Head to the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills for stunning 360-degree views of the city. Decked out in emerald and sage hues with a blooming garden that borders the edge of the roof (providing a perfect photo backdrop), plus plenty of plant life throughout, the covered rooftop feels like you’ve landed in a perfectly temperate jungle. The JG restaurant, a more casual spot than chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s namesake restaurant on the lobby level, serves up breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily.

From the moment you walk into the lobby of the Proper Hotel you’re greeted with the signature relaxed and boho vibe that you’d expect from Santa Monica. The lobby bar itself is a hangout, with spillage from the rooftop Calabra bar lingering around, but the real party is upstairs. Settle into the inviting lounge seating and be transported with lush greenery and quirky furniture. Delicious Mediterranean-inspired plates—lobster and prawn puttanesca, and lamb chops with green garbanzo and tzatziki.

Take in panoramic views from high above the Sunset Strip while enjoying a Wolfgang Puck-crafted menu that pull flavors from Japanese, Southeast Asian, and French-California cuisines, resulting in dishes like crab fried rice with country ham and squid noodles in a ginger-garlic clam broth with Thai basil. Located on the rooftop of West Hollywood’s Pendry Hotel, you’d be wise to ask for a table on the restaurant’s loungey patio, but generous floor-to-ceiling windows.

Cap off your trip to the Platform dining and shopping complex with a visit to the rooftop, where you’ll find the airy and spacious Margot restaurant. With decor that takes inspiration from the white sand beaches and stunning ruins of the Mediterranean, Margot will make you forget that you’re actually in the bustling center of downtown Culver City. Enjoy views that stretch from the beach to inland valleys, while munching on small tapas plates in a boho-chic setting.

Escape the hustle and bustle of Santa Monica, well really the 3rd Street Promenade, with this hidden gem. Serving up a menu of coastal Mediterranean favorites, this rooftop restaurant is everything you want a SaMo hot spot to be: good vibes, good music, and good drinks, with the Pacific Ocean as your backdrop. You also have the option of making any cocktail a small or large punchbowl, which sounds like the perfect way to celebrate your new vaccinated status with friends.

Atop the EDITION hotel, this sleek modern restaurant and lounge merges indoor with outdoor via oversized glass windows that open up to a patio where poolside, candlelit dinner is served. Mexican-influenced plates like crab nachos and sweet potato taquitos are served alongside a cocktail list that favors mezcal and tequila spirits with notes of citrus and tropical ingredients. Topping off your experience are glittering 360-views of the city, making this the perfect spot to grab a cocktail.

Enter this cocktail lounge by the H.Wood Group (Bootsy Bellows, Santolina, and The Nice Guy), located at the 1 Hotel West Hollywood and snag one of the tables under the stars. And if you take a gander around, you just might spot a Hollywood starlet at this celeb favorite that has a designated nook for comedian Dave Chappelle complete with photos of the entertainer and aptly called “Dave’s Corner.” The music here is always bumpin’ and sets the mood for this lounge space.

Mexico City’s favorite terrace restaurant recently launched its DTLA iteration, complete with an 11,600-square-foot-rooftop that features cacti, palm trees, and moody string lights that make the surrounding Arts District feel like a tropical beach destination. The food menu features Mexican favorites—tacos, tostadas, ceviche, carnitas, and more—while the cocktail list peppers classic drinks with mezcal and tequila, resulting in unique concoctions like the Oaxacan Zombie.

There are rooftops, and then there’s Spire 73. This open-air hotspot is, you guessed it, 73 stories in the air, and an absolute titan of the DTLA scene. Clocking in at over 1,000 feet altitude, the Wilshire Grand Center is the tallest building west of the Mississippi (seriously), and that makes Spire 73—part of the building's InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown hotel—the highest place to grab a drink in LA and the tallest open-air bar in the Western Hemisphere.

It’s confusing which half of this two-story restaurant/bar is EP and which is LP, but it doesn’t matter: everyone calls it by both names, and everyone’s happy when they end up on whichever one is actually the rooftop, which has great views, fire pits, amazing cocktails, and a brand-new modern American menu courtesy of EP Restaurant’s recent relaunch. Adjacent to the LP rooftop is a rotating pop-up that’s currently housing the Tulum-inspired Las Palmas.

Since the hotel’s opening in 2014, the Upstairs bar at Ace has become an unquestionable classic in the rooftop game, thanks to a roaring fireplace, a killer view of that iconic "Jesus Saves" sign, amazing drinks, a pool (albeit a weirdly small one), and DJs and performances that in pre-pandemic times took place almost nightly. There’s also an all-day menu with everything from tacos and quesadillas for lunch and dinner to oysters and Champagne for weekend brunch.

This hotel rooftop is right in the heart of Hollywood and completely open to the public, with great panoramic views of the city, dangerously strong craft cocktails, plus an entire menu of rifts on Moscow mules, and an all-day restaurant serving elevated bar foods—the boujee fries and sticky wings are must-orders for the table. Weekend brunch runs until 3:30 pm, making at least one pitcher of red or rose sangria an obvious choice.