While the cuisines of many cultures have taken root in Los Angeles, it is the home of the Cobb Salad, invented in the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, the French-Dip sandwich, originated early in the 20th Century by either Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet or Phillippe's – both of which still exist downtown, the ice blended coffee drink by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Tommy's Hamburger.

The strength of the city's scene is in "ethnic" dining and it is considered to be one of the most dynamic scenes in the world in terms of range and depth. Los Angeles has an enormous variety of restaurants. Given its close proximity to Asia and constant flow of Asian immigrants, Asian food has the largest foothold in Los Angeles after Mexican cuisine. Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thai restaurants are extremely common place. Japanese food in particular is a staple of Los Angeles' haute cuisine scene with places like Urasawa in Beverly Hills, Nobu in Malibu and Koi in Hollywood.

The city of Torrance, with its huge Asian-American population, seems to have the largest concentration of Asian restaurants while the city of Glendale, has the among highest concentration of Persian restaurant in the country.

California-styled cuisine is considered to be highly influenced by Asian seafood, as well as by Mediterranean cooking. Even more prevalent than Asian food is Mexican and other Hispanic cuisines.