The Best Filipino Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
Los Angeles has the second-largest Filipino American population in the United States, and for decades the community quietly fed itself — at turo-turo steam tables, at lechon stands in Carson and Eagle Rock, at family-run spots that didn’t need a Yelp page to stay full. That era isn’t over, but something new has layered on top of it. A generation of Filipino and Filipino American chefs is now running some of the most exciting restaurants in the city, full stop — not just the best Filipino restaurants, but the best restaurants.
Here’s where to eat right now, from James Beard winners to legendary strip-mall institutions.
Kuya Lord
East Hollywood
The name to know. Chef Lord Maynard Llera won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in California in 2024, and the recognition was overdue. His fast-casual spot in East Hollywood serves regional Filipino dishes rooted in his hometown of Lucena City, Quezon Province — lucenachon (a whole fried pork belly that will haunt you), hiramasa collar, garlicky prawns, and a rotating specials menu that rewards repeat visits. The portions are generous, the prices are surprisingly reasonable for the quality, and the palm vinegar Llera ages himself is reason enough to make the trip. The LA Times has included it on its 101 Best Restaurants list three years running. Go early, or call ahead.
Lasita
Chinatown (Far East Plaza)
What started as Lasa — an elevated Filipino tasting menu that LA Times critic Jonathan Gold praised for a menu that “vibrates with the flavors of the Philippines” — has evolved into something more relaxed and arguably more fun. Owners Chase Valencia and Steff Barros Valencia reworked the concept into a Filipino rotisserie and wine bar with a youthful energy and a menu built around two things done extraordinarily well: chicken inasal and pork belly lechon. The atchara (pickled vegetables) is exceptional. The natural wine list is genuinely good. If there’s a more enjoyable way to spend two hours in a dining room in Los Angeles right now, it’s hard to name it.
Manila Inasal
Silver Lake
What began as a family catering operation serving aluminum trays at birthdays and baptisms is now one of the most talked-about Filipino restaurants in the city. Chef Natalia Moran brings modern flair to classic Filipino dishes — stewed taro and coconut milk reimagined as a creamy dip with housemade focaccia, a crab-stuffed tortang talong with aioli and fish roe, pork belly sisig that disappears from the table faster than it arrives. On weekends, there’s live music. Sometimes local musicians, sometimes the owner’s dad with a guitar under a neon sign. The vibe is communal and warm in a way that feels specifically Filipino, in the best possible sense.
Sampa
Downtown LA (Arts District)
Named for sampaguita — the national flower of the Philippines — Sampa took the long road to a permanent home. Chef Josh Espinosa and co-owner Jenny Valles launched as a delivery concept, ran pop-ups across the city, and finally landed in the Arts District at the end of 2024. The food is inventive and bold: octopus adobo, lamb kaldereta tortellini, crab fat fried rice. Brunch brings a chicken and pandan waffle and biscuits with longanisa gravy that should be more famous than they are. If you’ve been sleeping on Filipino brunch, Sampa is the wake-up call.
The Park’s Finest
Echo Park
Filipino-American BBQ fusion sounds like a concept that shouldn’t work as well as it does, but The Park’s Finest has been proving skeptics wrong for years. The 16-hour smoked coconut beef adobo — chuck braised in coconut cream and fish sauce until it falls apart — is the dish to order, though the longanisa hot links and slow-roasted pulled pork are also exceptional. The atmosphere pays homage to Echo Park potluck culture, which means it feels like a gathering even when you’re eating alone.
Dollar Hits
Multiple Locations
A Filipino street food truck turned grab-and-go restaurant where most items are $1.50. You pick your skewers, finish charring them on charcoal grills in the parking lot, and eat standing up with large groups of families doing the same thing. The isaw (grilled pork intestine) is excellent. The betamax (congealed pig’s blood) and enrile (fried chicken head) are for the adventurous. The vinegary house barbecue sauce makes everything better. This is what Filipino street food actually looks and feels like, without pretense or markup.
Sari Sari Store
Grand Central Market, Downtown LA
Chef Margarita Manzke’s stall inside Grand Central Market is the gateway drug for many Angelenos’ Filipino food education. The menu is tight and focused — longanisa rice bowls, crispy pata, halo-halo — and the location means it’s accessible to the city’s lunch crowd who might not otherwise venture to Eagle Rock or Carson for Filipino food. Not the most adventurous option on this list, but consistently excellent and strategically located.
LA Rose Cafe
Historic Filipinotown
A neighborhood institution that’s been feeding the Filipino American community in Historic Filipinotown for decades. The menu is a greatest hits of Filipino home cooking — sinigang, kare-kare, dinuguan, pancit canton — executed with the kind of consistency that only comes from cooking the same dishes for years. No frills, no chef’s-table ambitions, just very good Filipino food at fair prices in the neighborhood where Filipino Los Angeles began.
Tita Lina’s
Van Nuys
A San Fernando Valley fixture for Filipino comfort food, Tita Lina’s is the kind of place the regulars don’t want written about because it means more competition for tables. The lechon kawali is among the best in the city — crackling skin, tender fatty pork underneath — and the bangus (milkfish) is prepared with the care it deserves. Portions are generous, prices are honest, and the warmth of the service feels genuinely familial.
Kumare
West Adams
A newer addition to the LA Filipino dining scene, Kumare has established itself quickly with a menu that bridges traditional Filipino flavors and contemporary California cooking. The menu changes with seasons and sourcing, but the commitment to quality ingredients and the distinctly Filipino flavor profiles — vinegar, pork fat, fermented shrimp paste, coconut — remains constant. Worth watching as the city’s Filipino food scene continues to evolve.
One More Thing
The Filipino food scene in Los Angeles is moving fast. Restaurants that weren’t on anyone’s radar two years ago are now getting national attention. Chefs who trained at Bestia and Republique are opening places rooted in the food they grew up eating. If there’s a single cuisine that represents the current energy of LA dining — ambitious, rooted in immigrant tradition, increasingly recognized on its own terms — it’s Filipino food.
Kumain ka na? You should.
