📍2024 Highlight: I’ll never forget one of Evil Cooks’ last underground omakase-style dinners. The out-of-the-box dishes by these evil geniuses are the most unique I’ve eaten. None was more memorable than the “tom yum aguachile”: fresh scallops and shrimp in a sweet-and-sour reduction, presented in a beautiful clam shell. The bad news is that Evil Cooks is not underground anymore; the good news is that you can now find this dish on the dinner menu at their new brick-and-mortar. 

📍2024 Highlight: This pop-up serves a simple but deeply meaningful item that triggers a lifetime of core memories for me. These are the border-style burritos that any Mexican family who grew up in the fields or gardening packed for lunch: a Sonoran-style flour tortilla with a spatula’s worth of refried beans and a homemade guisado like meat and potatoes, ham and eggs, or pork in salsa verde. Finding a couple who is serving them out of a cooler just warms my soul.  

📍2024 Highlight: One of the most extraordinary dining experiences of my year was at this hidden French-Teppanyaki speakeasy at The Moxy downtown. Go to the eighth floor, where there are plenty of restaurants. For Maison Kasai, you’ll wait for a secret wall to open, leading you through a burlesque bar and another hidden door until you’re seated around a grill, where you’ll enjoy a knife-clanking show with fried rice, veggies, and steaks. It’s a delicious escapade I won’t soon forget.

You know my love for street food. So imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon a new sign in Eagle Rock that promised “Lebanese Street Food” at A la Beirut. Mom, dad, son, and daughters work together to take grandma’s marinades and dad’s sandwich techniques and create toasted vessels of new flavors in either a pita wrap or a flaky French baguette. The beef or chicken shawarma is magnificent, but go for the beef tongue with garlic spread and pickles—it’s a sprightly bite.

For a flavor rush of psychedelic proportions, the tikka masala at this South Bay strip mall will have you forgetting your woes—your full concentration will be on slowly tackling this vigorous dish. Order fresh garlic naan to dip into the rich, sweet, and spicy sauce as you eat or to use as a swab to comfort your taste buds between spoonfuls. If there’s room, finish off this roller coaster of flavor with a samosa served with a sweet and tangy sauce.

All Time has become a favorite spot for a lunch date with my lady: It has class and comfort without being presumptuous or showy. The chef’s offerings always seem to include a touch of genuine L.A. while feeling fresh, healthy, and filling. I’ve enjoyed tender carnitas tacos on blue corn tortillas, crispy rice breakfast bowls, and a Good Ass Salad that’s very popular. This little gem keeps it fresh with a changing menu, adding some excitement each time I return.

Do I like cheeseburgers? Yes. Do I like cheeseburgers with a chunky 10 ounces of dry-aged beef cooked to a meat snob’s standards, a puffy sesame seed bun, American cheese, and a humble sauce that enhances but doesn’t overpower the burger flavor? Of course. Ask for the DH (the dry-aged patty); you can get it in different styles, but the Amboy is the best introduction. I would expect nothing less from The Burger Show’s Alvin Cailan, a true burger intellectual.

I’m always hesitant to recommend legendary places because how have you never heard of Arturo’s puffy tacos? It’s one of Texas’ most unique tacos, and you can find it here in our backyard. The freshly made tortilla is thrown in a deep fryer, puffing up like a balloon, creating a crispy shell. You can get it with ground beef, lettuce, cheese, and chunky tomato salsa, but try the chunky beef guisado or tender bits of asada. It’s a unique experience worth a trip across town.

There’s always a line during lunch at Aunty Maile’s, and the wait for some of the best Hawaiian food on the mainland can take 20 minutes during a rush. Let me tell you, it’s worth it every time. The daily specials are always a treat, especially the sweet-and-sour spare ribs on Tuesdays. If it’s your first time, get a mix plate with kalbi short ribs and furikake chicken. The little mac salad completes this fork-licking meal.

BaBoys is fusion Filipino food with flavors so euphoric, they will be burned into a new core memory. This tiny, take-out-only, mom-pop-and-son shop is known for their lumpia burger: a crispy lumpia split open, Asian slaw, pickled onions, and garlic aioli on a sweet Hawaiian bun. I’ll also stuff myself with a sweet pork tocino breakfast burrito with garlic fried rice and all the fixings. Oh, and the sisig quesadilla! The pan de sal sandwiches! It’s all so good! I need it all!