This cafe resides in a glass and steel office building in West LA thanks to chefs and longtime friends Josian Citrin and Raphael Lunetta. Meatloaf involves ground beef flecked with carrots and onions, comes with herb mashed potatoes, Catalan spinach with dried apricots and cranberries, peanuts, and spicy-tangy red wine BBQ sauce.

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.

This well-lit, glass-fronted cafe in West LA strip mall houses an LCD menu and lists an array of global sandwiches on a grey wall. Their banh mi-like turkey meatloaf sandwich stars lean meat flecked with basil and green onion and folded with five-spice, onion and carrot. Asian slaw, pickled cucumbers, Sriracha aioli, and ciabatta round out the sandwich, which comes with either French fries or more claw tossed with cabbage, pickled cucumber, edamame and rice wine vinegar.

Chef Cat Baker is from Portland, where bison is relatively popular. At Stamp, the Los Feliz cafe and bakery she owns with husband David Beckwith, lean bison meat factors into chili, but better yet, into a sandwich on grilled sourdough with sharp cheddar and spicy ketchup.

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.