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The Infatuation
The Best Places To Eat At The Century City Mall, Ranked
By Brant Cox, Sylvio MartinsNikko Duren,
11 days ago
When comparing LA’s great cultural centers—excuse us, malls—Westfield Century City is undeniably the best. Sure, others have trolley cars and dancing fountains synced to “Uptown Funk,” but this glittering crown jewel of capitalism possesses a goldilocks blend of good stores, a chic design, and a parking situation that’ll only make you cry once or twice per visit. There’s also some really good places to eat, too. Here are the 11 best. Ranked, obviously.
If Westfield Century City were a high school, Din Tai Fung would be the starting quarterback—revered and undefeated. This upscale Taiwanese chain specializes in soup dumplings, which are folded by xiao long bao maestros in a glass room next to the host stand. But the noodle soups, spicy wontons, and lychee martinis are also great. Despite being a pretty huge restaurant, Din Tai Fung fills up quickly, so book ahead or get there early. Weekend wait times can get scary, but the speedy servers seem to thrive under pressure.
An Italian national treasure that has only gotten sexier with age. No, not Stanley Tucci—we’re talking about Eataly. Wandering aimlessly around this multi-level mall-within-a-mall is the closest thing this town has to skipping through a meadow with a butterfly on your shoulder. Browse aisles of imported meats and cheeses, snag a slice of Roman-style pizza or bombolone from a food stall, or head upstairs to the rooftop for drinks and views of a country club that only costs $250,000 to join. Who knows? Maybe a butterfly will join you.
Snagging a table at Ramen Nagi often means playing Candy Crush in line for 20 minutes. But if you don’t mind waiting (or opting for lunch, as opposed to dinner), then, yes, this Tokyo-based restaurant is absolutely worth it. Its 24-hour-simmered tonkotsu broth is silky and rich, and the pork belly on top is a little sweet and meltingly tender. We find the standard Spice Level 1 to not be very spicy, but everything is customizable, including the heat, noodle thickness, broth richness, and garlic potency. Just know that the initial wait is the slow part because, once your order, the food comes out hot and fast.
The world is full of unspeakable horrors, but at least there’s a hot pot place in the Century City mall with a DIY sauce station, talking delivery robots, and a guy who’ll do an improvisational dance at your table while hand-pulling noodles. Hai Di Lao is an ideal big group spot when you can’t get into DTF or you’re in the mood to absolutely obliterate your white button-down (just kidding, they provide bibs and plastic baggies for your phone). Get the spicy pork and tom kha as your soup base and then add in any protein that catches your eye.
With all due respect to Panda Express and Chipotle, the top-floor food court has gone downhill faster than a runaway stroller on the escalator. One bright spot is Massis Kabob. The Glendale original is our go-to spot for juicy beef koobideh platters, chicken barg skewers, and mountains of buttery jasmine rice. This place can be a little hit-or-miss depending on how awake the worker at the grill is, but when it’s good, it’s really good.
You can find pretty much anything inside this 1,300,000-sq. ft. shopping mall, including some of the best peking duck outside the SGV. Meizhou Dongpo is a Beijing-based restaurant that serves a plump, glossy $89 duck that comes neatly sliced on a cute duck-shaped platter. It also serves as a beautiful centerpiece for all of the spicy, lip-tingling things you can surround it with, like poached sliced beef swimming in bright red chili oil and fried chicken coated in a mountain of Sichuan peppercorns. It’s an outrageous (and incredible) meal to have next door to an AMC, but it’s what we need after untangling ourselves from the H&M sales rack.
Long days at the mall can wear you down, especially when your seven-year-old nephew asks for ice cream every five minutes. If that resonates with you (or you simply need a moment of peace) go to Bacio Di Latte. This serene, all-white gelato shop serves a dozen rotating flavors, but we gravitate toward their two best-sellers: the excellent, not-too-sweet pistachio and the bacio di latte that tastes like fresh cream with a tiny touch of vanilla. Put the mall’s patio furniture to good use and zone out for 10 minutes with your cone. Your nephew and feet will thank you for it.
No, this is not a VR activation or an escape room where you have to fight off sushi chefs before a bomb goes off. It's just a decent handroll bar outside the food court. We go for the $22 four-roll set, which comes with albacore, salmon, yellowtail, and their “signature” spicy tuna with yuzu kosho on top. You can also look forward to each one arriving in a long black wooden box, which we can’t help but assume are the unused doll coffins from the nearby American Girl store.
It’s mid-August, and you just wrecked a Macy’s blouse with back sweat and returned it directly to the rack. Head to Hokey Pokey for a cool down. This tiny ice cream shop specializes in New Zealand-style soft serve, which is essentially a McFlurry but with better ingredients. Their signature is the namesake Hokey Pokey, a traditional New Zealand flavor involving crunchy chunks of honeycomb mixed into the ice cream. It’s good if you really like toffee, but we prefer the hazelnut flavor, which comes topped with flecks of dark chocolate and the namesake honeycomb.
The question isn’t whether you should order the burrito from Thai-Mex Cocina, it’s how you’re going to sneak it into the AMC. Swaddle it up like a newborn baby? Wrap it around your neck and call it an anxiety pillow? We’ll let you figure that out. Our point is if you’re looking for something to pick up before heading into a three-hour Marvel movie you’re going to hate, the sweet, buttery chicken satay burrito from this casual Thai-Mexican fusion spot is the ideal lap dog to keep you nourished. Skip the mediocre tacos and noodle dishes, though.
Ignore every voice in your head telling you not to make a reservation. A weekend lunch at American Girl Cafe is one of North America's great dining experiences. And even if you show up with one friend, your party will fill out quickly thanks to The Wall Of Forgotten Dolls, a haunted loaner collection that’ll happily split bread with you. Is the food amazing? Of course not. But you’ll also get a multi-course extravaganza of soft drinks, cinnamon rolls, a three-tiered afternoon tea stand, toasted ravioli, an entree of your choice, and dessert—for only $27. In this town, that’s a small price to pay for taking yourself a little less seriously.
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