From Hidden Counters to Hard-to-Book Icons: The Best Omakase in Los Angeles

Los Angeles has one of the most serious sushi and omakase scenes outside Japan, anchored by chefs who trained for decades in Tokyo and Osaka before opening tiny, reservation-only counters across the city. It’s part of a broader wave of culinary ambition reshaping LA dining right now, alongside the city’s newest luxury hotels, which have quietly become dining destinations in their own right. These are the twelve sushi and omakase restaurants worth planning a meal around.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of n / naka

n/naka

Chef Niki Nakayama’s Palms restaurant remains one of LA’s most significant Japanese dining destinations, built around modern kaiseki rather than pure sushi, with a recently renovated dining room designed around a Japanese tea garden aesthetic. Its Michelin star reflects a menu built on precision and seasonality rather than spectacle.

Best For: Modern Kaiseki Beyond Pure Sushi

Sushi Kaneyoshi

A 12-seat counter in Little Tokyo running a single seating per night, Sushi Kaneyoshi delivers traditional Edomae-style sushi under chef Yoshiyuki Inoue with the kind of focus that only comes from serving one small group at a time.

Best For: Traditional Edomae Style

Nozawa Bar

Hidden inside a Beverly Hills Sugarfish location, Nozawa Bar’s 10-seat counter delivers a 20-course, sashimi-and-nigiri-forward menu in the style pioneered by the late Kazunori Nozawa. Chef Jay Sada took over the counter in June 2025 following Osamu Fujita’s retirement, continuing what’s become one of LA’s most sought-after reservations.

Best For: The Nozawa-Style Secret Counter

Mori Nozomi

Occupying the former Mori Sushi space in West LA’s Sawtelle corridor, Mori Nozomi is an entirely separate restaurant under chef Nozomi Mori, run by an all-female team since opening in March 2024. The 8-seat counter delivers a 22-to-25-course menu that’s already earned its own Michelin recognition, independent of the space’s previous history.

Best For: An All-Female Team Redefining a Storied Space

Miura

One of two Beverly Hills restaurants to earn a new Michelin star in the 2026 guide, Miura’s 18-course Edomae menu comes from chef Derek Wilcox, who trained at three-Michelin-star Kikunoi and one-star Sushi Aoki before opening his own counter at Two Rodeo.

Best For: Kyoto-Trained Edomae Technique

Shin Sushi

Operating just two seatings a night in Encino, Shin Sushi is a tiny, unglamorous operation built entirely around chef Taketoshi Azumi’s decades of two-coast sushi experience — proof that LA’s best omakase doesn’t require a fashionable address.

Best For: Unpretentious Suburban Excellence

715

An 8-seat Arts District counter, 715 stands out for in-house tuna aging and fish flown directly from Japan under chef Seigo Tamura, delivering one of the more serious and expensive omakase experiences in the city.

Best For: In-House Tuna Aging

Sushi Zo

With locations in both West LA and DTLA, Sushi Zo runs on chef Keizo Seki’s distinctive no-soy-sauce-at-the-table Nozawa-lineage philosophy, consistently ranking on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ OAD sushi list even without a current Michelin star.

Best For: The Trust-the-Chef Nozawa Lineage

Sushi Note Omakase

Reached through an underground parking garage entrance on Rodeo Drive, Sushi Note Omakase in Beverly Hills delivers a 20-course menu from chefs Earl Aguilar and Kiminobu Saito, distinct from the original Sushi Note flagship location in Sherman Oaks.

Best For: A Hidden Beverly Hills Entrance

For more of Haute Living’s Los Angeles coverage, see Haute Living Los Angeles: The Definitive Guide to Luxury on the West Coast and The Best Luxury Hotels in Los Angeles Right Now.