Just like the people that make Los Angeles unique, its neighborhoods have some of the most distinct personalities. And nowhere does that show up more clearly than in how you make (and keep) a dinner reservation.

Because in LA, it’s rarely just dinner. You might say it’s somewhere between a social ritual and the city’s love language. It’s the lead-up, the wait, the people you run into, and the version of the night it quietly turns into.

However the night unfolds, a reservation is usually where it all starts...

Malibu: 6:15pm reservation, strategically timed around golden hour. You'll only catch a few minutes of the sunset though because half your friends are stuck on PCH and they won't seat incomplete parties. Your table is sandwiched between a group taking a million photos and a man asking his small kids, “isn't having Nobu with dad way more fun than eating dinner with mom and her new boyfriend?” While breathing in the healing ocean air, you promise yourself you’ll start driving out this way more often. You won’t.My favorite spot right now: Casita Basqueria for their secret sandwiches that drop daily at 11am, which btw, I’m wondering if we should do a collab with them... thoughts??

Beverly Hills: 8:30pm reservation, corner booth held slightly past the grace period. You're late but no one would ever say that out loud. The maître d' knows your name. You’re greeted like you’ve been coming here for years, even if you haven’t. No one bats an eye at a table for three with a George Hamilton look-alike, his significantly younger date and a toy dog being fed straight out of her The Row Margaux bag. Everything makes sense here.

My favorite spot right now: The Dior Cafe

Silver Lake: 7:45pm reservation at a natural wine bar that technically doesn’t take reservations. This means putting your name in at 7pm and being told it’ll be “a few minutes.” They don't actually know how much longer. That’s how you end up sipping orange wine for an hour on the sidewalk because you’re not a quitter. Nobody remembers what time you originally put your name in—and the hostess is banking on that.

My favorite spot right now: Pine & Crane

West Hollywood: 8:00pm reservation to catch up with your girlfriends over spicy margs. Then you all start running into everyone you know, squeezing around a table originally meant for four. You and your closest friend slip out early, telling everyone you’re heading home. You’re not—you take a detour on Sunset for a nightcap at The Tower Bar.

My favorite spot right now: Uchi

Santa Monica: 5:30pm post-work drinks on Thursday with your team from the new start-up. Casually turns into dinner. Everyone agrees it’ll be an early night, but (like always) you end up at Not No Bar when someone inevitably asks, “where should we go next?” Like everyone else in Santa Monica, your ex is there. Somehow you both end up at Jameson's after, because at that point…why not.

My favorite spot right now: Cobi’s

Pasadena: 7:00pm reservation, somehow your entire party arrives early and is taken straight to the table. It’s effortless in a way that feels straight out of a Nancy Meyers film. Almost too perfect for reality in LA, and kind of refreshing. No one is on their phone. Bottles of wine are ordered for the table and dessert magically appears without anyone ordering it. You start to understand why Meryl Streep lives out this way.

My favorite spot right now: Woon

Downtown: 9:15pm reservation booked at Berenjak weeks ago, and you’re still standing outside long enough to hear your date’s tenth story about the nearby building’s historic architecture (it feels too late to ask if he’s actually an architect). Once you’re finally inside, the music is just a little too loud to hear anything else for the small space—but you're secretly happy. You already had to hear his entire thesis on the difference between Art Deco and Beaux-Arts outside.

My favorite spot right now: Cafe Tondo

Hollywood: 8:00pm reservation that no one is honoring. Somehow you’re already on your second location by the time you sit down. The table next to you is celebrating something unclear. Half the table is debating whether we've outgrown Desert 5 Spot. The rest leave early to go to some DJ set at a friend’s house (it’s def rented from Airbnb).

My favorite spot right now: Stir Crazy

Culver City: 7:00pm impromptu dinner (no reservation needed) because everyone in the writers’ room got hungry. Everyone says they’re not going to talk about work—until that’s the only thing being talked about. No one is in a rush to leave because the cheap parking feels like a steal that needs to be put to good use. A nightcap at The Culver Hotel feels inevitable.

My favorite spot right now: Hatchet Hall

Venice: 8:00pm dinner plans at RVR you booked two weeks in advance hoping to run into a hot, eligible single at the bar. You swear you won’t do the walk of shame down Abbot Kinney—the same one you did at 24 and are somehow still doing at 29—from Roosterfish to The Brig to Owa. But there you are, clinking down the street in your kitten heels. “Should we just pop into Gran Blanco?” Half the group sighs. The other half is already counting heads for an Uber XL.

My favorite spot right now: Badmaash

— Your Friend