kevinEats

kevinEats · Updated Sep 30, 2026

Ever Restaurant 1340 W Fulton St, Chicago, IL 60607 312-766-9576 www.ever-restaurant.com Tue 08/18/2026, 07:45p-11:40p As I've mentioned before, the main purpose of this latest Chicago trip was to revisit Alinea after 20 years, which I of course did. But given that I'd traveled all this way, there was no chance of me not hitting up some of Chi-town's other top spots. I considered a number of options, but ended up putting Curtis Duffy's Ever on the list since I'd always regretted not… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Sep 25, 2026

Alinea Restaurant 1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614 www.alinearestaurant.com Mon 08/17/2026, 07:45p-10:55p If we're talking about the most impactful American restaurants of the last two decades, then I think Alinea has to be on that list. The place was opened on May 4th, 2005 by Chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas, and right from the beginning, offered diners a taste of a new-fangled style of cuisine that generally went by the clunky moniker of "molecular gastronomy." The cooking… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Sep 22, 2026

Bisous Bar 938 W Fulton Market, Chicago, IL 60607 www.bisouschicago.com Sun 08/16/2026, 08:35p-11:25p As I mentioned in the post describing activities for my web site's 20th birthday, I'd been planning on returning to the Windy City in August 2026, specifically for dinner at Alinea, the restaurant that really gave rise to this blog. That objective did indeed come to fruition, and I flew into MDW a day before my Alinea reservation, just to be safe in case of unforeseen delays. Thus,… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Sep 17, 2026

Lucia Restaurant 351 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036 213-800-0048 www.luciala.com Thu 08/13/2026, 08:00p-11:00p If we're talking about underrepresent cuisines in the Southland, then African-Caribbean would probably be pretty high on that list. In fact, I don't think I've ever been to a such a restaurant anywhere around LA, so when Lucia grand-opened on May 28th last year, my interest was certainly piqued. This place is the brainchild of Sam Jordan (b. July 1991), who'd previous… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Sep 13, 2026

Yakitori Omakase at Iki Ramen + Sushi 6565 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028 213-512-9552 www.ikiramen.com Tue 08/11/2026, 08:00p-12:00a Regular readers of this blog might know that I have a bit of a soft spot for yakitori, and thus, new yakitori contenders do tend to capture my interest. One potential new entrant to the space is Iki Yakitori, a Tuesdays-only pop-up that began life on August 4th. It's set inside Iki Ramen + Sushi in Hollywood, part of Jeffry Undiarto's Iki Hospital… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Sep 7, 2026

Kojima Restaurant 2130 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025 424-248-0116 www.instagram.com/kojima_wla/ Sun 08/09/2026, 05:00p-07:50p In terms of Japanese debuts of the past year or so, the one that's always seemed the most promising to me has been Kojima (児島) in Sawtelle Japantown. Opened in August last year, the kappo-ryori-style spot is the brainchild of Chef Hayato Kojima, along with partners Koichi Haneda and Kentaro Kojima, and is part of a small Tokyo-based restaurant group ca… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Sep 1, 2026

Lucien Restaurant 7863 Girard Ave, La Jolla, CA 92037 619-786-3082 www.luciensd.com Fri 08/07/2026, 08:00p-12:00a Though I don't dine in the San Diego area all that often, I do somewhat keep tabs on the dining scene down there, and one spot that I've been reading promising things about over the past year has been Lucien. Named after Chef/Owner Elijah Arizmendi's son (born in July 2023), the restaurant is meant to represent his unique vision for California cuisine (an admittedly nebu… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Aug 26, 2026

Sushi Nakazawa LA 145 S Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048 310-953-3221 www.sushinakazawa.com Wed 07/29/2026, 07:55p-10:30p If we're talking about the most anticipated SoCal sushi debuts of the past couple of years, I have to imagine that Sushi Nakazawa has to be near the top of that list. Grand-opened in May, the sushi-ya is of course the creation of Chef Daisuke Nakazawa, who rose to fame after he was featured in David Gelb's 2011 film Jiro Dreams of Sushi and subsequently open… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Aug 22, 2026

The San Franciscan Restaurant 2520 Sepulveda Blvd, Torrance, CA 90505 310-325-5231 www.the-sanfranciscan.com Sat 07/25/2026, 06:55p-10:15p I recently paid a visit to The San Franciscan, which I imagine has to be one of the longest-standing establishments I've ever reported on. The place was opened in 1963 as a one-room bar by Salvatore "Sam" Failla (1917 – 1998), a first-generation Italian-American from New York who previously ran a nightclub in Buffalo. The spot eventually turned i… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Aug 16, 2026

Saffy's Restaurant 4845 Fountain Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029 424-699-4845 www.saffysla.com Tue 07/21/2026, 08:00p-10:30p You may recall that I recently reported on a meal I had at Bavel a couple weeks ago (not to mention a post on Bestia from back in April). Given how much I enjoyed that dinner, I felt that it was about time to revisit Bavel's more casual cousin, Saffy's. The restaurant opened in East Hollywood in June 2022, and comes to us from the same team of Ori Menashe, Geneviev… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Aug 11, 2026

Hippo Restaurant 5916 1/2 N Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90042 323-545-3536 www.hipporestaurant.com Sun 07/19/2026, 07:30p-10:20p If you recall, back in June, I posted about a dinner I had at Cannonball in South Pasadena. Given my positive experience there, I figured that it was about time that I reported on Hippo, another one of Chef Matthew Molina's spots that I'd been meaning to try for a while now. The Italian-ish eatery was created in partnership with Joeseph Capella, Randy Cle… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Aug 6, 2026

Vespertine Restaurant 3599 Hayden Ave, Culver City, CA 90232 323-320-4023 vespertine.la Sat 07/18/2026, 05:50p-08:45p Back in September 2024, I posted about the newly-reopened Vespertine, which had just earned back its two Michelin stars the month prior (the stars have since been retained twice). I came out of that meal rather impressed by Jordan Kahn's brand of neo-Mesoamerican cooking, finding it to be perhaps the most singular dining experience in all of Los Angeles. After two ye… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Aug 1, 2026

Bavel Restaurant 500 Mateo St, Los Angeles, CA 90013 213-232-4966 www.baveldtla.com Sun 07/05/2026, 07:45p-10:35p If we're talking about Mideast cuisine in LA, the City's standard-bearer has got to be Bavel, which was opened in April 2018 by the husband-and-wife duo of Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis (along with Director of Operations Leah Bunch). Even though I've been back here a number of times, I last wrote about the Downtown Arts District eatery over eight years ago--shortly af… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Jul 28, 2026

The Mulberry LA Restaurant 1800 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025 310-598-5191 www.themulberrylosangeles.com Sat 06/27/2026, 07:45p-10:55p A recent Westside dinner brought me to The Mulberry, a new "Korean-American neighborhood bistro" named after the mulberry tree (oft used to craft a type of traditional Korean paper called hanji). The spot officially opened on November 12th last year, and comes to us from the husband-and-wife duo of David Lee and Jennifer Chon. To develop the m… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Jul 23, 2026

République Restaurant 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036 310-362-6115 www.republiquela.com Fri 06/26/2026, 07:50p-11:00p Situated on the edge of Hancock Park, République was opened by Walter Manzke and Margarita Lorenzana-Manzke in 2013, and is pretty much an LA institution by this point. The last time I posted about the place was back in April 2020, for pandemic-era takeout, and a lot has happened since then, most of it unfortunate, as we saw the closing of four of the Manzke… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Jul 18, 2026

Cannonball Restaurant 1010 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030 310-954-9279 www.cannonballla.com Sun 06/21/2026, 08:00p-10:30p The last time I wrote about Matthew "Matt" Molina was all the way back in September 2015, shortly after the Chef opened Everson Royce Bar in concert with Joseph "Joe" Capella and the husband-and-wife duo of Randy Clement and April Langford. Things seemed to be going well at the Downtown watering hole, and the foursome eventually teamed up again for Triple B… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Jul 13, 2026

Lielle Restaurant 9575 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035 213-376-6574 www.lielle.la Sat 06/20/2026, 06:00p-08:25p I've dined at 9575 West Pico more than at any other location on this blog. The bottom floor of the building first came to prominence in 2012 when it hosted Test Kitchen (a rotating guest chef dining series), which I visited a ridiculous 23 times over the course of just four months. From there, the subterranean spot was home to Sotto, then Bicyclette, and when the latter… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Jul 8, 2026

Anajak Thai Cuisine: Thai Taco Tuesday 14704 Ventura Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 91403 818-501-4201 www.anajakthai.com Tue 06/16/2026, 07:15p-10:45p The last time I reported on Justin Pichetrungsi was back in April 2023, when I enjoyed a stupendous meal at one of Anajak's much-lauded "Thai omakase" dinners. Since that time, the Chef has continued to rack up the accolades, earning "Best Chef: California" honors from James Beard in 2023 and remaining a mainstay on the LA Times' "101 Best Re… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Jul 4, 2026

Kalbi Social Club Korean Barbecue 529 Spectrum Center Dr, Irvine, CA 92618 949-418-7072 www.kalbisocialclub.com Sat 06/13/2026, 06:00p-08:45p Some friends and I recently had to come up with a suitable venue for a large party birthday meal in the southern stretches of Orange County. Quite frankly, there really wasn't much appealing in the area, so after considering a few options, we ended going with Kalbi Social Club at Irvine Spectrum Center, a relative newcomer to OC's dining scene… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Jun 28, 2026

Trust DTSA: Ultimate Chef Battle: Cheat Codes 220 E 4th St, Santa Ana, CA 92701 714-732-0598 www.trustdtsa.com Wed 06/10/2026, 08:30p-11:00p You may recall that I recently paid a visit to Trust, with that dinner meant to serve as one final meal there before the restaurant closes for good at the end of June (due to the departure of founding chef Jason Quinn). However, I later found out that the team was planning a fifth iteration of Cheat Codes prior to the shutter, which immediately… (truncated)

kevinEats · Updated Jun 24, 2026

Le Hut Dinette 730 Poinsettia St N, Santa Ana, CA 92701 714-450-5600 www.lehutdinette.com Fri 06/05/2026, 01:00p-03:15p In the late 2010s, one of my go-to eateries in Orange County was Irenia in Downtown Santa Ana, opened in 2016 by Chef Ryan Garlitos and his girlfriend (now wife--they married in October '22) Sarah Mosqueda. Being a fan of Garlitos' modern Filipino cooking, I was bummed when the spot shuttered in October 2019. Following the closure, the Chef utilized the Irenia spac… (truncated)