Every Friday, our editors compile a trusty list of recommendations to answer the most pressing of questions: “Where should I eat?“ Here are four places to check out this weekend in Los Angeles. And if you need some ideas on where to drink, here’s our list of the hottest places to get cocktails in town.
For a casual slice of pizza, mortadella sandwich, and bread to go: Bub and Grandma’s Pizza in Highland Park
There’s a reason Bub and Grandma’s supplies bread to what feels like half of Los Angeles’s buzzy restaurants: it’s just that good. So it comes as no surprise that the excellent bakers behind the loaves also make excellent pizza. The version from Bub and Grandma’s feels magical in its simplicity: sourdough crust becomes pleasingly tangy with a robust tomato sauce and salty rounds of pepperoni. Mortadella sandwiches are also worth an order: vibrant pesto cuts the saltiness of the cured pork while nutty pops of pistachio add texture and whipped ricotta provides creaminess. Naturally, the bubbly focaccia is noteworthy, too. And the best part of a visit to Bub and Grandma’s Pizza is that you can also take a loaf of bread home (my personal favorite: the sesame sourdough). 5101 York Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90042 — Kat Thompson, audience editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest
For gluten-free pastries that taste like the real thing: Truman’s Bakery in Beverly Grove
The longtime Fonuts shop in Beverly is now Truman’s Bakery, an all-gluten-free bakery that does its best to shed the genre’s reputation for dry pastries and crumbly bread. Rows of doughnuts, LAUSD-inspired coffee cake, and biscuits rest in a glass pastry case; under the glow of warm lights, they look nearly identical to their wheat-filled companions. The gooey cinnamon bun, swathed in sweet icing, remains a highlight of the menu with chewy layers of dough wrapped around rivers of cinnamon-sugar. Loaves of rustic bread, seeded bagels, and airy focaccia also often grace the case, ideal for those looking for a savory option. 8104 W. Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048. — Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Southern California/Southwest
For succulent fried chicken flavor mash-ups: Bleu Bird in Manchester Square
I don’t know about you, but I could use some savory, deep-fried, crispy fried chicken comfort this weekend. I’ll head to South Los Angeles’s Bleu Bird to make that happen. Taking fried chicken to places far beyond a basic chain, chef Calvin Johnson blends Southern and Korean flavors in chicken wings, thighs, legs, and sandwiches that diners can pair with gumbo greens pocked by chicken andouille sausage and smoked turkey. (I’ll also never turn down the macaroni and cheese or smashed fried okra.) It’s the kind of meal that I can pick up, set up a picnic in my living room with after changing into pajamas, turn on my latest binge series, and tune out planet Earth. 2100 W. Florence Avenue, Unit C, Manchester Square, CA, 90047. — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest
For a low-key Mexican feast at home: Loqui
Flour-tortilla specialist Loqui, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in Los Angeles in April, has made taco night at home far too easy. The shop’s generously large taco kits run for about $99 and come packed with bouncy homemade flour tortillas (if you need gluten-free variety, request standard corn), chunky guacamole, three types of salsas, both shredded and cotija cheese, limey rice, pinto beans, pickled and diced onions, shredded cabbage, and your choice of two proteins (the iykyk picks: Loqui’s kicky achiote chicken and spicy garlic shrimp). An even larger kit (priced at $199) features double all of the above. This taco jewel box fed my family of three for days, so consider the weekend investment one that will pay dividends throughout the next week. Multiple locations. — Nicole Fellah, Eater editorial manager
