The Best Restaurant Openings in Los Angeles – July 2026

After a fire forced this Venice gem to close in March 2023, we couldn’t be happier to see The Tasting Kitchen reopen on July 16. To do the restaurant justice, the owners tapped Matt Winter of M Winter Design (known for spaces such as RVR and The Mulberry) for a refresh and brought back chef Casey Lane, who first led it to acclaim when Abbot Kinney was still rough around the edges. The menu is classic Lane, meaning wood-fired California Italian cooking inspired by the chef’s visits to the Santa Monica Farmers Market. While à la carte dining is available, and yes, the shrimp tagliolini is still on the menu, the $150 chef’s-choice menu is the best way to experience the restaurant, giving guests five dishes across appetizers, mains, and sides that showcase that particular moment in the season.

Pawn Shop is betting that sports bars deserve the same level of ambition as the city’s best restaurants. Opened inside the former Brothers Collateral Pawn Shop, the expansive new Hollywood venue pairs cathedral-height ceilings, original brickwork, vintage memorabilia, and 53 screens with a kitchen led by James Beard Award winner Tony Messina. Rather than leaning into the usual wings-and-nachos formula, Messina gives game-day staples an upgrade, with hot dogs finished with osetra caviar and Japanese mayo, charbroiled oysters slicked with XO butter, sticky pork spareribs glazed with kabayaki, and a towering 40-ounce dry-aged tomahawk steak for larger groups. Behind the bar, Jason Kilgore has assembled a cocktail list that feels considered rather than secondary, alongside local beer and cider, wine, and a broad spirits selection. It’s a polished clubhouse built as much for eating and drinking well as it is for watching the game.

Baker Joyce Hsieh first gained a cult following for her fruit tarts during the pandemic and has finally graced us with a brick-and-mortar location in Alhambra, which opened July 18. Using Tehachapi Sonora wheat for her crusts and high-quality fruit and berries from producers such as Harry’s Berries and J.G. Berries, this Milo + Olive alum is easily turning out some of the best fruit tarts in Los Angeles right now. Hot tip: Make the most of the rest of mango season and opt for one of Hsieh’s mango sticky rice tarts, which pair Wong Farms mangoes with Koda Farms sticky rice pudding made with coconut milk and crème fraîche chantilly.

Greg and Yunnie Morena have expanded their family’s nearly 50-year connection to Santa Monica with West Side Oyster Club, a new Ocean Avenue spot that opened in the former Blue Plate Oysterette space. Located just steps from Palisades Park, the fast-casual restaurant keeps it straightforward with all the classics: a raw bar stocked with East and West Coast oysters, seafood towers, lobster rolls, fish and chips, fried oyster po’boys, and clam chowder served in the requisite bread bowl. Guests can dine on site or take their order across the street for sunset overlooking the Pacific. Cocktails include a Japanese whisky old fashioned, an oyster shooter, and several house signatures, while the bright, surf-inspired dining room is made for lingering.

Los Angeles’ favorite Sichuan-spiced fried chicken sandwich moved from its Silver Lake location to a new home on Melrose Avenue. But don’t worry, the core menu remains the same. Expect oversized fried chicken cutlets popping out twice as long as the bun itself, available in varying levels of tingling Sichuan heat, along with that fried fish sandwich: a thick-cut piece of cod with house-made yuzu tartar sauce that can be upgraded with a full ounce of caviar for those so inclined.

The Daily Catch officially landed in Pasadena with the first West Coast location of the Boston institution, bringing more than 50 years of Sicilian-American seafood cooking to the neighborhood. Family-owned since opening in Boston’s North End in 1973, the restaurant serves New England-style classics honed over decades. It is best known for its squid ink pasta, served in the piping-hot pan in which it was sautéed, and spicy lobster fra diavolo. The Pasadena outpost follows the same traditions as the Boston restaurants, with lobster, shellfish, and other New England seafood sourced through the family’s processing facility on Boston’s historic Fish Pier and flown west several times each week. For East Coast transplants, it’s a welcome taste of home. For everyone else, it’s an introduction to one of Boston’s enduring seafood legends.

Sushi Tama is embracing the change of season with a new summer omakase that highlights several fish at their annual peak. Expect seasonal additions such as striped jack, amberjack, horse mackerel, and saltwater eel, each prepared in the restaurant’s restrained, Edomae-inspired style that lets the quality of the seafood shine. The seasonal selections join an already strong lineup of premium Japanese fish served throughout the omakase experience, which has earned the Robertson Boulevard restaurant a loyal following since opening. For regulars, it’s a reason to return. For first-timers, summer is one of the best times to book a seat at the counter and experience how subtle shifts in seasonality shape an omakase.