First Look: Chicago’s Famed Girl & The Goat Restaurant Lands in LA
Top Chef and James Beard award winning executive chef Stephanie Izard’s Chicago hot spot is now open in Downtown LA’s Arts District.
The long-awaited LA location of Girl & The Goat, owner/chef Stephanie Izard’s most notable Chicago restaurant, is finally here. Taking over a prime spot in the heart of the Arts District, the triangular red brick space boasts warehouse ceilings, rattan chairs, large floor-to-ceiling windows, and leafy house plants dangling over bleached wood tables where Izard’s family-style menu is served. The airy restaurant also has an outdoor patio that’s reminiscent of a greenhouse and decked out with string lights.
Izard, a James Beard-award winning chef and the first woman to win Bravo’s Top Chef, is known for her take on global flavors and brings signature dishes from Girl & The Goat’s Chicago menu to her new LA outpost, including goat empanadas and sautéed green beans. Other menu highlights are inspired by California’s seasonality, including a tender pork belly salad and pan-seared opah. Izard’s West Coast iteration even caters to plant-based patrons with naan and dips, grilled pineapple salad, sticky glazed fried maitake mushrooms, and more. There are of course standout goat dishes spotting the menu, such as goat liver mousse and a goat curry.
On the dessert front, Izard pleases with inventive riffs on classics such as mango sticky rice and choco choco choco taco, plus inventive ice cream scoops (think: oyster sauce stracciatella) and the popcorn situation—a crowd pleaser with cheesy butter cake, popcorn ice cream, caramel whip, caramel corn, and strawberry sumac jam.
The wine list runs deep with global finds, and the bar program, helmed by Chicago-based sister restaurant The Little Goat’s Mike Zell, features craft cocktails and a rotating list of craft beers. Einstein Park, a Jean-Georges Beverly Hills alum, will serve as general manager of the expansive eatery which seats up to 200 people, while Jason Beliveau will serve as chef de cuisine.
Just down the street from LA hot spot Bavel, Girl & The Goat aims to bring midwestern hospitality to DTLA as a go-to for locals and visitors alike. To create strong connections within her new community, Izard and her team plan to highlight and support a rotating list of local nonprofit organizations through special menu items, where dish proceeds will benefit the chosen organization. For the opening, the team has selected School on Wheels, a non-profit providing tutoring and mentoring to children living in unstable housing situations and on the streets of Southern California.
The restaurant is open from 5–10 pm Sunday through Thursday and 5–11 pm on Friday and Saturday nights. Brunch will be served on weekends from 10 am–2:30 pm.
Reservations are available beginning on July 15 via Open Table.