Jitlada Restaurant

"Text five friends for dinner recs in Thai town and there’s a high chance all of them will ask if you've been to Jitlada. Whether or not Jitlada is the best Thai restaurant in LA is a source of debate, but it’s certainly the most famous and definitely good enough to live up to its hype. Ever since a change in ownership in 2006, the small strip mall restaurant climbed its way to institution status, which you’ll quickly realize once you show up for dinner. Crowds line up to eat in the narrow space covered in press cutouts and portraits of Thai royalty. The menu has roughly 400 dishes, all of which come in family-style portions. Get the spicy jungle curry with crispy pork, the Dungeness crab slathered in delicious garlic sauce, and the off-menu jazz burger.  " - brant cox, nikko duren, garrett snyder, sylvio martins

"Jitlada isn’t just the heart and soul of LA’s Thai food scene, it’s one of this city’s essential dining experiences, full stop. The Sunset Blvd. space is cramped and kitschy, and while you’ll probably spot a few celebrities, the real star of the show is Jazz, the legendary owner who still goes around to every table asking if you loved your meal. With over 400 items, the menu is objectively overwhelming, so our tip is to steer away from dishes you can find at any other Thai restaurant, and go all-in on the ones that make Jitlada an LA icon: the crispy catfish salad, coco mango salad, Dungeness crab with garlic, taepo curry, and the secret off-menu Jazz Burger. " - brant cox, arden shore, garrett snyder, nikko duren, sylvio martins

"We have some of the best Thai food in the country here. It's just an embarrassment of riches. But Jitlada is like, 'Okay, you want like authentic southern Thai cuisine? Let's go to Jitlada. Oh, you don't know what that is? Wait for her to come out. She will explain it to you.' It's just the mainstay. It can be hard to get into, but not super difficult. It's very not pretentious. I always have so much fun there because I'm always eating something that I have never heard of. I don't always necessarily want to try it all again, but boy, have I eaten silkworms? Yeah, I have eaten the silkworms at Jitlada. And of course, if you're... basic, you can go and get your pad thai and it's amazing and dope there too. But I think it would be a mistake to go to Jitlada and get the pad thai because there's just such a wealth [of options]. It's like a Cheesecake Factory level menu in terms of size, with all of these different options of all of these things that they do so beautifully. It's a really great way to really expand your horizons as a Thai food eater and really get a sense of someone's culture. They know that we just want the pad thai and the crab rangoons. But this place is like, 'No, we're going to give you some authentic food that may seem a little weird to you. But guess what? This is what we eat and this is our culture and you're gonna love it.'" - brennan carley

"“Jitlada is old school and a true LA institution. Owner Jazz Singsanong is such a great character and the food has real fire and personality. It’s so good, even if some of the stuff is literally too hot for me to handle. Jitlada is so much fun with a bunch of people as the food starts making the rounds at the table, and the beer is flowing. Maybe it’s not the best place to take somebody who can’t do spicy food, but if you need them to tone it down, why go there?”" - sylvio martins

"Jitlada made its mark on the local food scene when Suthiporn “Tui” Sungkamee and his sister Jazz Singsanong acquired the restaurant in 2006 and introduced a supplemental menu focused on the country’s southern specialties. (Sungkamee passed away in 2017.) The Thai-language southern Thai menu, chock-full of sweat-inducing hits, was eventually translated into English and captured the palates of local and national food media. Every meal at Jitlada should begin with an order of New Zealand mussels swimming in an aromatic lemongrass broth before settling into a crispy catfish or crying tiger salad. The off-menu Jazz burger served on iceberg lettuce never disappoints." - Rebecca Roland, Eater Staff