Overview L.A. Times Food Bowl is the Los Angeles Times' food festival, and in its fall form it is a two-night grand tasting where dozens of Los Angeles restaurants cook under one roof and every plate and pour is included in the ticket. It began in 2017 as a month-long, citywide run of collaboration dinners, panels and screenings, anchored by a five-night market in Grand Park with more than 50 vendors and food trucks. Since then the Times has staged it on the Paramount Pictures backlot, at City Market Social House downtown and, in 2026, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. The Times was founded in 1881 and has won more than 50 Pulitzer Prizes. On site Each night runs as a walk-around tasting: restaurants plate at their own stations while a stage carries cooking demos, DJs play sets, and chefs hold signings on the floor. In 2026 the Friday was the 101 Best Restaurants night, with the Times' annual ranking counted down live on stage for the first time and restaurants from the list cooking, among them Baroo, Holbox, Kato, Komal and Sqirl. Saturday Night Flavor brought a different lineup, including Heritage Barbecue, Jitlada, Kogi, Maydan and Villa's Tacos. VIP guests come in an hour early to a separate lounge, and entry is 21 and over. Audience The Times describes the room as chefs, restaurant owners, food media and the diners who follow its 101 Best list, and the format puts them in the same space: guests talk to the cooks at each station and to the Times food editors who ranked them. The ticket is all-inclusive, so guests eat and drink their way around the whole floor. Track record In 2025 the festival ran two nights at City Market Social House with more than 25 restaurants each evening, presented by Square. That year Cathay Pacific parked a full aircraft fuselage on site and ran a ticket giveaway from it. The Times says its 2025 event marketing campaign delivered more than 129 million advertising impressions. Brand presence The presenting partner's logo goes into the event lockup, with a branded gobo on site, remarks from the stage and a commercial played during the night; OpenTable and Square presented the 2026 101 Best night. Below that, partners take naming on the Food Stage or the VIP Lounge, a programming slot on the Food Stage, or a straight activation space on the floor. Every level carries an ad in the printed 101 Best Restaurants guide; the guide is handed out at the event and mailed to Times subscribers the following Sunday. Bigger builds are sold as add-ons: a brand can take over an immersive facade on the grounds or present the livestreamed countdown show.