Best Restaurants, Bars, and Things to Do in North Hollywood

North Hollywood is a real neighborhood with real regulars, and the places that earn loyalty here tend to do it by being consistent and honest about what they are. Lankershim and Magnolia are where most of the action is, but a few worth-knowing spots sit just off the main drags.

Little Toni's on Lankershim is as close to an institution as NoHo gets. This casual pizza parlor has been turning out pies and pastas in comfortably retro surroundings for years, stays open late, and has built the kind of regular crowd that says more than any rating. A few blocks north, Pitfire Pizza is a relaxed but well-executed spot with creative pies, pasta, panini, and beer and wine. It holds up equally well for a sit-down dinner or a quick takeout order.

Mofongos Comida Caribeña at 5757 Lankershim is a casual Puerto Rican spot built around traditional cooking, with the fried plantain dish that gives the place its name as the centerpiece. It has a patio, takes reservations, and has earned a substantial and loyal following. Over on Magnolia, Eat is a counter-serve cafe with a loyal crowd of its own, drawing people in for breakfast, coffee, sandwiches, soups, and salads. It takes reservations and offers takeout and delivery, which makes it a practical stop at almost any hour of the morning or afternoon.

The North Hollywood Diner on Magnolia has been open around the clock since 1959, serving classic comfort food at budget prices whenever you need it. It does takeout and delivery, but the counter is the right way to experience it. Republic of Pie, also on Magnolia, earns its following with gourmet coffee and fresh-baked pies in a space built out with reclaimed wood, metal, and glass. It works for a slow morning with a slice or a quick stop on the way somewhere else.

For drinking, Idle Hour on Vineland is worth seeking out for the building alone, a preserved piece of California vernacular architecture that looks like a barrel from the outside. Inside it's a cocktail-focused lounge with a serious approach to mixing drinks. Reservations are worth making on busier nights. El Tejano on Magnolia is a colorful, mostly outdoor bar and grill serving nachos, queso, grilled meats, flour tortillas, cocktails, and beer. It draws a big crowd and is a reliable pick for a casual evening out. Brews Brothers on Lankershim is an easygoing brewhouse with craft beer and pub staples like sandwiches and salads, consistently well liked and just as comfortable for a solo drink as a group night.

Laemmle NoHo 7 on Lankershim has been a home for independent, foreign, and art films since 1938 and remains one of the most reliably well-liked spots in the neighborhood. If a film isn't playing at a multiplex, this is your first call. The Iliad Bookshop on Cahuenga is a longtime used bookstore with a massive inventory focused on literature and the arts. It's the kind of place where you go in for one book and come out an hour later with four. And the North Hollywood Recreation Center on Tujunga is one of the more complete public facilities in the area, with sports fields, courts, an indoor gym, a playground, and an outdoor pool drawing a broad mix of ages from across the neighborhood.