📍 Fairfax, Los Angeles

Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo's 2008 game-changer — the unmarked Fairfax storefront that made LA fine-dining feel young again. Pig ears crisped correctly, foie gras over loco moco, ...

Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo's Fairfax Italian-American — the casual counterpart to Animal two blocks over. Spicy fusilli, LA Woman pizza, meatball parm that has become a Fairfax A...

Chef Ivan Vasquez's Oaxacan kitchen with one of the country's largest mezcal programs — a glowing back bar holding 400+ bottles. Moles layered for hours, tlayudas with real Oaxacan...

Operating since 1931 (in the Fairfax location since 1953) — the 24-hour LA deli where the Kibitz Room lounge turns every booth into a 2 a.m. story. Pastrami stacked properly, matzo...

The cocktail companion to Benjamin Hollywood — a free mini cocktail arrives with your table, which is either an old-fashioned gesture or a hospitality flex depending on your mood. ...

The lounge attached to Canter's Deli — a 1960s time capsule with booths, neon, and a live-music calendar that has hosted everyone from the Wallflowers to Weezer residencies. Cheap ...

Fairfax Chinese-American institution since 1983, with a live-music room in the back that has hosted every LA singer-songwriter you've heard of plus most you haven't. Food is solid ...

213 Hospitality's low-key Melrose room — a focused stirred-drink program, Paper Planes and Old Fashioneds done right, and a small intimate space that doesn't announce itself. Walk-...