21 Asian American And Pacific Islander Eateries Around Los Angeles That You Need To Visit While You're In Town

From sweet to savory, fill your stomach with these mouthwatering dishes!

1. Little Bunnini

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Little Bunnini is a Chinese American–owned cute, little pastry business in Rowland Heights, California. Owner Rebecca Wu crafts each cake and pastry with care and makes them look like cute little animal characters, including bunnies, bears, frogs, seals, and more!

Recently, she hosted a fundraiser with Subtle Asian Baking and Welcome to Chinatown to help out bakeries in Chinatown, New York! The small business is currently asking customers to order ahead and pick up only, so feel free to head over to their Instagram and message them to place your order!

2. The Bombay Frankie Company

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The Bombay Frankie Company is the home of the Indian Burrito! They have two locations in LA: Westfield Culver City (located on the exterior of the mall between Macy’s and Nordstrom Rack) and Woodland Hills, as well as another location in Koreatown in partnership with Á La Couch. Some of their popular dishes include Chicken Tikki Masala Frankie, Beef Samosa, Deconstructed Frankie, and the Potato Samosa.

The restaurant recently hosted a fundraiser wherein they donated 10% of all proceeds to the 1 Billion Breaths for India, which is a campaign led by some of the best Indian restaurants in the world in order to raise money and awareness for India, as the country is currently facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

3. Gamboge

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Gamboge is a Khmer-inspired deli, café, and marketplace. As recipes and culinary traditions are relied upon to keep their heritage alive, chef and filmmaker Hak Lonh and his wife, Jane Oh, founded this Cambodian restaurant in hopes of honoring and sharing the stories that make up modern-day Cambodian cuisine and immigrant culture.

The restaurant is located in Lincoln Heights, California, and serves Cambodian comfort classics, coffee, beer, and natural wines, and some of their popular dishes include Grilled Lemongrass Beef, Grilled Spicy Pork Shoulder, and Grilled Coconut Corn!

4. B Sweet

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Located in Downtown LA is a Filipino dessert bar called B Sweet. Owner and founder Barb Batiste created B Sweet in order to bring the homemade taste of layered cakes, cookies, pies, and many other pastries that her grandma used to make (as well as her and her committed team's own recipes) into the world! Each dessert is baked fresh daily, and the menu changes weekly in order to provide the best-quality desserts for their customers!

In addition to her store in DTLA, Chef Barb also launched two of the cutest dessert trucks in LA, known as B Sweet Mobiles and named Lil Angel and Lil Devil! Each truck can be supplied with bread pudding, baked goods, halos, ice cream sandwiches, classic ice cream, donuts, nitro cold brew, or for promotional use!

5. Aloha Cafe

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Aloha Cafe is a family business that serves Hawaiian comfort food prepared daily and made to order in order to bring customers the best quality Hawaiian food. The café serves breakfast all day as well as your favorite Hawaiian dishes, such as Loco Moco, Kalua Pork with Cabbage, Kal B Combo, Aloha Bowl, Saimin, and so much more!

The restaurant was originally established in 1994–95 in Monterey Park by Chef Komai, a native of Maui, but sadly went out of business after a change in ownership. Siblings Jennifer and Kenneth Lee reconnected with Komai and, in partnership, revived Aloha Café in 2004 in Monterey Park. In 2009, they moved it to its current location in Little Tokyo. Chef Komai has since passed away, but the Lee siblings honors him and his cooking with everything he taught them and the support of their community.

6. Medan Kitchen

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Medan Kitchen, Inc. is an Indonesian restaurant located in Rosemead, California. Owner, founder, and chef Siu Chen opened this restaurant during the pandemic and at 75-years-old! She had always dreamed of opening a restaurant, and the lockdown along with her ambitions made her realize it was now or never. In a Bring Me! video, she stated, "When I cook for people and they say they enjoy it...it makes my heart happy!"

Some of her delicious dishes include Gulai Ayam (Chicken Curry), Kwetiau (flat rice noodles with fish balls, shrimp, and sausage), Sayur Lodeh (Vegetable Curry Stew), Kue Lupis (Sticky Rice with Palm Sugar), Uyen-Fried Shredded Taro, and more, and she continues to share all of her creations on the Medan Kitchen Instagram!

7. Dōnatsu

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Dōnatsu is a vegan donut shop located in the heart of Little Tokyo. Owners Nite and Jenny Ban are dedicated to creating fun flavors for the new generations of donut eaters to enjoy!

Some of their donut flavors include Apple Fritter, Matcha, Ube, Vanilla Bean, Churro, Crème Brûlée, and so much more! They also serve drinks like Dirty Thai Teas, Iced Matcha Lattes, Nitro Cold Brew Coffee, Butterfly Pea Lemonade, and Brown Sugar Boba.

8. Holdaak

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Holdaak, meaning "madly in love," is a Korean restaurant with multiple locations in California, including Highland Park, Fullerton, Orange, and upcoming locations in Northridge and City of Commerce. The restaurant is all about recreating the flavors of the best, deliciously authentic chicken sandwiches with their amazing garnishes and house-made sauces!

Customers are able to get the sandwich in its original form, and they can even get it spicy. Not in the mood for a sandwich? They also have chicken strips, wings, and even salad with a side of shake fries or daikon slaw!

9. Lao Tao

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Lao Tao, referring to the word "foodies," serves Taiwanese street food–inspired dishes to those who are constantly looking for good food. Founder and chef David Wang began his adventures in 2015 after visiting Taiwan and realizing that there weren't many authentic Taiwanese restaurants outside of San Gabriel Valley.

Wang had the passion to introduce various authentic dishes — like Lu Rou Fan (slow-cooked braised pork belly with rice), Thousand-Year-Old Egg with Tofu in Spicy Homemade Sauce, and more — in order to explain its culture and origin to those unfamiliar with it. Now located in Far East Plaza in Chinatown, the people of LA can get a taste of authentic Taiwanese cuisines with Lao Tao's bowls, small bites, and sides!

Watch Steven Lim, Andrew Ilnyckyj, and Adam Bianchi try Lao Tao on Worth It!

10. Bhan Kanom Thai

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Bhan Kanom Thai, meaning "House of Thai Desserts," is located at the heart of Hollywood. Traditional Thai desserts reflect the loving, caring, patience and enjoyable way of life of Thai culture, which is why they are an important part of it.

Bhan Kanom Thai imports the best snacks and ingredients to the United States in order to create these wonderful desserts and remind people of the taste of Thailand. Some of the traditional Thai desserts they sell include Mango Sticky Rice, Thong Eak, and more!

11. Wanderlust

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Wanderlust Creamery is an artisanal ice cream shop with various locations around LA, including Pasadena, Venice, Atwater Village, Tarzana, and Fairfax.

Owners Adrienne Borlongan and JP Lopez were inspired by flavors found around the world and incorporated them in their ice cream flavors like Sticky Rice + Mango (Thailand), Ube Malted Crunch (from Andrienne's Filipino upbringing), Japanese Neopolitan (Matcha/Hojicha/Black Sesame), Lychee Almond Sorbet (Vietnam and China, seasonal), and so many more delicious flavors!

Eating these flavors will make you feel like you're in another destination (which is great for right now, since we can't travel too much due to the pandemic)!

12. DK's Donuts & Bakery

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DK's Donuts & Bakery is a Cambodian, family-owned establishment located in Santa Monica. They have recently celebrated 35 years of making the best donuts in Los Angeles! Their donuts are made fresh all day with gourmet ingredients from recipes that have been passed down from generations before for that traditional taste with a modern twist.

Some of their popular donuts include their Apple Bear Claw, Apple Fritter, Bavarian Crème, and many more! They also sell Double-Decker O-Nuts, which is a twist on the popular croissant and donut hybrid. Some of these flavors include Cookies & Cream Oreo O-Nut, DK's House Cream O-Nut, Fruity Pebble O-Nut, and more!

Owners Sean and Mayly Tao's great uncle, Ted Ngoy, is actually the originator of the pink donut box, and there's even a documentary called The Donut King about him on Netflix!

13. Bopomofo Cafe

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Bopomofo is a café seeking to bring nostalgia and representation of Asian American culture through food, beverages, services, and design with high-quality ingredients, homemade items, and an influence from both owners' cultural backgrounds. Even the café's name is a callback to the Chinese ABCs!

Founders Philip Wang, whom you may know from Wong Fu Productions, and Eric Wang wanted the name to be a playful and unique representation of the heritage of their past while being limitless in the future, and in 2019, Bopomofo was born!

Located at the Las Tunas Plaza in San Gabriel, California, customers can order some of their signature teas including Brown Sugar Pudding Milk Tea and Mint Matcha Latte, their foods including Taiwanese Fried Chicken Sandwich and Scallion Pancake Lu Rou Nachos, and so much more!

14. Lasita

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Lasita, previously known as Lasa, is a Filipino rotisserie with a curated wine selection in Chinatown's Far East Plaza. The restaurant celebrates the flavors of the Philippines, and the menu focuses primarily on brined meat.

Their rotisserie items include Chicken Inasal and Pork Belly Lechon — these can be purchase at a half or a whole! They also serve Chicken Inasal Plates, Lechon Plates, and Veggie Plates that can be complemented with sides like Garlic Fried Rice, Vegetable Atchara, and much more. You can also finish off all your meals here with their Calamansi Cream Pie!

15. Broken Mouth

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Broken Mouth is the home of the original LA Meat Jun! This Hawai'ian establishment was named after the phrase "Broke Da Mouth," which is a phrase that the locals of Hawai'i use to describe food so good, you hardly have time to chew! Founder Tim Lee is Korean by blood, Hawai'ian at heart, and created Broken Mouth in order to bring the homestyle food of Hawai'i to Downtown Los Angeles.

Here at Broken Mouth, brunch is served all day with items such as Avocado Toast and Local Plate to choose from. They also have Beef/Chicken/Shrimp/Tofu Plate lunches, Spicy Chicken Sandwiches, and much more you can fill your stomach with! End your meal with something sweet, like their Brioche Bread Pudding!

16. Isaan Station Thai Street Food

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Isaan Station Thai Street Food is located in Koreatown of Los Angeles and is known for its modern interpretation of classic Thai dishes. Their popular dishes include items on the menu, like the Beef Jerky Fried Rice seen here, that they pride themselves on using only high-quality and fresh ingredients for!

17. Supamu Okinawa Onigiri

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Located in the Melrose Food Co, Supamu Okinawa Onigiri is the state-side's first Okinawa-style onigiri sandwich specialty shop. This Japanese restaurant makes Okinawa-style onigiri by wrapping sushi rice and roasted onigiri around Spam and omelette, and various fillings like Tofu with Sweet Miso Paste and Chicken Katsu with Sesame Slaw can be added to make the order extra yummy! They also serve stars like Cauliflower Tempura, Gyoza, Takoyaki, and much more!

You can watch Young Kim from Supamu Okinawa Onigiri in Los Angeles share the story of how the restaurant was founded and what makes their Okinawan onigiri special on BuzzFeed Tasty!

18. Yup Dduk

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Yup Dduk is a Korean-owned chicken shop known for serving the spiciest street food of Korea in LA (they have also had a location in Irvine, California, since April 2021). It is the home of the #KTownSpicyChallenge with their largely portioned, very spicy rice cakes and chicken feet dishes. Some of their menu items include the classic Yup Dduk as well as Yup Dduk Chicken Stew, Army Stew, Grilled Pork Bulgogi, and more! The food is incredibly addicting, and people just keep craving more after experiencing what spicy-loving Koreans deem as "Really Spicy!"

Watch Koreans try the "Spiciest" Rice Cake from Yup Dduk LA on BuzzFeed Video!

19. Pine & Crane

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In the heart of Silver Lake holds a fast-casual Taiwanese restaurant called Pine & Crane that aims to bring customers authentic, delicious Taiwanese dishes.

They take pride in using simple and fresh ingredients to prepare their food like Three-Cup Jidori Chicken, Dan Dan Noodles, Garlic Pork Belly, and more, which could be paired with their iced teas, loose-leaf hot teas, and several other beverages.

Pine & Crane is also a sister restaurant to Joy, a casual neighborhood eatery in Highland Park, and Today Starts Here, a Taiwanese breakfast pop-up!

20. Mint Leaf

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Mint Leaf serves Indian cuisine in Pasadena and has been voted the best Indian restaurant in Los Angeles by USA Today's 10 Best, as it is "Indian comfort food done right!" Their lunch and dinner menus include dishes that have an array of rich traditional favorites as well as vegetarian options with fresh/lighter takes on classic Indian recipes.

Some of their popular dishes include their Vegetable Samosas, Saag Paneer, Basmati Rice, and Mango Lassi, and they can be eaten by dine-in or takeout!

21. Big Softee

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Big Softee is a little ice cream shop in Monterey Park with flavors inspired by the nostalgic feelings of Hong Kong and the Chinese culture reflecting the San Gabriel Valley community. Their ice cream flavors include Tahitian Vanilla, Thai Tea, Jasmine Milk Tea, Pandan Soymilk, and Mango Jasmine.

They also make sundaes by the names of S'mores (seen here), Uji, and Butter Mochi, as well as drinks called Hojicha, Chocolate Tofu Shake, Honk Kong Milk Tea, and more! They also create specialty desserts like their Ube Tres Leches and Butter Mochi Cake!

Know any great Asian American and Pacific Islander restaurants around Los Angeles? Let us know in the comments what your favorites are!

Check out how BuzzFeed is celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! And follow @buzzfeedapop on Instagram!

BuzzFeed / Kathy Hoang