Los Angeles: City of Breakfast

LOS ANGELES — One thing becomes clear when you go out for breakfast here, whether you join the hordes waiting in line at Sqirl, République and Eggslut, or linger among the regulars sipping cold brew and finessing their Instagram still lifes on the patio at Gjusta, in the booths at Jon & Vinny’s, and up and down the white picnic tables of Trois Familia:

People sure have time on their hands.

Breakfast for much of the country involves random bland calories shoved down one’s gullet in a mad dash to work, but breakfast in Los Angeles — particularly for those engaged in creative, flexible-schedule pursuits like acting, screenwriting or shamanic healing — qualifies as both a day at the office and a day at the beach. Fact is, a Los Angeles breakfast lasts all day long.

That has been the case for decades — it’s no accident that downtown’s ancient war horse of the pancake griddle, the Original Pantry Cafe, stays open 24 hours. But in recent years, the chefs of the city, realizing they’ve inherited a captive audience, have seized the opportunity and spiced up their menus.

Right now, the first meal of the day in Los Angeles is arguably one of the most interesting and satisfying meals, of any sort, in the United States. If the nation has a capital of breakfast R&D, this could be it.

“At the moment, L.A. is the best restaurant city in America,” said Phil Rosenthal, the New York transplant who created “Everybody Loves Raymond” and now stars in his own globe-spinning food show, “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having.” In his mind, better-quality breakfasts are an outgrowth of that, and of the city’s daylight-relishing culture.

“I went to République the other day, and there was a line down the block at 9 a.m. on a Saturday,” Mr. Rosenthal said. “It’s all delicious and it features the produce that we have.” And chefs aren’t reluctant to experiment, he added. “It’s almost like an artists’ colony is making you breakfast.”

Restaurants here are “getting away from just a plate of fried eggs and bacon,” said Travis Lett, the chef and baker behind Gjelina and Gjusta, both in the Venice area. “It has to be something more than that — without it turning into a precious, highbrow thing.”