The 15 Best LA Restaurants For A Birthday Dinner - Los Angeles - The Infatuation (2024)

In theory, birthdays should be fun and easy. You’ve done the hard work of staying sane and likable for another trip around the sun, and in turn, your friends and family are supposed to treat you like the angel that you are. So why does finagling your birthday dinner always end up feeling stressful? We're here to help.

These are places with enough space to accommodate a group, enough ambiance to feel like a party, and enough drinks to make you forget about the inexorable march of time. So rifle through your closet, grab your crown, and pat yourself on the back for being a formidable event planner—here is our updated guide to the best birthday dinners in Los Angeles.

THE SPOTS

We get it—birthdays at breweries are played out. A person can only take so many rounds of cornhole and IPA flights before blocking all emails with the subject line “Hoppy Birthday.” But then there’s Bia Ôm, a breezy, weekends-only beer garden in Echo Park and an objectively cool place to hang regardless of how much you about hops. The downstairs area is used to brew their beers on tap (available by the stein), but upstairs you’ll find an enormous courtyard with shaded tables and a window for ordering slushie spritzes and tasty German bar food. Nothing says herzlichen glückwunsch like soft pretzels, sausages, and the largest schnitzel we’ve seen outside Munich.

Prepare for a heavy dose of kitsch at Guido’s. The old-school Italian spot in West LA that’s been around since the 70s sports a retro dark wood dining room, cherry-colored leather booths, and a dramatic fireplace that’s definitely held a bubbling cauldron before. It’s like eating dinner at the Winchester Mystery House. And don’t worry, the food is good enough to please your friends who don’t spend their weekends at estate sales, too. Start with the Guido’s salad (their take on a chopped), then an order of the Spaghetti Casa with shrimp in vodka sauce and the towering chocolate-drizzled tiramisu that’s large enough to split with the table.

If fig trees, string lights, and copious amounts of mezze are your holy trinity for glitzy birthday dinners, head immediately to Laya. This snazzy Middle Eastern restaurant in Hollywood from the Ladyhawk chef is essentially one giant patio with fire pits, an outdoor bar, and spacious banquettes designed for groups. There’s a towering white wall in the back that makes the place look like a studio lot. If you’re looking to feed a full table, prioritize appetizers like like a za’atar and goat spread with pita and roasted sweet potatoes drizzled with avocado green goddess, plus a few of the grilled skewers.

Planning a birthday dinner when you’re married with kids and your in-laws are in town usually means you’re just ordering pizza and staying home. BLVD Steak is proof better options exist. This upscale spot in Sherman Oaks isn’t doing anything wildly different than other classic steakhouses in LA, but it’s executing the formula better. Plushy green banquettes and black paneled walls give the dining room a sleek, members-only feel without being intimidating. Martinis arrive icy and smooth (with a shaker for additional pours) and thick cuts of red meat are cooked perfectly medium rare. Arrive before 8pm and the dining room will be filled with well-dressed families, but if you want to leave the kids with the in-laws, come later when the gigantic bar area buzzes with the energy of a boozy studio mixer.

For a marathon birthday night— one where dinner leads to drinks which leads to more drinks—Ktown is the place to be. And Jilli should be your jumping-off point. This all-purpose bar and restaurant serves interesting takes on traditional Korean bar food like rigatoni alla kimchi vodka and kimchi bruschetta, plus there’s natural wine, soju, and craft beer. The room is fairly small (bar seating plus a handful of tables along the wall), so keep your group under five for optimal leg room, or make a reservation beforehand. Afterward, head to Star Night, Normandie Club, or Hanshin Pocha—all within walking distance.

This classic SGV spot specializes in Chinese Imperial cuisine, or food cooked for royalty—a.k.a. you on your birthday. The roast duck—which has to be reserved two days in advance—is one of our favorite versions in the city and presented with a big flourish tableside (a birthday dinner win-win.) There are other tremendous, family-style dishes as well like crispy shrimp and honey pepper beef if you’re not the pre-ordering type. And if you’re looking for an extra regal experience, book a table in one of their five private dining rooms.

The biggest argument for hosting a birthday dinner at Si! Mon is the space. This upscale Panamanian restaurant in Venice looks like the grounds of a Spanish ranch in Malibu, complete with a tropical patio and an interior filled with seashell chandeliers and plush green booths. The seafood-leaning menu is even more impressive, but some dishes do run small and can get pricey if you’re ordering several rounds for a big group. Our advice: keep your party to less than six people and you’re in for a meal as special as you are.

You haven’t even gotten to your inner circle yet, and your birthday invite list is already 10 people deep. Sounds like it’s going to be a Carousel birthday this year. This iconic Armenian restaurant in Glendale is set up more like a wedding reception than a restaurant, with tables packed in uniform rows and a menu specifically designed to feed large groups of people. Go for the “Carousel Feast,” a $46-per-person set menu that comes with nearly 20 different meze plates, plus entrees like chicken kebabs and kafta. And who knows, you might spot a belly dancer or two.

West Hollywood has no shortage of sceney, over-the-top spots where you can show up in a daring outfit and feel like the birthday celebrity that you are. The top place to do just that right now is Đi Đi. The clubby Vietnamese spot on La Cienega is a leaf-covered cathedral for people who want to listen to Drake, drink coconut-washed rum, and take smoldering selfies. The most surprising aspect, however, is that the food is quite decent. We suggest the shrimp toast on milk bread, the sticky fish sauce chicken wings, and the shrimp-packed spring rolls.

Despite being located in a new apartment complex in Virgil Village, Budonoki feels like it’s been around for years. And that’s a compliment. The casual izakaya is dimly lit with exposed piping and has a sort of sticky grunginess that suits a semi-riotous birthday dinner. You’ll eat tons of delicious, shareable plates like jidori chicken oyster skewers and bowls of wagyu yakisoba. Old-school Missy and Ja Rule blast over the speakers. Someone will absolutely do a sake bomb. And by that, we mean you. It is your birthday.

After several years of subdued birthdays, you’re in the mood to go big at a place like Loreto. This upscale Mexican seafood restaurant in Frogtown is a production in every sense. You'll sit in a massive warehouse-y space, drink boozy cocktails, and order large-format platters that will feed every person who shows up to your party. Our favorite dish is the whole fish of the day, which comes with a spread of rice, beans, escabeche, three salsas, blue corn tortillas, and tiny quesadillas that, if you ask nicely, will be refilled by your server.

Backyard barbecues always make for a great birthday. But considering last year you nearly set the house on fire, you might as well let Le Great Outdoor take the reins this time. A meal at this outdoor restaurant in a foliage-covered Santa Monica parking lot feels like an impromptu block party. Everybody hangs out on picnic tables, drinking chilled wine from Argentina, and eating platters of meat, seafood, and vegetables that just came off the grill.

Farmhouse Kitchen is a colorful, kitschy Thai restaurant in West Adams with neon pink lighting, a giant back patio, shareable entrees, and cocktails that are served in foot-high plastic crowns. In other words, if you like your birthdays to be a bit over-the-top, take care of that reservation now. The yellow curry, Thai-style fried chicken, and the panang neua, a giant short rib shank slathered in panang curry, are all excellent.

From the moment you pull up to Mun and hear Usher blasting from the speakers, it’ll be clear that this KBBQ spot delivers more than just nice cuts of meat. The room feels as much like a nightclub as it does a restaurant: there are flashy black marble tables outfitted with grills, and the drinks—like Japanese whisky, cognac, and lychee martinis—flow freely. The energy at Mun is perfect for when you want a premium barbecue experience without sacrificing a good old-fashioned party atmosphere. Balance high-end meats (the $200 variety combo includes flat-iron steak, honeycomb-cut pork belly, pork jowl, and short ribs) with fun a la carte items for the table.

With locations in Noho and Lake Balboa, Salsa & Beer is one of the more popular birthday restaurants in The Valley. The massive Mexican-American menu has something for even the pickiest eater in your group, there’s a free chips, salsa, and bean dip bar, and if your birthday happens to fall on a weekday, you can still show up knowing the place will be full-tilt thanks to some very strong margaritas. They don’t accept reservations—usually a birthday dinner no-no—but both locations are legitimate labyrinths, so even if you roll up six people deep, you’re waiting no more than 15 minutes for a table.