LAReview

Bar Amá review image

Bar Amá

$$$$

118 W. 4th St, Los Angeles
View WebsiteEarn 3X Points
RESERVE A TABLE

POWERED BY

OpenTable logo

There’s nothing easy about opening a restaurant. Places open and close like clockwork in LA as the secret formula for success remains just that: a secret. So opening four of your own restaurants on the same block? Death sentence. Unless you’re Josef Centeno, who somehow cracked the code and turned DTLA’s Historic Core into his own personal food playground. With Baco Mercat, Orsa & Winston, and Ledlow, Centeno created a culinary identity for a part of town that never had one. But with Bar Amá, he promised a place the neighborhood could treat as their own.

Promise delivered.

Bar Amá’s casual, walk-up cantina vibe is exactly what you want it to be and a nearly foreign concept in this suddenly upscale part of DTLA. Opening everyday at 11:30am, you can just as easily have a quick lunch with a client as you can grab a beer and some queso after work with your loft neighbors. Just make sure you make a reservation on the weekends. Sh*t gets packed.

The menu is full of real deal messy Tex-Mex food, but with way better ingredients and bigger dreams than what’s usually seen in this genre. When queso and branzino crudo sit next to each other on a menu, we know the place is f*cking with us just a little, but in a way that we very much enjoy. If a restaurant is having this much fun, you are too.

Bar Amá is a total crowd-pleaser. Downtown has raced so quickly towards the high-end of things, it’s just a relief to know a place like this can even still exist. And props to Centeno for knowing it could. Now give us the rest of your secrets.

Sign up for our newsletter.

Be the first to get expert restaurant recommendations for every situation right in your inbox.


By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Food Rundown

Bar Amá review image

Puffy Tacos

This San Antonio regional staple is Bar Amá’s signature dish and possibly even better than the Texas original.

Bar Amá review image

Tex-Mex Queso

This dirty little appetizer is delicious and the first sign that Bar Amá is hell-bent on not taking this too seriously.

Bar Amá review image

Mom’s Green Enchiladas

Homestyle Mexican cooking done right - messy and delicious.

Bar Amá review image

Cauliflower and Cilantro Pesto

The vegetables at all the Centeno restaurants tend to be excellent. No different here.

Bar Amá review image

Taquitos

You’ll want some little flavor-packed taquitos to round out your meal. Spend the extra $5 to get the all the toppings as well.

Migas

Only found on the brunch menu, this Tex-Mex slopfest of eggs, tortilla chips, potatoes and onions is your hangover move at Bar Amá.

Bar Amá review image

Tres Leches

Take us now sex lord. This beautiful dessert consists of mocha, coconut, and a cream cheese frosting that’s pretty unreal.

Featured in

Suggested Reading

Bestia review image
8.6
Review

For Italian food in Los Angeles, it still doesn’t get any better than Bestia in the Arts District.

Marix review image
Review

Sometimes you can get away with being mediocre when the neighborhood still adores you.

B.S. Taqueria review image
Review

B.S. might be the casual brother to Broken Spanish, but it is every bit as fantastic.

Hot Tacos review image
Review

Hot Tacos is a roaming food truck from Austin, Texas with some of the best migas tacos in LA.

Infatuation Logo
2023 © The Infatuation Inc. All Rights Reserved.

FIND PLACES ON OUR APP

Get it on Google PlayDownload on the App Store