Best Live Music Restaurants in Chinatown
2 hand-picked restaurants, critic-reviewed and ranked
Last Updated: February 2026
Our Top Pick
El Paseo Inn
LA's oldest Mexican restaurant, serving on historic Olvera Street since the 1930s with live mariachi and a sprawling open-air patio.
Worthy Picks
#1
El Paseo Inn
7.9
A sprawling open-air Mexican cantina on historic Olvera Street that leans into the full festive experience—tableside guacamole, mariachi on Sundays, and a patio that fills up with multi-generational tables sharing enchiladas and margaritas. Operating since the 1930s, it draws on atmosphere and tradition more than culinary precision, making it the right call when the occasion matters as much as the meal.
Must-Try Dishes:
Cadillac Margarita, Chicken Enchiladas De Mole, Tableside Guacamole
What Makes it Special: LA's oldest Mexican restaurant, serving on historic Olvera Street since the 1930s with live mariachi and a sprawling open-air patio.
#2
Café Tondo
7.8
A Mediterranean-Latin café-bar in Chinatown that functions as much as a cultural venue as a restaurant, with weekly jazz and bolero nights spilling into an outdoor parking-lot stage. The kitchen runs a Latin-leaning menu anchored by milanesa de pollo and ceviche de camarón, served in a space where metro trains overhead and salsa dancers on the patio set the tempo. It draws date-night couples and creatives who want dinner and a show in the same seat.
Must-Try Dishes:
Milanesa de Pollo, Pan de Elote, Tuna Tostada
What Makes it Special: Mediterranean-Latin café-bar in Chinatown doubling as a cultural venue with weekly jazz and bolero nights