Cricket is fairly unintelligible to anyone who didn’t grow up in a country where trash is called rubbish and the best pies are savory. And while we don’t need to get into the particulars of a game that lasts for five days and involves breaks for tea, we will give you at least one cricket term you can use: the all-rounder. It’s a player who’s equally good at batting and bowling, and is therefore useful throughout the entire game. Every cricket team wants an all-rounder, but it’s the rare team that actually has one.

Animal is one of LA’s greatest all-rounders. Although it didn’t used to be that way.

When it opened 10 years ago, this place was more of a left-handed wrist spinner. That’s cricket for a player with a very specific skill. Between all the offal on the menu, the undecorated room, the loud rap, and the impossibility of getting a reservation, this wasn’t exactly your everyday spot.

But things have changed. Now, you can almost always get a table here, even on short notice. Animal is a fantastic date spot, but works just as well for dinner with your parents, enjoyable business meals, or a solo dinner at the bar. And while you can still order veal brain and pig ear, they’ve scaled back a bit on the more obscure animal parts, and gradually added more approachable dishes over the years. Even if those pig ears aren’t for everyone, the hamachi tostada and burger are.

Having said that, eating dinner here does feel less revolutionary than it did 10 or even five years ago, now that half the city’s restaurants are blasting rap, cooking with ingredients you probably wouldn’t be able to find on your own, and insisting you share everything. But that doesn’t make the enormous turkey leg any less impressive, or the beef tendon chips with pho dip any less special, or the Boner Burger a thing we’re any less likely to order. The food here continues to be exceptional, and the fact that we can eat food this good without having to plan months in advance makes this place even more useful.

Animal gets everything else right, too. Service is as helpful as you need it to be - they’ll advise you on what to order if you want, but also leave you alone if that’s more your style - and the wine list is one of the best in the city. Whether you’re here for a celebration or you’re here because it’s Tuesday, this place always manages to hit a six. Yes, that’s another cricket reference. We’ll let you figure it out yourself.