When it comes to Los Angeles's Historic Chinatown, few places hit all the right notes as well as Broadway Cuisine, a wide-open banquet hall that lived as Plum Tree Inn for decades before new owners Yi Long and Wen Yu took over a few years ago. Though the restaurant suffered a setback from a fire this year, it's now fully back with heaping plates of beef chow fun, honey walnut shrimp, and nostalgic orange chicken that everyone seems to love, especially during the holidays.
Nothing on this cash-only restaurant's menu costs more than $15, and you could probably be in and out in as many minutes. Utopia is the kind of place you go when you need a quick, no-fuss meal that's still satisfying. The Cantonese spot is ultra-efficient: You'll be asked for your order within seconds of sitting down, and minutes later you'll be eating your food, to a soundtrack of Hong Kong news anchors on the TV at full volume.