Food in Koreatown

Al Cassell opened a hamburger counter in Koreatown in 1948, grinding his own beef daily and broiling the patties rather than griddling them. The business closed and was brought back in 2015 in the ground floor of the Hotel Normandie, still grinding in house and still running the original broiler method. It opens at 9am, which makes it the rare Koreatown kitchen that serves breakfast.

Mon to Thu and Sun, 9am to 9pm. Fri and Sat, 9am to 10pm

El Cholo started in 1923 and has been at this Western Avenue address since 1931, which makes it the oldest Mexican restaurant still trading in Los Angeles. Dark booths, tiled floors, combination plates and a bar that pours a green corn tamale alongside the margarita. The dining area is large and a walk-in on a weeknight is not a problem.

Daily 11:30am to 9pm

Fernando Lopez opened Guelaguetza in 1994 and moved it to this Olympic Boulevard address in 2000, where it became the center of Oaxacan life in Los Angeles. The menu covers seven moles and tlayudas. A bandstand runs live music most nights. The James Beard Foundation named it an America's Classic in 2015, the first traditional Mexican restaurant to get one.

Tue to Thu, 11am to 9pm. Fri and Sat, 9am to 10pm. Sun, 9am to 9pm. Closed Monday

The food court on the upper level of an indoor mall on Western, above an H Mart grocery. Separate counters sell different things and you carry a tray to a shared table, so a group that cannot agree still eats together. Mountain Restaurant inside the same building keeps later hours than the court does.

Food court daily 10am to 8pm. The mall itself closes at 7pm and the H Mart stays open until 9pm.

A small counter on Olympic where Kilak Kim rolls the dough in an open kitchen and the dumplings are folded to order. Frozen ones are sold to take home. A separately run place in Northridge uses almost the same name and a Diamond Bar location has closed, so the address matters here more than the sign does.

10am to 8pm Wednesday through Monday. Closed Tuesdays.

A small family-run shack on Western with split logs stacked against the outside wall, feeding a wood fire that cooks every chicken on the menu. You can smell it from a block away. Order at the counter, take a quarter or a half with rice and beans, and eat at one of the few tables inside. It has been doing only this for more than thirty years.

Mon and Wed to Fri, 11am to 7pm. Sat and Sun, 11am to 8pm. Closed Tuesday

Open every hour of every day, in the converted Sizzler on Western. The order is sul long tang, an ox bone broth you season yourself at the table, or galbi jjim, short ribs braised in a cast iron pan and finished with cheese at the table if you ask. It is bright, loud and fast, and at four in the morning it is still full.

Open 24 hours, daily

Red leather booths, dark wood panelling and oil paintings, all left from when this was The Windsor. The Korean owners took it over and kept the interior intact, so the fried chicken and the spicy seafood stew arrive in a 1940s steakhouse setting. Television shoots here constantly, which is why it looks familiar.

Monday to Saturday 4pm to 2am. Closed Sunday