Lucia LA
Restaurant · Beverly Grove
351 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Highlights
Afro Caribbean fine dining with innovative cocktails and DJ
Afro Caribbean fine dining with innovative cocktails and DJ
"Prepare for a bottleneck when you enter Lucia. Not because of a bad layout, but because everyone is stopped in their tracks gawking. This transportive Afro-Caribbean spot looks like a nightclub on Arrakis: Giant tulip structures soar toward the ceiling and pod-shaped booths resemble miniature Hollywood Bowl shells. The food is just as much of a conversation starter. Start with a pickled okra martini and spicy wagyu beef patties while watching gorgeous Sezane-wearing couples at the bar, then add the craggly, coconut-crusted fried chicken or jumbo braised oxtails. Expect a few clubby touches—a DJ booth next to the kitchen, a velvet rope outside, and the option to add a caviar bump to any dish—but Lucia is a restaurant first. One that you should get to soon, before the bottleneck spills onto Fairfax. Reservations are released two weeks in advance, with primetime tables usually snatched within an hour. Lucia’s seating is primarily booths though, so it’s easier to get in as a party of four than two. The bar is also first-come, first-served with an abridged menu of snackier dishes like saltfish croquettes and beef patties." - brant cox, sylvio martins, cathy park, garrett snyder, cathy park, cathy park, cathy park, brant cox, sylvio martins, cathy park, brant cox, brant cox, sylvio martins, cathy park, brant cox, sylvio martins, brant cox, cathy park, brant cox, brant cox, sylvio martins, garrett snyder, sylvio martins, cathy park
"It’s not summer without a big-budget blockbuster, and as far as restaurants go, the season belongs to Lucia. Chalk it up to this Fairfax spot's suave Afro-Caribbean menu, a gorgeous crowd swishing around in Omnes dresses, and an otherworldly space that looks like the backdrop of Christopher Nolan’s next production. Get your tickets—er, reservations—now." - brant cox, cathy park, sylvio martins, jess basser sanders
"A Fairfax arrival noted especially for one of the most stunning interiors seen recently, which has helped brighten the neighborhood's dining scene." - Matthew Kang
"Upscale Afro-Caribbean restaurant Lucia has settled into a busy stretch of Fairfax. The restaurant comes from first-time sole owner Sam Jordan, who tapped Jamaica-born Adrian Forte to be Lucia’s executive chef; before joining the restaurant, Forte previously competed on Top Chef Canada; worked as a private chef for Virgil Abloh, Drake, and Alicia Keys; and authored Afro-Caribbean cookbook Yawd. Lucia features dishes from across the Caribbean and African diaspora, filtered through Jordan’s travels, Los Angeles’s dining culture, and Forte’s experience. A Jamaican patty comes stuffed with spiced wagyu beef, tucked between flaky layers of yellow pastry, while fish is swapped for lychee in a vegan ceviche with a light sorrel sauce and rice paper cracker. The menu also spans dishes like fried saltfish and fig croquettes, Trini Mac Pie, loaded rice and peas, and fried chicken. — Rebecca Roland, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest" - Matthew Kang
"A Fairfax restaurant in Los Angeles by Jamaican-born chef Adrian Forte, cited as an example of non-California-based chefs bringing their experience to the L.A. dining scene." - Mona Holmes
