North Canon Dr, Beverly Hills

Spago, Mastros, La Scala, Il Pastaio

North Canon is THE high end restaurant street of Beverly Hills. There are a ton of restaurant that are a "big deal" in the Beverly Hills commercial area, but as far as actual good food in the noteworthy section, you gotta go to N Canon. Mastro's Steak House is one of the goodies that graces North Canon with its presence. I used to somewhat obsessively go there when I lived closer. Sure, the decor leaves some for wanting and the crowd is wholly awful. But, the food is insanely good. And, the martinis seem like they're expensive (the whole restaurant is expensive) but they are so big and murderous, you can honestly just have one and maybe end up on the floor. The weird thing about Mastro's is that the steak is the only thing that isn't good there. When it first opened it was pretty stellar, but I stopped ordering steak at all because I kept getting sub-par cuts. The lobster mashed potatoes, pretzel bread, mac and cheese . . . I could go on and on, completely make up for everything else that is lacking however.
La Scala is another restaurant we kind of obsess over too. The ambience is uppity but the chopped salad will blow your mind. I just went there last night and it was as flawless as ever. And, the waiters are still all old and curmudgeonly which I like. Spago and Celestino Drago's restaurant are both on Canon as well. And, while I'm not nearly as fond of them as I am the aforementioned two, as far as snotty restaurants go, these are also two of the better ones in the area. A trip to Spago, though, is more for the Hollywood glamour effect than the food, however. So, I can understand why a tourist would prefer it to the better restaurants in the area.
The street, itself, is really cute with a ton of shops if you want to get there a while before dinner. You can entertain yourself for hours in this neighborhood going into the shops even if you can't afford anything in them. And, the homes on Canon north of Santa Monica are breathtaking. You can understand why this is one of the ritziest neighborhoods in the country by taking a quick drive up the residential part of N Canon. They are every bit as glamourous now as they were when old world Hollywood lived in them (most of Hollywood doesn't live in this area now -- just normal rich people).
Oh, and a quick note for a tourist so you don't embarrass yourself with the incredibly rude and self aggrandizing residents of the city: Canon is pronounced "cannon" not "canyon" as the spelling would indicate.

This is where Beverly Hills hides its doughnuts. In a little cafe called Fritteli's located on 350 N Canon Dr. Canon, in my opinion, is the more normal part, where the prices are a lot lower and all of a sudden everything once again seems to appear affordable. There are a few delicious places to eat here and for the thousandth time; shopping.