Chef Ray Garcia, one of Los Angeles's most celebrated culinary voices, has triumphantly returned with Broken Spanish Comedor, a reimagined version of his groundbreaking modern Mexican restaurant that first put him on the national map in 2015.
The new restaurant, which opened in October 2025 in a steep-roofed Culver City building that once housed an IHOP, represents both a homecoming and an evolution for Garcia. After the pandemic forced the closure of the original downtown Broken Spanish in August 2020, Garcia spent years working on various projects while searching for the perfect space to revive his signature concept.
"Nothing about this adaptation has the air of an intermediary stop," wrote LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison in a glowing January 2026 review. "Garcia is present, physically at the kitchen window directing his chefs every night, and also spiritually."
The menu showcases Garcia's distinctive style of grafting the Mexican staples of his East L.A. childhood with techniques gleaned from years in Euro-centric fine dining. Signature dishes from the original restaurant have returned, including the legendary refried lentils—a playful take on refritos involving lentils cooked with aromatics and fistfuls of epazote, then beaten with quesillo until almost resembling a cheese pull.
New additions like roasted purple sweet potatoes with salsa macha butter and a smoked tuna flauta with queso Chihuahua demonstrate Garcia's continued evolution. The restaurant has also quietly amassed an astounding selection of agave spirits, including rare mezcals from small family distilleries.
"Sheer deliciousness is eternally relevant," Addison concluded. "An informal room and scaled-back menu don't diminish Garcia's intents with Broken Spanish. They make them easier to appreciate."
Broken Spanish Comedor is open for dinner Sunday through Thursday from 4-9 p.m., and Friday-Saturday until 9:30 p.m. at 12565 Washington Boulevard, with main dishes ranging from $22-$57.