Eating Near the LA County Museum of Art

[lajollafoodie]

What are good places to eat for lunch or dinner near the LACMA? Would like something with delicious food. I am traveling to LA for a day to view a current exhibit so want something convenient and casual.

[JamesV]

I can't imagine why no one has mentioned the restuarant at LACMA itself. The exact name escapes me but it is run by the Patina Group. It is not food to swoon over -- but it is invariably better than average. And the indoor space is quite nice, service always friendly if not highly professional and the price reasonable for some serious food. After numerious visits, I would recommend without hesitation. Better than just convenient for a pleasant lunch when visiting LACMA.

[slacker]

That restaurant is Pentimento, the black eye of the Patina group. It is pretty bad. The space is nice, too bad about the food.

[Will Owen]

"the black eye of the Patina group"...Yikes! Glad we've never been tempted, since we always start with lunch at Farmer's Market before LACMA. Not saying that's necessarily the best option, but we're in the habit and it's nice. The charm of Loteria continues to escape me, but I like Magee's corned beef, the Korean BBQ's pork rice bowl, Charlie's CB hash and eggs, red beans & rice or jambalaya or oyster po' boy from Gumbo Pot. Had bites of good stuff from the Banana Leaf place, too.

At LACMA itself we just get drinks and snackery from the cart.

[J.L.]

Old post (2007)...

but in 2011, Ray's & Stark Bar is worth checking out.

[SauceSupreme]

Instead of reiterating the Farmer's Market suggestion, which is a great one, you could also head west on 3rd Street for some great casual spots. There's Toast, Joan's on Third, and Doughboys. These require a bit of a trek on foot; best bet is to drive and hope to score parking.

Chao Krung on Fairfax isn't bad for Thai, and surprisingly, there is also a Thai place tucked away in a patio between KMart and Whole Foods (also on 3rd and Fairfax).

The Farmer's Market will require you to do a bit of exploration, in the same way that you would meander through a LACMA exhibit.

[westsidegal]

if you're open to ethnic food,
i'd head south on fairfax and go to little ethiopia.
there are a number of good restaurants there.

my favorite is rahel, which is ethiopian vegan. they make the very best injera.

for dinner, meals by genet (on the same block as rahel) is somewhat more upscale, delicious, and isn't vegetarian.

[QualityMart]

There is no shortage of great dining opportunities in that area. It depends on several things like how much time you have (do you want to park only once and walk from LACMA?), how many people you will be with, if you want high end or casual, etc.. If you can provide some more info you can get more focused recommendations, but I'll throw out a few to cover several situations:

- The top place I'd recommend based purely on walking distance (and excluding some awful places on Wilshire like Marie Calender's) is Mani's Bakery on Fairfax. I eat there every other week and having nothing but heaps of praise for it: http://www.manisbakery.com/

- You could also walk or drive to The Farmer's Market as people have mentioned if you are looking for something *truly* casual/fun/inexpensive. The food isn't going to be as good as some of the other options but I do eat there a lot and always enjoy it.

- The next big option, possibly walking distance depending on how much you want to walk, is the entire stretch of 3rd Street between Fairfax and La Cienega. I won't even begin listing options there but there are many ranging from casual to high end and they are (almost) all great. A few are some of the top restaurants in LA.

[lajollafoodie]

Thanks for your thorough reponse. 3rd Street sounds interesting. How about a few suggestions on 3rd Street. I prefer casual but great food.

[SauceSupreme]

My favorite spots on 3rd Street are Doughboys and Joans on Third, both very casual but tend to get crowded (due to their quality, to be certain). Doughboys is the epitome of comfort food, whereas Joans on Third can probably be best described as an American take on the European bistro.

Stretching into the realm of fine dining, you've got Ortolan (French, ranked #40 on a recent Chowhound list of Ultimate LA restaurants), La Terza (Italian, #31), Ortolan (French), and AOC (wine bar, a whopping #3 overall, though very close to the #2 restaurant, Spago).

By the way, celebrated food columnist Jonathan Gold recently touted La Terza as the 3rd best Italian restaurant in all of Los Angeles (behind Vincenti and Valentino).

Needless to say, you'll be in good hands on 3rd Street. And that doesn't even mention going one block further north onto Beverly!

[emilymm]

I think the best place at Farmers Market is the Brazilian BBQ place. There are a lot of posts on this board about favorites at Farmers Market.

[Apron Boy]

Sorry. The Gumbo Pot is in the Farmer's market. Not sure if that was clear from my last post.

[Apron Boy]

I love the Gumbo Pot. It's cajun, and it's very good. They have a big food court with just about every type of food.

[Apron Boy]

The Farmer's Market is a good idea. Otherwise, it depends on what you want. I like Doughboys on 3rd St (just W of Crescent Hghts.). Huge sandwiches, interesting salads, and very good baked goods for dessert. (Although sometimes their bread is a little doughy for me).

[emilymm]

There are a lot of places just north of the museum on 3rd Street and on Beverly. This board posts a lot about those places. There is also the Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax. If you've never eaten there I suggest you do!

[lajollafoodie]

What is good at the Farmer's Market?

[Jesdamala]

Loteria Grill, delicioius Mexican. Amazing. As good as it gets.