RESTAURANTS • First Person
In this car town, the most intriguing sets of wheels on the roads right now belong to Waymo, Google’s self-driving car project.
This week, we fused new and old by ordering a ride on the Waymo app to old-school restaurant Rao’s in the heart of Hollywood's working studio district, south of the big Boulevards — Sunset and Hollywood. Our Waymo “driver" masterfully navigated the tricky side streets east from WeHo. While often disoriented, I’ve never felt safer in a driverless car.
Quiet lighting and soft music in the purring Waymo car create an aura of the surreal and futuristic. The sensation that nobody’s listening to you takes on an entirely new texture. As we rolled up to Rao’s, the car respectfully didn't move up to the two valet spots. We got out, and entered the Old World of the restaurant.
Opened in 2013, Rao’s Hollywood is larger than the New York original, a Harlem icon since 1896. In New York, there are no printed menus, but in Los Angeles, young actors/waiters are trusted to remember movie script lines but not a kitchen’s offerings.
Still, we didn’t need a menu to order the veal chop Milanese, the most popular dish at all three Rao’s locations (the Miami outpost opened in 2023). Served on an oversized dinner plate, the in-bone chop sprawls across the plate under a pile of arugula. As in New York, the Hollywood decor is red luxe from another era, with year-round Christmas decorations and photos of celebrities adorning the walls.
The food is more than good enough, the service is on the mark, and the LA vibe is unmistakable — happier, friendlier, younger. After two bottles of wine, we safely rode home with another Waymo faceless automated driver. But not nameless — this one we called Gloria Swanson. –Brad Inman
→ Rao's (Hollywood) • 1006 Seward St • Sun-Thu 5-9p, Fri-Sat 5p-10p • Reserve.
→ Ride: Waymo (Santa Monica to Downtown).