This year, Hanukkah begins in the evening on December 14 and ends in the evening on December 22. While not the most religiously significant holiday within Jewish culture, it is one of the most fun: marked by festive games, oil-fried foods, and gift-giving.
Los Angeles, with its large diasporic Jewish community, has several restaurants, bakeries, and delis across the county that answer the call of the holiday’s golden-fried food traditions: from doughnut shops turning out takes on puffy, powdery, jelly-filled sufganiyot to crispy potato latkes served with fatty sour cream and applesauce. Fully realized to-go dinners for individual family celebrations are available, but if you want to observe with the reliability and comfort of a dine-in experience, there are spots across the city offering Hanukkah dishes — or dishes fit for Hanukkah — that can be savored at a restaurant.
To-go menus became a sustaining force for both diners and restaurants during the pandemic, and the new-normal tradition continues in 2025 with a robust slate of takeout dinners that are ready to heat and eat in the warmth of home.
Hanukkah spread at Huckleberry in Santa Monica. Ethan Pines
Huckleberry
This Santa Monica stalwart is offering its usual Hanukkah bounty, with to-go main courses like brisket braised in red wine and tomato sauce as well as sides like kale salad with persimmons, toasted pecans, and honey dates; carrots served with an herby chimichurri; potato latkes; and homemade applesauce. Desserts include cinnamon-sugar-dusted brioche donut holes and a chocolate olive oil tart. Pre-orders can be made through December 10 at 3 p.m. for pickup and delivery from December 14 through December 21 during the business’s open hours.
The Milky Way
The kosher restaurant, owned by the Spielberg family (yes, those Spielbergs), will offer its sleekly packaged latke kits for $48. Each kit comes with a dozen latkes, apple compote, sour cream, and instructions for reheating to their intended crispiness. Orders can be made for pickup (at its Pico-Robertson location) and delivery via its website, or by calling the restaurant at (310) 859-0004. On the sweet side, find sugar-dusted sufganiyot from Mensch Bakery (box of six) for $28. This year, the restaurant will also host a celebration meal on the first night of Hanukkah, December 14, that begins with a candle lighting and includes dishes like apple-challah bread pudding, sufganiyot, and flaky potato latkes. Reservations can be made via Resy or by visiting milkywayla.com.
Akasha
Although Culver City gem Akasha has closed, fans of its Hanukkah catering are in luck: you can still find Akasha’s holiday staples for pick-up this year. The headliners, of course, are the latkes: eight gluten-free Yukon Gold potato latkes, best ordered alongside homemade applesauce that uses local apples. Other dishes for order include slow-braised beef brisket, roasted vegetables, cranberry chutney (for when you want to change it up from dipping latkes in applesauce), Hanukkah cookies, and apple crisp. Pre-orders are available on Tock for pickup from December 14 to December 21.
Farmshop
Farmshop, a tony Brentwood staple, will have Hanukkah-coded dishes ready for pre-order through December. Find eight Yukon Gold potato latkes served with creme fraiche and applesauce for $28, as well as beef ribeye roast, slow-baked Scottish salmon, creamed Tuscan kale, and other seasonal sides to fill the family table. Visit Farmshop Santa Monica’s catering website for more information and to book your order ahead of the holiday.
Superba Food and Bread
Superba might be one of the most reliable restaurants for holiday ordering because of its presence in so many parts of town: find locations in Calabasas, Hollywood, Venice, North Hollywood, and Pasadena. At any of these outposts, Hanukkah specials will be available for dine in and pre-order during the holiday week, including traditional sufganiyot and crispy latkes served alongside homemade applesauce and sour cream.
When in Doubt, Trust a Deli
The option for those who don’t want to think too hard about where to ring in Hanukkah is clear: one of Los Angeles’s many Jewish American delis, which feature family gathering–appropriate spreads throughout the year, although sometimes without the specificity of the holiday and an Ashkenazi-centric lens. Still, the deli is an icon of Jewish culture in America, a place of comfort whose survival usually speaks to stories of family resilience.
The goods from Mort & Betty’s. Mort & Betty’s
Mort & Betty’s
This irreverent vegan deli pop-up is serving up gluten-free latkes by the dozen: come for classic scallion and dill pickle varieties served alongside cashew sour cream, apple sauce, and cashew Russian dressing (for the dill pickle latkes). All dishes are available to order for pick-up at Atwater Village Farmers Market (December 14); pre-orders are also available via Avocado Toast for deliveries made on December 12 and pick-ups from December 12 through December 14.
The Hanukkah spread from Nate ‘n Al’s. Nate ‘n Al’s
Nate ‘n Al’s
The delightfully old-school Beverly Hills institution will offer large-format catering options for Hanukkah celebrations at home, including platters of crispy fried latkes with sour cream and applesauce ($24.95), traditional holiday brisket ($49.95 for two pounds of brisket), powdered-sugar-covered sufganiyot ($4.95 each), and festive “blue and white” cookies ($4.95 each); matzoh ball soup is also on order for those who want spring to come a little sooner.
Brent’s Deli
The Valley mainstay serves all the requisites for a Hanukkah celebration, including craggy potato latkes (mini latkes come in tray of 50 for $60, or get large regular latkes for $5 each), sufganiyot ($5 per jelly doughnut), and “fancy” Hanukkah cookies for $19 per pound. Other essentials for the spread, like roasted chicken or brisket, are on offer, as well as dinner accompaniments like green beans almondine, noodle kugel, and chicken soup. Visit the deli’s catering website to place your order.
In 2025, some restaurants offer special Hanukkah menus; others offer dishes that, while not marketed for the holiday, still fit the spirit of it: oil-fried and joyful.
Kismet
While running their locally loved Kismet Steakhouse residency this December, Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson’s Los Feliz restaurant will also have some Hanukkah specials available to order during the holiday week. Expect to find crispy, golden latkes (with the luxe option to add caviar to the plate); a holiday brisket special; and matzo ball soup starter from December 14 through December 21 or while the supply lasts.
Save Room for Something Sweet
Sufganiyot, jelly-filled doughnuts with North African and Eastern European origins, have become an iconic Hanukkah dessert — a sweet counterpart to savory oil-fried latkes. While many mom-and-pop doughnut shops around Los Angeles serve up some form of jelly doughnut (raspberry or strawberry jelly-filled are ubiquitous), some restaurants go to the next level for the holiday, offering sufganiyot with artisanal ingredients and even yeasted sprinkle doughnuts shaped like the Star of David.
RUM DMC ice cream from Genghis Cohen.
Genghis Cohen x 626 Hospitality
Fairfax icon Genghis Cohen has debuted its latest Hanukkah ice cream collaboration, partnering with Arcadia-based 626 Hospitality this year. The Chinese American restaurant, owned by Marc Rose and Med Abrous, will offer a limited-edition (and extremely punny) “RUM DMC” pint for the holiday; it plays on the flavors of rum-raisin ice cream and caramelized bread pudding with threads of Los Angeles’s Challadad challah throughout. The ice cream will be available for diners at Genghis Cohen to order for $8 per scoop or $15 per pint and on its website beginning Friday, December 12.
Apple-cranberry sufganiyot. Sidecar Doughnuts
Sidecar Doughnuts
This artisanal doughnut favorite has locations across the Southland, including in Santa Monica, Fairfax, Torrance, and Manhattan Beach, and serves up sufganiyot with a twist each year. While in previous years, Sidecar’s sufganiyot have been available for pre-order, this year it will be serving its raspberry sufganiyot on Mondays in December and every day through the holiday (starting early on December 14 and running through December 21, specifically); online ordering is available.
Schwartz Bakery
For those who keep kosher, Schwartz Bakery offers pastries and desserts, including sufganiyot for Hanukkah, prepared under rabbinical supervision. Offerings on the website include traditional sufganiyot filled with vanilla custard, chocolate custard, caramel, or jelly, and decidedly non-traditional dishes like maple doughnuts pocked with “candied facon” and a monster fried chicken breast sandwiched between two glazed doughnuts. Orders can be placed online for delivery; items can also be picked up in-store.
American Beauty
The steakhouse’s Venice and Fairfax restaurants will serve powdery sufganiyot for dessert from December 14 through December 22.
Valerie Confections
Not in the mood for sufganiyot? Los Angeles chocolatier Valerie Gordon will offer a giftable selection of Hanukkah-themed chocolates to bring to your next latke party.
Sufganiyot at Primo’s Donuts. Erica M. Allen
Primo’s Donuts
The classic Los Angeles doughnut shop will offer three renditions to mark Hanukkah: traditional jelly-filled sufganiyot, mini sufganiyot, and yeast-raised “Star of David” sprinkle doughnuts. The doughnuts will be available for pick-up in-store or for pre-order on Primo’s website through the month of December.