Ranking the 25 best restaurants in New York and LA

Bangers & Jams' bicoastal guide: Volume 2

It’s been five months since the last update to this bi-coastal restaurant ranking. After multiple trips back and forth between LA and New York, we’re due for some changes. A reminder on the criteria:

• I’m including restaurants in New York and LA that appeal to my sensibility. A lot of that means good food. It also means good service and a good time.

• I’m limiting this to places where you can sit down and order dinner at a table. No QR codes, no counters, trucks or stalls. I love some of those spots. Mariscos Jalisco remains the best bite of food in LA. But this is a specific exercise. Where do you wanna go on a date? Where do you celebrate a new job? Where do you take your parents?

• I made a long list of favorite spots and then scored each one based on four weighted category (40 points for vibe, 35 points for food, 15 points for repeatability, and 10 points for delivering on a clear vision). These final rankings are the composite scores for each restaurant.

There are seven new restaurants on the list and plenty of movement throughout the top 25. You can find the full category scores at the bottom. Enjoy.