Badmaash opens in Venice, offering masala steak fries and chai cocktails

With their third location in Badmaash – and the first in eight years – the Mahendro family continues to develop their vision for modern Indian cuisine. Downtown restaurant Badmaash has helped shape how Angelenos enjoy Indian food, and with a new, reimagined version in Venice, they're changing the narrative again.

In late March, they opened the doors to the most elegant version of Badmaash yet, where the ambience is subdued and the menu includes cocktails like gin with house-made chai orgeat and new dishes like steak frites with masala spice au poivre.

Venice “pulled us into the next steps,” said co-founder and CEO Nakul Mahendro. “We're thinking more about what oil we use, what ingredients we use, and who we source our products from. I'm really grateful for that. It's evolved me in the best way. It hasn't evolved me in a way that's like, 'Oh, let's open a restaurant, make it fancy and get more out of their pockets.' It's like, 'How do I impact the world?'”

Badmaash Venice seats nearly 100 across two dining rooms, a cave-inspired back room, a 10-seat bar and the upcoming patio along Abbot Kinney.

Nakul runs the restaurant along with his brother Arjun and their parents. Her father, Pawan Mahendro, who grew up in Amritsar, is a chef. After decades of running Indian, French and Italian restaurants in Bombay, Toronto and New York, he helped his sons realize their own dreams and open Badmaash.

Downtown launched in 2013, followed by Fairfax in 2018. When they launched, Chai was just entering mainstream culture in the US. The Mahendros offered their more traditional recipes alongside fusion flavor bombs like chili cheese naan, chicken tikka poutine and fried butter chicken sandwiches.

“It was like, 'Okay, let's slowly introduce people to Indian cuisine,'” Nakul Mahendro said. “I remember seeing garam masala on menus at Redbird and other places in the early years and seeing dry mango powder on drink menus. Badmaash became red hot and we shared our cuisine and culture with many other chefs.”

But in recent years, maintaining restaurants has proven difficult, particularly in Los Angeles. The Mahendros opened their fast food shop Burgers 99 in March 2020. At the end of April they will close the doors to focus on Badmaash. However, it won't mean the end of their burgers and butter chicken burritos. Burgers 99 will live on through delivery, ordering online and via apps.

The downtown and Fairfax Badmaash locations will also be adapted, eventually incorporating some of Venice's dishes and cocktails. Director of Operations Steve LaFountain, formerly of Horses and Little Prince, designed Venice's beverage program and will help implement these changes.

The change in Venice also reflects how Nakul and Arjun eat now; They included more fruits and vegetables in their diet and went to the farmers market more often.

They embrace seasonality like their neighbors in Venice, RVR's Travis Lett and Ian Robinson. A luxurious korma features lamb neck in a nod to Ori Menashe's popular Bavel kebab, while a new saffron pistachio tres leches uses olive oil by rapper, host and cookbook author Action Bronson, who also gifted them a large painting that now hangs prominently in the new restaurant.

Ultimately, they say they wanted to build a version of Badmaash that reflected LA. “We believe that every great neighborhood,” said Nakul Mahendro, “deserves a great Indian restaurant.”

Badmaash is open in Venice from Wednesday to Sunday from 4:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m

1616 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, (310) 310-2580, badmaashla.com

Sushi Samba

One of the world's most prolific sushi and nightlife chains recently landed in LA, drawing crowds to a West Hollywood rooftop that features nightly DJ sets, live entertainment like feather-clad samba dancers and a mix of Peruvian, Japanese and Brazilian flavors.

Sushi Samba debuted in New York City in 1999 and then quickly expanded to Miami, then Las Vegas, London, Dubai, Scotland, Qatar, Singapore, Italy and beyond. In March, it opened its first West Coast outpost, offering nigiri, ceviche, stone-roasted Japanese Wagyu, cocktails, grilled skewers and more with views of the Hollywood Hills.

Omar Gutierrez, CEO of Sushi Samba, said Los Angeles felt like a real homecoming after years of opening international locations — although he knows competition for L.A. restaurants is fierce, especially when it comes to sushi.

“You have to build something beautiful, you have to have the entertainment component, you have to have the marketing component, you have to have the brand, the integrity and the brand recognition,” Gutierrez said. “We check all of those criteria and the food is really good.”

Chef John Um's menu features all of Sushi Samba's signature dishes – like the Moqueca Mista with shrimp, clams, squid, cod and chimichurri rice in coconut broth and the chewy-fluffy Pāo de Queijo with honey truffle butter – as well as unique LA options like the Samba LA Roll filled with snapper, yellowtail, crab, chili garlic crunch, Passion fruit sanbaizu and yuzu oil.

The LA location also serves new cocktails with ingredients like lychee water, Kobe fat-washed Japanese whiskey, shiso syrup, and hibiscus mezcal. The main rooftop dining room features a retractable roof, and a separate bar and lounge offers an abbreviated menu — as well as rooftop views. There is also a glass-enclosed robata counter and a private indoor dining room. Sushi Samba is open Sunday to Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. to midnight and Thursday to Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m

639 N. La Peer Dr., West Hollywood, (213) 444-0424, sushisamba.com

Brooklyn Square Downey

A Pasadena pizzeria recently expanded to Downey, bringing square grandma pies, sliced ​​options, fried ravioli and large New York-style pizzas to the Gateway Cities.

Brooklyn Square, from a family of New York expats, opened in 2022 with stacked sandwiches, wings and pizzas in Old Town Pasadena; Now they're offering most of that menu in Downey in a walk-up format, including huge hot and cold subs; 18-inch New York pizzas in varieties such as spinach ricotta, spicy vodka sauce and barbecue chicken; antipasti salad; Pasta; cannoli; calzones; black and white cookies; and the signature square pies with crispy edges and lots of toppings like meatballs, sausage, honey, ricotta and more. You'll find sliced ​​dishes and garlic cloves in the glass display case at the checkout. Brooklyn Square in Downey is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m

8720 Imperial Hwy., Downey, (562) 302-0071, bksq.com

Nam Coffee Chinatown

Popular Vietnamese cafe and roasting company Nam Coffee recently expanded to a second location, this time with a full kitchen in Chinatown.

Vince Nguyen founded Nam Coffee in 2022 by roasting coffee beans grown in Vietnam and selling Phin filters at his home in Orange County. He then opened a coffee shop in East Hollywood where he could sell bags of coffee and specialty drinks that embody the culture and taste of Vietnamese coffee. He serves the same creations — with signature lattes like pandan, coconut-and-ube, banana and egg cream — along with pastries in Chinatown. With Nam taking over the former space of Minon Cake and Mien Nghia Restaurant, giving him his first kitchen, Nguyen plans to introduce a menu that includes sticky rice, spring rolls and Vietnamese bao in the coming months.

“Bringing Nam to Chinatown was one of my dreams to continue my mission of developing Vietnamese coffee culture,” said Nguyen. “There are a lot of people coming, not just from California but from all over the world.” Nam Coffee is open daily in Chinatown from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m

304 Ord St., Los Angeles, (213) 988-7155, nam.coffee