This is a sample project to show how you could write an API using Laravel 5. You can follow the tutorial online at https://www.toptal.com/laravel/restful-laravel-api-tutorial
There will be some minor differences, specially regarding downloaded packages, as I used the excellent Laravel Ide Helper to setup PhpStorm bindings and other features.
It's very simple to get the API up and running. First, create the database (and database
user if necessary) and add them to the .env file.
DB_DATABASE=your_db_name
DB_USERNAME=your_db_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_password
Then install, migrate, seed, all that jazz:
composer installphp artisan migratephp artisan db:seedphp artisan serve
The API will be running on localhost:8000.