Israeli Restaurant Near Me in Lincoln Heights: Mazal's Vegetarian Family Warehouse Kitchen

Every plate at Mazal is vegetarian, and most of them are vegan, which makes this family restaurant at 110 North San Fernando Road in Lincoln Heights unusual among Israeli kitchens in Los Angeles. Dinner runs Wednesday through Sunday from 5 pm, the doors stay shut Monday and Tuesday, and a bowl of hummus with two pitas costs $12. For an israeli restaurant near me on the Eastside, this is the one where nobody misses the meat.

Mazal held its grand opening in November 2020, in the middle of the pandemic. Owner Tal Zaiet runs it with his father, David, and the building used to be the warehouse for David's flooring business, according to Spectrum News 1. His mother, Hanni, makes the desserts. The family's roots are Moroccan, and that shows up across the menu in spicy tahini, carrots and the potatoes named for the Maghreb.

The name is Hebrew for luck or fortune, the same word Israelis use in mazal tov, and the restaurant leans into it with a hamsa, the hand-shaped charm against bad luck, printed on its merch. The Infatuation rated Mazal 8.4 in January 2022 and described the alley patio and its patterned walls as lively but not rowdy, the kind of space that suits a group of friends or a family dinner.

Start with the spreads, each served with two pitas. The Hummus is $12, and the menu lets you add $3 to make it spicy. Baba Ghanoush and Za'atar Labneh are $13 each. Order two of these for a table of four and add a side of pita for $4. The Infatuation's advice still holds: the plates are small, so order in waves rather than all at once.

From the bites section, Potato Bourekas are $10 for five pieces of flaky pastry, and Cheese Bourekas are $12 for an assortment of feta and feta with pesto and olive. Moroccan Carrots cost $9, Mini Falafel are $10 for eight, and Stuffed Grape Leaves are $8 for six, filled with rice. The Israeli Salad, tomato, cucumber, parsley, red onion and lemon, is $14.

The signature main is the Shawarma Oyster Mushrooms at $29, seasoned like street-cart shawarma and served over cannellini purée with mint chimichurri. Maghrebi Potatoes, at $18, are air-fried spuds on a bed of the house Maghrebi tahini, spiced with pickled lemon and mildly hot. The Charred Broccoli comes with lemon garlic aioli for $17, a cheaper way to round out the table.

The honest skip for a first visit is the Vegan Steak at $33. It is soy protein with purple potatoes and a red wine cremini mushroom bordelaise, the most expensive plate on the menu, and it is the one dish built to imitate meat rather than to show off Israeli vegetable cooking. Spend that money on another round of spreads and the mushrooms instead, and you will eat closer to what the kitchen does best.

Sweets come from a limited, weekly rotating menu. Halva is $8 in vanilla or marble, with pistachio for $1 more. Coconut Baklava is $9, the playful S'mores Bourekas are $13, and Olive Oil Air Fried Medjool Dates with Greek yogurt and maple syrup are $15. The menu itself flags the sweets as limited production, so if a flavor catches your eye, put the order in with your mains rather than waiting until the end of the night.

The drinks list leans on natural wine and local beer on tap, with zero-proof options such as the Tilden Lacewing, a cucumber, basil, lychee and juniper drink for $13, plus specialty sodas at $4.50 and Nespresso espresso at $3.50 for anyone driving home. Bringing your own bottle costs $30 corkage per 750 ml, and bringing a birthday cake adds a $3 per person outside cake fee. Parties of six or more get a 20 percent gratuity, and the restaurant splits checks across no more than two cards.

Reservations are linked from the restaurant's website, and the restaurant is open only five nights a week, so weekend tables go first. Wednesday and Thursday run 5 to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday stay open later, and Sunday closes at 8 pm, so a 5 pm start is the safe plan if you are coming without a booking. Takeout and delivery are also available for people who want the hummus at home.

One caution for diners with allergies: the official menu says the kitchen cannot guarantee against gluten cross-contamination, and many dishes come with pita. Tell your server about a gluten allergy before ordering, and skip the bourekas, which are built on pastry. Also note that the restaurant is not kosher, despite the Hebrew name and the Israeli menu, so observant diners should look elsewhere.

Mazal sits on North San Fernando Road in Lincoln Heights, just off North Broadway and near the Golden State Freeway. The Metro A Line's Lincoln/Cypress station is about 670 meters away, an easy walk, and Metro bus 45 runs on Broadway nearby. Drivers park on the street around the block, since the old warehouse has no dedicated lot of its own listed on the restaurant's site.

Before dinner, walk about 300 meters to the Ed P. Reyes River Greenway, a pocket park along the Los Angeles River, for a short stroll at sunset. After dinner, The Airliner at 2419 North Broadway, a few minutes away on foot, is the neighborhood bar for a nightcap. On Monday or Tuesday, when Mazal is closed, the new mariscos counter Aguachiles y Asada at 1908 North Broadway is another family-run option nearby.

Address: Mazal, 110 North San Fernando Road, Los Angeles, CA 90031, Lincoln Heights. Hours: Wednesday and Thursday 5 to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday from 5 pm, Sunday 5 to 8 pm, closed Monday and Tuesday. All-vegetarian Israeli menu, mostly vegan; not kosher. Corkage $30. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for an Eastside evening that pairs Mazal with a river walk.