Gr/eats

Went to Gr/​eats for the first time today. I was walking by and saw the «Closing on February 13» sign and thought I’d get in there before they were gone.
I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I actually peeked my head in the door about 20 minutes before their posted opening time and asked, «You’re still closed, right?» I was answered with a, «Come on in. We can serve you.»
I had a seat and ordered a half order of Veggie Paella (vegan) and mixed fries. The Paella was delicious and I was a fan of the potato fries.
The service was attentive but not overbearing. The prices were reasonable. Under $ 10 for my bill, before tax and tip.
Thanks for a very good meal experience, Gr/​eats. I wish you luck and good fortune on whatever future endeavor you decide to tackle.

I absolutely adore this place as well as the whole GR family.
Having sampled their penne marinara and tofu meat balls, I can confidently say that the quality and proportion of food you get is well worth the price! Filling and satisfying, without going overboard is the best type of balance.
Décor wise, it’s very simple but has design-​y elements that echo the GR branding — right down to their business cards and menu. I can fully appreciate their branding tactics as someone who comes from a marketing and design background.
I always happen to end up with free dessert somehow; the staff here is amazing!

I like the GR store but the food was all right. I will give this place another try. I dont like to judge on one meal. CUte girls works here

Pretty decent value, reliable service, and you know it’s not going to be crowded. When I need to bring some friends and I don’t want the stress of waiting at other places on Sawtelle, fighting for parking, dealing with cramped restaurants I come here. Prices are reasonable, none of the food is really terrible but not wow. Even though this review is sounding kind of meh, 4 stars for the nice service, easy parking, and above average food.

My friend and I had a hard time deciding between eating here or at Sushi Stop across the street, so we flipped a coin. Heads: we eat here. We like to leave life’s hardest decisions up to chance. We’re glad the coin came up heads.
We were greeted by a friendly Japanese woman and quickly seated since, well, there were only two other people there. The menu is largely Japanese, but it had some non-​Japanese items that stuck out like sore thumbs. Paella? Penne Pesto? Asian Fusion, indeed.
I ordered the Chicken Katsu and Agedashi Tofu while my friend ordered the Mixed Fries and Shrimp Tempura Toji Don.
I don’t get agedashi tofu a lot, but my experience with that item so far has been more or less neutral. It’s really delicious, but no particular restaurant has ever made really special agedashi tofu. Until Gr/​eats. The texture of the tofu was fluffy and silky, and the soy broth was salty with a hint of sweetness. I saved the broth for my katsu. Speaking of the katsu, I was pretty satisfied with it. It tasted decent; the chicken was tender on the inside and nicely breaded. I didn’t like the katsu sauce; it was too tangy for my taste. I dipped the chicken in the agedashi broth instead. All in all, I had a good meal.
The Mixed Fries were delish. It composed of sweet potato fries (YES), shoestring fries, and banana fries. The most surprising of these is obviously the banana fries, which really didn’t taste like banana at all. For an appetizer, this was really great. As for her Shrimp Tempura Toji Don, it LOOKED epic, and she loved the taste. I was too busy with my katsu to ask for a bite, though.
All together, the bill came out to be just under $ 24. Not bad considering what we had and the attentive service. I think I’ll eventually come back and try other things on the menu (the Fried Oyster Plate sounded tempting), but I’m going to try the other restaurants on Sawtelle first.

I’ve been here a couple of times and I’m not really sure what they really specialize here. Whenever we come here its not «Hey, do you want to get Gr/​eats? Do you feel like eating _​_​_​_​at Gr/​eats?» but more like «uhhh since we don’t feel like eating anything else on sawtelle, let’s try that place over there again»
I tried the tofu meatballs that everyone here was raving about… It tasted like dry tofu. The grilled salmon with teriyaki sauce was good, although nothing special. Noodle orders come in this huge pot and are pretty delicious. Everything here is a little bland but in a tasty, healthy way.
It’s around $ 10 per plate. Service is great but can get slowww when its busy.

Asian fusion (whatever that means). Super healthy food. Not exactly my style. But if you’re one of those people into preserving their life, then this is the place for you.
I got the Oyako Don, which was ehh. But the Chicken Tatsuta Age was delish. It’s like popcorn chicken that’s actually good for you. What’s up, KFC?!
Best part of this place is the server. She’s like 100 years old, which I guess is pretty young by Japanese standards. She was like, «Ohhh so good to see you again. You like last time? Coming back for more.» It was my first time there.
Overall, good service. Decent prices. Food is bland but in a sexy healthy kind of way.

(+) Happy hour from 5−7pm, 20% off your entire bill
(+) Great Service
(+) Interesting variety of dishes (Paella/​Miso Fish/​Flan)
(-) I love tofu, and tried the tofu meatballs, and definitely weren’t impressed.
(-) Also ordered fried oysters, avocado rolls, and grilled fish — nothing was spectacular
I think one of the reviews before me puts it best — it’s a place to try if you’re in the area, and if it’s convenient.

Pretty good, but the flavors didn’t knock my socks off and the portions were fairly small. For the price (particularly the –regular– price), I’d be happy elsewhere.
I live down the street from Gr/​eats so I walk by this little restaurant almost daily. They have a happy hour (20% off your meal) from 5−7PM, but I never make it home in time to get the deal. So, when I saw they had a sign for a Carmaggeddon special last month, I was very happy I’d finally have more of an incentive to try it out. Imo, the regular prices are average-​ish, but I’m still a poor recent grad and they are a bit high to me.
On Saturday of Carmaggeddon, the bf and I stopped by to try their Chicken Katsu Curry Bowl and Chicken Teriyaki Bowl, both specially priced at $ 5/​bowl. I think the regular price is $ 8. We also got two glasses of iced tea for $ 1/​each and the nice grandma-​waitress gave us refills.
Both bowls had good flavor and were very obviously fresh. But this is why I wasn’t super excited at the end of our meal: if you gave me a choice between Sushi Stop’s $ 2.75 Chicken Curry & Teriyaki Bowls and Gr/​eats $ 8 versions… well, I’d immediately tell you I’d choose Sushi Stop. The size of the bowls was almost the same, and Gr/​eats didn’t have an exceptional or unique flavor that justified the difference in price to me. The bf wasn’t full from his first bowl, so I ended up flagging down the grandma to order a second.
Conclusion: to me, Gr/​eats is one of those places you should try if you’re in the area and it’s convenient to get to, but I probably won’t go back again. There’s nothing on the menu that calls to me, particularly since I now know of the portion size and price.

Adorably small, looks like a sketchy hole-​in-​the-​wall from outside, but the inside is clean and brightly lit.
The food is amazing. This is not some cheap little teriyaki joint — this is classic, real Japanese style food, nicely arranged and perfectly cooked. I’ve been happy with everything I’ve tried here.
I recommend the Daily Special. last time I was there, it was Tilapia & Pesto. Really delicious, came with nicely grilled veggies.

My buddy and I were walking along Sawtelle. He wanted Japanese, I wanted a burger. So we settled for Gr/​eats since it seemed to have the best of both worlds. The burger was okay. It was on one of those hoagie rolls and all the topping were typical. But just wasn’t worth the $ 9 they were charging. The mixed fries were great though! Banana chips, sweet potato, and french fries mixed together. We tried to end the meal on a good note with some almond jello. The jello had been sitting around in the fridge for too long. It was all extra-​congealed, don’t get it.
Your best bet is to hit this place up between 5−7pm during happy hour when the whole menu is 20% off. Then I think it’ll be worth it.

This is quickly becoming one of our favorite eats for a quick meal. To summarize, it’s a small Asian fusion café that is unpretentiously located on the Sawtelle area of the Westside. This is the kind of place where the prices are modest and the food is really good. Keep in mind though that with this Asian fusion thing, some dishes will work out great and some not so much. However, they do have some classic comfort dishes that are just wonderful for a nice inexpensive meal.
What we liked:
— the okra rolls — combination of sweet, spicy, crunch, soft, is all wrapped into one delicious roll. see the picture below!
— seafood paella — very light and tasty dish. good balance of proteins and rice. it’s also not super greasy and all mushy
— any of the fish of the day sihoyaki style. basically it’s grilled fish with a little salt and seasoning and served with rice and veggies.
what we didn’t like as much:
— the mayan chicken was way overcooked (falling apart), and the mole lacked some character.
— the angus beef udon: not that we didn’t like it, but the description gave us an impression of slivers of meat as opposed to the thinly sliced yoshinoya versions of the angus beef.
— the mixed fries. nothing you haven’t had before. unless you were really craving fries, it’s really not much inspiring about it.
as you can see, there are some hits and miss– but i wouldn’t hold this against them too much. there’s good variety and the restaurant has excellent service. i would definitely come back and try some other dishes on the menu. now that we know what we like and don’t like. it’s a great go-​to place for a cheap inexpensive meal to chill and hang out.

Wow, this is a fantastic Unilocal find! I was asked to find a friend and I a place to eat, and I knew he was on a budget and buying (Win!) so I looked to Unilocal and I found Gr/​eats. Man oh Man was I impressed.
The place was empty by 8:00 PM, just a small group inside. The seating was very basic, but very clean. We were greeted as soon as we entered and beckoned to sit. The service (from a wonderful older woman) was simply terrific. I felt like we were being waited on by my best friends grandmother. It was awesome.
We looked over the menu, and it’s definitely Asian Fusion, mostly Japanese, and if you don’t understand the terminology it’s helpful to have a smart phone with internet access to translate the menu, but never fear because our server was there to answer all questions very competently.
We both decided on the special, as it had just about everything a boy could want. The hand written note card read «Mini Combo» and included Tuna Sashimi Donburi (Rice bowl with Sashimi Tuna) and Chicken Veggie Udon soup (a huge bowl) plus the accompanying salad bite. This was a huge amount of food, and it was only $ 9.25. YES ONLY $ 9.25!
The food was incredible. very simply spiced, served with a great amount of care for presentation and appeal. The tuna was fresh and plentiful, the rice perfectly cooked, the soup was pretty wonderful too, lots of chicken and veggies. Either one would be a great entrée but both together would absolutely feed the most hungry patron.
Oh, and to top it off, my friends grandma brought us each a scoop of great Vanilla Ice Cream just to sate our sweet tooth after wards.
Yes I’m going back to check out the other fun stuff on the menu, and to see grandma again, she’s now our favorite server of all time.
Enjoy!

This restaurant is so great! I made a Unilocal acc just to review it.
Initial reactions: It was totally empty when I went there with my bf so I wasn’t sure if we should go in but I’m really glad we did.
Food: First she gave us miso and a salad and I usually hate salads but this salad was goooood. How? I don’t know. The miso was nice and hot too unlike other places where its warm. This miso was steaming hot which was nice. We ordered chicken katsu curry and the fish of the day. DELICIOUS. I don’t know if it was because of the cute decorations of the restaurant but it was such yummy food. The fish portion was huuuge. The katsu was crunchy. CRUNCHY. And both dishes were only 8.50, so worth it!
Service: She came and filled our waters at the right time, she was friendly and helpful and nice. She also gave us free ice-​cream at the end.
Overall: I wish she had more customers, I really think this restaurant is a great find. It’s small but it’s definitely not a hole in the wall, it got an A for cleanliness. The food is cheap and good and the service and restaurant itself is great too. GO HERE! I DEF RECOMMEND IT!

I like Gr/​Eats
for a cheap price you get a reasonable portion of food.
appetizer and starters range from 4 – 10 bucks
other main entrée cost about 8 – 10 bucks average.
plus, you get 20% during dinner hours 5−7pm every day.
parking is not that crazy weekdays around 6pm.
friendly staff!
i will definitely come back to try out some other entrée.

Searching through the reviews, it appears there must have been a management change or something because I don’t understand all of the negativity. This was one of those restaurants that I had passed 100 times before and for some reason just never went in. But all of that changed about a month ago, and since then I have found myself at Gr/​eats at least 4 times already.
The space is tiny, but has a small parking lot out front that you can pretty much always park in (if you hang around this area, parking is pure gold around here). The restuarant is small, maybe about 10 – 12 tables in the whole place, and out of all of the times I have been here, they seem to have one server, a very sweet lady that seats you, takes your order, brings your food, refills your drinks and gives you your bill. The menu is pretty extensive and has loads of vegetarian and vegan options ALL PROPERLY MARKED!!!
The tofu meatballs are my absolute favorite things ever, but I also enjoy their fish specials and their vegan tacos. Their green tea lemonade is refreshing. I have yet to try one of their desserts, but I am sure I will soon. The only thing that makes my Gr/​eats experience even better than the friendly staff, chill surroundings and tasty food is the rediculously fair prices. I mean $ 7.95 for a tofu meatball plate with veggies, rice AND soup, you cannot do better than that!
If you are in this neighborhood, I suggest you try it out and try the tofu meatballs, you won’t be disappointed.

I used to come here quite often when I worked in Santa Monica. The tofu burger and tofu meatballs are really good. The food is fresh, delicious and they have the Japanese liquid sugar /​simple syrup, which I just adore! Who wants crunchy sugar crystals in the bottom of your green iced tea?
Am looking forward to working in the neighborhood again so I can eat here more often!

Remember a couple weeks ago in LA when it was so ridiculously hot that you could cook an egg on the sidewalk? Yeah, I blocked it out too. On a day like that Gr/​eats was an oasis of air-​conditioned quaint contentment, and that’s without the food.
I work just up the street from this little jewel and have heard good things but had never taken the initiative to actually eat here. My co-​worker got the shrimp udon with a half order of veggie friend rice (only $ 4!), and shrimp curry. My curry was delicious, but my co-​worker didn’t really care for the udon so I ended up eating that and taking the curry to go. Admittedly the broth for the udon was different from any other udon I’ve ever had, but it was still pretty good. We also got the green tea cake coffee set and the fried banana with ice cream. Both were excellent though I preferred the latter.
Looking forward to trying other things off the menu. It’s a great place for lunch if you work in the area and not too expensive either.

Came to WLA a few nights ago for an art show and popped in here which was next door so I came here for a quick snack afterwards. GR/​eats is Asian «fusion» which is so overused, but it is kind of a mix of Hawaiian, Asian, and all things experimental when it comes to influences.
I ordered the tofu meatballs. Chewy, tofooey, with a firm crust and on a bed of sweet and spicy takoyaki sauce. It’s hard to flavor tofu, so all the flavor really came from the sauce and the outer cooked shell. Good vegetarian option and several other vegetarian dishes on the menu.
Service was attentive and friendly. There are some interesting dishes on the menu I’d like to try on my next visit.
Parking sucks in this neighborhood. Street parking and meters if you’re lucky, a tiny parking lot in front, and valet a few doors down is your best bet.

Wedged in a between giants that are Hide Sushi and Furaibo, it’s easy to walk pass this place without taking a closer look. A rather small and unpretentious restaurant, it makes up with exceptional dishes and service. We somehow ended up here because some of us wanted Japanese food while others wanted pasta and what not. This place had it all, ranging from the familiar Japanese appetizers and entrees to Penne and Paella. I got the seafood paella as I couldn’t resist from not ordering it. Lots of seafood and effort were put into this dish and I could taste it all. It was well balanced and flavorful. I got to try the fried oysters and the tofu meatballs. The oysters were plump and fresh… breaded and deep fried to a delicious golden color. The meatballs were quite peculiar but an enjoyable dish.
The service was gr/​eat! We came in half an hour before scheduled closing time and the waitress was very cordial and patient. They were getting ready to close when our group of six walked in. The food was also delivered promptly. The bill… fantastic. Every item was reasonably priced (below the average price for dinner in the area) and thus we were reasonably happy.