The Nice Guy

On our lists of the best romantic restaurants and special-occasion restaurants in Los Angeles.

Reservations are required and photos aren't allowed at the h.wood Group's first restaurant, open on La Cienega since 2014 and a regular stop for celebrities. The door opens onto a vintage marble-and-brass bar, with smaller booths along the outer wall, larger ones flanking the room and hand-cut cedar strips running through it. The food is Italian-American, from chicken and eggplant parm to cacio e pepe, spicy rigatoni vodka and lobster pizza. Mondays bring cheaper martinis, a live Italian jazz set and a dice roll for a shot at a free meal.