dineL.A. Restaurant Week
Chef Ted Hopson at The Bellwether in Studio City features a charred California avocado and heirloom tomato salad with steak on his dineL.A. Restaurant Week dinner menu.

dineL.A. Restaurant Week tempts appetites—especially with avocado-centric dishes—July 18-31.

By Christina Xenos

Summer is the perfect time to explore new Los Angeles restaurants, and no better time than during dineL.A. Restaurant Week. The 14-day dining event features a variety of ways to dive into the LA restaurant scene. More than 300 Los Angeles restaurants are offering specially priced lunch ($15, $20 and $25) and dinner ($29, $39 and $49) menus. In addition, the dineL.A. Exclusive Series, which debuted last winter, returns showcasing 15 higher-end restaurants (think CUT, The Bazaar by Jose Andres, The Royce Wood-Fired Steakhouse and Providence) offering special menus that start at $95.

This time around, dineL.A. is also partnering with the California Avocado Commission to spotlight chef ambassadors who will showcase avocado-specific dishes on their menus. California produces 90 percent of the nation’s avocado crop, so not only is it one of LA’s most sought-after ingredients, but also it’s one of its most sustainable. Here are just some of the avocado dishes you need to dive into during dineL.A. Restaurant Week.

The Bellwether
Chef Ted Hopson embraces the avocado in a number of dishes on his dineL.A. dinner menu—from California avocado hummus with fresh za’atar, California avocado oil and picked Fresno chili; to chilled white shrimp with cucumber-California avocado gazpacho, cilantro and mint. He also pairs a charred California avocado and heirloom tomato salad with a bone-in New York steak as one of the centerpieces of his menu.

M.B. Post
Chef David LeFevre never disappoints with his exciting and eclectic ingredient combinations. On his dineL.A.  dinner menu, he teams crispy soft-shell crab with gingered California avocado, marinated tomatoes, sweet summer corn and white bean puree. He also features a wood-fire grilled California avocado with buckwheat soba, snap peas, golden fertile egg and sesame.

dineL.A. Restaurant Week
Valrhrona chocolate Bouchons are topped with California avocado ice cream and Sicilian pistachios at Bouchon Bistro during dineL.A. Restaurant Week. Photo by Stacey Sun.

Bouchon Bistro
Avocados perfectly complement Chef David Hands French menu in dinner dishes like Salade de Seiches a l’Avocat—cuttlefish and California avocado salad with celtuce, English cucumber, young mint and lime. Dessert gets a decidedly avocado twist when the restaurant’s Valrhrona chocolate Bouchons are topped with California avocado ice cream and Sicilian pistachios.

Craft Los Angeles
Chef Andrew Gavalla’s diverse dinner menu is perfectly paired with a California avocado salad with cherry tomatoes and opal basil.

Border Grill Downtown and Border Grill Santa Monica 
Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger are no strangers to embracing the avocado. It stars on menus at their downtown and Santa Monica outposts of the Border Grill. Downtown, you can enjoy their spin on avocado toast with tequila-cured salmon for lunch and dinner. Also find a California avocado shake served with chocolate espresso scooters cookies. In Santa Monica, find pork cheek in California avocado mole for lunch and dinner.

With all this #foodporn happening, there are sure to be many photo opps. dineL.A. is continuing their Dine. Snap. Win. Instagram contest things time around. When you hashtag your dineL.A. photos #DineSnapWin in Instagram and include the restaurant name, you will get a chance to win 100,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

For more information on dineL.A. Restaurant Week and to see participating restaurants and their menus, visit dineLA.com 

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