The Benjamin Hollywood

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

A windowless front and a doorman on the corner of Melrose and Formosa lead into a dim, L-shaped room of raised mohair booths around a 15-seat oak bar. The cooking is American bistro food: a thick burger with hickory sauce and sauteed onions, crab beignets, whole branzino, twice-baked potato, carrot cake, plus a list of martinis. Walk-ins get the bar, where stools are usually free before 6; tables go through Resy a week ahead and rarely last. Upstairs, Bar Benjamin is a separate cocktail lounge with a wraparound balcony over Melrose.