger to crafting fine dining experiences. Nestled on the ground floor of the Edition hotel on Sunset, this morning-to-evening restaurant offers classics done well, in addition to surprises like an aromatic sweet potato curry at dinner and a prime skirt steak with housemade mole salt and confit garlic.
Merois
Chef Wolfgang Puck is at it again, this time using Merois as a playpen for his broad culinary perspective. Everything on the menu has a California sensibility and Asian accent, including spicy chicken dumplings, crab fried rice, Beijing duck, and more. Grab a table just for the views, if anything.
Sunset Tower Bar
There may not be a cooler place to hang out inside an LA hotel than the Sunset Tower Bar, a timeless see-and-be-seen destination for locals and old Hollywood aficionados. There’s almost always somebody powerful in the room, and the service keeps everyone feeling like someone special.
Ka'teen
The ground floor of the Tommie in Hollywood has been transformed into a Yucatan jungle for Wes Avila’s Ka’Teen. Start with a margarita before diving into the rest of the menu that features lamb shank barbacoa, cochinita pibil, aguachile, and more.
Cassell's Hamburgers
The enduring reincarnation of this longtime burger restaurant is a reminder that Los Angeles, sometimes, holds on tightly to its historic past. Today Cassell’s is less of a takeout spot and more of a sit-down-and-enjoy kind of place, with breakfast options, evening drinks, slices of pie, and everything in between — and right in the heart of Koreatown.
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Level 8
Level 8 isn’t a single restaurant, but is instead home to eight venues all offering different immersive cuisines and experiences. Maison Kaisai is an upscale teppanyaki restaurant, while Sinners y Santos is a cathedral-inspired nightclub. For sushi and shabu shabu head to Lucky Mizu, and Que Barbaro serves up a menu of South American grilled meats.
Sendero
Everything centers on the views at Sendero, the sky-high Downtown LA restaurant inside the Ritz-Carlton at L.A. Live. There are multiple dining experiences spread across the entire floor, each telling a story of travel through Latin America. And best of all, glass walls offer sightlines of the city and beyond. The casual Corteza is the place to be with tuna tostada, Colombian arepas, and charred octopus with pineapple on the menu.
Niku X
Niku X is a contemporary yakiniku restaurant by chef Shin Thompson. Dinnertime features an 11-course prix fixe menu with seafood and six different cuts of wagyu. During the daytime, a prix fixe menu and an a la carte menu are available. Look forward to dishes like a wagyu tallow potato pave, chilled miso vegetables, and a salad using produce from Girl & Dug.
Caldo Verde
Los Angeles restaurant veterans Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne have a hit on their hands with Caldo Verde in Downtown. The Proper Hotel project touches on the flavors of the Iberian Peninsula, particularly Portugal, while still feeling like a fully Californian restaurant. There is beauty in the seemingly simple here, but that’s to be expected from the legends who run AOC on West Third Street.
Moonlark's Dinette
It’s all about the Midwestern comfort food at Moonlark’s Dinette which is housed on the ground floor of The Hoxton in Downtown Los Angeles. Chef Chris Pandel has assembled an all-day menu that starts with breakfast sandwiches, a Monte Cristo, and a wedge salad for breakfast or lunch, and grilled spare ribs, chocolate cake, and more for dinner.
San Laurel
Chef José Andrés is back in a big way, landing in Los Angeles once again with a cluster of dining experiences inside the Conrad Hotel in Downtown, just across from the Disney Concert Hall. San Laurel is the star of the show, a place for Andrés to show off his formidable finer dining talents across the flavors of Spain and California.