Eat Here: Head North (and West)
Restaurants are appearing in unexpected neighborhoods.
LAN Noodle: A fantastic Chinese restaurant with two SGV locations, LAN has westside food nerds all atwitter with this new WeHo location. The whole menu is good (see above! Dumplings!) but obviously you gotta get noodles. You specify the shape and width of said noodles for every order, which is a fun diversion. (Flat medium wide is, I think, the way to go.) (West Hollywood)
Mississippi Georgia Fried: Santa Clarita is trying out a "food hub" in a strip mall - it's not a ghost kitchen, it's more of an incubator providing space for multiple restaurants at once. Mississippi Georgia Fried, which started as a home-based business, is on the starting lineup and is definitely serving first string food. The mac and cheese is delightful. The greens and cornbread, too. And I love the Los Angeles-ness of a soul food restaurant offering ribs and not indicting that they're Galbi ribs. Because why wouldn't they be! SoCal is the best. (Santa Clarita)
Bostan by Grandma: This very cute restaurant is serving the food of the Caucasus, which is some of the best food in the world, even if it doesn't get all that much attention, globally. Pictured above is the Armenian brduch, a lavash filled with greens, butter, and the most perfectly jammy eggs I've ever seen and tasted in my life. I can't wait to go back and try the sweet menu. (Granada Hills)
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Editor's note: I consider myself a journalist, not an influencer, so I do not accept free food and I do not tell restaurants who I am.
See the map of all How to Eat L.A. picks here.