10 Holiday Take-Out Menus: Where To Go for Great Food To-Go

Huckleberry Cafe

Old Fashioned Coffee Cake at Huckleberry Cafe

Holiday dinners are stressful enough. Ditch dinner reservations and hours in the kitchen for a ready-made holiday dinner. Step 1: pick your menu. Step 2: place you order. Step 3: pick up order. Step 4: Eat. There'll be ample time for chestnuts roasting, yuletide caroling (and eggnog toasting). Turn the page for 10 Los Angeles restaurants with great holiday take-out menus, in no particular order.

10. For the Californian: Huckleberry
What: With a growing empire in Santa Monica, the bakery/cafe's seasonal, market-driven menu includes the usual faves and all things baked for dessert and Christmas morning. Menu: None of your tablemates would bat an eye at quinoa cakes with spinach and butternut quash, raw kale salad with golden raisins and pine nuts, persimmon spice cake, and whole wheat shortbread snowmen and Valrhona chocolate chip cookies served alongside braised chicken with figs or turkey meatballs (both free-range, of course). Plus: Fake it at home with a take and bake coffee cake -- just pop it in the oven -- or bring your own bowl for a faux-homemade trifle with raspberries. Order by: 48 hours notice. 1014 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 451-2311.

Brooke Burton

Mozza2Go's Spice Ginger Pigs

9. For the Silverton/Batali-in-Training: Mozza 2 Go
What: In addition to the regular catering menu items of carb-heavy delights like panini, pizza, and focaccia, Pizzeria Mozza's to-go annex offers contorni and dolci. Menu: Italian sides include Brussels sprouts with prosciutto breadcrumbs, Cipollini with thyme and sherry vinegar, and cannellini beans with Swiss chard. For something sweet, there are a variety of tarts -- pumpkin and Medjool date, spiced apple crumble, toasted pecan -- and spice ginger pigs -- swine-shaped gingerbread cookies worthy of any faithful foodie. Order by: 48 hours notice. 6610 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 297-1130.

8. For the Vegan: M Cafe
What: Vegan, macrobiotic, early-bird detoxifying? M Café placates the most particular (and healthiest) of eaters. Menu: $70 for two or $135 four, the three-course prix fixe menu includes celery root soup, winter field greens with fennel, cranberries and Bosc pear, smoked tofu, pumpkin and chestnut terrine en croute. If that's not objectionable enough, there's always (optional) dessert -- raspberry sacher torte, cranberry apple tart, or chocolate truffles. Order by: December 22 by 5 pm. 7119 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 525-0588; 9433 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills, (310) 858-8459.

Clementine

Chicken Pot Pies at Clementine

7. For the Kids: Clementine
What: What child wouldn't like mini mac and cheese, chicken pot pie, scones, and Sloppy Joe sliders? The Century City lunchtime spot covers dinner into Christmas morning. Menu: Take home shepherd's pie or baked penne and DIY holiday shortbread complete with sanding sugars in different holiday colors. Breakfast options include egg strata, quiche, blueberry sour cream coffee cake, fresh-squeezed OJ, and heat-at-home hot chocolate and homemade chai. Order by: 48 hours notice. 1751 Ensley Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 552-1080.

6. For the Wine Lover: The Larder at Tavern
What: Sure to please any oenophile, Suzanne Goin's Brentwood retail bakery/cafe offers a rib roast dinner for eight that includes all the fixings and an additional wine pairing - two bottles each of sparkling cremant, chardonnay, and syrah. Menu: The Niman Ranch beef roast comes with Little Gems salad, mashed potatoes, Italian broccoli, Brussels sprouts, brioche bread pudding with brandied apples, Suzanne's chocolate cake with crushed almond roca, dinner rolls, and assorted holiday cookies. The la carte menu includes Bourbon-glazed Niman Ranch spiral cut ham and herb-brined Organic Diestl Farms turkey and all things baked -- variety of breads, pecan sticky buns, chocolate-gingerbread load with spiced rum frosting -- and boozey -- wines sparkling, white, red, and Big Daddy's holiday eggnog. Order by: December 21 at 5 pm for Christmas Eve pick-up or delivery. 11648 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 806-6466.