Craig's

On our list of the best special-occasion restaurants in Los Angeles.

Craig Susser spent 23 years behind the bar and podium at Dan Tana's before opening this all-American dining room in 2011, in the space that once held the Melrose Bar & Grill. The dimly lit rooms run to green-tiled corner booths under black-and-white photographs, brick walls with green leather banquettes, and a mahogany bar backed by stained glass. The menu runs from chicken parmigiana and honey truffle chicken to a flatbread that reviewers rate above everything else on it. Reservations run weeks out, and valet parking is available nightly.