Mei Lin’s Beverly Hills restaurant, 88 Club, offers a refined 44-seat dining room where guests can experience Chinese banquet-style dishes elevated with modern technique and precision.

The Heart of 88 Club

The stakes were high for Mei Lin’s return to fine dining after the closure of her acclaimed Nightshade in Downtown LA’s Arts District in 2020. But with 88 Club, she brings a new kind of allure to Beverly Hills—nestled along a culinary corridor of Santa Monica Boulevard that includes The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills and La Dolce Vita.

The 44-seat space is moody and intimate, with deep green walls, dim lighting, and a five-seat cocktail bar that sets the tone for the evening. The bar program—led by General Manager Diana Lee (Gwen, Intercrew) and Kevin Nguyen (Death & Co, Camelia)—blends inventive flavors with classic technique. A standout Whiskey Sour combines hibiscus aperitif, Ceylon tea, and orange blossom with bourbon and lemon.

88 Club pairs exclusivity with warmth. The design and service convey polish, but the soul of the restaurant lies in its menu: nostalgic, family-style dishes reimagined through a fine-dining lens. Larger tables feature lazy Susans, a nod to traditional Chinese banquet dining. Cold starters set a vibrant tone: mung bean jelly noodles arrive in a pool of aged black vinegar and chili oil, topped with chopped nuts; thick-cut hiramasa crudo comes dressed in XO sauce with garlic chives and bright yellow oil. Sesame prawn toast is served in neat rectangles, dolloped with red sweet-and-sour sauce and yellow hot mustard aioli. Wontons filled with prawn and bamboo shoot swim in a delicate chicken stock enriched with ginger oil.

Main dishes come in generous portions meant to be shared. The Nam Yu Roasted Chicken, served with ginger-scallion oil and aromatic soy sauce, is a personal homage—part Hainan chicken, part tribute to the wings her father cooked for her growing up. “I wanted to merge those two together and make it into a half chicken dish,” says Lin.

Lin calls the style of service “casual fine dining” and says she “wanted to bring something new to the west side area.”

The Chef

Despite spending her childhood in the kitchens of her parents’ and relatives’ Chinese restaurants, chef Mei Lin says she initially had no interest in cooking Chinese food.

“But as I grew up, and as I started cooking more, I began going back to my roots. I started cooking the familiar, nostalgic flavors I grew up with. I really wanted to put those flavors at the forefront and cook the food I grew up eating—my way.”

Born in China and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, Lin spent her early career in acclaimed kitchens, refining her fine-dining skills at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Las Vegas and Michael Voltaggio’s Ink in Los Angeles. Her breakthrough came in 2014, when she won Top Chef: Boston, launching her into the national spotlight.

While Lin sees food television and restaurant work as distinct worlds, she acknowledges its impact: “Doing food television, I feel that it brings people into the restaurant and I think that’s fantastic. It really helps the traffic, especially in these tough times,” she says.

In 2019, Lin opened Nightshade in the Arts District of Los Angeles. The restaurant quickly earned acclaim for its bold, imaginative dishes—including her now-iconic mapo tofu lasagna layered with housemade pasta. Nightshade earned her a 2020 James Beard semifinalist nod for Best Chef: California before it closed during the pandemic.

Her latest project, the newly opened 88 Club in Beverly Hills, marks a return to fine dining—with a deeply personal edge. Lin is unapologetic about her vision.

“I don’t like to sacrifice on quality. I always put that at the forefront. We’re using the best ingredients possible and putting out the best food we can,” she says, emphasizing that she hopes diners understand the depth of what she’s offering.

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