Tyler and Ashley Wells’ all-day cafe in the heart of Los Feliz traverses a lot of territory, both in terms of its culinary offerings and the physical space. It’s the rare neighborhood gem that offers a dependable menu of coffee, pastries, and lunch options during daylight hours, and a destination-worthy dinner spread, including slabs of focaccia slathered with burrata and sungolds, as well as the matter of factly named “good ass salad” and “big steak event.” The sprawling indoor-outdoor dining area can be sectioned off to accommodate groups. The open air greenhouse seats up to twelve, and the outdoor deck offers seating for 20. (These adjacent spaces can also be booked together, though they are not continuous). For indoor dining, the wine room accommodates up to ten seated guests, and includes its own private entrance and restroom.

Chefs Keith Corbin and Daniel Patterson first met at LocoL, an experimental concept in Watts with Roy Choi, then cooked together at the Alta Group in the Bay Area, before opening Alta Adams. The duo has drawn diners from across the city to historic West Adams for a highly personal take on soul food, examining the connections between traditional West African dishes and California cuisine. Groups of up to eighteen guests can enjoy an intimate dinner in the adjacent wine shop.

Named after the James Beard-nominated chef’s daughter Birdie and grandmother Gladys, the Santa Monica staple from Jeremy Fox (of Rustic Canyon fame) channels homestyle Eastern European cooking through a California lens, producing nearly everything in house with a zero-waste approach. Located inside the historic Bergamot Station, Birdie G’s offers a variety of spaces both indoor and outdoor. Groups of up to 20 can choose between “the aviary” is a semi-private patio space, or “the blue wall,” a semi-private indoor option dominated by a mural wall. The covered and heated small porch seats up to 14 guests.

Led by chef owner Bryant Ng with his wife Kim alongside Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb (of Rustic Canyon fame), Cassia marries the fresh and vibrant flavors and culinary traditions of Southeast Asia with the warm and soulful hospitality of a neighborhood California brasserie. The downtown Santa Monica hotspot has won over the hearts and stomachs of Angelenos and diners further afield, including Pete Wells, who awarded Cassia the New York Times’ first three star review outside of the New York metropolitan area. Parties of all sizes can enjoy a family style meal of Singaporean-Chinese and Vietnamese-inspired dishes, using ingredients sourced from local farms. A minimal private dining room tucked off the side of the kitchen offers a beautiful walnut table that comfortably seats up to twenty guests. For an al fresco option, the patio corridor likewise accommodates up to twenty seated guests.

Helmed by husband and wife duo Lance Mueller and Cobi Marsh (of Cobi’s Curries), this Bib gourmand-winning celebration of Asian street food sits in the space is housed in the space formerly occupied by Dhaba’s, an Indian dining institution in the heart of Santa Monica. The diverse menu draws on the couple’s Polynesian and Balinese heritage, as well as the recipes of the Southeast Asian diaspora they enjoyed working in Australia and the Pacific Islands. Decor pays tribute to Dhaba’s, retaining homey details like pastel pink walls and a hanging rose garden by the bar and foyer to foster a sense of intimacy. The lush garden seats 16 guests.

This Santa Monica Boulevard seafood joint brings a taste of New England summer to West Hollywood, offering unpretentious yet highly satisfying chowder, lobster rolls, and raw bar, as well as a shockingly good cheeseburger at upmarket prices. While the exterior of the building is a sort of confusing mix of Sonic Drive In and Saarinen, the main dining room is fairly unremarkable. Still, the private dining room that seats up to twelve guests is ideal for low key seafood celebrations.

The group behind Scopa Italian Roots and Black Market Liquor Bar has transformed the former Pacific Banana Co. building in the fashion district into a lush tropical oasis. The sprawling venue offers a variety of spaces indoor and outdoor to enjoy Chef Antonia Lofaso’s island-hopping menu inspired by the Caribbean and Latin American cooking, as well as a festive classic meets tiki cocktail program by Pablo Moix. The South Terrace, overlooking the patio and vibrant bar, seats sixteen, while the East terrace, which seats twenty, is the quietest option. The latter can be rented in conjunction with the lounge area, where guests can enjoy a cocktail and small plates before dinner.

Just a couple blocks from the beach, this downtown indoor-outdoor Santa Monica rooftop offers refreshing if expensive cocktails and a sizable wine list alongside an all-day menu of familiar Italian dishes. It’s hardly the most memorable take on small plates, pizzas, and pastas you’ll find on the west side, but you’ll enjoy pristine ocean views and sexy Mediterranean design (all the more swoon worthy after a couple of those cocktails). Groups of up sixteen can book the semi-private balcony with an ocean view.

The Los Angeles outpost of Chef Stephanie Izard’s Chicago flagship restaurant brings bold and globally-inspired cuisine to a bustling 150-seat dining room filled with potted greenery in the Arts District. The menu is just as eclectic as the original, though the kitchen perhaps unsurprisingly draws on California produce and ingredients for a bit of local inspiration. Girl & the Goat offers a variety of options for groups of different sizes. The private dining room seats 20 guests.

Originally envisioned as a commissary kitchen for Gjelina, Gjusta has evolved into a powerhouse, offering the Southern California brunch to end all brunches. The indoor-outdoor marketplace and cafe effortlessly traverses between traditional Ashkenazi appetizing (bagels, pastrami, smoked fish aplenty) and pan Mediterranean fare (falafel, tuna conserva, flatbread pizzas), with the occasional excellent diversion into east Asia (banh mi, salmon rice bowls), plus an array of seasonal pastries and desserts. An intimate outdoor dining room tucked behind the bakery offers seating for up to twenty.

Chef Curtis Stone’s second project in the heart of Hollywood is Gwen, a butcher shop and elegant Michelin-starred restaurant he runs in partnership with his brother Luke. Showcasing old world traditions and open fire cooking, Gwen is an homage to the pair’s maternal grandmother, who lived on a farm outside of Melbourne. The semi-private atrium, which overlooks the main dining room with its rich leather banquettes and touches of copper and pink marble, seats fourteen guests.

Situated inside a converted Arts District firehouse, this Japanese-American bistro from Kensho group boasts an austere indoor-outdoor dining room blending slate, steel, and poured concrete with natural linen and blond wood accents. The design-forward space is at once pared back and inviting, with a seasonal menu offering sushi, live fire binchotan grilling, cocktails, and pastry, in addition to a truncated selection of small plates, coffee and tea, wine, and sake at the cafe in the front. A raw private room, described as a “flex space between art and dining,” is centered on a monolithic live edge pine table with benches that seat up to twenty guests.

Designed by Matthew Winter and named for Manuela Wirth, the restaurant attached to downtown gallery Hauser & Wirth takes an artful approach to southern style home cooking, with an industrial atelier-meets-salon-style dining room boasting original works by artists including Mark Bradford, Mary Heilmann, and Subodh Gupta, to name just a few. All things considered, the space feels effortlessly casual, though the prices are befitting a blue chip establishment. Their private dining room, modeled after a traditional glass house, offers seating for 14, with views of the gallery’s central courtyard, and a specially commissioned Raymond Pettibon mural.

One floor above the high energy Beverlywood bistro Bicyclette, the eponymous restaurant from husband and wife chef duo Walter and Margarita Manzke offers a Michelin-starred fine dining experience showcasing the diversity of influences across the Southern California culinary landscape. Much like the menu, the design is eclectic but thoughtful, bringing together tufted navy leather banquettes, ornate Persian rugs, and a mahogany bar lined with vintage spirits lit by hanging votives. The mezzanine level accented by a slatted wood ceiling includes a private dining room with seating for ten guests, offering lofty views of the kitchen below.

Just a block off Sunset in the landmark Citizen News Building, chef Evan Funke’s Mother Wolf gussies up the traditions of Roman cooking with a bit of Hollywood Flair. The sprawling main dining room features red tiled columns interspersed with live olive trees, alongside leather banquets and red and white striped upholstery; it’s giving abbodanza, to say the least. The scene is arguably part of the experience, but if you’re looking for a spot to enjoy excellent handmade pastas and negronis with a few pals, they have an intimate indoor private room that seats twelve.

If you're looking for a quintessential old-school spot, seek out the blinking neon sign advertising the “oldest in Hollywood,” and enter the doors of Musso & Frank Grill. An industry favorite since 1919, Musso & Frank’s has been serving up thick steaks paired with cold martinis to regulars and tourists alike for over a century. It’s a restaurant whose service, decor, and menu have remained reliable and pretty much unchanged since its opening. The tables are draped in crisp white linens, adorned with polished silverware and classic glassware, while a mahogany bar offering classic craft cocktails serves as the centerpiece. Groups of eight can book the smaller Palio wine room.

Named for the Latin term to describe leisurely gathering, Otium is the convivial restaurant attached to the Broad Museum. Much like the dining room, a sprawling space showcasing high quality materials in understated designs, the menu by Chef Timothy Hollingsworth, formerly chef de cuisine of The French Laundry, is an exercise in elegant rusticity. It’s a place where high quality service and execution effortlessly blends with a casual and inviting atmosphere, perfect for your next group outing. Twelve guests can enjoy a semi-private dinner at the chef’s table, positioned between the kitchen and the dining room.

This upscale French bistro on Main Street exudes approachable elegance in a coastal setting, with chef Dave Beran at the helm marrying classic French cuisine with California's fresh local produce. With its charming ambience, including exposed brick, wood beams, and a bustling white-tiled kitchen, Pasjoli offers indulgent dishes like brioche with chicken liver mousse, bay scallops, and a show-stopping pressed duck for two. The back patio can host up to twenty guests for an intimate dinner.

The sister restaurant to Osteria Mozza channels chef Nancy Silverton’s celebrated baking prowess into excellent pizzas highlighting California ingredients. Her crust has been praised by Frank Bruni, while the late Gael Greene went so far as to note she “never imagined Nancy would achieve perfection like this.” Also, there’s no better chopped salad in the city (take that, La Scala). For a private pizza party, groups of up to twenty can book the Jack Warner Room, a handsome wine cellar with wooden columns, terracotta tilework, and diamond-shaped shelves holding the restaurant’s impressive bottle collection.

Nestled within a historic church, Redbird stands as the embodiment of cool in downtown LA. The restaurant boasts an exciting menu of modern American cuisine designed for sharing, and a welcoming atmosphere suitable for almost every occasion in your life. Each of the private spaces takes on a distinctive design identity, and many feature their own private kitchens, making them the perfect setting for cooking classes, cocktail demonstrations, and exclusive experiences with Chef Neal Fraser and his team. Be sure not to miss the creative cocktails by the renowned bar duo Julian Cox and Tobin Shea. Additionally, sommelier Ben Teig has thoughtfully curated an eclectic wine list, with a special focus on selections from Burgundy, Bordeaux, and California. The Bishop's Perch, on the fourth floor, offers a secluded space for dinners with seating for 18.

Celebrated husband and wife chef duo Walter and Margarita Manzke have transformed the famed Mid City building that once housed La Brea Bakery and Campanile into a bastion of modern French cooking. République incorporates a casual bakery, café, and bar in the front of the space, including a soaring central nave with a glass ceiling and neo-gothic detailing, as well as a more formal dining area in the rear. Most of the spaces can be rented or combined for private events to suit your partie’s size and needs. The alcove is the smallest space, perched above the main dining room, with seating for up to eight guests. The left bank, an intimate room upstairs for groups seeking total privacy, features an exposed brick wall on one side and a glass-walled wine cellar on the other.

Whether you’re looking for an elevated location for brunch, lunch or dinner, The Rose Venice has you covered. For 36 years, this boho-chic eatery has offered a reliable menu and a relaxed, spacious vibe, including a full market and bakery, coffee bar, and cocktail bar, alongside indoor and outdoor dining spaces. The restaurant’s unique layout allows for many different options private dining. For outdoor parties, the East Rose Avenue patio and Upper Deck of the Beer Garden each offer seating for 20.