Corner booth at Clark Street Diner with menu and place setting on the table.

Where to eat Lunch in Hollywood

If you have been reading This Ugly Beautiful City so far, you know I have listed a few Hollywood restaurants. In my Hollywood 101 guide, I talked about tourist favorite Pink’s and neighboring M Cafe. In the posts that followed, I featured Musso and Frank, Yamashiro, and the Magic Castle. These, however, do not even begin to scratch the surface of where to eat in this neighborhood. Today’s recommendations are all about Where to Eat Lunch in Hollywood.

UPDATED: September 2023

In-N-Out

I am going to start with our most hotly contested die hard local favorite. You either love In-N-Out or you don’t. Each side has their very strong opinions. Including me.

It is part of the Los Angeles travel experience–whether you are in town for a day or two or driving away from Los Angeles for a day trip.

photo of cheeseburger and french fries

A first stop for many visitors to Los Angeles is the famous In-N-Out. This West Coast burger chain got its start in Southern California and has locations throughout the city. This unique flavor combo of soft seedless bun, handmade to order patty, with a special sauce, crisp iceberg lettuce, and onions has been copied by other chains, but not quite getting it right. (If you got the Big Mac jingle stuck in your head right now, I can see how you would.)

In-N-Out has its own lingo, the double-double, animal style, and a secret menu. Although I am not a fan, I prefer a meatier, juicier burger, I think you should try it. It is a Los Angeles institution, after all. It was a favorite of the late Anthony Bourdain, who always sang its praises any chance he got. The Hollywood location is on Sunset and Orange.

Hours, cost, and other information

Eating at alternatives to fast food chains

Hollywood Blvd is full of national chain restaurants, and you may want to stick with something familiar, but I think it would be a shame to travel all this way and eat at Hooters. I want to help you find better food options but stay in your wheelhouse. I recommend four local chains that started small and are now located throughout the city, including in the heart of Hollywood.

delicious vegetable salad and golden fork and knife on table

Tender Greens


This organic and locally sourced restaurant is super approachable, whereas others can be a bit stuffy and, frankly, a bit condescending. I like to take out-of-towners here because there is something for everyone, which is a lifesaver, especially when your crew can’t decide what to eat.

You could get your mid-western mom steak and mashed potatoes, your sister a Tuna Nicoise salad, your nephew a fried chicken sandwich, and your vegan cousin a Happy Vegan salad and one of the vegan desserts tempting you at the end of the counter and all at the same place.

Tender Greens is a counter-service restaurant, making it quick so you can get in, get out, and go on your way. After eating here, you are going to be able to continue with your day without wanting to take a nap.

Hours, cost, and other information

  • Website: https://www.tendergreens.com/
  • Location: 6290 Sunset Blvd.
  • Cost: This place is relatively inexpensive for the quality of the food. That steak dinner is going to cost around $17 plus tax.

top view photo of baked pizza

800 degrees (Wood Fired Kitchen)

Another local chain, a hop, skip, and a jump from Tender Greens is 800 degrees. This counter-service restaurant serves made-to-order pizzas. The name 800 degrees comes from the temperature of the wood fire oven that churns out made-to-order Neapolitan-style pizzas, which take, at 800 degrees, a minute or two to cook. The crust is airy and chewy, and they have a great sauce.

Hours, cost, and other information

  • Website: https://800degrees.com/
  • Location: 1521 N. Vine Street
  • Cost: Around $20 for a pizza that is big enough to share

Doomie’s Home Cookin’

Are you vegan? Do you miss bar food? Do you miss comfort food? Mexican food? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, head to Doomie’s. My vegan friends love this place. Not only can they enjoy animal-free versions of things they love, but the food also tastes homemade. Here, they do not serve frozen blobs of things turned into shrimp or chicken shapes–it is vegetables and other easy-to-pronounce ingredients.

Hours, cost, and other information

  • Website: https://www.doomiesrestaurants.com/me
  • Location: 1253 N. Vine
  • Cost: $8-$15
  • Something to note: This place is entirely vegan. Don’t be confused by the words chicken or shrimp. I don’t know why they do that, there are NO animal products in their restaurant



Lunch in Hollywood

I need you to venture a little south of Hollywood to Melrose Avenue for my lunch picks. My goal in this post is to make you leave those national chains behind and try out some great food outside the tourist zone. Lunch is also an excellent way to try Michelin-starred chefs at lower prices. The area of Melrose and Highland is a hotbed of excellent chefs if you know where to look. My first pick is down the street from Pink’s, and the last two are very close by.

Clark Street Diner

(My pick for brunch-which you can do every day.)

Locals might know this place as “The place that took over from 101 Cafe?” The 101 Cafe was a Hollywood icon and served diner classics to Los Angeles any time of day. Now, Clark Street Bread has taken over and kept what made the 101 so great. (Although not 24 hours)

I always judge a diner by how they prepare a patty melt. Is it overcooked? Are the onions burnt? Is it too greasy? All the answers to this are no at Clark Street Diner. It was a juicy medium with sweet onions and crispy rye. I subbed hash browns because you are already at a diner; why be healthy?

I love that they kept the iconic interiors intact. (Photo to the left. @thisuglybeautifulcity.

Hours, Cost, and other information

  • Website: https://www.instagram.com/clarkstreetdiner/
  • Location: 6145 Franklin Ave. (Located inside the Adler Hotel)
  • Cost: Classic diner breakfast is $19, the patty melt is
  • Other information: Take some time to look at all of the headshots and other signed celebrity photos.

Petit Trois

This tiny counter-only restaurant serves French comfort fare, not Thai food as the sign above the door indicates. Instead, you will find perfectly executed omelets and the signature juicy Big Mec. Chef Ludo Lefebvre puts out well-executed traditional dishes, and you can sometimes watch him do so in the open kitchen that takes up a good portion of the space. You may recognize Chef Ludo’s name and face from shows like The Taste and Top Chef, but his celebrity does not make the food suffer. This first location is perfect for a quick lunch. The layout works against being a destination for all-day drinking, eating, and conversation. 

(Pictured is the Big Mec. @thisuglybeautifulcity)

Hours, location, and what to eat

  • Note: A larger location opened recently in the Sherman Oaks area.

Larchmont Wine & Cheese

A lot of people talk about Bay Cities having the best sandwiches in town. I have to disagree. My favorite sandwich comes from a wine shop in Larchmont Village.

When I lived across the street from Paramount Studios, I would go every Saturday to get a sandwich from this place. They have the best baguette in Los Angeles. The ingredients are fresh and a little higher end than what you can get at a chain, but a half sandwich is less than $6. What??

This definitely deserves a spot on my Los Angeles on a Budget Series.

Hours, cost, and other information

Romenesco and Cauliflower at the Farmers' Market

Hollywood Farmers Market–SUNDAYS ONLY

A lot of what you see in supermarkets across the United States originally came from California. Because of this, there is so much access to fresh fruit, vegetables, and local seafood in Los Angeles. This is one of the major perks of living in this city. I have tried so many fruits and vegetables since moving to Los Angeles that I never knew existed, having grown up in a land that is frozen most of the year. I have tried lychee, dragon fruit, bitter melon, romanesco, and figs in their non-Newton form. L.A. is the land of all-year Farmers’ Markets.

The Hollywood Farmers’ Market is one of the city’s markets that is overflowing with vendors. From local farms to handmade wares to food stands, there is a lot to sample and buy. I would also like to mention that this market because of its great people watching. You can learn a lot about Los Angeles at this farmer’s market in particular. What the current fashion trends are, what people are eating/juicing now, see how diverse Los Angeles is, listen to people talk about the parts in t.v. and films they are trying out for, and what bars and clubs are hot right this instant. Its food court/truck area is pretty substantial if you are looking for a quick lunch option or you can even learn how to cook your own lunch with a cooking demo.

  • Website: Hollywood Farmers’ Market
  • Where: Between Hollywood and Sunset on Ivar
  • Open: SUNDAYS
  • Hours: 8:am-1:PM
  • Getting there: Accessible by a quick walk

So there you have it, my picks for where to eat lunch in Hollywood. I hope I left you hungry for dinner, which is coming up later this week.

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