Secret Off-the-Menu Dishes in Los Angeles

The Drago brothers are LA celebrities in their own right, with a reputation for fresh, local, and excellent service. Calogero Drago’s casual Pasadena location has a showstopper menu item - spaghetti alla bottarga - a simple pasta dish enlivened by shaved, dried fish roe that will have the rest of your party chiming in with copycat orders.

Blame it on the global food craze, but now you can even catch celebrities like Ryan Gosling and Elijah Wood at this popular southern Thai spot these days. No doubt they’ve tried Sarintip “Jazz” Singsanong’s sweet and spicy Thai burger, served “protein style” with sliced red onions, tomato, and basil. Only Jazz makes this, so check and see if she’s around before going off the 400+ item menu.

One of the legendary stops for the hard-partying Rat Pack has come back with a new menu, featuring house made pastas and a menu of updated classics like sand dabs and Steak Sinatra. If you really want to revive the old spirit of this haunt, order Jack Daniels on the rocks, and request the comforting spaghetti carbonara for a late night extravagance of pasta saturated with eggs, bacon, and Parmigiano cheese.   

For a luxurious plate that seems modestly priced next to a 30g tin of Tsar Imperial Kaluga caviar ($305), executive chef, Giselle Wellman has created a caviar burger ($75) adorned with a fried egg and Papierusse (a caviar sheet )—there’s also a side of caviar aioli to go with your house made fries. This is the ultimate fifth taste (umami) burger.

Sawtelle Japantown has exploded in the past few years with sharp restaurants like Plan Check, an American-style burger bar with some Asian touches by Chef Ernesto Uchimura. While there are a few off-menu burgers, nothing tastes more of Americana than Uchimura’s grilled cheese sandwich, consisting simply of a pair of cheeses and pickles in a panko crusted crunch bun.

Ordering off the menu at the latest iteration of Nguyen and Thi Tran’s infamous Pan-Asian restaurant seems unremarkable compared to the clandestine operation they ran not too long ago. These two LA characters are full of surprises, but rest assured that the aromatic pandan churros with kaya dipping sauce can be requested anytime.