For food-obsessed L.A. natives, fall means more than rainy afternoons and the Santa Ana winds—it signals the annual release of restaurant critic Jonathan Gold's 101 Best Restaurants, a map of all the places you should set your sights on eating in the coming year. This afternoon, the Los Angeles Times published Gold's picks—and while there are a couple of surprises, the list contains plenty of repeats.
Providence, Spago, Lukshon, Trois Mec, Mozzaplex (Osteria Mozza, Pizzeria Mozza, Mozza2Go and Chi Spacca), Q Sushi—these heavy hitters all made it into the top 10, along with newcomers Cassia, Shibumi and Spring, plus O.C. favorite Taco Maria. L.A.'s 2016 darling Baroo came in at #23, while Gold's first food truck pick, Guerrilla Tacos, didn't show up until #31. The rest of the top 50 contains a mix of old favorites—Chengdu Taste at #25, Alma at #32—and recent stars, like Salazar (#34) and, in a surprising collection, all of Far East Plaza (#40). The remaining half of Gold's list features even more casual restaurants: Locol (#58), Bludso's BBQ (#77), Sapp Coffee Shop (#89) and RiceBar (#98). The Nickel Diner comes in at #101.
Gold's tongue-in-cheek intro pokes fun at our obsession with trends, but there were at least a few on his list: Filipino food showed up a few times, and his inclusion of both Grand Central Market and Far East Plaza as single entries is a nod to the food court's continual rise.
If you subscribe to the Los Angeles Times, you'll be able to take a look at the entire list here.
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