Holy Basil DTLA

"Downtown LA kiosk Holy Basil is serving some of the best Thai street food in the city. This Historic Core gem is somewhat of a revelation for Thai food fans, serving everything from cold hand-pressed tofu, to gorgeous tom yum, green curry, and fried noodles. Check out the Thursday to Saturday seafood specials. The restaurant’s also recently expanded to a popular standalone space in Atwater Village, for anyone coming from Northeast LA and environs, and will soon open in Santa Monica." - Matthew Kang

"Cancel whatever InstantPot dinner plans you have scheduled this week and immediately order takeout from Holy Basil. This tiny food court counter specializes in dishes like tom yum soup, green curry, and pad thai - all things you can find fairly easily at other Thai spots in LA. And yet, at Holy Basil, it’s like I’m trying them for the first time. Sweet and savory with the kind of spice that stays on your lips until morning, the food at Holy Basil is operating on an extremely high level and I implore you to head Downtown to experience it." - brant cox

"Tom Young Goong This is the best tom yum soup we’ve ever eaten. Filled with shrimp, oyster mushrooms, roasted chili jam, lemongrass, lime leaf, galangal, and cilantro, it’s an absolute whirlwind of flavors and textures, and a soup that we often plan our week around… every week." - the infatuation los angeles crew

"Located in an ad hoc food court (the same one as Vegan Hooligans), the menu at this Thai takeout spot is filled with classics like pad kee mao, gra pow curry, and panang curry. You've likely eaten these dishes before, but Holy Basil prepares them with bright and bold flavors that make them taste like you're eating them again for the first time. If you're looking for a good place to start, order the tom yum soup and some stir-fried noodles (plus beer or natural wine) and grab a table in the street-food-esque outdoor dining area. For a full sit-down experience, we much prefer their larger Atwater Village location, but for a quick and casual meal, the DTLA branch is great." - brant cox, sylvio martins

"LA’s profound scope of Thai restaurants is no secret. Places like Jitlada and Night + Market are among the most recognizable restaurant names in the city. Others, like Luv2Eat, Ruen Pair and Sapp Coffee Shop have cult followings that make K-Pop fans look like they’re half-assing it. At times, it feels as if there couldn’t possibly be room for more greatness. But when Holy Basil in Downtown LA came along, we’ve been reminded that there’s always room for another place to shift the conversation. Everything about Holy Basil DTLA, a tiny takeout window inside a Downtown food court, is straightforward, particularly the menu. It’s filled with pad thai, green curry, and tom yum soup—all things that can be found on plenty of Thai menus around town. But to eat at Holy Basil is like trying them for the first time. It’s this complexity of flavor that once made us drop our fork after a single bite of drunken noodles and double-check our receipt to make sure we ordered the right thing. photo credit: Jakob Layman Compared to Holy Basil's second, more ambitious sit-down location in Atwater Village, the original window is a tight operation that’s both unique and accessible: The casual environment that allows you to either pick up your food or quickly order at the window. Eventually, tables will inhabit the food court’s shared space, but for now, this pandemic-born operation has kept things as streamlined as possible." - Brant Cox