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The Biggest Los Angeles Restaurant Openings in June 2025
Los Angeles is no stranger to restaurant openings, whether splashy openings in iconic buildings helmed by big-name chefs, a humble neighborhood spot, or a pop-up leaping into a permanent space. Consider this monthly rundown a go-to guide for the newest and boldest debuts across the Southland.
Mojave Gold - Yucca Valley
Yucca Valley's Mojave Gold clocks in at 7,000 square feet as a 500-person capacity concert venue, lounge, and restaurant.. The spot opened on May 31 with a sustainable menu and local sourcing by former Workshop Kitchen and Bar chef de cuisine Beren Ekine-Huett. She'll serve twists on classic dishes like lamb meatballs with chimichurri, steak frites, and a smoked date sticky toffee pudding at the 125-person capacity restaurant. The bar takes the same approach by preparing concoctions like the gin-forward Wildflower Sour. It's a fun room that combines 1970s glam with natural desert tones and complementary Western art.
The De La Nonna team, who introduced their casual Italian restaurant to the Arts District in 2021, opened a Big Bear outpost on June 4 overlooking Big Bear Lake from inside the recently reimagined Hotel Marina Riviera. The second location resides just yards away from the water and has massive floor-to-ceiling windows that face north. Those familiar with the menu will see most of the favorites: focaccia sandwiches, whipped eggplant dip, salads, and thick, rectangular Sicilian-style pizzas. They also added tin fish and crackers, smoked trout dip, and rotating soft serve flavors finished with Maldon salt and olive oil. Staff can prepare a frozen Aperol spritz and espresso martini for the summer or ski season, or pour a glass of biodynamic and organic wine.
Sogo Roll Bar - Highland Park
On June 4, Sogo Roll Bar debuted its second location in the former Holcomb. It's got the same hand rolls and cut rolls, donburi, and starters, including cucumber salad, as chef Kiminobu Saito's original menu. Sogo Roll Bar is a partnership between David Gibbs and Kiminobu Saito of renowned Valley sushi restaurant Sushi Note, and Sarah Dietz and Dustin Lancaster, the industry veterans behind Los Angeles bars that include Bar Covell, L&E Oyster Bar, and Real Charmer.
Happies Hand Made - Arts District
Chef Joshua Skenes, the founding chef of Saison and Angler in San Francisco (and Angler in Los Angeles), opened a fast-casual restaurant on June 6 called Happies Hand Made in the Arts District. Skenes, who opened Leopardo in mid-2024 and temporarily closed it in early 2025 to work on Happies, is serving thick, spicy, Sichuan-inflected fried chicken tenders with fruit and tea drinks; heavily seasoned beef tallow fries; soft serve topped with passion fruit and strawberry; and frozen cocktails. The tenders will be served atop crispy waffles, milk bread slices, or a pile of dressed salad greens.
Restaurateurs Marissa and Matt Hermer opened their latest project, Bar Issi, on June 6 inside the Thompson Hotel in Palm Springs. The HBO-Max White Lotus -inspired restaurant is their first expansion outside of Los Angeles as a 180-seat space that joins Lola Rose Grand Mezze and Hall Napa Valley Tasting Room on the Thompson property. Bar Issi's original inspiration comes from the short-lived Issima that opened as an indoor-outdoor ground-floor restaurant in the West Hollywood La Peer hotel, with an easy Cal-Italian menu.
Diner Antonette - Santa Monica
Diner Antonette, named after owner Bob Lynn's late mother, opened on June 18 in the former Ingo's Tasty Diner along Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, sporting a new adjacent retail wine shop, gift boutique, and spacious hidden back patio. Restaurateur Bob Lynn operates seven restaurants in Los Angeles and the Phoenix area, including Santa Monica's the Misfit. Reopening in Ingo's space is a tribute to classic American bistros where Bob's son and culinary director Jordan Lynn shines a light on ingredients at their seasonal prime, like poached baby artichokes, peaches with scratch-made ricotta and sorrel pesto, and pan-roasted Scottish salmon with braised Tuscan kale.
Minty Zhu and chef Alex Falco's Men & Beasts opened on June 18 in the former Cosa Buona on Sunset Boulevard and Alvarado Street. (The couple chose the restaurant's name from a quote by the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius: 'Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?') The vegetarian and vegan-friendly menu includes seitan char siu and plant-based chicken tenders sauced with sweet sambal and Sichuan salt and pepper. They even offer a tea ceremony in a cozy lounge that seats 24.
Marisella - Santa Barbara County
Chef Danny Grant's California coastal restaurant started serving dinner on June 26 in Goleta's Ritz-Carlton Bacara, slightly north of Santa Barbara. Perched on a seaside cliff with unobstructed views, much of Marisella's menu hails from local vendors and farmers. The name is derived from the Latin term for 'star of the sea'; the team prepares things like a focaccia starter for dipping into whipped ricotta as well as a formidable seafood selection such as roasted prawns with salsa verde and a Calabrian emulsion, raw oysters, red snapper crudo, and sea urchin with roasted garlic. Fresh pasta is also on deck, while larger mains include a coal-fired chicken piccata.
Bacetti Trattoria owner Jason Goldman repurposed the shuttered and adjacent Tilda to open Bar Bacetti on June 26. The new bar is attached to his Echo Park restaurant and its menu is designed for ease: think spritzes, Italian wines by the glass, and zero-proof cocktails paired with pizza, charcuterie-inspired spreads, and chilled octopus. The Tilda interior took on a nice transformation with rich greens and a stone bar that resembles a slab of mortadella, dotted with hues of pink and pistachio. Bar Bacetti retains Tilda's existing natural wood frames, which add an intimate vibe to the airy interior. See More:
