7 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles, California

This is widely considered one of the best seafood restaurants in the country, and chef-owner Michael Cimarusti elevates sustainably driven fine dining to an art form. The elegant space is the perfect spot to sample exquisite seafood with the chef's signature application of French technique, traditional American themes, and Asian accents. Pastry chef Mac Daniel Dimla’s exquisite desserts are not to be missed. Obsessed with quality, Cimarusti maintains a network of purveyors who often tip him off to their catches in order to ensure that the fish on your plate is the freshest in the city.

Don't balk when you see that Angler is in the Beverly Center mall. If you do, you'll be missing out on one of the most interesting seafood restaurants in the entire city. Angler has its roots in its Michelin-starred flagship in San Francisco, and the cuisine in L.A. lives up to the original in every way. The menu is filled with surprises like the served-cold vermillion with smoked bone vinegar and puffed rice or the seaweed rice which features eggs on eggs on eggs with cured yolk, trout roe, and a caviar supplement (expensive but worth it). Alongside the perfectly prepared fish is a unique cocktail program and premium wine list that pairs nicely with every dish. Forget you're in a mall (you're on the side of it actually), and come to Angler for a menu of fascinating seafood dishes that you can't find anywhere else. 

Inspired by the classic clam, oyster, and fish houses of New England, this beautiful space (the roof is arched like a wave) is occupied by a dressed-up crowd dipping fried calamari or spooning up Jo’s wicked-good chowda. Lobster rolls are insanely good, and you can never go wrong with the catch of the day.

Escape the glitz and glamour at this decades-old, down-home Malibu institution. Long wooden tables and booths are often filled with fish-loving families chowing down on mahimahi sandwiches and freshly caught swordfish. Get in line and choose your fish and sides, then nab a table. Outside, an expansive, dog-friendly lower patio lets patrons enjoy the sounds and smells of the ocean across the street while they wash down their conquests with ice-cold brews and lemonade. Drivers zip by this wooden fish shack on the Pacific Coast Highway every day, completely oblivious to the fresh bounty waiting inside.

A Southern California favorite that seems like a tourist trap at first blush but decidedly isn't, this Italian seafood haven has been serving up fresh fish since 1939. This freshness comes from its pedigree as the largest seafood distributor in the Southwest. Come for lunch or dinner, but make sure to take time to stroll around the market, read up on the history, and enjoy free tastings of the specials. The simple menu lets the freshness speak for itself, with options including pan-roasted Baja striped bass with butternut squash, as well as sandwiches (try the gorgeous Maine lobster roll with lemon aioli and chopped chives in butter-toasted Rockenwagner brioche), soups, plates for kids, and an oyster bar.

Put on your bib and prepare to get messy, because this crab shack is not for stodgy eaters. Choices of blue, Dungeness, snow, and king are brought out in plastic bags where you can rip, tear, twist, and yank the meaty goodness out of their shells. At the end of your meal, your table will look like a murder scene---but that's just a sign that you've done things correctly. Wet naps abound.