Cream of the crop: Top L.A. Times restaurant reviews

The following is a listing of the top restaurants reviewed in thepast five years in the Los Angeles Times by restaurant critic S.Irene Virbila and others. Our critics visit restaurants anonymouslyand reserve and pay under other names. They generally dine at eachplace three times over a period of two or three months beforewriting a full review.

Please keep in mind that restaurants are changeable over time andthat reviews are just a snapshot. When a restaurant's staff changessignificantly and/or the quality has gone up or down, therestaurant may get another review--and another rating.That is why, for example, there are two reviews of Bastide included on our best restaurants list --- each was of a different chef.

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price takeninto account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on everylevel. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor tosatisfactory.

--Russ Parsons, Times Food Editor


The top rated restaurants of the last five years here.


Additional restaurant reviews here.