About République
The building at 624 South La Brea Avenue has been a landmark since Charlie Chaplin commissioned it in 1929 as a studio complex. The Moorish archways, the soaring ceilings, the warmth of the architecture — these are the bones that Walter and Margarita Manzke stepped into when they opened République in 2013. What they built inside those bones is one of the most beloved restaurants in Los Angeles: an all-day brasserie that does everything the form demands and several things that no other brasserie in the city can match.
The front of the house operates as a café and bakery during the day — croissants, morning buns, and pastries from Margarita Manzke's kitchen that have been recognized with a James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker in 2023. The quality of the viennoiserie alone draws a devoted following that treats the pastry counter as a necessary weekend stop. But it is in the evening that République's full range becomes apparent: Walter Manzke's dinner menu is a French-Californian tour de force, organized around charcoal-grilled vegetables, wood-fired proteins, and the kind of casual authority that comes from a chef who has earned his technical credentials and now cooks exactly as he pleases.
Dishes like the charcoal-grilled prawns with nduja butter, the wood-fired paella negro, and the duck confit with lentils and lardon represent cooking that manages to feel simultaneously polished and relaxed — the brasserie ideal. The wine list is serious about France, reasonably priced, and the natural wine section has grown every year. The room, with its high Moorish arches and warm lighting, accommodates a solo diner at the bar and a birthday table of twelve with equal grace.
Reservations via OpenTable; weekends book out two to three weeks ahead. The front bakery tables are walk-in only.
The architecture of République does most of the work before the food arrives. Being seated under those arches, in that warm light, in a room that hums with genuine pleasure rather than performative sophistication — it is an environment that makes everyone feel comfortable and looks genuinely beautiful. The menu is approachable enough that neither person needs to perform culinary knowledge, but specific enough (that prawn, this paella) to provide the kind of concrete detail that makes conversation flow. The wine list supports everything from casual to considered. Walk-in at the bakery on a first-date brunch is equally strong.
The bar at République is one of the great solo dining positions in Los Angeles. Margarita Manzke's pastry counter by day offers the solo diner one of the city's finest breakfasts in a space calibrated for individuals at ease with their own company. In the evening, the bar looks directly into the kitchen and the room simultaneously — you are part of the energy without being swallowed by it. Order the charcoal-grilled prawns, a glass from the French section, and let the room do the rest.
Diner Reviews
Occasion: First Date
République is my recommendation every time someone asks where to take a first date in Los Angeles. The arches, the light, the warmth of the room — it is genuinely beautiful without being intimidating. The wood-fired paella negro arrived and we both stopped talking to eat for a full minute. The natural wine list is excellent. He asked me out again before we'd finished dessert. That was eight months ago.
Occasion: Solo Dining
I travel to LA regularly and République is my standing reservation. Saturday morning: one of Margarita's morning buns, a cortado, the croissant. Saturday evening: bar seat, charcoal prawns, a glass of Chablis, the confit duck. Twice in one day is not excessive; it is simply acknowledging that two different restaurants exist at this address, both excellent. The bar staff know me by name at this point.
