Joliet Cafe & Bar

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

A coffee counter by day inside the Free Market building at Runway Playa Vista, with a second bar behind it that opens at five for cocktails and dinner: chicken piccata, lobster mac and cheese, sandwiches built on European cured meats. Alejandro Meza, a Venezuelan with fifteen years in restaurants, opened it in 2021 and still runs comedy nights. Out front there's a patio, and inside a small room planted like a jungle.