Kato Restaurant
Taiwanese restaurant · Downtown Los Angeles
777 S Alameda St Building 1, Suite 114, Los Angeles, CA 90021
Highlights
Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant with Taiwanese & LA influences
Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant with Taiwanese & LA influences
"If you manage to grab a seat at Kato’s eight-person bar, immediately direct your attention to the cocktail menu. The Arts District tasting menu spot has a list of 10 or so intricate drinks that are based on traditional cocktails but have descriptions that read like little poems and arrive in gorgeous glasses that look lifted from the world’s most obscure thrift shop. We love their spin on the bamboo cocktail made with red rice sake and tomato brandy infused with konbu, and a buttery, boozy milk punch jazzed up with five spice, yam, and pineapple. The bar is also the only place at Kato where you can order a la carte, which means nibbling on uni donuts and crab fat fried rice without committing to the full tasting menu." - sylvio martins, brant cox, garrett snyder
"A minimalist, wood-toned tasting-menu restaurant whose bar has developed a distinct identity by pulling unique ingredients from the kitchen and applying high-tech techniques to redefine classics. Cocktails are complex and polished enough to stand on their own while thoughtful nonalcoholic offerings are vibrant and fully realized. The White Negroni is a highlight—an effervescent combination of clarified local Mutsu apple, shochu, a bittersweet floral liqueur, and bësk, a wormwood-forward Swedish bitter with grapefruit, gentian, juniper, and star anise." - ByEsther Tseng
"One star. Kato, the once plucky West LA tasting menu restaurant imbued with Taiwanese and Japanese influence, keeps its single star. Chef Jon Yao upgraded to a larger and more polished space in Downtown LA in 2022, and revamped the tasting menu to include more rarefied ingredients." - Eater Staff
"Chef Jonathan Yao is on a mission, deftly drawing on his Taiwanese background to deliver inspired, bold dishes. Far from his first location, the Row DTLA dining room is a cool enclave of polished concrete, steel, plate glass and light wood furnishings, along with an open kitchen that features prominently. It is a beautiful stage for his tasting menu, which is not shy about seasoning. Fish maw with Dungeness crab, custard and caviar comes with a crab shell-infused red vinegar for maximum impact. Spice-crusted duck breast taps into nostalgia with a fluffy bao bun. A recent riff on pig ears with summer tomatoes buzzed with a fiery chili oil. To boot, the cocktail program features impressively crafted alcoholic and spirit-free creations." - Michelin Inspector
"Led by chef Jon Yao, this Michelin-starred tasting-menu restaurant began in a tiny West LA strip mall in 2016 and moved to the former M. Georgina space at Row DTLA in the Arts District in 2022. Drawing on Yao’s Taiwanese roots and upbringing in the San Gabriel Valley, it serves a constantly evolving, intricate 12-course tasting menu priced at $325. The restaurant earned its first Michelin star in 2022, was named “one to watch” by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2024, and helped its chef win the 2025 James Beard Award for Best Chef: California; Yao has spoken about aiming for Michelin recognition and expressed pride in representing Los Angeles." - Rebecca Roland
