Yelp reviewers voted this small downtown L.A. restaurant "the best food in the country"

The famous Beef PlatePhoto byShelley Z on Yelp

For some reason, hole-in-the-wall restaurants always seem to deliver the best, most authentic flavor. That holds true for 2023's best restaurant, as chosen by Yelp reviewers. It's an L.A. restaurant that since its opening in 2017 has racked up 1,427 reviews with an average rating of 5 stars. That's the highest rating of any restaurant in the country.

What restaurant wins the honors?

This year's winner has been steadily climbing Yelp's annual top 100 list since 2019, only 2 years after it opened. It's the brainchild of Tim Lee, who describes himself as "Korean by birth, Hawaiian at heart."

Chef Lee worked in the restaurant business growing up in Oahu, and when he moved to Los Angeles in 2009, he managed a variety of kitchens until he opened his own.

He'd had Hawaiian food at many L.A. eateries over the years but felt something was missing. So he opened his own restaurant in downtown's Fashion District, Broken Mouth, serving fresh, authentic Hawaiian Korean food.

According to the restaurant's website "In Hawai’i, locals use the phrase 'Broke Da Mout' to describe food so good, one hardly has time to chew."

What kind of food can I expect there?

Lee says one of his most popular dishes is Meat Jun, which he refers to as a beef plate. The egg-battered rib-eye steak is marinated for 24 hours and then served with a soy vinegar sauce for dipping.

Or you could try the Pan-Fried Garlic Shrimp with purple rice and Korean greens.

Maybe you'd prefer the Spam Musubi, featuring Hawaii's favorite canned meat wrapped in seaweed on a bed of purple rice.

For dessert, how about a little Brioche Bread Pudding?

Why did Broken Mouth win?

A lot of restaurants serve good food, but only one gets the highest Yelp ratings in the country.

When it comes to Chef Lee's food, Yelp reviewers don't hold back. Consider assessments like:

So much attention to detail is put even into simple comfort food dishes (like spam musubi or macaroni salad) that it elevates things to a level I honestly would be happy eating as part of a $200 fine dining Hawaiian tasting menu.

The shrimp was cooked perfectly and the salad had this amazing Korean dressing on it. I could eat it with everything. Then the rice and furikake... muah. It was really fun to eat. Loads of flavors with every bite.

MUST TRY! there aren't many beef plates better than this one. there are no words to describe how delicious this dish was. the beef was perfectly marinated and extremely tender. the purple rice was covered in furikake which gave it the extra seasoning to put it over the top.

Chef Lee is thrilled with his win, but he doesn't want it to change the experience of eating at his small hole-in-the-wall. As he says: "I just really try to be the happiest person I can and give a good experience to everybody. I just want to make sure everyone perceives Hawaii that way."

You can get directions or order delivery here.

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