This steakhouse with Italian and Mediterranean touches is helped along by the thoughtful attention to...uh, what were we saying? Sorry. The views are so distracting.

The rare LA restaurant in which a date's wandering eye likely has more to do with a transfixing sunset than a waitress spilling out of her top, West maximizes the appeal inherent in the penthouse space of the tubular Hotel Angeleno. Mixing small plates, crudo, appetizers, risottos, salads and pastas—the braised-short-rib ravioli is a must—might seem like a recipe for overload, but the selections work well together to form different ways to complement rather than overwhelm the main course. And what a course: The choice sauces for steaks like a skillet-seared filet mignon, spicy seared 20-ounce ribeye or grilled Florentine T-bone include lemon-herb aioli, Barolo reduction and roasted garlic gorgonzola butter. The prices are roundly reasonable, especially when compared to other comrades in the steak-fueled revolution; the lounge provides a killer drinks-and-nibbles idea in an area severely lacking options. We don't have the businessmen/neighborhood curious/hotel guests/occasional hottie crowd figured out just yet, but in the meantime, we can be found gazing out the windows at the hills, the sea, and the traffic in which we could be sitting.
—Lonny Pugh