Madre on Fairfax is a fantastic Oaxacan restaurant with good food and even better mezcal.

Brooklyn Ave. Pizza Co. is serving blistered, perfectly-chewy Neapolitan pizza in Boyle Heights.

Mirame is an inventive Mexican restaurant in Beverly Hills that is highly worth the price tag.

DTLA pop-up Dough Daddy doesn’t make it easy to order their Detroit-style pies, but this pizza is worth the extra effort.

Little Dom’s Seafood in Carpinteria is an ideal destination dinner when you just need to get out of the city.

Valle is an Oaxacan spot in Venice turning out no-BS tacos lamb barbacoa tacos that are among the best in LA.

Streamliner is the secret cocktail bar in the massive Imperial Western Beer Co. in Downtown LA, and it’s a great spot for an affordable cocktail.

Hermanito is a casual Mexican cantina on Sawtelle and a great place to post up after work while traffic dies down.

Death and Co. is a dark and mysterious bar in DTLA with great cocktails.

The Airliner is a long-standing bar and performance venue in Lincoln Heights that just got a fresh facelift.

Piccalilli in Culver City combines Asian cuisines with low country flavors - with mixed results.

Pinky’s is a sleek bar in Los Feliz that feels like a Miami club, but, like, in a good way.

Red Herring is a just-OK restaurant in DTLA, where most of the food feels like a misdirection from the real star - their chocolate torte.

Thunderbolt in Echo Park is a fairly new bar, but it already feels like a neighborhood institution.

The Cliffdiver is the ideal post-beach hangout spot in Malibu.

Portuguese Bend Distillery in Long Beach has a lot going for it, but you’re here for the amazing cocktails.