This week in L.A. restaurants: Clark Street opens cocktail bar, Delicious Little Tokyo returns

Lily’s Bar

Hollywood’s Clark Street Diner has expanded with a bar next door. Lily’s Bar opened May 10 at the base of the Best Western that’s also home to the diner, Clark Street Bread’s first full restaurant (formerly the home of 101 Coffee Shop). The new cocktail lounge and natural wine bar is located in the space previously inhabited by MiniBar. It offers classic-leaning tipples and no-ABV concoctions from bartender Sean Stewart (formerly of the Roger Room), with a natural-wine list that’s curated by Clark Street owner Zack Hall. While ownership does not expect to offer a full food menu, some small bites are available. Lily’s Bar is open 6 p.m. to midnight Tuesday and Wednesday, and 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.

6141 Franklin Ave., Los Angeles, lilysbarla.com

The new restaurant from the team behind Jeff’s Table is open, with dishes building upon the deli’s Jewish-meets-Asian inspiration, such as Hainan-style chicken with a cup of matzo ball soup.

(Stephanie Breijo/Los Angeles Times)

Oy Bar

Highland Park deli Jeff’s Table now has a sibling concept in Studio City. Chef-owner Jeff Strauss recently opened Oy Bar in the former home of the Bar at Oyster House, and like its deli counterpart, Oy Bar’s food menu riffs on Jewish flavors and other cuisines for a genre-bending menu. Expect bar food, small bites and plated entrées, such as smoked salmon onigiri with miso butter and everything spice; jalapeño-studded pastrami quesadillas; and Hainan-style chicken with matzo-ball dipping sauce. Unlike Jeff’s Table, Oy Bar features a bar, which serves cocktails such as the Cel-Ray-inspired Hard Cel with vodka, coriander, celery and lime. Oy Bar is open from 6 p.m. to midnight Wednesday to Saturday.

12446 Moorpark St., Studio City, (818) 761-8686, instagram.com/oybarla

A San Diego-founded grilled cheese chain is headed to Hollywood this month offering gooey, loaded sandwiches.

(Grater Grilled Cheese)

Grater Grilled Cheese

A grilled-cheese fast-casual chain expands to Los Angeles on May 15. The family-owned Grater Grilled Cheese began as a San Diego food truck in 2015, eventually expanding with restaurants in San Diego and Orange counties. This month it opens in Hollywood with its largest location yet, serving a classic grilled cheese alongside options featuring lobster, chicken pesto or Nashville-style hot chicken, plus burgers, sides and salads. Grater Grilled Cheese will open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

5553 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 366-2688, gratergrilledcheese.com

HiHo Cheeseburger Studio City

Wagyu-burger outfit HiHo Cheeseburger is now open in Studio City, joining a handful of new eateries — including Sugarfish and Uovo, from the same restaurant group — in the new Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge shopping complex. HiHo Studio City offers the chain’s signature mustard-griddled, house-ground Wagyu patties, plus a fried chicken sandwich, pies, fries and milkshakes, all from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

4220 Coldwater Canyon Ave., Studio City, hiho.la

HiHo Cheeseburger is the latest in a string of restaurant openings at the Shops at Sportsmen’s Lodge, a renovation of the iconic Studio City hotel.

(Eddie Sanchez/HiHo Cheeseburger)

Delicious Little Tokyo

L.A.’s food-focused Japanese cultural event is back for its seventh year. On June 25 and 26, Delicious Little Tokyo will return with a range of food tours, a cocktail tasting event and an all-ages bingo game located throughout the downtown neighborhood. The 2022 offerings include a “History of Little Tokyo Food Tour” in partnership with the Japanese American National Museum and the Little Tokyo Historical Society on June 25 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and June 26 at 2 p.m.; a self-guided matcha tour on June 25 from 1 to 3 p.m.; and “J-Town Bingo” from noon to 4 p.m. on June 25 and 26.

Prices and locations vary, instagram.com/golittletokyo