The coolest bars and restaurants in town

thrillist 47

It's time for a new edition (easy there, Bobby Brown) of the Thrillist 47, giving you the best new and new-ish places to eat and drink. Some had to go, while other hot spots could not be denied (HELLO, sexily carted dim sum at Church Key!). Have a look at the list (organized by hood; this isn't a ranking) and make the most of your next night out.

BEVERLY HILLS

hakkasan

1) Hakkasan
233 N Beverly Dr; 310.888.8661
Hakkasan's a glittering, high-end Chinese restaurant that's also got locations in San Francisco, Vegas, and London, with silly-awesome, science-savvy drinks and fancified eats.
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Nozawa Bar

2) Nozawa Bar
212 N Canon Dr
A wood-laden 10-person room where a 30-year protege of famed "Sushi Nazi" Nozawa makes a no-ordering-allowed, 20-or-so course omakase meal, featuring fish bought that day from a fish market where the chef's given exclusive access before anyone else to guarantee freshness.
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DOWNTOWN

HoneyCut

3) HoneyCut
819 S Flower St; 213.688.0888
A decidedly Manhattan-esque underground lair sporting pool tables, an extensive cocktail list, and a second room with bottled drinks and a light-up dance floor.

bestia

4) Bestia
2121 E 7th Pl; 213.514.5724
This industrial-looking Italian spot does next-level handcut pasta (spaghetti w/ squid ink, mullet bottarga, and Calabrian chillies), and wood-oven-fired pizzas topped with house-cured meats.
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alma

5) Alma Restaurant
952 S Broadway; 213.444.0984
Alma Restaurant's a now-permanent, way-Downtown edition of the lauded pop-up: a BYOB meats & more operation run by a dude who used to work at San Fran's superlative flour + water and'll now work outta an artsy-on-the-inside space with plenty of both.
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HOLLYWOOD/WEST HOLLYWOOD

no vacancy

6) No Vacancy
1717 N Hudson Ave; 323.465.1902
No Vacancy is a seriously next-level bar in a 19th-century Victorian house, from the same design-obsessed, liquor-based geniuses who gave you Pour Vous, Harvard & Stone, and La Descarga.
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Dirty Laundry

7) Dirty Laundry
1725 Hudson Ave; 323.462.6532
Also from the No Vacancy dudes, this is super-sexy underground cocktail haven.
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little fork

8) Littlefork
1600 Wilcox; 323.465.3675
From the non-Kogi-Truck-guy behind A-Frame, Littlefork's the perfect modern bistro to take a girl you want to impress to (but not like "Marry me!" impress, more like "Let me see your boobs!" impress), thanks in part to a kitchen run by a Spago vet.
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emerson theater

9) The Emerson Theater
7080 Hollywood Blvd; 323.525.2453
There's a lot to love about this massive, two-bar, throwbacky ode to the 1920s, from its strings of Edison lightbulbs, to a cocktail list that leans on classics (Mint Fizz, Emerson Mule…), but more importantly: burlesque dancers in flapper-y outfits!
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bootsy bellows

10) Bootsy Bellows
9229 Sunset; 310.274.7500
No longer just the sound old Italian walruses make, Bootsy Bellows is also now the name of an off-the-wall, performance-driven nightclub opened in WeHo by a pseudo-star team that includes the guys behind H. Wood and SHOREBar.
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pour vous

11) Pour Vous
5574 Melrose; 323.871.8699
Pour Vous is the latest and greatest from the lauded La Descarga/Harvard & Stone dudes, who've totally reworked the old 40 Deuce room into an intimate space with a turn-of-the-century "Paris feeling".
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surly goat

12) The Surly Goat
7929 Santa Monica Blvd; 323.650.4628
The Surly Goat's a rare-and-unusual-leaning beer bar in the old 24K space, now de-glossed and decorated with all sorts of old brewhouse paraphernalia, and founded & named under the pretense of a tall tale about a beer-drinking contest in ancient Germany between a Duke and a Knight.
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chi spacca

13) Chi Spacca
6610 Melrose; 323.297.1133
This intimate ode to meat on the corner of Melrose & Highland comes from the peeps behind two of the most popular restaurants in LA, and has a FORTY-TWO-OUNCE STEAK.
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rao's la

14) Rao's
1006 Seward St; 323.962.7267
The hardest restaurant to get into in NY (tm!) finally drops in LA, where -- let's be honest -- it's way easier to score a table because you're not dealing with a guy whose nickname is "The Killer".

pearl's

15) Pearl's Liquor Bar
8909 W Sunset Blvd; 310.360.6800
Right down the street from The Roxy, Pearl's is a Sunset cocktail barstaurant with perhaps the sickest patio on the Strip. Bonus: it doesn't cost a bajillion dollars to get in it.
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trois mec

16) Trois Mec
716 N Highland Ave; 323.468.8915
Trois Mec's a nutso restaurant with an always-changing menu from a crazy-lauded team that includes the award-winning chefs behind LudoBites and Animal.
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church key

17) The Church Key
8730 W Sunset Blvd; 424.249.3700
The Church Key's emerged as a lush resto that's delivering standout shareables on dim sum-style carts, which also deliver boozy Otter Pops made tableside by smiling ladies in retro flight attendant outfits... which need to be available on actual airplanes, like, yesterday.
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warwick

18) Warwick
6507 W Sunset Blvd; 323.460.6667
Warwick's a jaw-dropping cocktail lounge in a formerly non-jaw-dropping location: the space that used to house the grimy Club Lingerie.
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MID-CITY

ink.

19) ink.
8360 Melrose; 323.651.5866
A wide-open, crazily creative gastro-bistro from Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio.
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son of a gun

20) Son of A Gun
8730 3rd St; 323.782.9033
The Animal dudes' next-level, nautically-themed seafoodery.
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animal

21) Animal
435 N Fairfax; 323.782.9225
A nuttily-menu'd standby from James Beard Award-winning chefs.
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mercado

22) Mercado
7910 W 3rd St; 323.944.0947
The second outpost of Santa Monica's lauded taqueria, with a massive weekend brunch.
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AOC

23) A.O.C. 2.0
8700 W 3rd; 310.859.9859
Version two of lauded chef Suzanne Goin's even-more-lauded small-plates date-spot's got a fireplaced patio, a killer upstairs private wine room, and a garden that'll yield fruit and herbs for their glaucoma cocktails.
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hart and hunter

24) The Hart and the Hunter
At Palihotel; 7950 Melrose; 323.327.9702
Not just an awesome-sounding, Melissa-Joan-approved WWF tag team name, this turquoise tile-heavy bistro inside Melrose's boutique Palihotel slings Southern-leaning eats from the dudes behind one-time pop-up Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.
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sycamore kitchen

25) Sycamore Kitchen
143 S La Brea; 323.939.0151
This industrial-leaning, patio-equipped breakfast-and-lunch spot from the Hatfield's peeps serves up gourmet goodness like cheddar-rosemary croissants, dark ale-spiced gingerbreads, and pastrami-short-rib-Gruyere sandwiches.
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gusto

26) Gusto
8432 W 3rd; 323.782.1778
No longer just what Teddy Roosevelt's mustache was full of, Gusto's a date-friendly, food-forward, eensy-weensie Italian bistro opening tonight near the Beverly Center, courtesy of a first-time chef-owner who made his name at Culina at the Four Seasons.
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ray's and stark bar

27) Ray's & Stark Bar
5905 Wilshire Blvd; 323.857.6180
A high-end, new-American restaurant with a stellar outdoor bar in the shadow of LACMA? Yes.
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THE VALLEY

Bow & Truss

28) Bow & Truss
11122 Magnolia Blvd; 818.985.8787
Housed in a renovated, 80yr-old auto garage, Bow & Truss is a Spanish-style tavern with plenty of what-you'd-expect from an 80yr-old auto garage (brick walls, concrete floors, roll-up doors).
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blk market liquor bar

29) Black Market Liquor Bar
11915 Ventura Blvd; 818.446.2533
A mid-sized Studio City gastrobistro with a moody interior that looks like a bar Van Helsing might pre-game at before taking on the Count, featuring intricately paneled windows, a multi-tiered mirrored bar, and a half-dome exposed-brick ceiling.
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laurel tavern

30) Laurel Tavern
11938 Ventura Blvd; 818.506.0777
A leather-padded pub hits you with a pincer move of gourmet comfort, with 10 craft beers on tap (Bayhawk Honey Blonde, PranQster Golden Ale), and upscale snacks.
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umami burbank

31) Umami Burbank
4300 W Riverside Dr; 818.433.3680
Burbank's Umami Burger has sorta forgotten the second part of its name, and gone and intro'd seven exclusive-to-that-locale Umami dogs.
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EASTSIDE

thirsty crow

32) The Thirsty Crow
2939 W Sunset; 323.661.6007
The eastside's go-to for brown-liquor and classic cocktails.
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glendale tap

33) The Glendale Tap
4227 San Fernando Rd; Glendale; 818.241.4227
From the dude behind Timmy Nolan's Tavern, this retro-ish East Valley beer bar has bar games (pool tables, dartboards), 52 beers on tap (including Sculpin IPA, Solace Wheat Ale, and the honey-tinged Miles Davis's Bitches Brew), and, naturally, old-fashioned soda!
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donut friend

34) Donut Friend
5107 York Blvd; 213.995.6191
Donut Friend is a colorful stand in Highland Park that's using the Pinkberry/Chipotle custom-food model on your favorite desserts... that aren't birthday cakes or Flintstones Push-Up pops.
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sqirl

35) Sqirl
720 N Virgil; 213.394.6526
This Portlandia-esque brunch spot housemakes pretty much everything, including the toasted brioche they top with a fried egg and plop down over greens, spicy mustard, & tomatillo puree.
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allumette

36) Allumette
1320 Echo Park Ave; 213.935.8787
From a young chef who once worked for the Animal guys, this tiny bistro pops out Top Chef-worthy unique bites.
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WESTSIDE (SANTA MONICA/ VENICE/ MARINA DEL REY)

41 OCEAN

37) 41 Ocean
1541 Ocean Ave; 310.566.3870
Officially the coolest private club since that one started by Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, and (ugh) Mary Anne, 41 Ocean's a members-only social lounge-cum-bar-cum-restaurant that's essentially the Westside's answer to Soho House.
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water grill

38) Water Grill
1401 Ocean Ave; 310.394.5669
The second location of the Downtown raw-bar classic.
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Superba Snack Bar

39) Superba Snack Bar
533 Rose Ave; 310.399.6400
Double-teamed by Pitfire Pizza's owner & Osteria La Buca's old chef, this Venice cafe's housed in what looks like a giant steel shipping container, with a modern interior and a cozy front patio w/ poncho blankets bought on the boardwalk.
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south end

40) South End
2805 Abbot Kinney Blvd; 424.228.4736
South End's a Venice pizza palace headed by a kitchen-man who did lots of time as the chef de cuisine at the different Mozzas, meaning he knows pie almost as intimately as Jason Biggs.
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SOUTH BAY

fishing w dynamite

41) Fishing With Dynamite
1148 Manhattan Ave; 310.893.6299
Fishing with Dynamite's also an intimate, raw-bar-abetted seafoodery from the MB Post guy, right in the heart of Manhattan Beach.
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little sister

42) Little Sister
1131 Manhattan Ave; 310.545.2096
A homey-feeling, Asian-meets-European gastrobistro with goodness like barbecue pork short ribs w/ honey hoisin sauce, and beef noodle soup w/ braised brisket and what Rivers Cuomo used to go on before he got married (Chinese dates).

CULVER CITY/ WEST LA

Public School 310

43) Public School 310
9411 Culver Blvd; 310.558.0414
They've got tater tots... that're deep fried... after being infused with bacon.
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Daikokuya

44) Daikokuya
2208 Sawtelle Blvd; 310.575.4999
This Downtown noodle-house staple's now also occupying the Sawtelle corridor, delivering slurp-tacular pork-laden flavor on two sides of the city.

The Corner Door

45) The Corner Door
12477 W Washington; 310.313.5810
This brick-and-steel-laden neighborhood barstaurant's got food from a former Tasting Kitchen guy (cider-glazed wings w/ chipotle, brown sugar & scallions), and drinks from an MB Post dude, including the amazing-sounding bourbon, apricot, lemon, honey & Thai chili "Miner Incident".
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Hinoki & The Bird

46) Hinoki & The Bird
10 W Century Dr; 310.552.1200
Die Hard-referencing cocktails from a Milk & Honey vet + drunken duck from the Comme Ca guy = awesome.
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FURTHER AFIELD

Workshop Kitchen + Bar

47) Workshop Kitchen + Bar
800 N Palm Canyon Dr; 760.408.4792
Giving you a reason to go to Palm Springs that doesn't rhyme with the words "Schmochella" or "Schmisiting My Schrandma", Workshop looks like the type of place crazy-rich cavemen'd eat at, with 27ft cathedral ceilings and floor-to-ceiling concrete.
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