Ultimate Los Angeles Restaurants 2007

[maxzook]

The Chowhounders have spoken ... and all things considered they haven't really changed their opinions very much. For the second year in a row, Providence remains L.A. Chowhounders' favorite restaurant, with 73% more votes than its nearest rival, Osteria Mozza.

Voting declined for the third straight year, both in terms of the number of people voting and the restaurants they voted for:

2007: 76 voters, 135 restaurants
2006: 95 voters, 147 restaurants
2005: 104 voters, 214 restaurants

In the system originally devised by Mr. Grub, each restaurant to receive a first-place vote got five points, each second-place ranking got four votes, third places got three, fourth place two and fifth place one. To keep the voting balanced, this year I asked each voter to vote for exactly five restaurants.

There are four newly opened restaurants in the Top 20: Osteria Mozza at #2, Fraîche at #10, All'Angelo at #11 and Comme Ça at #15. Campanile climbed from #34 last year to tie with All'Angelo at #11; Ortolan, Water Grill and Max are also new to the Top 20. Besides newly opened places, the highest ranked restaurant that is new to the list is Father's Office at #17.

Last year's #11, Langer's Deli, is the highest-ranked 2006 pick to receive no votes this year. Other restaurants to take a plunge in the rankings from 2006 include Sona (from #10 to #40), Babita (#14 to #42), Opus (#15 to #41), Mastro's (#18 to #35) and Jar (from #9 to #21). Not having been to any of theses restaurants this year, I leave it to others to judge whether these restaurants have declined of if they're just the victims of a smaller sampling.

Mr. Grub's 2006 poll results are here:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/357211

And his 2005 results are here:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/76226

For those who care about such things, I used a slightly different ranking system than Mr. Grub. He ranked by total votes only; I ranked first by total votes, then by the number of voters, and then by the number of first-place rankings.

The first number after each restaurant is the total votes. The first number in parentheses is the number of people who voted (if more than one); the number after the slash is the number of first-place votes (if any). The number in square brackets is the restaurant's 2006 ranking, if any. So, Providence received 111 votes from 29 voters, 10 of whom gave it a first-place ranking.

1. Providence: 111 (29/10) [1
] 2. Osteria Mozza: 64 (18/5) [NEW]
3. Lucques: 62 (18/4) [5]
4. Pizzeria Mozza: 61 (19/7) [16, as Mozza]
5. Urasawa: 51 (11/8) [7]
6. Hatfield's: 39 (10/4) [13]
7. A.O.C.: 33 (10/2) [3]
8. The Hungry Cat: 27 (9) [19]
9. Angelini Osteria: 25 (7/3) [4]
10. Fraîche: 24 (8/2) [NEW]
11. All'Angelo: 23 (7/3) [NEW]
--. Campanile: 23 (7/3) [34]
12. Grace: 23 (7) [6]
13. Spago: 18 (7) [2]
14. Cut: 18 (6/1) [8]
15. Comme Ça: 17 (8) [NEW]
16. Ortolan: 17 (4/2) [33]
17. Father's Office: 15 (5)
18. Water Grill: 14 (4/1) [38]
19. Max: 14 (3/2) [35]
20. Sushi Zo: 13 (5/1) [20]
21. Jar: 13 (4/1) [9]
22. Bastide: 13 (3/1) [REOPENED]
23. Melisse: 12 (4/1) [22]
24. The Foundry on Melrose: 11 (3/1) [NEW]
--. Mako (Beverly Hills): 11 (3/1) [17]
25. La Buca: 10 (4) [12]
26. Vito's Pizza: 10 (4) [REOPENED]
27. Canele: 10 (3) [35]
28. Lou on Vine: 9 (4)
--. Orris: 9 (4) [36]
29. Go's Mart: 8 (3) [43]
30. Clementine: 7 (4) [48]
31. Asanebo: 7 (3)
--. La Terza: 7 (3) [29]
32. Josie: 7 (2/1) [21]
33. Oinkster: 6 (4) [48]
34. Table 8: 6 (3) [45]
--. Valentino: 6 (3) [44]
35. Mastro's: 6 (2/1) [18]
36. Capo: 6 (2)
--. Violet: 6 (2) [42]
37. Elite Restaurant: 5 (3)
--. Joe`s: 5 (3) [48]
38. Kiriko: 5 (2)
--. La Botte: 5 (2)
--. Nook Bistro: 5 (2) [45]
--. Shiro: 5 (2)
39. Athenas: 5 (1/1)
--. Bashan: 5 (1/1)
--. Beacon: 5 (1/1)
--. Chiba Sushi: 5 (1/1)
--. Hiko Sushi: 5 (1/1)
--. Izayoi: 5 (1/1) [48]
--. Kazu: 5 (1/1) [45]
--. Matsuhisa: 5 (1/1) [24]
--. Sushi Gen: 5 (1/1) [42]
--. Sushi Sushi: 5 (1/1)
--. Tasca: 5 (1/1)
--. Toscana: 5 (1/1)
40. Bin 8945: 4 (2)
--. Craft: 4 (2)
--. Sona: 4 (2) [10]
--. Totoraku: 4 (2)
41. Al Gelato: 4
--. Blue Velvet: 4
--. Chez Mimi: 4
--. Don Antonio's: 4
--. Granville: 4
--. Hals Bar: 4
--. Il Grano: 4 [44]
--. Ondal 2: 4
--. Opus: 4 [15]
--. Park's BBQ: 4
--. Pecorino: 4
42. Babita: 3 (2) [14]
43. The Apple Pan: 3
--. Arnie Morton's: 3
--. Bistro Provence: 3
--. Cafe Du Village: 3
--. Katsu-ya (Studio City): 3 [45]
--. Le Petit Bistro: 3
--. Loteria: 3
--. Mei Long Village: 3
--. Musha: 3
--. On Sunset: 3
--. Piccolo Venice: 3
--. Santouka: 3
--. Spanish Kitchen: 3
--. Sushi 4 on 6: 3 [34]
--. Tsukiji: 3
--. Wilsons: 3
44. BLD: 2 (2) [35]
--. Din Tai Fung: 2 (2) [33]
--. Terroni: 2 (2)
--. Vincenti: 2 (2) [47]
45. Abode: 2
--. Asia De Cuba: 2
--. Azami Sushi: 2
--. Bar Marmont: 2
--. Boa: 2 [41]
--. Carlito's Gardel: 2 [48]
--. Chinois on Main: 2 [47]
--. Dino's Burgers: 2
--. Drago (Santa Monica): 2
--. Il Capriccio Pizzeria: 2
--. Jiraffe: 2 [25]
--. Lala's: 2
--. Messob Ethiopian: 2
--. Metro Cafe: 2 [45]
--. Patina: 2 [47]
--. Sakura: 2
--. Tama Sushi: 2 [47]
--. Via Veneto: 2
--. Z Sushi: 2 [46]
46. Axe: 1
--. Baby Blue: 1
--. Bollini's Pizzeria Napolitana: 1
--. Carnival: 1
--. Chameau: 1
--. Denzer Witwin: 1
--. Dong Il Jang: 1
--. Hugo's on Riverside: 1
--. India Oven: 1
--. Khun Khao: 1
--. Las Delicias: 1
--. Mario's Peruvian: 1
--. Mori Sushi: 1 [45]
--. Paco's Tacos (Centinela): 1
--. Rainbow Bar and Grill: 1
--. Sasabune: 1 [48]
--. Shima (Venice): 1
--. Sushi Dan: 1
--. Sushi Ike: 1 [40]
--. The Wiener Factory: 1

Links are provided to the top 20. Enjoy!

[ipsedixit]

Great work maxzook. Thanks.

The Weiner Factory, eh? Hmm ...

[maxzook]

Only on Chowhound would the Oinkster tie with Valentino.

[Servorg]

The Wiener Factory: 1 (RIP) was a vote of an outraged conscience I'm sure. Perhaps an Anti Pinkberry vote and the nostalgia factor of the passing of a place near and dear to a true hounds occluded heart's vessels.

Thanks for all the hard work maxz.

[nimo]

Is it just me, or does this year's list seem disappointingly predictable? There's not much to differentiate it from the usual hype-driven magazine and online listings. Two Mozzas in the top 4? Give me a break.

[DanaB]

Excellent work, maxzook! Thanks for taking the time to put the list together -- it's a great resource.

I think it's interesting that voting has decline. Hmmmm! Otherwise, it looks like a pretty good list to me.

[hpcat]

I know that this hound didn't vote because I just don't have the bucks to try out many high-end restaurants, so I don't feel like I can pick the top 5 in L.A. Maybe if the parameters were expressed differently to ask for an individual's favorite based on food only, then I perhaps would have voted. But 25% on ambience? None of my places qualifed by that standard, including Langer's.

[ipsedixit]

I think you've missed the point of this poll, hpcat.

It's the ultimate restaurant list based upon your individual experiences, be they of the haute cuisine type, or the hole-in-the-wall, or the greasy spoon diner variety.

It is not a list reserved exclusively for the "high-end restaurants". Heck, just look at who made the who's-who this year ... Weiner Factory???!!! And no one in their right mind would mistake Oinkster, or Ondal 2 or Lou on Vine as "high end".

As to ambiance, I would say that Langer's has a unique ambiance all its own ... where else can you pick up hand-cut pastrami and then turn to the customer next to you and pick up a "green card" as a souvenir? :-)

Suffice to say, I think you should vote next year.

[Servorg]

Not to mention Paco's Tacos, Metro Diner and Dino's Burgers (chicken maniaco @ $4.00 a plate)... lol

[Tom P]

Agreed! I love Langer's ambience. Both Taylor's Steaks and Musso & Franks have been on my top five before (they are always in my top ten) and their ambience - which ain't chic - has a huge impact on my dining experiences at both. Please do vote!

[SauceSupreme]

Thanks for all the work, maxzook.

You know, I like Max, but I'm a little surprised by its high placement. I thought Jar and Melisse would rank higher. And of course I'm glad to see Hungry Cat in the top 10.

[fdb]

Thanks for a job well done, maxzook!

[Nicole]

This is a great resource to have. Thanks for pulling it together for us!

[Foodandwine]

Maxzook, If I hadn't voted.. I would of suggested that you copyright your material! Great compilation! You have outdone yourself. Do I text Maxzook and enter "food" for further updates?

[nick_r]

Thanks maxzook! But I don't think I understand the methodology. If Providence received 111 votes from 29 voters, does that mean that some of those people voted several times? Or am I missing something?

[DanaB]

I think that would mean it received a *score* of 111 -- 1 vote for first place is 5 points. Max might be using "votes" and "points" interchangeably.

[maxzook]

Good point, I'll make the distinction from now on.

Providence received 111 *points* from 29 voters, 10 of whom put it in first place (5 points).

[TailbackU]

Great work! Thanks for putting this together.