Best Restaurants in Downtown Los Angeles 2026: The Ranked Guide
Our ranked guide to the best restaurants in Downtown Los Angeles and the Arts District for 2026, from Bestia and Bavel to the rooftop views at 71Above and Cara Cara, with the tables we book most.
Why we wrote this guide
Downtown Los Angeles went from a place you left after work to the most exciting dining neighborhood in the city, and the Arts District is the engine that pulled it there. Within a few square blocks you can eat one of the hardest reservations in America, a Middle Eastern room that reinvented what wood fire can do, and a rooftop nearly a thousand feet up with the Pacific on one side and Dodger Stadium on the other. This is our ranked guide to the best restaurants in Downtown Los Angeles in 2026, built from the tables we book most and the rooms our guests ask for by name. Every venue below is one we reserve directly. Last updated late June 2026.
Looking for the table, not the reading? Tell us the night and the group and we will route you to the right room. The order below blends the quality of the room with the occasion it fits best, not just the size of the dining room.
The ranked guide
1. Bestia (Arts District)
Getting a table at Bestia is the first test, and it has been since the night the place opened in 2012. When Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis took over a vacant warehouse down a dimly lit alley at the edge of downtown, they did not follow a trend, they started one, and the Arts District dining scene that exists today traces a direct line back to what they built here. The room does a lot of the work: exposed brick, steel beams, raw concrete, and an open kitchen anchored by a wood-burning hearth. The pasta is the reason people book three months out, from the lobster-studded squid ink spaghetti to the ricotta cavatelli with truffles and sausage and the much-cited bone marrow gnocchetti. We can get you in when the standard channels are closed. See Bestia.
Best for: the marquee downtown dinner, the reservation that is supposed to be impossible.
2. Bavel (Arts District)
Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis's second Arts District room, and its own restaurant entirely, not a Bestia repeat. Bavel sits inside a converted brick warehouse on Mateo Street with sawtooth skylights, thirty-foot trailing vines, and a glassed wood-fired oven throwing amber light across the banquettes. Menashe cooks with a palate shaped by the Middle East, Persian technique, Levantine spice, and North African low-and-slow braising, pulled through a Los Angeles sensibility. Start with the hummus and its ring of masabacha, order the malawach, and field the questions everyone asks about the slow-roasted lamb neck shawarma. See Bavel.
Best for: the group that wants to order widely and share the whole table.
3. Girl and the Goat (Arts District)
Stephanie Izard's Los Angeles outpost, opened in summer 2021 in a 200-seat triangular brick building in the Arts District, all soaring warehouse ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, and an L-shaped open kitchen. Izard, a Top Chef winner and James Beard Award recipient, built the menu around California produce and bold family-style small plates meant to be ordered three to five per person. The goat curry, the confit goat belly, the sticky glazed pork shank, and the beef short rib noodles are the ones the regulars steer newcomers toward. The room fills fast on weekends and turns lively as the night goes on. See Girl and the Goat.
Best for: the group dinner built on sharing, with real energy in the room.
4. 71Above (Financial District)
The view no other downtown room can match. Perched on the 71st floor of the U.S. Bank Tower, nearly 1,000 feet above the street, 71Above opened in 2016 as the highest restaurant west of the Mississippi. The circular dining room wraps you in 360-degree floor-to-ceiling windows, the Pacific and Malibu one direction, the San Gabriel Mountains and Dodger Stadium the other, with sunset seatings that turn the horizon over as you eat. The kitchen runs a seasonal three-course prix fixe with Wagyu, suckling pig, and coastal seafood, paced over two to three hours. Prime sunset slots and window tables go first. See 71Above.
Best for: the special-occasion dinner where the view is half the reason you came.
5. Perch (Historic Core)
One of downtown's original rooftop rooms, and still one of the most atmospheric. Perch occupies the 15th and 16th floors of the historic Pershing Square Building, a dual-level French bistro that opened in 2011 with antique furnishings, patterned tiles, fire pits, and two fireplaces on the terraces. The 360-degree view of skyscrapers, distant mountains, and city lights frames the whole evening, and the weekend energy climbs with DJs and live bands into late-night lounge hours. Order the ahi tuna tartare, the French onion soup, the charcuterie plate, and the truffle cheese fries everyone ends up eating. See Perch.
Best for: a rooftop date night or the group that wants dinner to roll into the night.
6. Cara Cara (South Park)
The rooftop of the Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel, opened in late 2021 under chef Suzanne Goin, the James Beard-honored force behind Lucques and A.O.C., alongside sommelier Caroline Styne. The room spans indoor and outdoor levels across Kelly Wearstler's design work, with an upper platform and a lower garden of fire pits and lounge seating, and unobstructed views that reach the mountains by day and the city grid at night. Goin's produce-driven California menu runs to shareable plates like the chickpea fritters and the Cara Cara Cobb, plus piri piri chicken and za'atar lamb chops. Golden-hour tables over the skyline book fast. See Cara Cara.
Best for: a golden-hour rooftop dinner with a serious kitchen behind it.
How to choose, fast
The hardest, most talked-about downtown table: Bestia.
The room to order widely and share: Bavel or Girl and the Goat.
The best view in the city: 71Above.
Rooftop atmosphere, date night: Perch.
Golden-hour rooftop with a serious chef: Cara Cara.
Why the Downtown LA reservation is harder than it looks
The best downtown and Arts District tables book out well ahead, and the prime-time weekend seatings go first. Bestia has run three months deep since it opened, and the rooftop rooms sell their sunset window and skyline tables faster than anything else on the book. The public reservation platforms show you what is left, not what is possible. We work direct relationships with the rooms above, which means we can often place a table that the apps show as fully committed, and we can pair the dinner with the rest of the night.
How MyRSVP holds the table
We work two desks on every downtown request. Our venue-relations desk has direct relationships with the rooms above; our operations desk handles timing, the drive from a downtown hotel or an Arts District gallery, and any celebration setup (a specific table, a quiet corner, a cake handoff).
The process for you is short:
Tell us the night, the group size, and the room (or tell us the vibe and we will pick).
We come back inside 12 hours with the table, the time, and anything we can add.
You confirm. We hold it with the venue.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles?
For the single most sought-after downtown table, most serious diners point to Bestia in the Arts District, one of the hardest reservations in Los Angeles since 2012. For a view-forward special occasion, 71Above on the 71st floor of the U.S. Bank Tower leads. The right answer depends on the occasion, which is why we rank by fit above, not just reputation.
Which Downtown LA restaurant is hardest to get into?
Bestia is the classic answer, running roughly three months out for prime weekend tables. Bavel and Girl and the Goat, both in the Arts District, are close behind on weekends, and the sunset window tables at 71Above, Perch, and Cara Cara are the first rooftop slots to go. Those are the rooms where a direct relationship matters most, which is where we come in.
Where should I eat in the Arts District specifically?
The Arts District anchors on three of the rooms above: Bestia and Bavel, both from Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis, and Stephanie Izard's Girl and the Goat. All three are family-style, share-the-table restaurants with real energy after dark. Tell us the headcount and we will route the one that fits the night.
Which Downtown LA restaurant has the best view?
71Above, nearly 1,000 feet up on the 71st floor of the U.S. Bank Tower, has the highest and most complete view in the city, Pacific one direction and mountains the other. For rooftop atmosphere closer to street level, Perch atop the Pershing Square Building and Cara Cara at the Downtown L.A. Proper both deliver skyline tables, especially at golden hour.
How far in advance should I book a Downtown LA restaurant?
For a standard weekend prime-time table, 2 to 4 weeks at most of these rooms, and closer to a month or more for Bestia. During awards season and major downtown event weekends, plan 6 to 8 weeks out, and ask about bar seats or chef's counter when the main book reads full. We can frequently place tables the public apps show as fully booked.
Reserve your Downtown LA table
Tell us the night and the group. We come back inside 12 hours with the right table at the right room, plus whatever you want to build around it.
Build a plan with us
Want the full lineup? Browse every Los Angeles restaurant we book to round out the trip.
Build a custom itinerary with the MyRSVP concierge. Pair the venues mentioned above into a single concierge-confirmed evening. See the full Las Vegas events calendar for every upcoming DJ and pool party across the city.
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