Longform list of 50 historic and essential dining experiences that have helped define Los Angeles' food scene.

Stroll Olvera Street for L.A. Mexican classics Chinatown Mexican Route (Etienne Laurent/For The Times) The hand-rolled taquitos and soul-warming avocado salsa that drenches them can feel like Los Angeles itself is wrapping its loving arms around you. Not much has changed here, thank goodness, since Aurora Guerrero opened Cielito Lindo in 1934. A temporary closure may affect your visit, but other businesses such as La Luz del Día restaurant deserve our love. Show more Show less Union Station Satisfy your sweet tooth on a Chinatown pastry crawl Chinatown Bakery $ Call Route Website (Solomon O. Smith/For The Times) By Stephanie Breijo Snack your way through Chinese cuisine and culture in one of L.A.’s most walkable neighborhoods with Chinatown’s ample bakeries. Start with the originator, the famous Phoenix Bakery, which is nearing its centennial and offers sugar butterflies, seasonal mooncakes, and the signature, pillowy strawberry cake among other classics. Don’t miss Flouring Cake Shop, an artful, modern bakery with cake bars in flavors such as black sesame and toasted coconut; Long’s Family Pastry for dim sum and sweets like pineapple buns and sponge cakes; and Queen’s Bakery for sesame-flecked rice puffs.Flouring Cake Shop — (213) 266-8946, 932 N. Hill St., Los AngelesLong’s Family Pastry — (213) 622-5255, 715 N. Spring St., Los AngelesQueen’s Bakery — (213) 622-9749, 809 N. Broadway, Los Angeles Show more Show less Chinatown Station Grab lunch at the oldest Japanese restaurant in L.A. Boyle Heights Japanese Call Route Website (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) By Betty Hallock Otomisan is the oldest continuously operating Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles. It’s a living monument to the history of Boyle Heights, once home to one of the city’s largest communities of Japanese immigrants. The beloved diner, tiny and charming, serves nostalgic comfort food. Sit at the counter for crispy-fried tonkatsu pork cutlets, tempura and beefy soup with udon noodles. Show more