From DTLA to Venice, 15 LA rooftops with real food and real views: happy hour, date night, business drinks. Your next reservation starts here.
There’s a specific kind of happy that only happens above the city; plate in one hand, glass in the other, the whole skyline doing its slow gold thing while somebody at your table tells a story that’s fifteen minutes too long and absolutely worth it. Los Angeles doesn’t run out of rooftops. It runs out of excuses not to go up to one.
I asked around, I went and looked, and here are fifteen that earned their spot on this list; because the food’s real, the view isn’t the whole pitch, and every single one of them is actually open today.
Downtown & The Arts District
Perch LA — 448 S. Hill St
Fifteen floors up with fireplaces going even when it doesn’t need them to. French bistro plates, a crowd that skews DTLA-local, and the kind of happy hour where you look up and it’s suddenly 8pm and you’ve made three new friends.
Cara Cara — 1100 S. Broadway, atop Downtown LA Proper
Chef Suzanne Goin’s rooftop, and you can taste the care in it. Lush, green, a little bit jungle — the kind of table you linger at because leaving feels premature.
San Laurel — 100 S. Grand Ave, Conrad Los Angeles
José Andrés does Spanish food with a view of Walt Disney Concert Hall, and somehow neither one upstages the other. Come for a pre-theater dinner, stay because the lamb ribs deserve your full attention.
71Above — 633 W. 5th St, 71st Floor
Highest restaurant west of the Mississippi, and it earns every foot of it. This is the one you save for the night that actually matters — an anniversary, a big yes, a reason to put on the good shoes.
Takami Sushi & Robata — 811 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 2100
Twenty-one floors above the Financial District, 360 degrees of city, and sushi good enough that you’ll forget to look at the view for a full ten minutes. That’s saying something.
West Hollywood
Catch LA — 8715 Melrose Ave
The roof retracts, the room performs, and honestly — it’s supposed to. Come dressed like you know it. The seafood’s the real deal underneath all that spectacle.
The Roof at The West Hollywood EDITION — 9040 W. Sunset Blvd
Terraced, planted, unbothered. This one doesn’t try too hard, and that’s exactly why it works. Great for a slower night — mezcal, citrus, good conversation.
Bar Funke — 9388 S. Santa Monica Blvd
The rooftop perch atop Evan Funke’s pasta temple. Walk-ins welcome up here even when the dining room downstairs is booked solid — take the win, order the focaccia, thank me later.
Beverly Hills
Dante Beverly Hills — 225 N. Canon Dr, The Maybourne
NYC’s legendary aperitivo bar, transplanted onto a Beverly Hills rooftop with zero pretense lost in the move. Hit martini hour, order the pizza, let the piano do the rest.
Santa Monica
Calabra — 700 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica Proper
Ocean at your back, Mediterranean plates in front of you, and a sundeck that makes you feel like you’re on vacation even though you drove twenty minutes to get here.
LouLou Rooftop — 395 Santa Monica Pl #300
French Riviera energy on top of a shopping mall, which sounds odd until you’re sitting there with a glass of rosé wondering why every rooftop doesn’t have a live DJ and a crepe station.
Century City
Terra at Eataly L.A. — 10250 Santa Monica Blvd
Wood-fired everything, Hollywood Hills views, and the kind of Italian menu that makes you order one more thing “just to share.” You won’t share it.
Hollywood
Lemon Grove — 1717 Vine St, atop The Aster
A garden in the sky at Hollywood and Vine, with Capitol Records watching over your table. Chef Marcel Vigneron’s menu is seasonal, playful, and genuinely good — this isn’t a view with food attached, it’s a kitchen that earned the address.
Yamashiro Hollywood — 1999 N. Sycamore Ave
Built in 1914 as a private estate, and it still feels like you snuck into somewhere you weren’t supposed to be — in the best way. Koi ponds, lantern light, Japanese-Californian plates. Bring someone you’re trying to impress.
Venice
Kassi Rooftop — 1697 Pacific Ave, atop Hotel Erwin
Venice’s only rooftop, and it leans into the beach below with sand-toned lounges and Greek small plates made for sharing. DJs Thursday through Sunday if you want the night to keep going.
Fifteen roofs, five neighborhoods, one very simple rule: good views, real food, and a reason to stay past dessert. Grab your people and go find your favorite.
