LA County: Little Israel

There's no "little Israel" in LA, but if there was it'd be at the intersection of Pico and South Robertson Boulevards. On Friday nights and Saturday mornings, you can see big groups of Orthodox Jewish families walking to shul for Shabbat services. The women in long skirts and long-sleeved shirts push strollers, the men with yarmulkes and tzitzit stroll behind them with their prayer books in hand.

This neighborhood caters to the highest concentration of Jews anywhere in the city with over thirty kosher restaurants, over twenty synagogues and several Jewish day schools. It's also home to Nagila, a little family-run restaurant known by Israeli Angelenos for serving up the best falafel and shawarma in town.

All the plates come with traditional sides: a yogurt sauce, diced tomato, hummus, minced parsley and garlic and some pickled vegetables. Their falafel is always fresh and right out of the fryer which gives it a crispy breaded outside and moist inside. Their lamb shawarma sizzles on a spit all day periodically doused in oil, oregano and basil which soaks to the core of the meat giving it an explosive flavor.

Your protein of preference is served on a plate with salad and fries or wrapped in their to-die-for homemade laffa bread which is like a fluffier version of naan. Each portion size is so generous it can easily be split or taken home for a second meal.

Eilat Bakery

Afterwards, you can take a stroll around the neighborhood. Check out the local bakeries for challah, macaroons, hamentashen, flourless chocolate cakes and dozens of other kosher goodies. There's also a grocery store off Wooster Street called Elat that sells great hummus, baba ghanoush and dolmas.

Nagila Meating Place is located at 9407 W Pico Blvd