The Brief

For many people, Thanksgiving may be synonymous with turkey, but for some of us, dry turkey breast doesn’t seem the right choice for a celebration. After all, it’s very likely that there was no turkey at all at the first Thanksgiving.

If you like to stick to turkey and stuffing, we figure you already know what to make or where to order it. Instead, we're focusing on restaurants beyond classic roasted turkey and offering something different.

Thanksgiving dine-in

Baekjeong 

Grilling meat together on a tabletop is always a great way to bond and celebrate, so why not for Thanksgiving, too? Korean BBQ favorite Baekjeong will be open during their normal hours on Thanksgiving Day, serving up their regular menu. With multiple locations around Southern California, it’s easy to enjoy some marinated galbi or pork jowl instead of turkey.

Crossroads Kitchen

Tal Ronnen’s plant-based Crossroads Kitchen will offer a four-course prix fixe menu for Thanksgiving supper. Instead of turkey, there will be breaded scallopini or pulled lion’s mane mushroom served with herbed gravy alongside sweet potato biscuits with maple “butter.” The menu costs $75 per person and will be available from 12-6 p.m.

Dog Haus

For those who do want to get turkey and all the trimmings in a different form, Dog Haus will be offering one in the form of Wurst Thanksgiving sausage, which is made with turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries, stuffing, sage, thyme, rosemary, and maple. Select locations of Dog Haus will be open on Thanksgiving Day, so we suggest calling your nearest location to confirm.

Espelette

For those celebrating in style, Waldorf Astoria’s Espelette will be open from 1-8 p.m. and serving a three-course dinner along with live entertainment. The main course options include whole roasted lobster, wagyu beef tenderloin, and for the plant-based: ricotta ravioli with black truffles. A slew of starters, including langoustine papillote, will be served family-style. The prix fixe menu costs $175 per person ($75 for kids 12 years and younger).

Sugar Palm

The restaurant at Viceroy Santa Monica, Sugar Palm, will be open and offering a three-course menu for $125 per person ($50 per child). The entree options do include roasted turkey, but also leg of lamb in mole sauce and a blackened king salmon. Sugar Palm will be open on Thanksgiving Day from 2-10 p.m. A similar menu is also being served family-style for Friendsgiving on Nov. 15-22.

Il Moro

Il Moro will be open 4 - 8:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving and will be serving their regular menu, which means tagliatelle bolognese, grilled lamb chops, and pizzas instead of turkey. Il Moro also promises special dishes infused with Thanksgiving flavors throughout the night.

Fogo de Chao

Feasting with your stretchy pants on is a must. Brazilian churrascaria chain Fogo de Chao will be open for dine-in and takeout on Thanksgiving, serving their full all-you-can-eat (for dine-in) churrasco menu as well as holiday specials including roasted turkey, sweet potato casserole and a Brazilian sausage with apple dressing. For the holidays, they're also offering wagyu and other more luxurious cuts that can be added a la carte.

Lunasia

Dim sum is always great for group holiday lunching. Head to the San Gabriel Valley and you'll find quite a few Chinese restaurants open on Thanksgiving. One of the top spots in SGV, Lunasia, will be open all day and serving their regular menu. For those celebrating with a big group, Lunasia takes phone reservations for parties of eight or more.

The Peninsula Beverly Hills

The Peninsula will be hosting a three-course dinner (or lunch) at The Belvedere for Thanksgiving. The entree options do include roasted turkey, but there’s also a dry aged New York strip, seared diver scallops, and branzino. The Belvedere will be open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and the three-course meal costs $180 per person.

Saddle Peak Lodge

Dinner at this mountain spot feels like a mini getaway, so why not make the trip for Thanksgiving? Saddle Peak Lodge will be offering a four-course menu ($120/adult; $65/children 12 and under). Yes, there will be turkey as one of the main course options but you can opt for seared elk tenderloin or salmon instead.

Leña

The Argentine-inspired Leña inside Sendero is offering a four-course feast with panoramic views of downtown. The $90 dinner will start with celery root blini and caviar followed by squash and crab bisque. There is a turkey ballotine as one of the main course options, but they’re also offering dry aged salmon en croute or Australian wagyu rib. The restaurant will open from 3-9 p.m.

Fig

FIG at the Fairmont Miramar is offering a prix-fixe menu for $89 per person. Start with half a dozen oysters or chicken liver parfait with poached persimmons before moving on to the main course with options ranging from roasted sea scallops to braised short rib to butternut squash tortellini.

Thanksgiving take-out

Angelini Osteria

Angelini Osteria is offering large trays of their Italian favorites for the holidays. Look for lasagna verde, eggplant alla parmigiana and a whole leg of pork porchetta. Order must be picked up on Wednesday, Nov. 22. Note that some items (including porchetta and beef tenderloin roast) must be pre-ordered at least five days in advance. Check the website for the full catering menu and ordering instructions.

Kuya Lord

Kuya Lord has gained a brick-and-mortar space since the last time we did this guide, but they’ll still be offering their Pamilya Tray for Thanksgiving takeout. The tray feeds 4-6 and includes lucenachon (slow roasted, rolled pork belly), wood-grilled Hiramasa collar, pancit chami, and more. Order must be placed by Nov 17 and can be picked up on Thanksgiving Day.

Holy Basil

DTLA Thai street food pickup spot Holy Basil is offering a Thanksgiving package they’re calling the Holy Tray. The tray costs $150 and feeds 4-6 people with a seafood curry that includes live local rock crab, half slab of moo krob (crispy pork belly), half of a fried Jidori chicken, and a whole tamarind rockfish. Each item is also available to order a la carte. Orders must be picked up on Thursday, Nov. 23 between 10 and 2 p.m.

Chimmelier

The Korean fried chicken specialist Chimmelier is offering a special Thanksgiving package with tongdak (a deep fried whole chicken), collard green kimchi, potato egg salad, and K-ole slaw. The feast costs $75 and will feed three to four people. Pre-order on Tock

Bar Ama

Bar Ama is offering a turkey dinner but with a Tex-Mex twist. Expect a Tex-Mex turkey roulade with gravy, stuffing with hoja santa, cornbread Johnny cakes and brussels sprouts with chicken chorizo and cotija cheese. The feast costs $300 for four people minimum and can be picked up on Nov. 22. Pie, cocktails and select items are also available à la carte. Pre-order on Tock.

Ms. Chi Cafe

Chef Shirley Chung's Culver City Chinese spot, Ms. Chi Cafe, is offering a couple of different Thanksgiving takeout feasts and we're having a hard time choosing between them. One features a whole tea-smoked duck while the other showcases Peking turkey breast served with chili sauce. Both come with salads and sides including duck fat sticky rice stuffing and sweet potato mochi cobbler. Order on Tock and pick up on Wednesday, Nov. 22.

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Augie’s on Main

Josiah Citrin’s Augie’s on Main will be offering two different takeout packages for Thanksgiving. The first features Augie’s dirty chicken with the classic Thanksgiving sides including stuffing, pecan yams, and cranberry sauce plus other sides like Szechuan Brussels sprouts and chopped salad. There’s also a prime rib version of the same pack and each package serves two people. Pre-order on Tock.

Vinh Loi Tofu

Long-time vegan Vietnamese spot Vinh Loi Tofu is offering vegan turkey made from faux meat, and it’s even shaped like a turkey and has a hole for stuffing. The faux turkey costs $60. Customers must pre-order by texting the owner and his phone number can be found on Instagram - hurry, though, there is a limited amount available.

Sampa

Sampa is a Filipino-American pop-up taking a residency at KAVIAR in downtown LA through the holidays and they’ll be offering their favorite dishes in half or full trays for Thanksgiving. Dishes like spicy calamansi-glazed chicken wings, lechon fried rice, crispy duck pancit or ube cheesecake can be ordered a la carte. Pick up on Thanksgiving Day at KAVIAR. Pre-order on Tock.

Osteria Mamma

Neighborhood classic Osteria Mamma is offering a takeout feast throughout the holiday season, and while they’re closed on Thanksgiving Day, the dinner-for-two package can be picked up on November 22 and the restaurant will provide heating instructions. The feast costs $69 for two or $120 for four and includes classics like tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce, frittura mista and each order includes a bottle of wine.

Los Angeles Unified School District’s cell phone ban turns 1 year old today.

The state’s largest district announced a “bell to bell” cellphone and social media ban in June 2024, which expanded the district’s existing phone ban to include lunch and passing periods. The policy took effect Feb. 18, 2025. District officials cited rising concerns about the effects of phones and social media on youth mental health, bullying and distraction from classroom instruction.

How well did the ban go at the beginning?

Over the first semester, we heard from educators and students who had mixed opinions. Some teachers reported positive results, while others said that passing periods remained a challenge. Some students found the ban stifled their ability to get important things done, and some also said their screentime stayed the same or increased while at home. We made a whole episode of our Imperfect Paradise podcast about it:

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On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. We headed to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.

Did the cellphone ban in high schools work?

On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. We headed to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.

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What don't we know?

Since LAUSD’s proposal went into effect, other districts have also rolled out changes to cellphone policies in advance of a July 2026 state deadline. The long-term effects are unclear, although more researchers are investigating.

How’s it going?

You tell us! Has it improved your educational experience? (Whether you’re a teacher, student, parent or caregiver.) Here’s a quick survey you can use to share your thoughts.

Los Angeles remains on shaky financial ground with increased liability costs, overspending by city departments and revenue shortfalls forcing it to dip into its reserves, according to a financial report released Wednesday.

The annual report for the fiscal year that ended in June, from Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia, said the culmination of decades of “unstable budgeting” is seen and felt by Angelenos across the city “in crumbling infrastructure and deteriorating services.”

Additionally, short-term budget balancing over the past two years resulted in unpaid furlough days for city employees and the elimination of thousands of unfilled positions.

“The service impacts of those cuts are still hitting departments as they struggle to address growing needs with severely diminished capacities,” the report read.

Key takeaways

Here are some of the major points made in the report:

• The top area of overspending continued to be liability payments. Liability claims exceeded the budget by $199 million or 228%, totaling a record of $287 million for the year. The top three areas include police at $152 million, street services at $44 million and transportation at $20 million. 

• The top area of underspending was capital improvement projects. The city only spent $25 million (19%) of the $131 million budget.

• Salaries and employee benefits increased by $162.6 million (4.7%) compared to previous  years, primarily because of cost-of-living adjustments associated with labor agreements with civilian and sworn employee unions, sworn employee hiring, increased overtime usage and higher benefit and insurance premium costs. Property taxes, which represent 40.6% of general fund revenues, increased by 4.3%. Business tax revenue increased by 8.6%, while sales tax revenues declined by 2.2%

• The city had to make up $160 million in revenue shortfall by tapping the reserve fund, which dropped from $648 million two fiscal years ago to $402 million for fiscal year 2024-25. The reserve fund currently sits at 5.06% of the total general fund budget, according to a December financial status report from the city administrative officer — barely above the 5% minimum set by the City Council.

• Four ratings agencies, including S&P, Fitch, Moody’s and Kroll, have given the city a “negative outlook” over a variety of concerns including liability payments and damages from the Palisades Fire. A negative outlook indicates a heightened risk that a city’s credit rating may be downgraded within the next 12 to 18 months. L.A. still holds an Aa2 rating from Moody’s, which is considered a high grade.

The controller issued a series of recommendations, including shifting to a two-year instead of one-year budgeting process, more realistic revenue projections, and more revenue generation by growing the tax base (for example: implementing a vacancy tax or taxing rideshare/autonomous vehicles, not just raising the sales tax).

General fund challenges

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, a member of the city’s Budget and Finance Committee, said in the report that the city can’t keep relying on short-term fixes, while “structural deficits,” like ongoing budget shortfalls, grow.

She added that “years of draining reserves, soaring liability payouts, and underinvestment in infrastructure have left us in a perilous financial position that our communities are now forced to absorb.”

“We need transparent, multi-year budgeting rooted in long-term planning and fiscal responsibility,” Hernandez said.

Mejia said that although the city is halfway through its fiscal year, it continues to have general fund budget challenges.

“The current fiscal year’s budget assumes moderate revenue growth, however, the long-term impact of current economic activities on revenue growth remains unknown and revenue has been stable during the first half of the year.”

LA’s demographics

In addition to providing a financial picture, the report provided a demographic look at the city. L.A.’s population is 3.84 million, the average age is 37.5, the total school enrollment is 409,108 and the unemployment rate is 6%.

The city employs more than 50,000 workers, the metro L.A.’s GDP is $1.3 trillion (among the top 20 economies in the world), and LAX has 75 million passengers a year.

Erroneous and politically charged statements by Trump administration officials, as well as the district attorney for San Bernardino County, have complicated the prosecution of a truck driver charged with vehicular manslaughter in a crash on the 10 Freeway last year.

The statements highlighted the national origin of the driver, 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh, who was born in India, contained false information on his immigration status and made unfounded allegations that he was driving under the influence.

It’s the latest in a series of instances where federal officials have injected politics into developing events. In some cases, statements by federal officials later turn out to be false and detrimental to prosecutions, as the New York Times recently found in at least four instances. Here in Southern California, statements by federal officials have ended up in court documents where Singh’s defense argues his prosecution has been tainted by anti-immigrant bias.

Statements by the Department of Homeland Security labeled Singh a “criminal illegal alien” who was driving under the influence. Singh was seeking asylum and authorized to work in the U.S. by the federal government. Toxicology tests taken after the crash came back negative for all substances.

“It is a terrible tragedy three innocent people lost their lives due to the reckless open border policies that allowed an illegal alien to be released into the U.S. and drive an 18-wheeler on America’s highways,” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in an Oct. 23 statement.

Arjun Sethi, a racial justice advocate, civil rights lawyer and adjunct professor at Georgetown University said these statements have compromised Singh’s ability to receive a fair trial.

“When you think of the variety of federal statements in this case, you see blatant racial and xenophobic rhetoric that is highly prejudicial,” Sethi said. “How can any juror set aside that rhetoric … and be able to ascertain the truth?”

Public defenders representing Singh argue similar statements by San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson, a deputy in Anderson’s office and the California Highway Patrol violate California's Racial Justice Act, a 2020 law prohibiting prosecutions influenced by racial bias.

Hearings on the Racial Justice Act claims will continue March 10. Singh's trial will commence after a judge rules on those claims. Preet has pleaded not guilty to the felony charges against him.

“I think authorities made statements infused by racial bias in this case,” Sethi, who has served as an expert in Racial Justice Act litigation, told LAist. “Bottom line, California authorities in this case mirror the racist political rhetoric we are hearing from the federal government.”

How we got here 

Six months before the crash that led to the charges against Singh, President Donald Trump took steps to restrict states from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants.

The U.S. Department of Transportation issued new emergency regulations in September that CalMatters reported could revoke the licenses of up to 61,000 immigrant truck drivers, amounting to 8% of the total commercial licenses in the state.

The department gave California 30 days to come into compliance with these new rules or risk losing millions of dollars in federal highway funds.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office disputed the Trump administration's claims, arguing that California’s licensed truck drivers had a lower fatal crash rate than the national average.

Then, in the early afternoon of Oct. 21, Singh’s semi-truck crashed on a crowded interstate.

Dashboard camera footage shows his truck colliding with passenger vehicles and another truck as one car went up in flames.

Singh was arrested and held without bail. Prosecutors charged him with vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving.

He was initially charged with driving under the influence, but the district attorney dropped those charges after toxicology reports came back negative for all substances.

As a deputy district attorney said in a filing, the crash immediately “generated high media interest and touched off a federal and state official-driven debate surrounding immigration policy and the state's issuance of commercial driver's licenses.”

Two days after the crash, the Department of Homeland Security published a news release arguing Singh, an asylum seeker, entered the country illegally in 2022 “and was RELEASED into the country under the Biden administration.”

DHS officials have not responded to LAist’s requests for comment. McLaughlin will reportedly leave the agency soon.

The U.S. Department of Transportation also issued a news release on Singh’s crash and California’s compliance with the new licensing rules. The release stated that Singh was operating his truck under the influence of drugs, despite a lack of evidence to support that claim.

In an email to LAist, a Department of Transportation spokesperson said California issued Singh’s Commercial Drivers License without properly vetting his qualifications.

Newsom’s press office directed LAist to the California Transportation Agency, which has yet to respond to emailed questions.

But in an earlier statement on social media, Newsom’s office stated that the federal government approved and renewed Singh’s federal employment authorization multiple times, and it was that approval that allowed him to obtain a commercial driver’s license in California.

Racial Justice Act claims

Public defender Jason Tucker argued in an Oct. 31 filing that Singh, his client, has faced multiple violations of the California Racial Justice Act, a law passed in 2020 that prohibits state authorities from seeking convictions or imposing sentences based on race, ethnicity or national origin.

Tucker has not responded to an emailed request for comment.

The filing highlights a motion to increase bail written by a California Highway Patrol officer shortly after the crash that claimed Singh was subject to deportation, despite being an asylum seeker who was authorized to work in the U.S. by the federal government, and a comment by a deputy district attorney about Singh’s use of an interpreter in court.

The primary violation, according to Tucker’s filing, occurred Oct. 23, when Anderson, the district attorney, issued a news release that tied the crash to state and federal policy.

“Had the rule of law been followed by state and federal officials the defendant should have never been in California at all,” Anderson’s statement said, before adding that Anderson’s office would “aggressively prosecute” the case.

According to the defense, this statement “injected Mr. Singh’s national origin, by way of his immigration status, into the criminal justice proceedings, despite evidence to the contrary.”

The DA’s reply

Deputy District Attorney Phillip Stemler, argued in a Nov. 10 court filing that the statements made by the office focus on policy without referencing or disparaging Singh’s identity, do not contain discriminatory language and do not meet the standards of a Racial Justice Act violation. Further, the district attorney is protected by the First Amendment, giving him latitude to speak on policy matters, according to the filing.

Stemler’s response stated that the Oct. 21 crash that killed three people and injured several others in Ontario “touched off a debate” about immigration and truck driving but that it was not Anderson’s office who politicized the case.

“It was federal officials who injected defendant’s immigration status into the media narrative on the defendant’s case,” reads the filing by Stemler, the Racial Justice Act coordinator for the office.

First, the filing references an Oct. 22 social media post by Duffy stating that his department was withholding $40 million from California because the state did not comply with the new federal rules.

“The following day, federal officials ramped up further,” the filing reads, pointing to the Oct. 23 DHS press release on the crash that referred to Singh as a “criminal illegal alien from India.”

Stemler’s filing says that the California Racial Justice Act does not apply to federal officials.

Sethi, the civil rights lawyer, said the statements by federal officials nevertheless compromise Singh’s ability to receive a fair trial.

“Long before Mr. Singh ever sets foot in a courtroom, there is a long shadow of political theater and xenophobic rhetoric that will be cast over him,” Sethi said, “and his case that is the fault of state and federal officials.”

Mara Harris loads a box of produce into her car, along with canned food and boxed goods. It marks the second week in a row she will drive the groceries to families across Los Angeles who say immigration raids are keeping them inside their homes.

“I got involved because I live in Highland Park, which is a primarily Latinx neighborhood, and I was feeling really frustrated and angry about our neighbors being unfairly treated,” Harris said.

Harris is a member of Nefesh, a Jewish outreach community that has partnered with local faith leaders to deliver goods. Her role is straightforward: pick up the groceries, drive them to families who have requested help, and drop them off.

“My husband is an immigrant,” she said. “I just think about the anxiety that we have going through the process, even with the resources we have access to, and I think about how impossible it is for other people to navigate that.”

She added, “It’s just chance that some people were born in countries that are safe and that provide them with opportunities, and other people are not. And I think the U.S. has an obligation to extend that opportunity to those people.”

The grocery deliveries are being organized by a Koreatown church that has seen a decline in attendance at its regular food distribution program in recent months. At the request of church leadership, The LA Local is not naming the church or its congregants out of privacy concerns and to avoid drawing attention to their immigrant community. It’s just one of a network of faith-based organizations responding to the need, and as raids show no signs of slowing down anytime soon, the group is seeking to expand its delivery hubs to more church sites.

Before the recent enforcement activity, the Koreatown church’s regular food distribution served between 500 and 600 people, according to one church organizer. In early February, they saw around 350.

“People are afraid, and unfortunately don’t know about services like this,” she said.

Multiple families have said they’re just too afraid to go out into the neighborhood, according to church leadership.

Since last summer, federal agents have carried out workplace raids, targeted day labor sites and arrested people in public spaces across the region. The Department of Homeland Security reported in December that more than 10,000 people had been detained in the LA area since June.

“There are members of our congregation that have immigration concerns that have told me they’re afraid to go out,” the pastor of the Koreatown church said. “I’ve spoken to at least four different families that are just afraid to go get groceries, are afraid to take their kids or their grandkids to school, and are worried about ICE activity in the neighborhood that’s been happening over the past seven months or so.”

In response, the church began coordinating home grocery deliveries in partnership with Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, or CLUE. The partnership started last summer after church staff noticed a drop in attendance at their weekly food distributions.

“A lot of people were afraid to go to the food bank at (the church), so they saw a big decline and understood that it was because people were afraid to come out, so CLUE partnered with them to do this delivery service,” said Liz Bar-El, a community liaison for CLUE.

Another staff member who has worked at the Koreatown church for six years said operations have been directly affected by enforcement activity in the area.

“I’ve been doing this for about six years. Last week, we had to stop at 11 a.m., and we used to close at 12, 12:30 because the ICE agents were around here,” he said. “And the number of people is decreasing because of ICE raids.”

The church pastor said families do not simply call and request food; there is a screening system to ensure that the program reaches those who are most concerned about leaving their homes.

CLUE has “folks that help call through the list of people that requested it to confirm for the day of their deliveries. They also have somebody that does a screening process to make sure that the people that are getting the deliveries qualify for the parameters of the program so that they’re not just getting people who are like ‘Yeah, you can deliver food to me’ but rather are really concerned about their status,” he said.

But Bar-El, the organizer with CLUE, said identifying families can be difficult.

“It’s likely due to fear of trusting somebody, they are hiding in their homes,” she said. “One way to reach them is through their pastors and the rapid response network that CLUE is a part of.”

Many of the requests stem from sudden changes in a family’s circumstances.

“This current situation with grocery delivery is mostly people who need help getting food because somebody got detained, deported and or the main breadwinner lost their job,” Bar-El said. “In one case, the husband was recently bonded out, and the wife was left home with three very small children.”

For Harris, the volunteer delivering food across multiple neighborhoods, the work is personal. She often thinks about her own family’s immigration status.

“My husband is British and he’s been working here off work visas for six years. He just applied for a non-conditional green card last year. So I take our anxiety and worries and extrapolate it,” she said.

Organizers don’t expect the need for this service to ease anytime soon. Bar-El said they plan to expand the effort to another church in Hollywood and are seeking more volunteers.

“I believe it’s my responsibility as someone who is one of the lucky ones and who does have resources and privilege to do what I can for my neighbors and for my city that I love that is so diverse and wonderful,” Harris said.