Hidden Gems & Institutions

Ray Buhen opened Tiki-Ti in 1961 after bartending at Don the Beachcomber's since the 1930s, and his son and grandson Mike Sr. and Mike Jr. have been running it ever since from the same tiny shack on Sunset. It seats maybe 20 people, serves 94 tropical cocktails, and has no beer or wine. The traditions are strict and deeply loved: when someone orders the Blood and Sand, the entire bar chants "Toro, Toro, Toro" as it's topped with tequila. There is no place like it in the city.

Opened in 1958 by George and Rena Poulos and still in the family, Pann's is one of the finest surviving examples of Googie architecture in California - all tilted rooflines, geometric signage, neon, and full-wall glass windows. It's been a film set for decades (xXx, Bewitched, and others), but the real reason to go is the food: Southern-leaning diner classics done consistently well, including some of the fluffiest pancakes in the city and fried chicken that's earned its own legends.

Banadir functions less as a restaurant and more as a neighborhood living room where the Somali community of Inglewood gathers daily. The menu is intentionally small - a handful of breakfast plates and a handful of lunch and dinner options - but the goat and rice platter is a house specialty of real distinction, and anjero (a slightly sweet, sponge-like flatbread fundamental to Somali cuisine) comes with almost everything. Arrive around 11am to order from both the breakfast and lunch menus simultaneously.

Andrew and Michelle Muñoz started Moo's as a backyard hobby, smoking meats on weekends, before turning it into a proper restaurant in Lincoln Heights. The Michelin Bib Gourmand says it all: this is serious Texas-style barbecue - salt-and-pepper brisket smoked over white oak, snappy jalapeño-cheddar sausages - with sides like Mexican street corn and tres leches bread pudding that nod to the owners' heritage. There's always a line, and the kitchen sells out by close.

Randy's has been operating under the enormous fiberglass donut on Manchestert Blvd in Inglewood since 1953, making it one of the most photographed buildings in Southern California. Unusually for a landmark of this kind, the donuts themselves are legitimately excellent - glazed, old-fashioned, bear claws, and crullers made fresh around the clock. It's open 24 hours. It is never not appropriate to stop here.

Since 1996, this family-run beach shack on Ocean Ave has been serving a riotous mix of Caribbean and Latin flavors one block from the water. Owner Elvira built the menu around her own family recipes - the jerk chicken, coconut fried chicken, and mole enchiladas all carry the kind of specificity that comes from decades of muscle memory. Featured on the Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate," the coconut fried chicken remains the thing people drive across town for.

Named for Spain's most iconic cheese, Manchego has been quietly running the best Spanish tapas program in LA since 2007 out of a narrow, intimate space on Main Street. The wine list is the real draw - mostly small-production Spanish bottles sourced directly from family wineries across the Iberian peninsula - and the happy hour sangria is bottomless. Locally sourced produce from the Santa Monica Farmers Market meets imported Spanish ingredients: the bacon-wrapped dates and patatas bravas are permanent fixtures for a reason.

The Alibi Room started life as a dive bar called Shady's Alibi Room - now it's where Roy Choi's Kogi BBQ sets up a permanent takeout window inside a proper craft beer bar. The Korean-fusion tacos and quesadillas that made the Kogi trucks famous are available here nightly, with a rotating roster of 30+ craft beers and handcrafted cocktails. It's dimly lit, with hidden corner tables and a sprawling patio strung with lights - an easy neighborhood favorite on the Westside.

A Westside institution since 1981, Versailles has served Cuban staples - roast pork, black beans, fried plantains, yuca con mojo - to generations of Angelenos without wavering. The garlic chicken is the thing, marinated in a citrus-garlic mojo that's become the yardstick against which every other Cuban garlic chicken in the city is measured. Portions are enormous, prices are fair, and the room is always packed.

Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson built Kismet as a love letter to the vegetable - not in a restrictive way, but in the sense that the produce is always the most interesting thing on the table. The menu skews Middle Eastern and Mediterranean, with dips and spreads that reward extensive bread use, whole roasted vegetables given the treatment usually reserved for meat, and a natural wine list that pairs beautifully with the food's acidity and spice. The room is warm and feminine without being precious.

Louders in Los Feliz occupies that rare spot between neighborhood bar and destination restaurant - the food is taken seriously, the drinks are well-made, and the room is comfortable enough to spend a whole evening in. Popular with the local creative set.

A specialty coffee shop that takes the craft seriously without the pretension - small menu, high sourcing standards, and drinks executed with real precision. The kind of neighborhood coffee bar that locals are quietly grateful exists.

Tea Master operates at a different frequency than most cafes - ceremonial-grade matcha sourced directly from Uji, Japan, prepared with the care and precision of a Japanese tea ceremony, available as lattes, whisked drinks, and soft-serve. The shop doubles as a retail source for high-quality Japanese green teas. Quiet, focused, and entirely without gimmick.

The Original Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax opened in 1934 when a group of farmers began selling produce directly from their trucks. It's now a sprawling outdoor complex of over 100 stalls and restaurants - Du-par's diner, Magee's Kitchen for nuts and candy, Loteria Grill for Mexican, Monsieur Marcel for French - all anchored by the original market tradition. It's touristy, yes, but it's also genuinely wonderful.