World Cup watch parties where the food is as exciting as the matches

Los Angeles is full of places to watch the World Cup, but a few spots stand out because the food is just as good as the soccer. Three restaurants and bars around the city are pulling in big crowds with special menus, live-fire grills, and giant screens showing every match. Whether you love pizza, grilled meats, or cold beer, there is something for every fan.

Chef Diego Argoti is back in the kitchen, and he is cooking bigger than ever. He used to run a restaurant called Poltergeist, where he cooked for about 35 guests at a time. Now, at a new spot called Estrano Verano inside Skyduster Beer's giant brewery in the Fashion District, he serves between 300 and 400 people on a busy game day. 'This is the hardest thing I've ever had to cook in my entire life,' Argoti said.

The menu at Estrano Verano is creative and fun. During the week, Argoti serves pub-style food like thick short rib burgers with caramelized onions, hot dogs, Caesar salad with a lime dressing, and a fried chicken sandwich made with a masa crust. On weekends, he switches to live-fire dishes like grilled short rib and Moroccan-style chicken cooked over an open flame. The food pairs well with Skyduster's beers, which include a pickle beer, a dry lager, and an Italian pilsner.

Skyduster co-owner Johnny Marler says the World Cup is the perfect time for this kind of partnership. He is Canadian, Argoti is Ecuadorian, and together they are representing Los Angeles. Once, when the gas went out at an event, Argoti dragged a grill outside and kept cooking over fire — and that moment convinced Marler they had to team up for good. 'The show didn't just go on, the show got better now that everyone was out there surrounded by the fire,' Marler said.

One of Los Angeles's most historic restaurants has also reopened just in time for the World Cup. Clifton's Cafeteria first opened in 1935 and was famous for feeding Angelenos during the Great Depression. It closed earlier this year because of rising costs, but a new owner has brought it back with big screens, projectors, and a brand-new pizza menu. The first two floors are now open for fans to watch every match.

Chef George Silyan is running Clifton's pizza program, using dough fermented for 69 hours before baking. Themed pies include the 'Peléroni' with pepperoni and ricotta, the 'Red Card' with spicy Calabrian chiles, and the 'Morocco's Modern Life' with merguez sausage and labneh. Clifton's is also teaming up with other local chefs for special one-night collabs, like a pizza topped with bulgogi beef and daikon radish for the Mexico vs. South Korea match. A new cocktail menu with soccer-inspired drinks rounds out the offerings.

In South Los Angeles, Fuegos LA feels less like a restaurant and more like a block party. The parking lot has been turned into a patio with long tables and a big TV, and the crowd spills all the way onto the sidewalk. On the live-fire grill, chorizo links called choripán sizzle and are served in buns with chimichurri and other sauces, while an outdoor oven bakes fugazza, a thick Argentine-style pizza. Empanadas and bottles of imported Quilmes beer keep the energy going all match long.

Fuegos LA was opened by Federico Laboureau and Maximilian Pizzi, both originally from Argentina. When Argentina plays, fans arrive hours early to grab the best seats, and almost everyone wears a jersey or wraps themselves in the country's blue-and-white flag. For fans who do not know the cheers, the owners hand out printed lyrics to Argentinian fútbol songs. One fan, Ricardo Yernazian, came with his wife after moving from Buenos Aires in 2000 — and said of Argentina's first match, 'This one I didn't want to miss.'