How ROW DTLA Became L.A.’s Quiet Culinary Powerhouse

Once a forgotten industrial complex, ROW DTLA is now home to some of the city’s most acclaimed restaurants—from Hayato and Kato to Chris Bianco’s pizza haven and the ever-evolving Sunday ritual that is Smorgasburg.

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Los Angeles is a sprawl of distinct dining enclaves, each with its own flavor and reason to travel. From Venice’s farmers’ market–driven fare to K-town’s world-class Korean cuisine, L.A.’s neighborhoods each tell their own delicious story.

But in the middle of it all, there’s one culinary island (if you will), surrounded by a sea of otherwise empty warehouses, that might just be one of the city’s most underrated dining districts: ROW DTLA.