Finding a restaurant where you can order the rack of lamb and your seven-year-old can order something she will actually eat, and neither of you feels like you are compromising, is harder in Los Angeles than it should be. We have spent years navigating this. The city has extraordinary restaurants. Many of them are not built for families. Many of the ones that are built for families serve food that is not worth driving across town for.
This list is from actual visits — restaurants where we have taken our two daughters, where the food was genuinely good by adult standards, and where the staff made everyone feel welcome rather than tolerated. These are not the places you take kids because they have a kids menu with chicken fingers. These are the places you take kids because the food is good and the environment works.
1. ORLA at the Regent Santa Monica Beach
Michael Mina’s Mediterranean restaurant at the Regent is one of the best arguments for oceanfront dining on the Westside. The menu runs from phyllo-crusted sole to Kona Kampachi from Hawaii, and the view is the kind that makes you put your phone down. We have been with the girls twice. Both times the staff found them a seat at a table with a proper ocean sightline and treated the whole visit like a normal family dinner rather than an accommodation. The pasta options work for younger palates. The mezze for adults are exceptional.
2. Benihana, Encino
This one requires no justification. Benihana is the rare restaurant where the theatrical preparation — the fire, the knife work, the shrimp thrown at your mouth — functions as genuine entertainment rather than gimmick, and where children are as engaged as adults. Our daughters talk about the onion volcano the way other people talk about Michelin-starred meals. The food is consistently good. The experience is reliably excellent. I have never left Benihana in a bad mood.
3. Pizzana, Brentwood
Daniele Uditi’s Neapolitan pizzeria on San Vicente is our most frequent family restaurant. The crust is the story here — a slow-fermented dough that is charred and supple and nothing like what comes out of a chain pizza kitchen. The girls can eat here happily and Brad and I can eat here happily and the wine list is good enough to make it a genuine adult dinner when we have a sitter and want something close to home. We have been to the Brentwood and Pico locations. Both are consistent.
4. Katsuya Brentwood
The Katsuya on San Vicente has outdoor seating that works well for a family, a broad enough menu that kids who like simple proteins can find something, and sushi quality that is among the best on the Westside. We take the girls here when they have done something worth celebrating. Madeline orders the same roll every time. Charlotte tries something new every time. Both of them are happy. The spicy tuna on crispy rice is one of those dishes that tastes exactly like it sounds and is impossible to stop eating.
5. Wood Ranch, Brentwood
The garlic rolls alone would justify this entry. Wood Ranch is a steakhouse-adjacent BBQ spot in Brentwood that our family has visited enough times that the staff recognize us. The ribs are excellent. The brisket is excellent. The garlic rolls come to the table before anything else and disappear immediately. The room is dark and loud in a way that makes kids feel comfortable rather than conspicuous, and the portions are large enough that everyone leaves full. This is the restaurant we call when we want something that will work for everyone without any planning or compromise.
6. Rustic Canyon, Santa Monica
Jeremy Fox’s farm-to-table restaurant changes its menu based on what is available from local producers, which means it is never exactly the same twice. This is a feature, not a bug. The cooking is some of the best in Santa Monica — vegetables treated with genuine interest, proteins sourced carefully, a wine list assembled by someone who knows what they are doing. We take the girls here for special occasions. It is quieter than most of the restaurants on this list and requires a somewhat cooperative child, but the experience when it works is exceptional.
7. The Rose, Venice
The Rose on Rose Avenue in Venice is the kind of neighborhood restaurant that does everything right without making a fuss about it. The patio is dog-friendly — we have been with Barnaby. The menu is market-driven and changes regularly. The drinks program is interesting. The staff is warm in a way that makes a family dinner feel genuinely welcome rather than accommodated. We go here for Sunday lunches more than dinners. The eggs any time of day are outstanding.
8. Perch LA, Downtown
For a dinner that feels like an occasion, Perch on the rooftop in Downtown LA is the answer. The view of the city is extraordinary and the girls have been genuinely awed every time we have gone. The food is solid — French-inspired cocktails, good charcuterie, reliable mains — but the experience is the point. This is where we go for birthdays and celebrations that require a backdrop. Book a reservation and arrive for sunset.
9. Terranea Resort, Rancho Palos Verdes
Terranea is a destination. We drive down the coast to the Palos Verdes Peninsula specifically for the Catalina Kitchen or Nelson’s, and we usually make a day of it. The Catalina Kitchen does a Sunday brunch that is worth the drive. Nelson’s is the outdoor oceanfront bar with arguably the best view in Southern California for a casual meal. Neither is cheap. Both deliver an experience that justifies the cost and the drive, particularly if you have kids who are not yet jaded by beautiful scenery.
10. Fia, Santa Monica
Brian Bornemann’s restaurant on Wilshire is one of our favorites in Santa Monica for adult dinners, but the courtyard and the relatively early seating options make it work for a family dinner that feels special. The pasta is genuinely exceptional — the rigatoni in particular has been one of the better versions of that dish I have had in LA. The service is attentive without being intrusive. If you want to take your kids somewhere that will feel like a real restaurant rather than a family concession, Fia is a good answer.
All ten of these are places we return to. That is the most honest endorsement I can offer: we went, we liked it enough to go back, and we are telling you about it.
