Two L.A. eateries made the New York Times list of America’s best restaurants, including this standout Mexican spot

Los Angeles has landed two spots on The New York Times’ 2026 Restaurant List, with Komal in South L.A. and Jacaranda on Melrose joining the annual roundup of 50 restaurants across the country, selected by the Times’ dining team.

The two once again remind the country that our restaurant scene does not come with a single dress code or playbook.

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Komal, located at Mercado La Paloma near USC, is all about the magic of masa. The restaurant mills its own corn and turns it into Mexican dishes that the Times praised for being both generous and elegant. Quesadillas and molotes are among the standouts, showcasing the kind of cooking that can make a humble tortilla feel considerably more important than your average taco-night carb bomb.

Then there’s Jacaranda, which takes the opposite route into L.A. dining glory. Chef Daniel Patterson’s Melrose restaurant serves a California-focused tasting menu in a room that feels more like an extremely chic dinner party than a temple to haute cuisine. The restaurant emphasizes seasonal California ingredients, with menus that can lean heavily into vegetables, seafood and foraged ingredients.

Jacaranda is also refreshingly unconcerned with the idea that fine dining has to be silent, serious and accompanied by someone whispering the words “amuse-bouche.” The room is art-filled and music-forward, with a playlist that can veer into ’90s alternative and punk. That’s a pretty L.A. way to approach a tasting menu.

The two restaurants also represent different sides of what makes dining in this city so endlessly weird in the best way. Komal is rooted in the craft of Mexican cooking and the neighborhood around it. Jacaranda is a contemporary California tasting-menu restaurant that happens to be on Melrose but would rather feel like someone's spectacularly well-appointed home than a formal dining room.

Together, they join four Southern California restaurants on the Times list, which also includes Escondido’s Mesa Agricola and Glendale’s Yerord Mas.

Komal is located at 3655 S. Grand Ave., and is open Wed.–Fri., 11am–9pm, and Sat.–Sun., 10am–9pm. For more information and to make a reservation, click here. 

Jacaranda is located at 6623 Melrose Ave., and is open Wed.–Sun., 5:30–8:30pm. For more information and to make a reservation, click here.