This Crenshaw cafeteria and banquet hall from Gregory Dulan features wood tables, tile floors, an overhead menu and silky smooth slo-jams on the speakers. Their meatloaf lunch consists of a single but substantial slab, sliced more than one-inch thick, submerged in gravy topped with slow cooked onions and cayenne. Your meat comes with a cornbread muffin and a choice of two sides. Let me recommend vegetarian red beans and collard greens cooked with pork.

Angelo Auriana is “at the stove” and Matteo Ferdinandi is “serving you” at this refined Italian restaurant on an unlikely Arts District side street. The space involves concrete, wood tables, an open kitchen with copper accents, and vivid spice jars on the east wall. Their Italianate take on meatloaf is Polpettone, a surprisingly juicy turkey meatloaf folded with onion, garlic, breadcrumbs and egg binder. Zesty peperonata, onions, garden greens, and fine herbs round out the colorful plate.

Ray Garcia is still going strong after cooking for five years at this airy restaurant in Santa Monica’s Fairmont Miramar hotel. He’s one of the Westside’s leading comfort food practitioners, as evidenced by dishes like meatloaf. His rich, dinner-only slices combine short rib, savory pancetta, onions and more. Of course the King of Porc found a way to factor pork into his loaf. The meat comes with mashed potatoes, carrots, and broccolini, which are treated to sticky Madeira wine reduction with wild mushrooms, and a parsley dusting.

Sally Cook and Joe Martinez opened this Gold Line-adjacent cafe in 2005, specializing in American classics. No Stateside comfort food story would be complete without meatloaf, and Heirloom’s version is a poultry winner. Chefs brush turkey meatloaf with ketchup, which incites caramelization in the oven. The loaf forms a sandwich with 1000 Island dressing, Tillamook cheddar cheese, raw red onions, lettuce and tomato on sturdy toasted country bread.

Joan McNamara’s cafe, bakery and catering company is still packing people into the original 3rd Street location, which has expanded quite a bit since the early aughts. Black awnings and umbrellas, marble tables, and hexagon-shaped floor tiles set the scene for shelves, cases and counters filled with dozens of ingredients, pastries and prepared foods. Joan’s turkey and bell pepper meatloaf, bound with breadcrumb and egg, is baked, sliced, griddled, stacked, and slathered with chile aioli. Tomato, lettuce, vinaigrette and choice of bread complete the picture.

Ficus Religiosa, a rack of magazines like Gastronomica and Kinfolk, and a foosball table accent the Sherman Oaks branch of Mendocino Farms, which is where I encountered their Old School Meatloaf Burger. The winter special consists of housemade Prime beef meatloaf seasoned with soy sauce and ginger, Mendo’s creamy secret sauce, red onions, roasted tomatoes, Scarborough Farms butter lettuce and romaine on Drago Bakery’s sesame bread. Mendo chef Judy Han said she uses Prime chuck for her meatloaf, since fat from cuts like Kobe tend to wash away.

Chef Em-Toni opened Sunnin across Westwood Boulevard in what is now Sunnin Bakery. Version 2.0 is larger, with cushioned banquettes, exposed wood rafters, and Lebanese comfort food. Kebbeh Bil Sayniyeh involves loaves of ground beef and cracked bulgur, allspice and minced onion, filled with more ground beef and pine nuts. They’re scored, baked and served with tangy tomato lettuce salad, and spice-dusted hummus.