Tucked away in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, a dynamic and varied area, is a culinary treasure trove. This hip neighborhood is well-known for its delicious food selections as well as its vibrant arts community and scenic reservoir.
Silver Lake’s restaurant scene is a foodie’s dream come true, with options ranging from the creative mix of tastes at Pijja Palace Indian1 to the crisp and zesty Ceviche Project Mexican1.
With this guide, you’ll be taken on a culinary tour of some of the best restaurants Silver Lake has to offer, regardless of your preference for the rustic charm of a natural wine bar or the cozy comforts of a classic American diner.
Pine & Crane
Pine & Crane is a casual, convenient, and incredibly reliable restaurant that seems to draw the same crowd on weekends as when it originally opened in 2014.
These days, you can also get chef-owner Vivian Ku’s Taiwanese cuisine at Joy, her other insanely famous Highland Park restaurant, as well as the larger, Downtown Los Angeles outpost of Pine & Crane, which serves breakfast.
However, the original Silver Lake restaurant’s cold appetizers, dumplings, noodles, and rice bowls are still highly recommended, especially for people on a budget for lunch or dinner.
Pine & Crane is a popular choice for Silver Lake locals looking for casual dine-in or Taiwanese takeout. Just one taste of the beef rolls will make you see why.
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Pijja Palace
Our modest opinion is that Pijja Palace is a razor-sharp distillation of everything that makes eating in Los Angeles so wonderful: enjoyable, reasonably priced, and most importantly, blissfully unfussy.
Opening in 2022, this Indian-Italian restaurant-turned-sports-bar swept the L.A. culinary scene off its feet, and it has been consistently packed ever since.
The imaginative fusion-style dishes here offer an abundance of textures, colors, and flavors, whether you’re in the mood for pasta, pizza, or wings. You truly can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, but the most popular choices are the dosa onion rings, green chutney pijja, and malai rigatoni.
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Simón
Serving some of the most inventive marscos in town, including a distinctive fish al pastor, this striking deep blue lonchera is stationed in Sunset Triangle Plaza in Silver Lake.
Francisco Aguilar, who attended culinary school, offers a seasonally focused menu of tacos, tostadas, ceviches, and aguachiles that combine heat, acidity, and taste in a single, mouthwatering, gorgeous dish. The soft-shell crab taco, if it’s available, is a must-try.
Other delicious options include the enchilada suiza, which combines melted cheese, grilled shrimp, avocado slices, salsa verde, and habanero lime crème. Best of all, Simón serves a variety of vibrant, really hot salsas that enhance your dish with even more flavor.
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Izakaya Osen
Thanks to this little Japanese strip mall restaurant and its sushi-focused twin, Omakase by Osen, located just down Sunset Boulevard, Silver Lake is now home to surprisingly good sushi. Chef Damon Cho, who has experience at Matsuhisa and Tao, oversees both always bustling eateries.
At Omakase by Osen, the $160 counter experience isn’t worth much, but the two-person chirashi ($70) and donburi selections ($28–$36) at Izakaya Osen are so good and affordable that I doubt you’ll miss the capital-S sushi.
If you’re craving real nigiri and hand rolls, Izakaya Osen serves those too. The fish quality and skillfully prepared dishes make for delicious à la carte sushi that won’t break the budget, even though they aren’t the cheapest around.
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All Day Baby
The modern restaurant of our dreams, All Day Baby is consistently tasty and packed. This beloved Silver Lake spot, which is owned by the same group that brought you Here’s Looking at You, features chef-driven interpretations of classic American comfort foods, such as their blueberry-topped hotcakes and their renowned biscuit sandwich dripping with strawberry jam.
Pastry chef Thessa Diadem’s exquisite baked goods, which include a standout ube coconut pie and cinnamon rolls reserved for the weekends and drenched in labneh icing, round out the afternoon pleasure. ADB’s has a fantastic happy hour and supper menu these days, but we still suggest going largely for brunch.
Final Words
The varied culinary scene in Silver Lake satisfies every appetite, from those of comfort food to those with more daring palates. Silver Lake provides a fantastic culinary experience, whether you’re looking for the distinctive fusion flavors of Pijja Palace, the fresh seafood delicacies of Simón, or the decadent breakfast buffets of All Day Baby.
You won’t be sorry if you get hungry and visit the lively eateries that line Silver Lake’s streets. Recall that this is only the beginning; Silver Lake’s culinary scene is always changing as new restaurants open up all the time.
