2025: Bangers only
The year's best restaurants, movies, songs and books
This is the first full year I’ve lived in Los Angeles since I escaped for New York in 2022. It’s also a year ending with a lot of change, which I love. Change is essential. I go a little crazy when there’s not enough of it.
But in putting together the annual Bangers Only list—the rankings of my 25 favorite restaurants, 25 favorite movies, top 100 songs and five books you’ll find below—the experiences rooted in consistent, reliable joy rose to the top. So many of the standouts from this year felt lived-in, timeless and deeply considered. The exercise reinforced what a lot of my friends wrote last week about their year in dining: a bend toward comfort, discovery without the chase, and a gravitation to the personal touches rather than the latest trends.
That’s what you’ll find here, along with a bunch of recs to get you through the holidays and into the new year.
Food
I make up different rules for what’s eligible here each year. This round, I’m going with the 25 places where I spent the most time, garnered my loudest recommendations, or just consistently broke through the noise. Some are old and some are new.
I wouldn’t have expected this list to be so LA-heavy. But there’s a simmering sentiment that LA dining is back on the rise — an energy around heartfelt, scrappy stars that force you out of your home. That applies especially to the No. 1 pick.