The LA Restaurants I Always Take Friends To When They Visit

Living in Los Angeles for the last nine years, I've had a lot of friends and family come to visit. It's a city that opens up to tourists, especially when they have someone here who can show them around, and I enjoy being that person. I even keep a shortlist of great LA restaurants that I hope my nearest and dearest love as much as I do.

I find LA to be a top food city in the world because it is one of the most multicultural cities. Initially, LA was home to the Chumash and Tongva people, and eventually ruled by Spain, then Mexico, before it became part of the U.S. in 1848. One walk down Olvera Street in El Pueblo, LA's oldest neighborhood, and you see why it feels like a Mexican city that happens to be in the U.S. This Mexican foundation sets it firmly in one of the world's greatest cuisines. LA is also home to the nation's second-largest Chinese and Japanese populations, the largest Korean, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, Iranian, and Armenian populations, plus many more from across Europe, Africa, and Latin America. This gives LA many people with different culinary traditions — and they all need to eat.

LA is big and spread out, with a vast selection of restaurants. That also makes it time-consuming for people like me who live East of the I-5 freeway to travel West of La Brea, unless we make a day of it. So, when people come to visit, I usually keep it close and take them to these five great spots.

Anyone serving bad tacos in Los Angeles would not last long. Almost every corner has an amazing taco stand set up on folding tables under a tent, with well-spiced meats and tubs of homemade salsas. The one taco spot that returning friends ask to go back to is always Villa's Tacos. I first ate Chef Victor Villa's food when he was serving it out of his grandma's house in Highland Park, and began bringing all my friends with me to wait in line. Villa went on to win LA's Taco Madness competition three times and earn a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

There are now three locations: two in Highland Park and one downtown in the Grand Central Market. The newest location has a separate menu featuring beer-battered fish, mesquite-grilled meats, and platters. The queso tacos are magical; the pressed-to-order blue corn tortillas are griddled with a healthy amount of cheese before filling. The vegetarian options are not an afterthought, with choices like potatoes, soyrizo with pineapple, and nopales with black beans. Villa's Tacos is a great introduction to LA's Mexican food scene.

In a little neighborhood wedged between the 5 and the LA River sits the Mexican mariscos restaurant, Loreto. It's housed in a red clay building, with a beautiful back patio full of greenery and lamps – the perfect place to sit with a spicy aguachile and a drink. The flavorful lime and chili sauces marinating the fish and shrimp put the culinary fabric of Los Angeles on full display, through Mexican, Thai, and Japanese flavors.

The vegetarian menu is equally impressive, subbing the seafood with hearts of palm, jicama, and jackfruit to take on the layers of flavor in Loreto's ceviches. Dessert is a must. The pastry chef, Ellen Ramos, runs Santa Canela, one of my favorite bakeries in LA, and her carajillo cake, merengues, and LA churros all deserve to be ordered and shared.

Yes, I still take friends to the Michelin-starred Holbox. It's delicious and worth it if you can get there before the line is too long. I'm not one to complain about lines — they're great when the company is good — but the ease and atmosphere of Loreto gives it a slight edge when I'm bringing out-of-towners for a bite to eat.

Gloria's Cuisine is a favorite breakfast spot for my visitors in Los Angeles. It's simple, fresh, and full of flavor. The house breakfast, huevos ahogados, plantain breakfast, and breakfast bowl are all standouts. There's no better way to start the day than with a plate of silky black beans, runny eggs, queso fresco, and a lot of avocado. The café de olla, a coffee with cinnamon, cloves, and piloncillo served in a clay pot, is a sweet kick of caffeine.

The inside of Gloria's is homey, and the staff is friendly. Portions are large while the prices are still affordable (for LA). This is an underrated neighborhood staple that deserves to be on lists of the best breakfasts in LA. Other local restaurants I regularly take guests for the first meal of the day include Lemon Poppy Kitchen, Bub and Grandma's, Kitchen Mouse, and Picaresca (which is also one of my favorite LA coffee shops).

Another top pick for breakfast is Delia's Restaurant, home of my go-to breakfast burrito. This is a regular stop with visitors as we head to trails off of Highway 2 in the Los Angeles Mountains. Delia's breakfast burrito is the perfect, quick meal to power you through a long, steep hike. It's stuffed with eggs, crispy hash browns, and the meat of your choice. The salsa is smoky and brings a lot of flavor. Other menu standouts include the huevos rancheros and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

The restaurant is cash-only, but there is an ATM on the premises. It's cheap, and down the block from Occidental College, so you'll be eating amongst a crowd of students and locals. The shady, fenced-in patio is perfect for a cool LA morning when you can sense the heat to come later in the day. If you aren't going on a hike after, walk down York Boulevard to the many stores, bars, and coffee shops that make the Highland Park neighborhood great.

There are many standout Taiwanese and Chinese restaurants from every region in the neighboring San Gabriel Valley, but Joy holds its own with fresh, flavorful dishes at reasonable prices. I love to take people here to split dan dan noodles, mapo tofu, hot and sour soup, a few sides from the case, and then I introduce them to my favorite: the thousand-layer pancake with everything. It's a flaky flatbread filled with egg, cheese, chili oil, and basil. I have eaten them on my own, but I feel better when I share one.

For lunch, we'll drop in for the Joy combo: a cold appetizer, cup of soup, scallion bread sandwich, and a shaken iced tea for $17.50. I usually upgrade my tea to the honey lemon, but the passionfruit is just as delicious and refreshing. Make sure you get a dessert. The hakka mochi comes covered in peanut and black sesame crumbs. In the summer, Joy's towering shaved ices are the best way to survive the 90-degree days.