LAGuide
Where To Eat On Valentine's Day If You're Single
There are plenty of ways to spend Valentine's Day when you're single. You could egg your ex’s car or sit on your couch listening to Barry Manilow. But if you want to grab dinner at a reliably great place that isn’t doing some fancy pre-fixe special, use this guide. It’s got some great spots for solo dining and a couple of fun places for a group meal with your single friends. There’s no need to stress, worry, or wait for someone else to treat you like a catch—just do something nice for yourself and head to one of these 8 spots.
THE SPOTS
If eating kanpachi and uni on a freshly fried tostada sounds like something you might be into, head to Holbox. This counter-service Mexican spot in South LA’s colorful Mercado La Paloma serves fancy and inventive mariscos without the stuffiness of a fine dining meal. Just pull up a stool at their raw bar and feast on dishes like Yucatan-style fish tacos, scallop aguachile, and lobster that was wiggling only minutes before it was on your plate.
photo credit: Go's Mart
Experiencing the omakase at Go’s Mart would be incredible any day of the week, but having a solo Valentine’s Day meal at this high-end sushi bar in the San Fernando Valley is icon behavior. Yes, it’s a meal that can easily set you back $200, but if you’re in the market to throw down on world-class sushi with caviar and gold leaf, this is where you should do it. The fish changes daily, but you can generally expect about a dozen pristine pieces of sushi, a few cold appetizers, and a grilled dish of some sort.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
This Studio City bar run by the Jeff’s Table crew has a menu full of creative bar bites worth braving the 101 at rush hour to eat. So instead of going to your usual neighborhood bar for a stiff drink on V-Day, make your way over to this divey spot in Studio City for some next-level nourishment. The bar burger is an herbaceous masterpiece filled with gooey Toma cheese and a heavy serving of cilantro. And the smoked reuben quesadilla comes covered with a crispy gruyere-jalapeño outer crust. Enjoy them both on one of Oy Bar’s old chipped-up swivel stools as ‘90s R&B blasts in the background.
This neighborhood spot on Melrose is perfect for an adult pizza party with your other single friends. Located in West Hollywood, this spot not only serves some of the best and most creative Neapolitan-style pies around (get the “Spicy Chomper” with soppressata), but you could also show up in your workout clothes and not feel out of place. In addition to the pizza, get the burrata with almond pesto spagnolo and maybe a scoop of their housemade banana ice cream after having one too many martinis.
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Valentine’s Day is on a weeknight this year, so you might be considering a lunch move. Something quick, casual, but still worthy of bragging to your coworkers about afterward. Meet Maison Matho, a French walk-up window in East Hollywood making simple, well-executed sandwiches on warm baguettes. From the prosciutto and cornichon to the decadent curried spaghetti squash, it’s the quality ingredients and thoughtful balance of flavors that make the sandwiches here sing. Don’t forget to order a box of flaky almond croissants or brioche apple buns for later.
BBQ is probably the least sexy meal you can have on Valentine’s Day, which means Bludso’s will most likely be wide open on Valentine’s Day. So tell everyone in your “Single Ladies” group chat to meet you here, and get the massive party tray with a side of extra wet naps. It feeds up to 12 people and comes with brisket, pulled pork, ribs, half chicken, hot links, and a heap of sides for only $230 (or about $19 per person).
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Instead of starting your morning by hate-scrolling through a feed of paragraph-long Valentine’s Day posts, order some buttery bourekas from this takeout window in Sherman Oaks. We usually recommend calling ahead, but Tuesdays are so chill here that you shouldn’t have to wait in a very long line. If it’s your first time, order all four flavors of their Israeli stuffed pastries with perfectly browned edges and save the leftovers for lunch—surprisingly they’re very easy to reheat.
A burger and a beer at Heavy Handed is your best bet for a lowkey Valentine’s day move on Main Street in Santa Monica. The solid smash patties here are made from ground short rib, and you can order them as a triple, double, or single. This walk-up spot with a big front patio is perfect for a quick meal by yourself, with your dog, or any other living entity that you love platonically.
