Where to eat and drink in the West
Taco trucks, Korean barbecue, sourdough, farm-to-table and the kitchens that set the trends. 26239 places across 2 cities.
What changes at the table in the West
Los Angeles is the best taco city in the United States and the best Korean, Thai, Armenian and Oaxacan food city outside those countries. It eats from trucks and strip malls and does not care about the room. San Francisco is the opposite: it invented farm-to-table, the sourdough boule, the Mission burrito and the twenty-course tasting menu, and it has the most Michelin stars per capita in the country.
The typical place is the taco truck with a permanent spot, the strip-mall restaurant with a line, the coffee shop that takes beans as seriously as wine, and the In-N-Out with a drive-through wrapped around the block. The West also has the wine, from Napa and Sonoma, and the produce that makes the rest of the country's menus possible.
What changes for the diner: California added service charges and health-care surcharges before anyone else, so read the check; tipping is twenty percent on top. Dinner is earlier than on the East Coast, the food is more vegetable-forward, and the best meal of the day often costs under fifteen dollars and comes wrapped in foil.
West cities in the directory
Restaurants, BBQ, burgers, coffee shops and more, with address and phone, in each of the 2 cities.