When driving along Highland Park’s York Boulevard and Figueroa Street, there’s no denying that the neighborhood is undergoing tremendous changes. While the restaurant scene has steadily transformed over the past decade, the ongoing uptick in new tenants
has left some longtime residents and business owners feeling uneasy. Gentrification is a complicated matter — one that will continue to face many of Los Angeles’s neighborhoods in the coming years. Still, there are many special independent restaurants, cafes, and bars to venture to in Highland Park. Here are the best Highland Park area restaurants in Los Angeles right now.
New to this update: Yi Cha, Bub and Grandma’s Pizza, and neighborhood wine bar Sam’s Place. Removals this round are the Greyhound Bar & Grill, Penny’s Burgers, and Wildcrust.
Mona Holmes has strong roots in Northeast Los Angeles. She’s known to walk far with her pup to seek out strong coffee, new bites, or take in the beauty that is Southern California.
Highly Likely Highland Park
5526 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California 90042
(323) 207-1770
Though the interior is comfy and stylish, it’s all about the patio at Highly Likely in Highland Park. The stunning restaurant fills up quickly, especially the outdoor bar that serves frozen daiquiris on weekends and a cocktail menu at all other times. The daytime menu is the same as the original West Adams restaurant, but chef-partner Kat Turner’s dinner options are all new. Starters include yuzu deviled eggs and carrot harissa dip, while Midwest comforts from Turner’s childhood are featured with chicken parm, seedy schnitzel, and steak au poivre.
Rosty
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4119, 5511 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90042, USA
(323) 568-1220
Former nurse and Highland Park resident Maritza Gomez opened Rosty in 2018 on a busy side of Figueroa and Avenue 55. It’s a family-run operation where traditional Peruvian fare is some of LA’s best, with ceviches, fried rice, lomo saltado, and more. The anticuchos arrive smoky and tender and are an absolute must-order for those who embrace offal. The kitchen doesn’t skimp on portions, so dine with a group and share everything on the table before taking a stroll around the neighborhood.
Villa’s Tacos
5455 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California 90042
(818) 741-8011
Locals immediately recognized owner Victor Villa at Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show in 2026, resulting in longer lines at the already popular Villa’s Tacos. The restaurant debuted a brick-and-mortar restaurant in 2023 after five years of operating out of owner Victor Villa’s grandmother’s Highland Park house and along York Boulevard. Villa opened a Grand Central Market location in 2024, another spot on the north end of Highland Park in April, and a location in Las Vegas in 2026. The menu brings together family recipes with Villa’s culinary flair. The signature tacos are made using blue corn tortillas with a crispy cheese-griddled interior, refried beans, onions, cilantro, crema, cotija, guacamole, and a choice of three kinds of mesquite-grilled meat.
Santa Canela
5601 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA, 90042, US
While pastry chef Ellen Ramos worked at Cha Cha Cha LA, she invented a pastry that became her signature creation: an LA-shaped churro. At Santa Canela, her cozy Highland Park bakery offers that as well as other sweet and savory options inspired by her LA childhood (and restaurant tenure), including concha croissants, pepita-infused financier cakes, a kale and cured beef focaccia sandwich, and champurrado-flavored maple doughnuts. Grab a café de olla latte too.
Las Cazuelas Restaurant & Pupuseria
5707 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA, 90042, US
(323) 255-4719
Opened in 1985, this family-owned restaurant prepares some of LA’s homiest Salvadoran dishes in a comfortable setting. The menu is comprised of recipes that have been passed down matrilineally for decades by owner Carlos Lopez’s mother. The most popular dish is the pupusa revuelta stuffed with crisped chicharron and a mix of Monterrey, cotija, and ranch cheeses. This restaurant also has ample parking in the back, so pull up, settle into a leather booth, and prepare for a world-class cheese pull from the pupusas.
Yi Cha
5715 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California 90042, United States
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After years of delays and a brief stint as a pop-up, chef Debbie Lee’s Korean gastropub Yi Cha opened in its permanent Highland Park home on October 30. At Yi Cha, the Korean term for second round, Lee serves her take on Korean American pub dishes alongside an inventive cocktail menu. The menu opens with bar snacks like a Korean barbecue nut medley with chile-dusted walnuts and peanuts, and fish jerky grilled over binchotan charcoal. Lee’s KFC (Korean fried chicken) wings return, served with gochujang Buffalo sauce, as well as her K-town nachos smothered in queso and ginger-braised pork. Gamjatang, one of Lee’s favorites, comes out bubbling with ramyun noodles and tteokbokki swimming in a spicy pork-and-potato base. Senga Park, formerly of Tokki, oversees the beverage program, serving drinks like the Jeju Sunrise with lychee-infused vodka alongside wine, beer, and soju. During the daytime, head around the back to find Mokja, Lee’s Korean cafe and market that she opened with Be Bright Coffee’s Frank La.
Jeff's Table
5900 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90042, USA
(323) 381-5553
Jeff Strauss had a career as a television producer and writer before pursuing the art of sandwich-making inside Highland Park’s Flask liquor store. People flock to the low-key operation for a taste of the pastrami Reuben. The hearty beast of a hot sandwich is piled high with smoky pastrami, melted Comte, sauerkraut, a house Russian dressing, and a perfect Gruyere crisp on a griddled seeded rye bread. If the weather is cooperative, take a seat at one of the cheery yellow tables stationed on Avenue 59. And if in Studio City, head to Strauss’s Oy Bar, which closes permanently (the building will be razed for new housing) in January 2027.
Sam’s Place
5530 Monte Vista St, Los Angeles, CA, 90042, US
How rare is it to find a popular bar with no digital footprint? Sam’s Place has no website, social media, or online presence. Owners Scotty Cantino and Ben Jones focus on serving stellar wines, a snacky menu, and beers in a bungalow where locals walk with dogs to share a platter piled high with crusty bread, cornichon butter, and sausage, paired with a rotating list of natural and Old World wines or a refreshing vermouth spritz. The aji-spiced chicken wings are ideal to share, or go for the outstanding bar steak if looking for more of a dinner. Weekends get crowded, but not crazy; even when full, the wood-paneled dining room buzzed with a cozy neighborhood energy.
Mala Class
5816 York Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90042
(323) 739-0818
It’s hard to miss Mala Class on York Boulevard with its bright green facade and large windows. The Sichuan restaurant by Kevin Liang and chef Michael Yang has been slowly catching on with the neighborhood, and beyond, for its deft cooking that balances tradition — Yang grew up in Chongqing and returns often to research culinary trends — with innovation. The chicken wings and french fries, both dusted in flavorful ground spices, make for fantastic starters before digging into all the noodles one’s table can handle. The best one is the dan dan mian. The noodles, handmade to spec at a nearby facility, cling to the punchy sauce while a bit of ground pork, preserved vegetables, and fresh scallions add interest in every bite.
Maciel's Plant-Based Butcher & Deli
5933 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042, USA
(213) 537-5120
The stellar sandwiches at Maciel’s Plant-Based Butcher & Deli are constructed using cold cuts made from recognizable ingredients like chickpeas, vegetables, seitan, tofu, spices, and brines. The Reuben comes with pastrami, sauerkraut, vegan cheese, and vegan Russian dressing on rye bread, while the popular Flores is made with Mexican ribs, pickled onions, arugula, and vegan mayonnaise on ciabatta.
Modu Cafe
5805 York Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90042
Modu has come a long way since its birth as a pandemic-era baking hobby for founder Jiyoon Jang. After a successful turn in pop-up form, Modu opened its permanent sun-drenched, Highland Park home with a minimalist interior that looks straight out of Scandinavia. The simple surroundings draw attention to Jang’s picturesque, Korean flavor–inflected pastries that sit in a glass case like art on display. Go with a group and split a handful of pastries, including plush miso-honey cinnamon rolls, gluten-free black sesame mochi cake bars, and a perilla lime tart crowned with a candied perilla leaf.
Amiga Amore
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5668 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90042, US
(323) 739-0894
Danielle Duran-Zecca introduced Amiga Amore to Highland Park in 2023. The chef came into her own in recent years while working in partnership with her husband, Alessandro Zecca, to meld Mexican and Italian flavors with chorizo-crusted cod, confit chicken with mole blanco, and cavatelli with chile de arbol and a guajillo-braised beef shank. It’s a cozy transformation of a former shop, delicately lit with a patio for overflow.
Goldburger
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5623 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042, USA
(323) 274-4303
In LA’s crowded smash burger scene, Goldburger stands out with its 100 percent grass-fed meats sourced from regenerative farms in California. The patties are not fully flat, with a medium smash in the center and edges that spread out, leaving a very juicy middle and crispier rim. There’s a charming covered side patio that’s brightly painted with hanging plants, lights, and plenty of seats to grub while watching the neighborhood go by.
El Huarache Azteca
5225 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042, USA
(323) 478-9572
The Mexico City-style antojitos or “little whims” served at this neighborhood gem are perfect for any meal of the day. The namesake huraches are wonderfully filling deep-fried rafts made of masa dough and topped with things like huitlacoche (a sporous fungus that feeds off corn before its ears fully develop), head cheese, and chorizo, and never fail to satisfy. If at Huaraches Azteca in the early hours, opt for chilaquiles verdes or huevos rancheros
Joy
5100 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90042, US
(323) 999-7642
Joy delivers on all restaurant fronts. The food, service, and ambience keep this seven-year restaurant busy. The airy room has large windows facing York Boulevard and buzzes every night Joy is open. The menu serves Taiwan’s greatest hits, including shrimp wontons, mapo tofu, dan dan noodles, and minced pork over rice. Wash everything down with milk tea made with housemade puddings and tapioca balls. If ordering to-go, the staff prepares everything quickly.
Belle’s Delicatessen & Bar
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5022 York Boulevard, CA 90042
(323) 739-6336
It took the owners of Belle’s Bagels four years to transform their takeout-only operation into a full-fledged Jewish deli, and the wait was worth it. The all-day neighborhood spot — decked out in cozy booths and whimsical photographs — is worth visiting for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Bagels and hot sandwiches headline the daytime menu, while crisply fried mushrooms or chicken schnitzel appeal to the evening crowd, along with cocktails to fit every taste.
Bub and Grandma’s Pizza
5101 York Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90042, United States
(323) 255-6155
Sourdough specialists Bub and Grandma’s has expanded with Bub and Grandma’s Pizza, an East Coast-style sourdough slice shop in the former Highland Park Town Pizza. The pizza at Bub & Grandma’s takes inspiration from the East Coast pies of Boston, New Haven, New York, and New Jersey, including those served at Zuppardi’s, Sally’s Apizza, Star Tavern, and Frank Pepe’s. Slices may change by the day, but classics like a cheese slice, a pepperoni slice, and a vegan red pie slice will always be available. Full pies include the Potato White with potato, caramelized onion, Taleggio, mozzarella, Parmesan, and fried rosemary, and the Bolognese with red sauce, beef and pork ragu, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Alongside the pizzas, the restaurant serves meatballs with marinara sauce, supplì, chicken wings, and garlic knots, as well as a Caesar salad with gem lettuce.
