The 13 Most Anticipated Los Angeles Restaurant Openings of 2024

There’s plenty to look forward to this year including the debut of chef Daniel Boulud’s restaurant, Scarr’s Pizza, and a Filipinx bakery pop-up turned brick-and-mortar.

 

Last year was undoubtedly one of the toughest in recent memory for Los Angeles’s restaurant operators. Rising labor and food costs, widespread inflation, entertainment industry strikes, and serious rainfall all contributed to a staggering number of restaurant closures in 2023. Looking forward to 2024, many of the tremendous challenges remain but it’s impossible not to feel slightly hopeful this time of year that things will fare better in the months ahead.

LA’s dynamic restaurant scene looks promising from the get-go, with January openings from chef Bernhard Mairinger with Lustig, along with the return of chef John Sedlar with ZOZO at Maison Midi. The next 12 months should add plenty of compelling places to eat including award-winning sushi and legendary New York pizza. Here now are 13 restaurants to look forward to in 2024.

Sushi Nakazawa

Location: 145 North Robertson Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90048

Major Players: Daisuke Nakazawa

The Situation: With locations in New York City and Washington D.C., Sushi Nakazawa is considered to be a premier destination for a Tokyo-style sushi counter experience. Founder Daisuke Nakazawa had famously been an apprentice of Tokyo’s Sukiyabashi Jiro and was featured in the iconic Jiro Dreams of Sushi documentary. If the two existing locations provide any indication, Nakazawa’s LA menu will be priced around $180 per person, with 20 or so pieces of nigiri prepared in Nakazawa’s signature style, which consists of seasoned rice, a bit of wasabi, and a brush of sweetish soy sauce. The Robertson space will allow for wines, beers, and sake.

Projected Opening: Winter/spring 2024

Jônt

Location: SLS Beverly Hills, 465 La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90048

Major Players: Hive Hospitality, Ryan Ratino

The Situation: Two-Michelin-starred restaurant Jônt will bring a seasonal, Japanese-influenced tasting menu from Washington D.C. to the former Somni space (and other areas) on the ground floor of the SLS hotel in Beverly Hills this summer. Additionally, the group will also be opening an unnamed a la carte restaurant taking over parts of the former Bazaar space that is scheduled to open before Jônt.

Projected Opening: Summer 2024

ZOZO at Maison Midi

Location: 148 S. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Major Players: John Sedlar, Bill Chait, Jordan Ogron, Raphael Francois

The Situation: John Sedlar, a pioneering chef of American Southwest cuisine, hasn’t cooked in Los Angeles since closing Downtown’s Rivera in 2014. But now he’s back with Zozo at Maison Midi serving “equatorial food” from Israel, Egypt, Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and more. The restaurant will serve lunch and dinner and is located inside Maison Midi, a home decor store by American Rag selling classic and vintage homeware.

Projected Opening: January 2024

Estiatorio Milos, Sushi Noz, and Kyu

Location: Century Plaza, 2025 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067

Major Players: Simon and David Reuben, Christopher Arellanes, Nozumu Abe, Costas Spiliadis

The Situation: The $2 billion development behind the Fairmont Century Plaza includes two huge condo towers and a sizeable retail development on the ground floor. Billionaire UK-based developers Simon and David Reuben have enlisted Miami-based Asian barbecue restaurant Kyu, New York City’s two-Michelin-starred Sushi Noz, and Vegas’s popular Estiatorio Milos as its opening tenants, which should add three major operators to the mostly office and residential district. Given Milos’s popularity across the world and its Vegas location inside the Venetian, it’ll likely be the big draw for most diners. Expect a huge array of Mediterranean seafood, Greek specialties, and a reasonably-priced three-course lunch special.

Projected Opening: Late 2024

Somni

Location: West Hollywood

Major Players: Aitor Zabala

The Situation: Somni chef Aitor Zabala had to vacate his prime Beverly Hills location during the pandemic due to a dispute between José Andrés Group (JAG) and the SLS hotel, which operated Somni and sister restaurant the Bazaar for a decade. Zabala has now broken off on his own with plans to revive the Spanish avant-garde-influenced tasting menu at a standalone venue in West Hollywood. Expect an experience similar to other landmark fine dining restaurants like the French Laundry, with a separate outdoor lounge and private dining spaces in a semi-hidden building in West Hollywood.

Projected Opening: Spring 2024

Maydan Market

Location: 4301 West Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90016

Major Player: Rose Previte

The Situation: One of Washington D.C.’s brightest culinary stars, Rose Previte, is opening a massive culinary compound in West Adams. The 10,000-square-foot Maydan Market will house a Los Angeles branch of Previte’s Michelin-starred restaurant Maydan, a second location of her restaurant Compass Rose, and five yet-to-be-named Los Angeles food businesses.

Projected Opening: Summer 2024

Dave Beran’s fine dining restaurant

Location: 3110 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401

Major Players: Dave Beran

The Situation: Chef Dave Beran is returning to his fine dining roots with a 6,200-square-foot indoor-outdoor restaurant on Main Street. The 38-seat “secret garden” will serve a 12- to 14-course tasting menu that can be extended to 22 to 24 courses, if desired. The cooking will be “very focused” on Southern California and its seasons and produce, says Beran.

Projected Opening: Summer/fall 2024

Thai Town Cuisine

Location: Century City

Major Players: Charles Hsu, Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group

The Situation: One of Taiwan’s most prolific publicly traded restaurant groups is expanding to Los Angeles with Thai Town Cuisine, one of the company’s most popular brands. Founded in 1990 by Charles Hsu, the restaurant group currently operates 145 restaurants in Taiwan under various names including Very Thai Restaurant, 1010 Hunan Cuisine, Very Thai Noodles, Ten Ten Hunan Bistro, and Shann Rice Bar.

Projected Opening: July 2024

Café Boulud

Location: Mandarin Oriental Residences, 9200 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA, 90212

Major Players: Daniel Boulud

The Situation: Renowned New York City chef Daniel Boulud is opening Café Boulud inside the Mandarin Oriental Residences along Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The restaurant will be designed by artist Marc Ange and serve classic French food from Boulud’s hometown of Lyon, France using seasonal produce that occasionally dabbles into international flavors. The Beverly Hills outpost will join locations in Toronto, New York City, and the Bahamas.

Projected Opening: Spring 2024

Scarr’s Pizza

Location: Melrose Hill

Major Players: Scarr Pimentel

The Situation: One of New York’s most celebrated pizzerias is gracing the West Coast with its first expansion into the rapidly changing Melrose Hill neighborhood, which already boasts Kuya Lord, Le Coupe, and Étra. Scarr’s is known for its house-milled flour and playful approach to wide, thin-crust pizzas in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The New York shop also sells eggplant Parm, chicken Parm, salads, and square slices. Pimentel’s pizzeria will likely shake up the local pizza scene that is filled with plenty of New York-style options.

Projected Opening: 2024

Argento

Location: Silver Lake

Major Players: Nic Adler, Scott Winegard, Billie Eilish, and Finneas O’Connell

The Situation: Argento has some noteworthy investors beyond Nic Adler of Nic’s on Beverly and Monty’s Good Burger. Singer/songwriter Billie Eilish and brother Finneas O’Connell are also behind the restaurant, which will serve a seasonal plant-based menu with American and Italian influences. The restaurant will also boast a chef’s table and an expanded outdoor patio.

Projected Opening: March 1

Stella

Location: West Hollywood

Major Players: Janet Zuccarini, Rob Gentile

The Situation: Gusto 54 Restaurant Group’s Janet Zuccarini has partnered with notable Canadian chef Rob Gentile to introduce Stella in the old Madeo space. Construction is well underway on the two-story revamp that will ultimately accommodate 200 seats, plus an outdoor terrace. Gentile’s menu favors coastal Italian flavors and features one of the most difficult kinds of pasta in the world to produce, the fabled Sicilian su filendeu (“threads of God”) served with a light broth.

Projected Opening: January 2024

San & Wolves

Location: Long Beach

Major Players: Kym Estrada

The Situation: Long Beach pop-up bakery San & Wolves Bakeshop will open its first brick-and-mortar location in early 2024 on the Fourth Street Corridor. Kym Estrada founded the plant-based Filipino bakery out of Brooklyn in 2017.

Projected Opening: Winter/spring 2024

More 2024 openings to know about

• Mexican Mediterranean restaurant Mid East Tacos from Mini Kabob’s Armen Martirosyan and Aram Kavoukjian will open in Silver Lake on January 22.
• Heavy Handed is bringing its pitch-perfect short rib smash burgers to the Valley this spring on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City.
• Thai street food specialist Holy Basil will expand to Atwater Village this month. The second location boasts a raw bar and indoor and outdoor seating.
• Butchr Bar, a butcher shop and wine bar, opens this month next to Clark Street in Echo Park.
• A handful of LA restaurants are expanding to Long Beach this year including L’Antica Pizzeria, Telefèric Barcelona, Sonoratown, Ackee Bamboo, and Hart House.
• The Little Fish crew is opening a bigger, full-service location this summer in Melrose Hill on the same block as Kuya Lord and Ggiata following a December opening in Echo Park.
• Jordan Kahn’s Vespertine announced it will reopen in Culver City with a new front- and back-of-house team in 2023 after being closed for dine-in service since March 2020. The restaurant was the subject of a lengthy Eater investigation into its work culture in February 2022.
• Singapore-based Paradise Dynasty is taking over the former Din Tai Fung address in Glendale later this summer. Expect a full rebrand of the 8,000 square-foot Americana space including an expanded patio.
• Historic Filipinotown restaurant Woon will introduce a second location in Pasadena later this year at 1392 E. Washington Boulevard across the street from Millie’s Cafe and Lavender & Honey Espresso Bar.

 

Mona Holmes, Matthew Kang, and Cathy Chaplin, Eater

Jan 2, 2024