The Best Deals for Dine LA Restaurant Week (April 28-May 12)
By Sylvio Martins, The Infatuation.com
Original Article Published by The Infatuation
It’s officially Dine LA season, or as we like to call it, The Two Weeks Where Chefs Throw In A Free Panna Cotta And Call It A Day. The truth is that most of the specials during Restaurant Week are pretty underwhelming—it's basically like coupon-clipping for people who've watched a season of Top Chef—but, hey, we get it, everyone loves a bargain. At any rate, we crunched the numbers this year and found several excellent restaurants that are offering deals worth knowing about. Here are a few that caught our eye.
Dine LA Restaurant Week runs from April 28th to May 12th. For the full list of participating restaurants (there are 350+), click here.
Colapasta
$$$$ 1241 5TH ST, SANTA MONICA
The Deal: Six-course family-style lunch or dinner for $45 per person (minimum two people)
Why We Like It: Colapasta is one of our favorite spots near the dining wasteland that is Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade—you generally can’t go wrong with their fantastic, decently-priced pasta. Their Dine LA menu gives you a chance to sample a bunch of the menu at once, with dishes like an artichoke soup, a branzino and uni carpaccio, three kinds of pasta (including their hearty lasagna), and licorice pudding for dessert.
Dal Rae Restaurant
$$$$ 9023 WASHINGTON BLVD, PICO RIVERA
The Deal: Three-course dinner for $65 per person.
Why We Like It: This classic steakhouse in Pico Rivera is one of our favorite places to eat a hunk of beef. Their pepper steak is legendary (it comes topped with a sauteed mixture of bacon, onions, and peppercorns), and considering the cut is regularly $58, this is a great value. You also get an appetizer and dessert of your choice.
Farmhouse Kitchen
$$$$ 5560 W ADAMS BLVD, LOS ANGELES
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The Deal: Three courses plus a drink for $35 per person at lunch.
Why We Like It: This colorful restaurant in West Adams is one of our favorite new Thai spots in town, but it can get pricey, which is why we're especially into this lunch deal. For $35, you get a non-alcoholic beverage, tom kha soup, and then your choice of two one-bite appetizers and an entree. The Hat Yai fried chicken that comes with a side of yellow curry dipping sauce is our favorite of the entrees, but follow your heart—there are very few misses at Farmhouse.
Duke's Malibu
$$$$ 21150 PACIFIC COAST HWY, MALIBU
The Deal: Two-course lunch for $25 per person.
Why We Like It: While the food is perfectly decent at Duke's Malibu, this deal is really about the oceanfront views. You'll probably spend nearly the same amount on Malibu beach parking, anyway. Pick an entree and a choice of appetizer (coconut shrimp) or dessert (hula pie). There's also a dinnertime deal for $55, but since Duke's does lunch on weekends and the ocean looks prettier in sunshine, we'd go during lunch.
Mayura Restaurant
$$$$ 10406 VENICE BLVD, CULVER CITY
The Deal: A $75 six-course feast (with drinks) that feeds two for lunch or dinner.
Why We Like It: This deal not only gets you a ton of food, but a ton of really good food. Culver City's Mayura is one of our favorite Indian spots in the city, and a two-person set that includes samosas, a choice of four main dishes (including their famous Kerala-style fish curry), plus garlic naan, rice, gulab jamun, and mango lassi for that price is worth shouting about from the rooftops.
Heavy Handed
$$$$ 2912 MAIN ST, SANTA MONICA
The Deal: A double cheeseburger, beef tallow fries, dipping sauce, soft serve, and a draft beer for $25 per person at lunch.
Why We Like It: There’s nothing groundbreaking about the Dine LA deal at this popular smashburger spot on Main Street in Santa Monica—basically, you’re just getting a beer at less than half-price—but if you’re headed to the beach before or after, it’s a well-worth a pit stop. Just know the Dine LA combo is available between 11:30am and 4pm.
LA Cha Cha Chá
$$$$ 820 E 3RD ST, LOS ANGELES
The Deal: Three-course dinner for $45 per person.
Why We Like It: The beautifully charred red snapper at this rooftop Mexican spot in the Arts District is typically $45 on its own, so bundling it with an appetizer and a dessert is a pretty attractive package. Loaded shrimp tostadas with smoky chili paste, spicy mangoneadas, and panoramic views of Downtown are all included.
M Grill
$$$$ 3832 WILSHIRE BLVD SUITE 202 SUITE 202, LOS ANGELES
The Deal: $69 per person for dinner (includes AYCE Brazilian barbecue and the hot/cold buffet).
Why We Like It: This consistently good all-you-can-eat churrascaria in Koreatown usually costs $75 per person, but with your $6 in savings you can pay for the valet downstairs (no hunting for K-town street parking), then stuff yourself silly on picanha and cheese bread.
Mírame
$$$$ 419 N CANON DR, BEVERLY HILLS
The Deal: Four-course lunch for $45 per person (minimum two people); Five-course dinner for $65 per person (minimum two people).
Why We Like It: The average price of a small plate at Mírame is around $22, but these set menus will get you four or five family-style courses (dessert included) of creative Mexican dishes in the heart of Beverly Hills. We like the cauliflower ceviche in a cashew salsa or the Dungeness crab tostadas topped with yuzu kosho
Ospi
$$$$ 2025 PACIFIC AVE, LOS ANGELES
The Deal: Two-course lunch for $25 per person.
Why We Like It: A plate of Ospi’s excellent handmade pastas usually costs around $20, so tacking on a choice for antipasti (get the crispy, deep-fried provolone) for a few dollars more is a solid deal. Besides pasta, you can also pick from some of Opsi’s more popular entrees, like the cold-cut “Godson” sandwich or crispy, thin-crust pizzas. There’s also an option to add one of their house cocktails or glass of wine for just $10.
KazuNori DTLA
$$$$ 421 S MAIN ST, LOS ANGELES
The Deal: Five handrolls and sashimi for $25 per person at lunch or dinner.
Why We Like It: If you do the math, the Dine LA special at handroll mini-chain KazuNori involves getting an order of salmon sashimi added onto your five-roll handroll meal for $1 (it normally costs $8). Again, not a life-altering bargain, but a nice sweetener if you're near one of this very solid sushi spot's many locations around LA, including the newest branch in Studio City.
El Barrio Cantina
$$$$ 1731 E 4TH ST, LONG BEACH
The Deal: A three-course lunch or dinner with a cocktail and chips and salsa for $35 per person.
Why We Like: El Barrio Cantina is one of our favorite restaurants in Long Beach, with great drinks, delicious drinking snacks, and a fun, buzzy dining room. You have a couple of options to choose from on the Dine LA, but we'd go: taquitos de papa (they're amazing), carnitas chile verde or the Mexican hot chicken, and a house margarita to drink. You'll end with whatever the daily dessert is as well.
Ryla
$$$$ 1220 HERMOSA AVE, HERMOSA BEACH
The Deal: Three-course brunch for $35 per person.
Why We Like It: We’re never short on good reasons to visit this charming Taiwanese-Japanese spot in Hermosa Beach, but a $35 brunch deal that includes a beverage of your choice, an appetizer, and entrees ranging from ramen to loco moco has our attention. That isn’t a cheap brunch by any means, but considering the loco moco is $23 on the regular menu, this is a steal and a great excuse to nap in a beach chair the rest of the day.
Sichuan Impression
$$$$ 1900 W VALLEY BLVD, ALHAMBRA
The Deal: A four-course family-style meal that feeds 3-4 people for $69.
Why We Like It: You might easily gloss over this deal if you thought it was $69 per person, but it's actually $69 for a lunch or dinner feast that feeds up to four. Plus, you'll get to enjoy some of the best Sichuan food in the city, including tingly cold noodles and dumplings, lamb skewers, tea-smoked ribs, and boiled fish with peppers. They also throw in two glasses of house wine, too. The West LA location of Sichuan Impression is doing a similar deal for $65, but it feeds 2-3 people and doesn't include the wine
The Tam O'Shanter
$$$$ 2980 LOS FELIZ BLVD, LOS ANGELES
The Deal: Appetizer, soup or salad, and entree for $55 per person at dinner.
Why We Like: As busy as Lawry's The Prime Rib gets during Dine LA, we'd much rather head to Tam O'Shanter, its Scottish-themed sibling in Atwater Village (the food is near-identical). The $55 dinner deal saves you quite a bit from the regular menu—we suggest starting with the devils on horseback, the wedge salad, then prime rib with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes for your entree (of course, you're getting the prime rib).
Yangban Society
$$$$ 712 S SANTA FE AVE, LOS ANGELES
The Deal: A family-style dinner spread for $55 per person.
Why We Like It: This Korean deli/restaurant/super is one of our favorite places to have a big group dinner in the Arts District, but with such a wide-ranging menu, ordering—particularly for first-timers—can be a bit overwhelming. This deal handles that part for you. The spread includes various cold appetizers, hot entrees, rice and pickles, and soft serve.
