The people have spoken. For every great restaurant in Los Angeles, there is one that draws crowds but doesn't live up to the hype. The food isn't consistently good. The service leaves much to be desired. Whether the critics love it or not has little impact on the difficulty of obtaining a table. Why are these restaurants so busy?

In compiling this map, we tallied reader comments and emails, compared reviews and ratings, observed the restaurant's turnover and table count, and made some critical calls. Fast food restaurants are not included, and neither are restaurants with multiple locations. We are concerned with restaurants -- not bars or sweet shops. Restaurants that were not already very busy were also left off. Snobby service alone is not reason to name a place one of LA's Most Overrated Restaurants, and neither is one bad meal a Yelper had two years ago. To be fair, and to show respect where it is due, we have outlined a few bright spots herein.