An LA institution among Innovative Dining Group siblings including BOA Steakhouse and Katana, this Pasadena outpost was renovated in 2005 to include a front lounge that has become one of the neighborhood's better happy-hour options.

Visually imagined by ubiquitous LA restaurant designer Dodd Mitchell, Sushi Roku is filled most nights of the week despite its tough-to-find location. It's amid the Colorado Boulevard bustle, but set back from the street in a quaint brick courtyard that, on warm days, becomes one with the new front lounge when the large retractable doors are raised. (Crowds come and go for the neighboring movie theater and frequent live music performances.) Past that lounge is a relatively casual bar area, sectioned off with plenty of bamboo, and the more formal main dining room, with a long sushi bar, intimate white-linened tables and rock elements—including one area surrounded by a sort of mini Stonehenge that's great for a large group. —Lonny Pugh