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30 Women-Owned Restaurants To Order From
Support women-owned business in LA with RE:Her and DoorDash.
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DoorDash
Through their entrepreneurship, culinary creativity, and fortitude, women have made LA’s food scene the cultural powerhouse it is today. But women are also historically underrepresented in the restaurant industry, and women-owned businesses have disproportionately felt the impacts of COVID-19.
DoorDash is proud to partner with RE:Her, a local LA nonprofit created by women-owned restaurants, that is committed to advancing women in the restaurant industry through mentorship, resources, and small business grants. Together, DoorDash and RE:Her will co-create initiatives that accelerate efforts to provide access and resources for women restaurant owners in LA.
So next time you’re ordering takeout, support a restaurant with a female owner or chef, and order from one of these spots. If you need more ideas, check out the Made by Women carousel on DoorDash.
Woodspoon
Woodspoon is a Downtown neighborhood standby, where owner and chef Natalia Pereira serves some of the best Brazilian food in town. The menu is made up of entrees like seafood stew in a coconut sauce, almondegas with creamy polenta, and a truly excellent chicken pot pie. Aka, exactly what you need delivered to your door after a whole year of, gestures around, this.
Joy
Vivian Ku’s casual Highland Park spot makes some of our favorite Taiwanese food in the city, including a thousand-layer pancake stuffed with egg and cheese, and mapo tofu that we’d never believe was vegan if it wasn’t written right there. Round your order out with some of the deli case sides - the pig ear salad and marinated wood ear mushrooms are two of our go-tos - and you’ll be all set. Check out Ku’s other restaurants Pine & Crane in Silver Lake and weekend Chinatown pop-up Today Starts Here.
Jitlada
Jitlada is one of LA’s essential eating experiences. And while ordering delivery means you won’t have owner and living legend Jazz come to your table to chat, you can still go all in on jungle curry, the off-menu burger, and the crispy catfish salad.
Watts Coffee House
More of a community center than a cafe, Watts Coffee House’s origins can be traced all the way back to 1965, when a group of local teens converted an abandoned building into Watts Happening Coffee House - a community arts space that later became an epicenter for Black artists, activists, and residents. Today, owner and chef Desiree Edwards, a Los Angeles native, uses that space to serve soul food like Cajun fried lobster tail, shrimp poboys, and buttermilk biscuits smothered in turkey sausage gravy.
Guerrilla Tacos
Guerrilla Tacos, the taco truck-turned-storefront in the Arts District, has a small takeout menu that will be familiar to anyone who was a regular at their trucks. There’s the legendary sweet potato taco, plus a crispy brisket taco topped with molcajete salsa or an extremely intriguing-sounding Guerrilla “hot pocket” with a shrimp filling.
Kismet Rotisserie
The more casual cousin of just-down-the-street spot Kismet, Kismet Rotisserie serves excellent roast chicken, pitas, and salads. Focus on that chicken - we like to drench it with the accompanying garlic sauce and chili oil - and the vegetable sides, especially the cauliflower, cabbage, and roasted schmaltzy potatoes.
Wax Paper, with locations in Frogtown and Chinatown, has a small menu of enormous sandwiches. There’s the instant classic Ira Glass - a vegetarian, maximalist ode to cheese and greens - but we can rarely go past the Larry Mantle, a combo of bologna, capicola, pecorino, peppers, and everything else that’s good in the world.
Azay
In a city with so many options for ramen and sushi, trying to find a place that makes homestyle Japanese food can sometimes feel like an arduous task (right up there with spelling “arduous”). Enter Azay in Little Tokyo, with a menu of fantastic Japanese options like the sweet and savory barbecued eel dish Nagoya hitsumabushi and an essentially perfect breakfast set.
Guelaguetza
Guelaguetza is a legendary Oaxacan restaurant in Koreatown, and if you’re missing their tremendous mole as much as we are, there’s good news: you can get it delivered right to your door. Throw in a tlayuda, some molotes de papa con chorizo, and maybe even one of their new jarred moles so you can get your fill any time you want.
Petite Peso
Located in a teeny storefront in DTLA, this Filipino spot from Ria Dolly Barbosa serves a variety of classics, like a pillowy pan de sal, lumpia, kare kare, and adobo - all of which can be upgraded to family-size servings. Order earlier in the day to snag a few of their pastries, including the ensaymada - a sweet brioche roll topped with sugar, cheese, and a touch of cream.
HomeState
Briana Valdez’s homage to Texas makes the best breakfast tacos in town. And now that you can get them without standing in a very long line, you’ll find yourself coming up with all kinds of reasons to order those tacos, the queso, a shredded brisket quesadilla, or a couple of boozy granitas.
Encino’s Barbie-Q is a Midwestern soul food restaurant located right on Ventura Blvd. The menu here features all kinds of classics, like Reuben sandwiches, chicken wings, bacon mac and cheese, and ribs, a.k.a. just the kind of stuff we’ll probably need, like, a lot of this week.
Botanica
Botanica is running a shortened version of their menu for delivery, but there’s enough on there that you can assemble the kind of spread you might have once had on their back patio. Get the hummus, smoky eggplant, and lamb kefta, plus the fattoush-y salad and any of their natural wine packs, put some string lights up over your dining table, and you’re at least three-quarters of the way there.
Lady & Larder
Lady & Larder is a tiny shop on Sawtelle best known for their cheese and meat boards, but has converted into Lady Bodega during the pandemic. There’s a big menu of produce, pantry essentials, and even kitchen utensils, but don’t skip the salads, sandwiches, or one of those charcuterie boards.
Love & Salt
Love & Salt has been open for less than 10 years, but it’s quickly become one of Manhattan Beach’s old reliables. The menu at this Italian place is crowd-pleasing but still interesting, from the pizza and pasta for dinner to the English muffins so good you should also eat them at dinner. Don’t overlook the roast chicken either.
Flore Vegan Restaurant
This Silver Lake spot has been dishing out solid vegan food to local Eastsiders for a while now, and has developed a strong following in the process. If you’re into meat that’s not really meat, their club sandwich and “chicken” waffles are crowd favorites. We especially like Flore for brunch, especially their peanut butter hemp shake and the Southwestern seitan quesadilla.
Same Same Thai
Same Same has a tightly curated wine selection perfect for pairing with a spicy green papaya salad or a rich khao soi topped with pickled cabbage and red onion. Their specialties include the kaijeow goong sab, a fluffy shrimp omelet served over rice, as well Kapow-style crispy pork belly with holy basil and an optional (except it’s not really optional) fried egg.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Ospi
From the people behind Jame Enoteca in El Segundo, Ospi opened in Venice in September. Like their sibling restaurant, they serve incredible pasta, but there’s also antipasti, pizza, and a few big plates of meat, including the butter chicken you’ll definitely want to order parm-style - topped with vodka sauce and parmesan.
Luv2Eat Thai Bistro
If you’re anything like us, you’ve spent nights on the couch dreaming of Luv2Eat’s crab curry and jade noodles, but never find the energy to drive and pick some up. That doesn’t need to be a problem, considering they, and sister restaurant Noree Thai, are now doing delivery.
Doubting Thomas
This Historic Filipinotown coffee shop is delivering fan favorites like the Doubtless breakfast burrito with braised pork shoulder and a side of tomatillo salsa and the bistecca rice bowl topped with an egg and house pickles. Owner Naomi Shim is an incredible pastry chef, so don’t sleep on their rotating selection of baked goods, like scones and a limited-run banoffee pie. We mean that literally - they’re likely to sell out early.
Otus Thai Kitchen & Coffee
Otus is great any time of day, but we’re especially into their breakfast menu. The Kai-Kata is the most complete breakfast set around - a bowl of sour ground pork, sweet sausage, and eggs served with grilled bread and a choice of OJ or Thai coffee for only $12. We also have a tough time deciding between their brioche french toast or the It’s a Joke rice porridge, so mostly, we just get all three.
Mayura Restaurant
Mayura has been around for a long time, mostly by simply being great. The menu is massive, so concentrate on the dishes from Kerala, the southern Indian state where owner Padmini Ayamni’s family is from. That means Kerala fish curry, cheese uthappam, and any of the specials on the menu.
Pho Saigon Pearl
From fresh rice paper shrimp spring rolls to their all-in-one Phofax special pho with rare steak, brisket, flank, fatty brisket, tendon, and meatballs, Pho Saigon Pearl does all kinds of Vietnamese favorites well. Try the house special com bo luc lac, a wok-seared filet mignon and vegetable stir-fry served with a pepper-lime dipping sauce.
Interstellar
With an all-day menu, Santa Monica’s Interstellar can help you take that world trip you can’t actually do right now. There are chilaquiles for breakfast, a Greek salad for lunch, a galbi rice bowl for dinner, Basque cheesecake for dessert, and Korean melon soda to wash it all down.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Holy Basil
Located in DTLA, Holy Basil has a tight menu filled with classics. The pad see ew, pad thai goong, and green curry are all excellent, but it’s the tom yum that remains one of the best versions we’ve ever had.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Milo & Olive
Milo & Olive’s all-day menu is full of great things (oh hi, irresistible garlic knot). But if you’re going all-in on pizzas, you’ll be thrilled. You can go the regular route and order a pork belly sausage and kale or mushroom pie, or if you’re looking for a little more flexibility, get one of their pizza kits and make your own version at home. Grab a couple of pastries, made owner Zoe Nathan for another of her restaurants Huckleberry, from the case while you’re at it.
There are two types of rotisserie chicken at Noble Bird in Long Beach: a traditional herb and lemon, and a citrus flavored “G-Chicken” rub incorporating Korean red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger, and honey. Please don’t ask us to choose between them. We can tell you - get the shaved brussels sprouts with mushrooms to go with whichever chicken you decide on.
Mary Sue Miliken and Susan Feniger are an LA institution all of their own. Their newest spot Socalo has an all-day Cali-Mex menu with old favorites from Border Grill (see: jackfruit tinga and chicken poblano enchiladas), plus new Tijuana-inspired options like vampiro and lamb birria tacos.
San Vicente Blvd. in Brentwood is home to a lot of places where you can avoid cooking by picking up fancy things to eat and Winston Pies is one of them. They do a rotating selection of pies in various sizes, as well as ice cream and coffee to go with them. The chocolate cowgirl pie is rich and pudding-like with an oat crust and the apple pie is a decent sub if you’re sick of doing your own baking. There’s a location in Weho too.