Tava Grill & Lounge

Loved this place the first time second time it was a disaster I tried there tacos thinking the Mexican Indian fusion was a good idea boy was I wrong it definitely didn’t work it tasted bad and not to mention they were pricy they should stick to Indian and remove the taco dish immediately from there menu

Been a couple of times, dishes are hit or miss, had some things that are excellent, and others not so much… Prices a tad high… Roll of the dice

Please say it aint so… how could this place go??? One of the best and most original indian restuarants I ever had the luck of stumbling upon. Not to mention spiciest.
If the owners are reading this, email me at
if you open up in a new location… Laguna has several locations available ;)

Good News:
A very nice place to eat some very creative food. Loved the dishes & the service. We were very impressed.
Bad News:
Tonight is their last night in business. (I’m not kidding.) We were making plans to come back again with friends only to learn that this was not to be. I talked with one of the owners and found out that the lease was the problem not the food or lack of customers.
My best wishes to the owners & staff. Hope to see you soon at another location. Until then, we’ll just have to follow you on the web. Good luck & thanks for a great dinner.

I’m not a huge Indian food fan. I really don’t like curry, but I must say, this place is GOOOOD! For first-​timers, I suggest going during happy hour. You’ll get to taste a bunch of smaller portions at cheaper rate.
DEFINITELY TRY THEIR CHEESECAKE! It is like cheesecake soufflé. Delish!

The atmosphere is really nice, I like the lounge feel. The interior is very modern and pretty. The food is pretty pricey, but okay portions for the amount you pay. I have the mango chicken curry that was recommended by another review and it was DELICIOUS! I highly recommend it to anyone who may be unsure. I tried my other friend’s dishes as well and everything was pretty solid when it came to taste.
The reason why I’m not giving it 5 stars is because of the wait. We came on a Tuesday night and there was a grand total of two other tables that were dining at the same time and our food took a very long time for a place that wasn’t busy at all. I would’ve liked for the waiter to give us a little more attention to let us know or apologize for the long wait. The quickest thing that came that night was the bill HIYO!
Overall, I liked it. I would come back again and test out the other items, but I would like the service to be quicker next time.

Ok– I WAS the person who gave Tava 3 5-​star reviews after being a patron since a month or so after it opened… so I thought it would be a good idea to have my birthday dinner here last weekend
I felt like the whole experience fell short.
I made a reservation for a prix fixe menu at 6:30… I confirmed the first time, no problems. A day beforehand I wanted to confirm and found it impossible to talk to someone who could actually help me.
1^st call — I got transferred to some random person that sounded confused to be handed a phone but was told that the message would be relayed
2 hours later
2^nd call — I call, get put on hold for 5 freaking minutes without any update. I’m sure it could have gone longer but I got sick of it and hung up. I called again. and again… NO ONE even answered. How can no one answer at a business?
I wait 5 – 10 minutes
???th call — I am told the manager is too busy to answer the phone and that I will get a call the next day during the afternoon
I did not get a call as promised. By this time, it is the day of the dinner. Screw calling them and getting the run around again. So later that evening my party is settled by about 6:50 and nothing has come out. I asked the waitress and she was under the assumption my party was at 7. I said 6:30 at least 3−4x previous to this day. Ugh
7:15 — first the complimentary chips. There was plenty of it but I wanted to move it along to the appetizers. The first of 4 appetizers FINALLY comes out. The way it was served, there was about 1 platter for every 5 people… turned out to be a bit meager
by 8:20 — 3 of the 4 appetizers are all out. it took ONE WHOLE HOUR to serve 3 appetizers. Not cool.
The 2 entrees arrive (salty as hell I might add) by this time I’m just over it. It was like watching something in slow-​mo.
While hosting my party, I realized that the 4^th appetizer (mung salad) was a no-​show. I have to go ask for it and what arrives are 2 small ass servings. If equally divided, each person would have gotten maybe 3 – 4 bites.
What a freaking disappointment. The staff and management seemed so aloof and just floated around. Where the hell is the hustle? For being someone who gave rave reviews and brought a number of their friends to Tava, I expected more. Even as a first time patron, I wouldn’t have been satisfied with the service and food.
Before all this happened, I felt Tava was a special place. Obviously not anymore.

Nice atmosphere. and food was even better than expected!
Even my incredibly picky other half loved it. he had the Keema (Japanese-​style) Curry. rich and delicious bold flavors. I had the Biriyani Rice with Lamb. non-​gamey, super tender lamb chunks with a flavorful rice blend. and my lil prince had the baby back ribs… the kid has expensive freakin’ taste. but holy moly. sticky-​icky yummness! Wasn’t really spicy to dad and I, but the prince couldn’t finish it. He has a super sensitive spicy-​sense… get it? Like Spidey-​sense? Lol…
Had the Ephemere Apple beer per another review. taste was not what I expected. so I guess that could be why I wasn’t too fond of it. then had the Masala Mary, a decent take on the Bloody Mary. nothing astoundingly different, though.
Overall, a great experience. Service was delightful and servers were helpful when it came to choosing unfamiliar items off the menu. Will definitely be back to try more.
Was going to give one less star due to pricing, but after tasting the quality of the food, I’d say it was well worth it! The drinks I had, however, are a different story…

Still love their mango Mumbai and garlic fries, and the total lounge feel! Their turkey sliders are yummy too. Fish Taco, not so much, and their wings = horrible! Driest I’ve ever had! Makes me a litter hesitant to try other things. Stick to what you like, right???
This place could be so much more if they put more into their service and hospitality. They have nice servers but obviously inexperienced. The owner seemed stressed and could’ve been more cordial and inviting.
Lily A. mentioned they were almost set to close permanently but somehow managed to stay open. Best of luck staying open and working on improvements.

I’ve tried Indian fusion restaurants in NY and have never really left happy before. I’m glad LA might just do it better with this one. Nice unexpected modern lounge in the heart of a casual Indian, Chinese, and Korean restaurant area. The place was a bit too quiet when I first walked in (meaning music was too low so it was awkward). Not too packed but that made for a nice quiet dinner with friends. Service was very friendly and efficient. Pacing of items was on point too. Here’s the rundown:
Ordered the first cocktail on the menu Tava something– mint, raspberries, vodka? Basically like a mojito but no real alcohol or lime taste. Like very refreshing juice. 4 stars for taste (minus one star for absence of alcohol — either that or they did a REALLY good job of masking it)
Free potato chips — meh. I think I’d prefer pappadum.
Garlic fries (free with Unilocal check-​in yay!) 4 stars — solid strong garlic parsley fries. No fusion here except maybe in the dipping sauce.
Tava chicken wings — 4 stars. Spicy, tart, smoky with a hint of Indian spices. All drumsticks too. Whoop!
Lamb chops — didn’t try this dish, but my friends enjoyed it. Asked for medium rare and came out so.
Garlic naan — 4 stars. I like my naan fat and doughy, so I was skeptical about this (after reading that their naan is grilled and some said cracker-​like). Shockingly really liked their naan. The center grilled parts had a crispy yet still chewy texture (def. not crackly nor thin like a cracker) and the edges had the doughy fatness that I love. Really enjoyed it.
Tava Biryani — 4 stars — really intense flavor and spiciness. Had plentiful ground chicken chunks throughout and great use of spices. Chomped on some kind of pit (like a plum pit) which was a bit off-​putting, but I ate on. Nice 2 fried eggs on top.
House chicken curry — 2.5 stars– the only dish I didn’t love (but didn’t hate). It was very tomatoey (though they do warn you on the menu –no cream/​coconut milk). Had a deep fried hardboiled egg sitting on it. Random. The potato chunk I ate was grey. The dish had a bunch of full-​sized drumsticks and thigh pieces (on the bone) in it, so it was a little hard to eat. Flavor was a bit flat.
I found myself favoring the more traditional indian dishes rather than the fusion ones listed (like a burrito, sliders, and pasta). What can I say… I love traditional Indian food. Would def return.

I came here with my gf last Sat night. The place was surprisingly empty (there were a few people, but not too many), but I guess it’s a little off the beaten path of cheap but great Little India restaurants. It’s much more upscale than the rest of those places too. And the service is excellent, very friendly and attentive staff.
I used the Unilocal deal for free garlic fries, which were just about as perfect as you can get. Think garlic fries from Dodger Stadium, only crisper, not quite as greasy, plus this mild minty, a little spicy dip to go with them. Apparently there is a different «lounge size» order, which was the free type, but the waitress just charged us the $ 1 difference, after explaining the situation.
My gf ordered the huki chicken, medium spicy. It was basically a nicer version of tandoori chicken – tandoori cooked and spiced breast meat laid out on a plate. There was a bit of a kick spice-​wise, but nothing to worry anyone about. The portion wasn’t huge, so she ordered some naan too. Standard naan, no butter. I had the grilled chicken masala, hot, with basmati rice. The menu offers some kind of extra special rice cooked with some vegetable (I forget which) for $ 3 more, which made me think that they were going to charge even for basmati, but I was wrong. In fact, when I used up all the basmati and still had extra sauce, the waitress offered to bring more (and no charge). So I actually ended up being quite stuffed. The spiciness was great too, it made me sweat a little, just the way I like it. I have had slightly more tasty tikka masala before, so not quite a perfect score from me.
I had been playing dodgeball out on the beach earlier in the day, and on top of the heat of my dish, I was going through water like mad. They kept bringing me more, no request needed. As I said, excellent service.

Today the Tava Grill closes at this location. So I am writing my review in honor of the best Indian Burrito I’ve ever had in my life! I can’t wait till they reopen at a new location.
Tava Grill had a great upscale vibe to it with fantastic friendly service. The manager who was also our server was so sweet and knew so much about the menu. I was very impressed. They have a cool little lounge area with a small bar, that serves up some excellent cocktails and from the looks of the flyer had a great little happy hour menu!
Our food that we ordered was excellent, we had an appetizer that was very tasty:
I honestly don’t remember the name of each item, but I know they were all good and thats all you need to know too!
I ended up getting the Biryani Burrito with lamb. An Indian Burrito intrigued my interest and it was probably the best burrito I’ve ever had (except for my first love, the breakfast burrito). The Indian spices blended really well with the cheese and red sauce on the outside.
The lamb was a bit dry… I actually would have loved it meatless because the biryani was so flavorful on it’s own. And let me warn you, it is absolutely huge! I barely ate a quarter of it and I was stuffed. You can easily share the burrito between two:
Everything that was ordered was delish! Which is why I am surprised that they are closing down. I even «liked» them on facebook!!!
I’m so sad… restaurants are dropping like flies around here! damn this economy.

I really wanted to like this place. I did.
I had extremely high hopes for this place. And I love Indian food… so I thought this would be an interesting change.
My boyfriend and I walked in and were immediately surprised by how quiet and small the place was, but the décor was very modern and everything looked extremely clean.
We got seated immediately, and the server was very bubbly and engaged. She dropped off the menus… and this is where the bad experience starts. The menu is very large, yes, but she gave us entirely TOO MUCH time to look over the menu. We waited 20 minutes before server came over again to ask if we were ready to order. And it was not busy… at all. So, I stowed that away in my memory and waited patiently for the food… and to be wowed.
I ordered the Huki Chicken with the garlic fries, and my boyfriend ordered the a type of chili paneer dish (I don’t remember what it was called!). He also ordered some naan for the side.
My chicken was okay. It was on the dry side… nothing special. The spices were interesting, but didn’t quite work and I couldn’t put my finger on why. The garlic fries had a very distinct and strong flavor… but weren’t cooked properly. They tasted like they were a day old and thrown into the frier for a couple more minutes to heat them up.
My boyfriend didn’t like his dish, and I tasted it, and knew why. It had a strange flavor… like a mix of BBQ with chilis. The naan wasn’t fresh at all… and there were grill marks which indicate that they use frozen naan. After finding that out, it made me realize that the fries were probably frozen… and the chicken might have been as well. All in all, the dinner wasn’t good… at all. I wouldn’t come back.
For the price, you pay, the food was nowhere near it should be.
Oh, and there’s a check-​in offer for a free MicroBrew… I showed them and she said I could only use that at the lounge… but this place is so small, I wasn’t even sure where she was talking about! She said she would ask the manager to see if she could make an exception… and never got back to me. I didn’t even bother asking about it again, since it probably would have taken an additional 20 minutes or it wouldn’t have been that good.
Very underwhelmed…
I’ll stick to traditional Indian food at The India Restaurant down the street. A million times more delicious, ingredients are fresh, and the price is right.

Their Indian bread was the worst, bar naan. It was somehow cracker thin and doughy. To quote my Indian friend Siddharth: NOO-​wuh!
First, I ate my dinner with a close-​up of a boxer’s bloodied swollen eye, so the ambiance was a little marred. (The Pacquaio fight was on a huge projection screen, to their credit, at no cost). The place is cozy, clean, and very loungey, but the lights are too bright. And you don’t want them so bright you can see the fake grill marks on the chicken.
Yes, fake grill marks on the chicken, like a Burger King. The food? The chicken masala was not bad, but I must say that is was better everywhere else I have ever been, including the best (Electric Lotus of Los Feliz, Star of India on Melrose, Himalayan Grill in Sunset) and decent (Natraj in Belmont Shore, Kabob Grill downtown LB) to the worst (sorry, Aunt Tammy).
The salad dressing, however, was the best, on par with El Torito’s cilantro house dressing. Yum. And the garlic fries were good. Alas, fries with dressing do not an Indian meal make.
I guess the main problem is that it was a little pricey. The masala was $ 17, the wine was $ 9. If I had paid less I wouldn’t have been so hard on them. Truth is, I think they deserve 2 stars, but I don’t want to lower their rating because their service was very good. We were helped by three different people, all very friendly and attentive.
Would have liked to give you a better review, Tava, but SARI.

Tava-​Lava
3.5 STARS
I’m holding back my feelings of love for this place since I’ve only been here once this past weekend. I decided that I wanted something different and thought that white-​washed India food would be my ticket.
Reasons I gave TAVA some star power:
*Pretty kick @$$ beer & drink menu; I’d hope so since they claim «Lounge» in their name.
*They have a nice modern environment with a hip, yet casual touch
*Hot sauce options rock!
*IS THAT THE PPV BOXING MATCH YOUR PLAYING UP THERE? Sweeeet +1 star!
Small Downers:
*The service was okay. It could have been more attentive being that there were only two tables this gloomy-​wet day.
*Food was good but then again, I don’t have anything to compare it too… We ordered a Tava sampler with fish and two types of chicken. The flavor was a bit monotonous.
*No eggplant today… BOO!
*Pricey, much? SHEESH!
Not bad but not great! I’m anxious to try other Indian joints in the area so that I can come back and see whats REALLY UP with Tava Grill!

Sheek interior… I can most definitely see this place being a late night lounging area; and this place going for the «high road» elegance and feel. Simple yet tasteful interior, and beautifully plated food.
Came here on a Unilocal deal for an early dinner, and was told that I couldn’t use my deal on their «Happy Hour» menu. Wasn’t thrilled, but it’s all good. I ended up ordering their lamb. My friend also bought the same deal, and we used them together, which they came back and said «couldn’t be done», but the manager gave us an exception, since it wasn’t stated clearly, and the manager cleared both of our deals on the bill. Very impressed by the accomidating manager. Kuddos for that.
I felt that their food was a tad overpriced for my liking (thus wanting to eat off the Happy Hour Menu), but I was pretty impressed with my lamb chops that came out. They took the bone out for me already! And the hummus and chips appetizer we got? Oh my goodness! Yum yum! =] Had a salad on the side, simple and standard fare… my friend got a burger. And what a delicious burger that came out! Beautifully topped, and a total «yum YUM» status!
I did feel a tad cold in here, but then again, I am sensitive to the air around me, so it can just be me, personally. Very quiet ambiance overall, loved the fact that we came early, and thus, there were not a lot of people. Definitely a good spot to unwind and catch up with good friends! =]

The food is good — and spicy! I’ve never had an Indian-​influenced flatbread pizza, but this one was amaaaazing! Plus, during HH it’s a steal. Most of the food was a bargain, ‘cept for my friend’s pork ribs (which were not that cheap and small in portion size).
The Tava Blonde is Ale is their own craft brew. Like my last date, it was good and cheap.
This is a hidden spot (literally!) but worth a visit.

Mmm, mmm, mmm! Tava is definitely not your traditional Indian restaurant but well worth a visit. The restaurant is open, airy and modern. A lot of thought went into the décor and it really shows. I havent had a chance to visit happy hour but it seems fun. If you’re trying to catch a game there are plenty of televisions in the restaurant to keep you occupied.
The appetizer sampler is so good, come to think of it, the ribs and fish are my favorite. You wont be dissapointed! My personal favorite is the garlic spinach rice, so good! We’ve tried a lot of things on the menu and havent found one thing we didnt like.
Come hungry and enjoy!

Review is strictly for Happy Hour.
Yes, this place can be hard to find. It’s in a shopping center that also has Yogurtland. Upon entering, you might be the only ones there, but don’t let that deter you from trying the food here. It is really good bar food. We ordered just about everything there, recommended from the awesome lady bartender.
Chili Fries-​I was hesitant to order this at first but it was OMG, tastes incredibly good! Think of the Hat fries, but smaller with a hint of curry.
The Ribs-​These were boiled most likely, fall off the bone goodness. There”s 3 ribs, great for sharing.
Chips-​Usage of sweet potato, (I think) and lotus chips, these were great, I did wish it came in a bigger bowl!
The best item I liked there was the Huki Chicken. Moist, flavorful, a MUST order.
For dessert, there really wasn’t too many choices. We got this, and honestly, it wasn’t that great. I can’t even remember what it was but here is the pic
For drinks, the Mango Bellili was awesome, it was a mixture of champagne and crack! Just wished I had more of it. The other drinks like the beer they have here, I would say is better than american beer but not as great as craft beers that I normally drink.
Honestly, I think this place would do so much better if it wasn’t in Artesia and it was more of a nightclub. Regardless, the food is great but I would say the drink menu could use some help. It won’t deter me from coming back again though. I guess I will be back watching the NBA championships with a side of Huki Chicken!

Another day, another lunch with my co-​worker.
Tava was not busy and very quiet at lunchtime. The interior is hip and comfortable and the staff is very friendly and provide good service.
I had some yummy naan (with a yogurt sauce and a cilantro sauce) as I waited for my lunch. They gave plenty of it and I probably ate too much («don’t fill up on naan!»). A nice salad came out before my ground lamb burger. The burger was topped with a coleslaw and the lamb had a spicy kick to it (you can specify your level of spice). A side of garlic fries accompanied the burger. I also had a mango ice tea that had a refreshing minty taste to it.
I have very limited knowledge of Indian food and spices so am not sure what all the flavors were but my taste buds say it was delicious.