Where to Eat, Drink, & Be Merry on New Year’s Eve 2022

Image of The Satin Dollz courtesy of Loews.

A challenging year is winding down and 2022 is right around the corner. Whether you feel like enjoying dinner at a special restaurant, venturing out to a festive rooftop, or getting takeout for an intimate, laying-low evening at home, here are a few ideas on how to spend a food-centered New Year’s Eve.

Experience a very special Japanese izakaya at the n/soto popup at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center. Beautifully situated in Little Tokyo next to the James Irvine Japanese Garden, n/soto’s multi-course meal features many traditional Japanese New Year’s dishes. In case you’d like to celebrate early, the same meal will also be offered on December 29 and 30. You can make your n/soto reservations on Resy.

A stylish, vintage-influenced New Year’s Eve can be yours at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Listen to classic jazz standards performed by The Satin Dollz, known for their ‘40s pinup style, and watch lively tap dancers. Festive holiday decor, a midnight countdown, and accompanying champagne toast are also part of the fun. Optional add-ons include a Satin Dollz VIP Experience and the Remy 1738 Cognac Package (featuring a bottle of Remy 1738, two bottles of Piper Heidsieck Rose Champagne, and an array of savory bites). You can make reservations via Resy.

Known for one of LA’s most stunning views, The Green Room, the hidden lounge at Burbank’s Castaway, is hosting a glamorous soiree on New Year’s Eve. Highlighted by a fireworks viewing from the venue’s famed hilltop patio, attendees will also enjoy a specialty cocktail, a bottle of champagne for every two guests, tray-passed appetizers from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., festive decor, party favors, and live entertainment that includes fire dancing, a DJ, and a giant champagne pouring performance. Tickets are $95, and more information can be found here.

Image of BluSky Rooftop Bar. Photo credit: VRX Studios.

Indulge in a decadent New Year’s Eve feast at Michael Mina’s acclaimed modern steakhouse Bourbon Steak. Priced at $125, your three-course meal begins with a starter like American Wagyu Beef Tataki with caviar, wild mushroom velouté, or prawn and king crab cocktail. Opt for a main like salmon wellington wrapped in puff pastry, Provençal rack of lamb, or filet surf and turf. Choose from Basque cheesecake or the Bourbon Steak Candy Bar with peanut butter ganache for dessert. You can make your reservation on Open Table.

Hermosa Beach fine-dining restaurant Baran’s 2239 offers a luxe five-course meal this New Year’s Eve. The meal begins with tuna crudo, followed by butter-poached prawns with caviar beurre blanc, then black truffle gnocchi with mushrooms. Proceed to New York steak or swordfish with red wine demi-glace, then complete your meal with chocolate mousse cake with hazelnut brittle and vanilla creme anglaise. Make your reservation on Open Table.

Chef David Chang’s unique Chinatown restaurant Majordomo offers a distinctive five-course meal, served family-style, for $225 on NYE. Begin with raw bar (shrimp cocktail, Beausoleil oysters with smoked trout roe, and tuna tartare), then proceed to Bing bread served with chickpea dip, Benton’s country ham, foie gras, ricotta, persimmon jam, and egg. Then, savor macaroni & chickpea with black truffle, grilled wagyu zabuton, and finish with spiced chocolate pot de creme. Book your reservation on Resy.

Happy Hour? On New Year’s Eve? It’s a reality at FIVE 55 in Monterey Park this NYE from 4 p.m. to midnight. Smashed cheeseburgers, chopped salad, sweet potato fries and more are $5.55 to $8.55 each. Happy Hour drinks like Jackson’s Margarita, Japanese Old Fashioned, and champagne spritzers are just $8.55, while glasses of red or white wine are $5.55 and beers are $5.55 to $6.55. Passed trays of complimentary appetizers and cookies, along with a complimentary champagne toast at midnight, make ushering in 2022 even more festive. Learn more about FIVE 55 here.

Enjoy a Spanish Basque hors d’oeuvres reception as you take in stunning Disneyland views atop the roof at the BluSky Restaurant & Bar. Located at an  AAA Four-Diamond Hotel, the recently opened Radisson Anaheim, BluSky’s New Year’s Eve event, a Winter Wonderland party, includes the aforementioned reception, a six-hour bar package, sounds from DJ Jena Red, numerous food stations, and a sparkling wine toast at midnight. Tickets can be purchased here.

Want to spend New Year’s Eve on the largest rooftop in Hollywood? Then the new Godfrey Hotel‘s NYE celebration is for you. You’ll want to dress up – black and gold is the theme. All attendees will enjoy passed hors d’oeuvres, party favors, and a midnight toast. Buy the Open Bar package for open-bar access from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. You’ll take in expansive views of Hollywood and LA while watching the countdown to midnight on a 70-foot screen. Tickets can be bought here.

Bar at Bourbon Steak, The Americana at Brand. Photo courtesy of Bourbon Steak.

In addition to the soirée in its Green Room, Burbank’s gorgeous Castaway restaurant is hosting its own festive New Year’s Eve celebration with sky-high fireworks views. Two dinner settings — one at 6:00 p.m. and the other at 9:30 p.m. — will include a five-course meal, complimentary bottle of champagne, and entertainment. Dinner includes an aged-cheddar cream puff with quince paste and truffles, yellowtail aquachile or Snake River Farm steak tartare, duck confit tagliatelle, your choice of filet mignon & king crab gratin or black cod, and triple-layer chocolate cake for dessert. More info can be found here.

Ring in the New Year poolside, beneath swaying palm trees, at Sugar Palm, Viceroy Santa Monica’s newly opened restaurant/lounge/bar.  The three-course prix fixe NYE meal, $99, includes complimentary bubbles, amuse bouche, soup or quinoa salad, an entree (short ribs, duck, cioppino with lobster, salmon, prawns, calamari, and scallops, or a vegan mushroom option), sides (patatas bravas and brussels sprouts), and dessert (Cheesecake Cannoli, Chocolate Butter Cake, or vegan Pumpkin Chai Panna Cotta). A bar bites menu is also available. Make reservations on Open Table.

In the South, black-eyed peas and collard greens are symbols of wealth, so it’s fitting that soul food eatery Georgia’s Restaurant is offering a New Year’s Eve Prosperity Meal with black-eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread. The dishes represent affluence in the form of pennies, dollars and gold. Georgia’s, located in Long Beach and Anaheim, is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. Get ready for an auspicious 2022 by making your last meal of 2021 one that symbolizes financial abundance. Learn more about Georgia’s here.

If a healthy meal at home sounds like a great way to launch the new year, consider getting takeout from Urban Plates. This well-priced, fast-casual eatery has several locations around Los Angeles and is known for offerings that are both delicious and sustainable. Urban Plates’ Family Meals for four include your choice of protein with two made-from-scratch sides and grilled rustic bread. Protein options include chimichurri grass-fed steak, grilled ahi, sustainable salmon, and meatless loaf and are $43.95 to $56.95. More info here.

Savoca, the Italy-meets-California trattoria at the JW Marriott at LA Live Downtown LA, is open on New Year’s Eve, with festive offerings like fresh Kumamoto oysters, shrimp cocktail, and a seafood platter featuring oysters, shrimp, and salmon rillete. To make a reservation, call 213.765.8600.

This New Year’s Eve, Chef Akasha Richmond’s healthy comfort food will feature a steakhouse angle, along with her regular menu, bubbly, and a plethora of special cocktails. Some Akasha standouts: an artisan cheese board, pan-seared wild scallops with crispy leeks, baked potato topped with manchego and creme fraiche, and meyer lemon meringue pie. More information can be found here.